My baby is far to busy to BF!

[Backinthebox]

He is 7 months old and would like me to sit there with no top on so he can have a little sip and then get on with whatever thing he is fascinated with. Getting him to buckle down and have a proper feed is nearly impossible! He has always been a tricky to feed baby, but now he is just more interested in the big wide world than feeding. My husband things he is self weaning, but isn't it a bit early for that? He is really into his solids though, and is a hefty lad.

My daughter had to be fought off the boob at 11 months, so it is a surprise to have to be encouraging him. He is currently making up for it at night, but I've put that down to a bit of teething comfort sucking

My dd started going on and off the boob at 8 months after feeding brilliantly before that. She also started poking my boobs and giggling. I took that as a sign to move to bottles and it really was a natural progression for her. Similarly, getting rid of bottles was never and issue for dd just natural progression.

Others would say persevere but it's what feels right for your child and you.

Hey Backinthebox, my DD is really interested in her surroundings too. Gone are the days when we were stuck on the sofa feeding.

My DD is 7 months old too and I've been doing research on weaning for a while. On Kellymom there is a bit about self-weaning which really only naturally happens when the child is aged 2-4 years (something like that).

If you would like your little one to breastfeed more, perhaps cut back on the solids as milk should be their main source of nutrition just now anyway. Guess it depends on your situation though. I'm back at work now so can't breastfeed as much as I'd like to!

I would say this is absolutely normal, there is far too much going on for him to miss out on. I am also sure that this is not an indicator that you need to stop breastfeeding. One of my best moments was looking down to find that DS had stopped feeding, and was squeezing my nipple with his fist, showering himself with milk.

I have found this works for us: When DS is "snacking", and has come off to mess around, only to start feeding again when I go to stop a few times, I stop the feed, play with him, maybe offer a solid snack, but leave offering a boob for a little while, say half an hour or so, until he starts looking for it fairly intently. Repeat as necessary. When he is hungry enough, he will settle down and feed, as long as we aren't anywhere really busy/interesting.

Feeding in a quiet place (no TV, chatter, passers by, flapping bunting outside...) or using a nursing cover might help (DS just fights with mine though), a bf necklace can also provide a focus.

Like the others have said it sounds perfectly normall and I too doubt he is self weaning, there is a link here on babies self weaning before 12 months.

Thought you might like this link too. I give some good tips on getting them to take more during the day and less at night.