Number of feeds to sustain breastfeeding after 6 months?

[MoonUnitAlpha]

I assume that by 6 months supply is pretty robust, but I was wondering how many feeds a day you can "get away with" and still continue to breastfeed?

Going back to work so would only be able to feed morning/late afternoon/bedtime Monday-Friday. Would it be better to stick to the same schedule on the weekend or increase feeds then?

Yes and yes Checkmate! Although the latch never seems quite right and I can't seen in the dark, so she does make me quite sore sometimes.

MUA - that's as a main drink though yes? In the same way that I wouldn't give her any other protein-rich food too often? Can't imagine it's a problem used on cereal, or presumably we shouldn't be giving any other protein rich foods either?

Yes, just meant that's why people are happy to give formula but not cow's milk. It's not a problem on cereal or in mashed potato or whatever.

We co-sleep after the second nightfeed but I often can't get comfortable (aching hips) or getting too cold as only have duvet over my legs.

GS - what do u mean by protein rich foods? DS has chicken and steak etc already...are we doing something wrong?

The small amounts of protein a baby would get from meat is much less then they would get from having 5 bottles of cow's milk a day, so I don't think it's an issue.

No HotGiggity - not at all! I was just checking that cow's milk is OK in small quantities just like meat, fish etc - it's fine, as I thought. Protein is of course essential.

I stand corrected - didn't realise cow's milk was OK in cooking before 12 months. That's good, I don't really want to give DS formula so that sorts that one

Glad to help.

Really interested in this thread: gaelic my plan is exactly the same as yours! We're 3 weeks into it (working on Mon-Tues) and it's going pretty well - I'm trying to express though and it's tougher than I thought to provide enough for food and a bottle during the days I'm not with DD. I've been thinking about mixed feeding but posts here seem to agree with what my HV said - that it's really not the end of the world if a 7mo doesn't have EBM/ any FF during the day as long as she has enough in the morning/ at night.
Expressing really is hard work isn't it? I'm full of admiration for ladies who can keep it up...

Just wanted to say that if you live in the Uk that you have the right to have time from work to breastfeed your little one or express.
www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/en/materialforclients/downloads/leaflet_4.pdf

This leaflet explains your rights to breastfeed at work. I hope that this helps some moms out there. I continued to breastfeed my daughter when I returned to work and had this leaflet handy if I experienced any problems but I was very lucky as my work were great.

TCOB

Expressing is definitely hard work but I'd do it if she'd drink it! But for the sake of the odd couple of oz she may or may not drink from a cup, I'd rather avoid the hassle.