How much with solids?

[boyandgirl]

My dd is 7m and loves her solids. She also gets 5 breastfeeds a day and doesn't seem ready to drop any of them except the last-thing-at-night one, which we're going to try dropping this weekend. Trouble is, she's very difficult to feed: thrashing around and yanking at the nipple, and my boobs are constantly bruised and scratched. Also I can only give her a full feed lying down in a quiet room, otherwise she's just too interested in the world. It's very restricting, it feels like we're back to newborn stage where the whole day is taken up by feeding and sleeping. I'm getting stir-crazy, and so is ds. Has anyone got any idea how to get dd to feed more placidly/more efficiently/less frequently?

my 7 month old is also a pain to feed at the beginning, he thrashes around to see what's going on, until he gets let down and then he settles to drink. The trouble is he's messing around so much, the let down takes ages. He still drinks 4 times per day, I dropped the last thing at night feed about a month ago. (I gave him water in a bottle instead and after 2 nights he stopped waking for it) He also eats LOADS of solids, and doesn't show any signs of dropping any of the other feeds (although I feel freer without the late night one) so no real advice I'm afraid, just to let you know you're not the only one!

I definately would try and get out of lying down to feed - definately too restrictive. If she is messing about leave the feed and offer it later. She will eventually settle to feed if she is thirsty enough.

My ds thrashes around and I let him pull off to be nosy three times and then I pack my boobs away Doesn't work though, he just took less and less from me until I started to think my milk was drying up. He's just 7 months, and solids are instant satisfaction on a spoon, water is instant satisfaction from a beaker and he can't be bothered waiting for let down. I cut out the water I was offering him after his solids and he has started to take more from me again. Still squirmy though, arches his back and my nipple twangs like elastic...makes feeding in public a real nightmare as I try to swap him between breasts to get let down. Sigh. We're down to three big feeds and a snack now. I do want to keep bf going until the end of the year, but I'm not sure he does!

Nome, I tried that too, and also felt that I might be drying up, so went back to frequent feeding despite the thrashing. I hate having to send ds out of the room while I feed but dd adores him and the slightest sound or sight of him and the feed is forgotten.

Mears, I haven't yet given dd dairy foods, but if I do will that reduce the number of breastfeeds she needs?

I had such difficulty establishing bfing that I'm constantly afraid that if she doesn't feed completely that I will dry up and not have enough for when she wants to feed.

boyandgirl - to be truthful I probably would cut back on the solids for a bit if you feel that she is going off the breast. It would be better to keep breastmilk going until she is a year. How much solid food does she have? Do you B/F before or after solids. Does she get B/F inbetween meals as such?

I did cut back the solids to about 2/3 of what she had been getting, but she is clearly desperate for more.

DD's breasfteeds are typically before breakfast, after mid-am nap, after pm nap, bedtime. Sometimes she asks for more, and it doesn't seem to relate to whether or not she's had a complete feed earlier. She's still being woken for a 10pmish feed (she hasn't woken by herself for it for a couple of weeks).

She gets about the equivalent to inbetween a 4m and 7m jar at each meal, usually home-made, plus things like rusks, rice crackers and raw fruit. She usually has 4-6oz water over the day.

When you say 'It would be better to keep breastmilk going until she is a year.' do you mean that I should avoid giving dairy products?

boyandgirl - doesn't she have B/F along with her meals? Are you consciously weaning her from the breast?You can give dairy produce such as yogurts and use cow's milk in cooking. She should not have cow's milk as a main drink at this age. So even though she gets cows milk in her diet she will still need breastfeeds. Does that help?

I don't quite see how she can get bf along with the meals as she gets covered in food through her enthusiasm and I'm not willing to get covered myself all that frequently! Also, it would be very disruptive to family meals for me to keep getting down to feed her.

I'm not consciously weaning her off the breast, I just want to find some way of regaining a bit of freedom for us (including ds). I'd be quite happy to feed 4-5 times a day if she'd only feed more placidly and quickly. There was a brief period at about 3-4m when she suddenly went from each feed taking about 40m-1h, to taking about 20m. Where have those blissful days gone!

I see your dilemma. When I fed my babies I tended to feed them before the family meal so that we could all eat in peace. It was only when they were sitting in a high chair that we all ate at the same time. I breastfed with all meals until about 8-9 months. I suppose you need to just keep offering in between, and sometimes she will take, sometimes not. I am sute though she is getting all the milk she needs in the 5 feeds you give her. She won't be fussy all the time - they all go through fazes - fussy bu**ers, babies

I guess I'll just have to keep going and hope she settles down sooner rather than later. I wonder whether she's too old for swaddling during a feed? I remember that worked very well on ds when he was much younger than dd. Might give it a try.

Thanks, mears.

Nome, Steppemum, how are your little thrashers? Maybe the thrashing has something to do with teething, because now that dd has cut her first two she seems to have settled down a little.

The 10pm feed is well-and-truly dropped and dh and I are going out for the evening next week for the first time in...a long time!

Mears, o fount of knowledge, for the occasional bottle that dd gets when I skip a feed, is cow's milk OK or should she get formula?

Milk should be expressed breast milk of formula prior to one year old when it is in place of a feed. At 8 months old I would give solids and juice/water to be honest, or if it inbetween I would give juice/water. For me there was no way on this earth that I was going to give formula at that age

Mears, once again, thanks

Little thrasher is zonked out from the heat...I am b/fing more often during the day at the moment, and offering water too as it is so hot We have just introduced breakfast, so he is now on three lots of solids a day, plus big b/f early morning, little b/f mid am and pm, b/f offered at 19.30 as he is put to bed and a 9oz bottle of formula at 23.00, which he sucks down as if he hasn't been fed all day! Not had him weighed since he was four months, but he is still a big/long baby. He loves his food though and is happy and smily and flirts with everyone. No teeth yet, the nipple twnging is enough on its own, I can wait quite a while for him to try it with teeth

Perhaps I'm tempting fate to say this, but thrasherette hasn't inflicted any extra pain by adding teeth to the equation

boyandgirl, I found with my dd that she was so very distracted during feeds at this age that I couldn't feed when anyone was around, with the tv on, with the dog in the room, with the light on...you get the picture. I used to feed her in her room with the light off and in silence just to get her to have a full feed. Babies are just sooo nosey! (especially girls I think!).
It was just a stage and I have encountered many other women who had the same prob. (whether breast or bottlefeeding) I hope it helps to know that it does pass and by about 9 months (I think) i could again feed her at the shops, or wherever. HTH

Yesterday I fed dd while walking around the museum at Kew Gardens! Not by any means a complete feed, and she probably only conceded to feed in such an environment at all because it was so sweltering that she was very thirsty.

I do hope this 'stage' will pass soon! It is easing, and I get the impression that dd doesn't desperately need to have every feed as a full feed, as long as first and last feeds are both good ones.

I was feeding her in bed under just a sheet this morning, and found that she happily grabbed, pinched and yanked away at the sheet instead of at my boobs. A relief!

Just wanted to concur with cathncait - my dd went through a terrible stage of being fussy during feeds at about the age of 7-8 months. It became more or less impossible to feed her in public because she was so easily distracted. And I started developing strategies like feeding her immediately after she'd had a nap in a quiet room, so that she was barely awake and would feed really well.

And exactly like cathncait's experience - my dd has now come through this phase. She's 13 months, still bfeeding 4 times a day, and I can happily feed her in cafes, shops etc. She won't feed for long - maybe 5-10 minutes, but I know she's getting enough.

I know quite a few breastfeeding women who give up at around this stage, saying that their baby was rejecting the breast, but I do wonder if it is just a stage that a lot of babies go through when they become more aware of the world about them and are too curious to focus on feeding.

Hang in there and hopefully it'll pass ...

Hello fellow mums-of-thrashers. Still thrashing?

Yup, still thrashing. But tolerable except for one leeeetle problem: she thrashes so badly now at the bedtime feed, that I don't think she's getting much. Certainly there's still plenty in my boobs when eventually we both give up and she goes to bed. And now, over the last few weeks, she's been waking at between 5 and 6am desperate for a feed and won't go back to sleep afterwards. And we're desperate for our sleep. I'm also desperate for her to sleep through so that I can put her in the same room as ds, and we can get our bedroom back to ourselves. So I'm sorely tempted to give her a bottle at bedtime, but I suspect (from our experience topping her up at 10-11pm just before starting solids) that she'll like the bottle so much that she'll reject the boob entirely at that feed.

(Oh joy. The little darling has been playing on the floor next to me while I post, and she has just thrown up the whole of this morning's feed. And she discovered that it's really lovely to dabble your fingers in it and spread the puddle around a little while mum dashes off to get a cloth. Don't you just love being a mum? )

B&G, just to laugh and commiserate.

Little .
xxxxx

Little thrasher has cut two teeth and I feel the days of bfing are numbered as I am fed up of being nipped. We're down to two and a half feeds a day, first thing, last thing and a snack sometime during the day. Is this enough milk for him? I took over the last feed and we got rid of the bottle, I am loathe to start him back on it. He is offered water with his solids and takes what he feels like drinking. Anyway, at his eight month check his weight gain had slowed and he was a svelte 11.54kg(!) and 78cm(!!). That was a couple of weeks ago and I don't think he's any lighter! Or shorter!

ds also brings all his milk back up at me if I 'force' him to bf. Little git. Why does he drink it in the first place? Gah. I hate sick...
So lots of sympathy B&G.

That is enough milk for him - I wouldn't stop just now though. The nipping stage should pass, it is really common at this age. When he nips, stop the feed. He will soon ealise he is losing out. You could give him expressed milk or formula from a cup if you did want to stop B/F - he does not need to have a bottle again at this age.

Thanks Mears. I know he gets enough to eat, I just wonder about the drink side of things.
I keep telling myself that he doesn't realise how much it hurts when he nips. He only has two bottom front teeth, so I'm not looking forward to him developing a bite!

NOme, if he's bringing it up he's prbably had too much! So don't worry about quantities. I think at that age babies get very good at regulating how much they need so don't push milk on him - it will only mean more cleaning up