How soon did you drop milk feeds? (bit rambling soz)

[MegBusset]

Have just started weaning DS (6mo), did intend to do BLW but after a carrot-based gagging/choking incident put DH off the idea, we have agreed to start with purees/mashed food for a couple of weeks first. LO is quite happy with this and will merrily grab the spoon and feed himself.

Anyway, currently his routine is something like this:
7am BF
8am breakfast
10am BF
1pm BF
2pm lunch
4pm BF
6pm BF
7pm BF

The 6pm BF is mainly cause he falls asleep on boob most nights so doesn't take that much food at 7pm, and next week I hope to swap the 6pm feed for tea so he will have a bit more milk at bedtime. But just wondered if I should try to cut a morning feed out too, or just carry on as normal til he is eating a bit more? (Breakfast and lunch are currently just a few teaspoons of pureed fruit/veg).

Please don't say 'feed on demand', I would love to but DS is so distractible in the daytime that he would never ask for boob, and would just make up for it at night! So I have to offer it whenever I think he 'should' be hungry.

[lispy]

I'm not an expert but have you tried adding rice cereal to the mashed food? then i'd swap the 1pm bf with food and wait til he's hungry for bf then offer more food after 5 sometime that feels right.

[puffylovett]

bump as i need some advice too ! i bf 7, 11, 3, 7, 11 and then sometimes 1am, 5am.

but not sure when i should be aiming to eat breakast & lunch, interspersed with naps ! getting in a right tizz !

any joy megbusset ?

[MegBusset]

Hi Puffy, I am still struggling with this, breakfast an hour after first feed seems to work fine but lunch is proving a tougher nut to crack (esp. as he is varying between 2 and 3 naps, and starts the day between 6 and 7.30am, so the lunchtime nap could start at 11am or 1pm).

Yesterday I offered lunch at 2pm after lunchtime nap and he wasn't interested at all, so today I am going to offer it just before lunchtime nap. But still not sure what to do about dropping a feed during the day!

[appledumpling]

I'm at this stage too. DS has milk feeds 7am, 10am, then lunch at 1pm. After that it's milk at 3pm, 6pm and usually an evening feed too. I was going to try cutting out the 6pm feed next as my milk supply seems to be a bit hit and miss in the evenings.

[witchandchips]

6 months is still a bit early to think of dropping feeds but this is just a suggestion to what you might be aiming for in a 2 months time.

bf on waking
7-8 breakfast
9-10ish nap
midmorning milk
1 lunch
2-3ish nap
mid afternoon milk
5-6 tea
bedtime milk

by 11 months or so the day feeds got replaced with snacks

so guess i would wait until ds eats proper breakfast and then you will be able to shift the 10 am feed a bit later. When starts to have a proper tea the need for the cluster feeds in the early evening will go away and so you can just give one bedtime feed.

important this is just what worked for us.

[witchandchips]

forgot to make clear that all milk feeds were from norks

[puffylovett]

thanks witchandchips its just ni8ce to have an idea really ! at the moment, i'm bfing at 7am, then he usually goes back to bed about 8.30, so been trying bfast both before and after which he doesn't seem interested in.

he seems most interested in lunch at about 1pm, he'd added an extra bf in at that time, so at the moment i'm playing with porridge in the morning, then bf, then nap, then lunch at about 1.30 till 2.30 - let him have a good suck on his veg & then bf at 3 and then short nap a bit later. but this only works if he gets up about 7 - i'm having the same probs as you meg !

I do feel a bit like Im constantly feeding him in one way or another !

i think things may happen a bit faster for you Meg as you're pureeing. BTW i got really worried about the gagging, so have decided to try him with porridge and it's helped get him used to swallowing, so we're now back to BLWing. TBH i wouldn't drop a feed just yet, not till you're in a regular breakfast / lunch pattern - my friend did purees and dropped the 11am feed about 4 weeks in to weaning.

[MegBusset]

Thanks all, this thread has been pretty helpful. Witchandchips your routine sounds like what we're working towards.

Puffy, on a slight tangent, do you make porridge with EBM, formula or water? I dont want to give LO formula (can't anyway at the moment because he is on dairy- and soya-free diet due to eczema) but I'm not sure porridge with water would be very nice, I have dusted off never-used breast pump to try with EBM but not sure I'd have time to pump in the morning before his brekko...

[ImBarryScott]

hi meg
quick thought re the porridge.
if you're making it with water how about adding mashed banana/pureed apricots/pureed berries for a nice fruity brekkie?

[choolie]

Hi Meg
Can you express the night before for the porridge? EBM is ok in the fridge for 24 hours I think, altho' I don't tend to leave it that long. i'm like you, don't have time to express before DS's brekkie, but have a couple of days stock in the freezer now - and if you manage to get a good enough amount out first thing, you can get a few days worth so can freeze in individual little bags?

[puffylovett]

hi meg, i make a tablespoon of porridge with 3 tablespoons of water so it's nice and soft and then add about a tablespoon of ebm.

it's ok at room temp for 8-12 hours but to be honest, for that amounbt of milk i just plug in the nips for about a minute, or just use some that i've set aside for his night feed.

however the other day i gave it with sweet potato, he seemed to like that

r u bfing ? are you avoiding dairy too ? does he have a confirmed dairy allergy ? and how is it going ? i ask because ds also has a scalp full of eczema, anoter reason i'm going slowly with the foods. however, my diet is appalling at the mo so i'm wondering if that's whats caused it to flare so badly.

well and truly hijacked your thread, sorry !

[MegBusset]

Hi Puffy, DS doesn't have confirmed dairy allergy/intolerance, but he does have moderate eczema and cutting eggs & milk out of my diet was the paediatrician's suggestion. I have to do it for 3 weeks, though I have to say that after one week I haven't noticed any difference. (Should clarify that he is BF and weaning only started a couple of weeks ago.)

So do you not bother heating up the porridge? I am also not sure whether to heat DS' food or not. So far he will eat anything sweet but turns his nose up at most savoury things.

Finally, does anyone know how long in advance I can make up baby rice?

[tatty33]

I've been trying to muddle through timings/ quantities for days now, and the suggested times make a lot of sense.

The thing I don't get is if no milk gets reduced is there a danger of over feeding, or are our littles ones going to be burning up so many more calories soon?

We're on bottles now so should I start making up less milk if he's enjoying meals?

Any advice very much welcome