If you bf your 14 mth old - how often do you feed and how long for?

[extremelychocolateymilkroll]

Sorry - this is quite long.

I'm bf my dd during the day and in the evening she takes a bottle of about 250ml of cow's milk. I bf her for 4-5 mins each side first thing at about 7.30am and then for about the same length of time at 11.30/12. I then feed her again for a similar time at about 4.30. She then takes her bottle of cow's milk at 7.30pm. For the last couple of days she has been really difficult to get on to the breast at her normal time of 4.30pm. She starts to cry and I have to wait for 30 minutes or so to get her to feed. Does this mean I should be dropping this feed? If I do any tips on how to drop the feed without getting mastitis?

Also, do you find that at this age they get easily distracted and if so, what's the best way of getting their attention without being mauled? TIA

Could you try to drop the 4.30 feed and give her a bedtime bf instead of the cows milk?
I'm no expert, but I would have thought if you do that your milk supply will soon sort itself out as you're just pushing a feed back, not dropping it.

I feed my 12.5 mo DD when she wakes (7-8ish) then again late afternoon (4ish), and then bedtime. She also varies between no night feeds and up to two night feeds depending on how she's feeling...
I couldn't say how long she feeds for. She generally takes both sides but the time she spends on each side varies depending on how she's feeling, eg if she is sleepy or just feeling cuddly she seems to stay on for longer. If she wants to get on with sonething more exciting she is on and off v quickly.

I don't really have any tips re distractability. I tend to just feed at home, where there's not so much to distract her. If I feed out and about it's because she's 'asked' for it, so she's fairly hungry/thirsty so quite intent on the job in hand.

Hope that's of some help.

ds has just turned 15m. Tbh his bf's are quite variable. We normally wake up with a feed, normally just a few mins, but he will have fed during the night too...sometimes just latching on and falling back asleep, sometimes a proper bf, sometimes cheese on toast!

He very occasionaly has a short bf in the morning. And normally has a good 20min in the afternoon, unless something more exciting is happening.

Then a couple of feeds prior to bed. The length of these varies and is getting shorter, prob is i'm pg so supply is low.

He has occasional cows milk, mainly if he gets the carton out of the fridge! That's a clear hint really!

No tips for distraction i'm afraid. If he's not bothered i just let him go. His appetite for bm varies by mood, what else is going on and solids eaten. He'll let me know if he wants it!

Sorry ment to add, i'm no expert but i personally don't worry about mastitus...ds regularly misses feeds and i don't get any engorgement, i think my supply is settled enough for this not to be a problem for me personally (and this is pre pg i'm thinking about too) Do you find yo get much engorgement? Could you express just enough to relieve this and so reduce risk of infection?

Thanks very much KDO. It's interesting to hear when you feed your little one.
I have been very lucky with sleeping as she has slept through from a very early age. I had to express early on so she has had a bottle at night almost from the beginning and in my mind that's linked to her sleeping through. I would be terrified to give that up in case she started to wake up in the night.

Thanks MoonFace. Just saw your posts. I don't seem to get engorgement but I do seem to be very susceptible to the flu like symptoms. I'm still expressing in the evening - just 4-5 minutes each side and I only get about 20-30ml - but when I reduce the time even by a minute or so the symptoms are there just like that.

My DD Is 14 months and she BF twice a day. As soon as she gets up (about 6am) and just before bed (7pm). She has both sides at each feed and only feeds around 2-3 mins each side in the morning and 5-10 mins in the evening.
She was taking 3 feeds a day at 12 months and after that I just stopped offering her the midday feed and she never asked for it. She drinks water during the day as she won't drink cows milk.
I don't think you need to worry about mastitis if she is just dropping one feed at a time. I certainly had no problems even when DD went through a stage of refusing the night time feed and my supply kept up when she started taking it again.

DS was having 5 feeds a day at that age I think and probably one at night. He went on nursing strike for a fortnight at 13 months and went from 6+ feeds a day to just 3. I didn't have any problems with engorgement.

Dd is 13.5 months, & we've just cut down to 1 bf per day, before bed, about 10 mins each side. Prior to that, she was also having one first thing. This has actually seemed to solve a problem I was having on one side with a recurrent blocked duct, as I don't think she was taking a lot at the morning feed. Don't know what we'll do next, as she absolutely refuses to drink cow's milk or formula, & I rely on that night feed to settle her for bed! She also usually has one yoghurt & one fromage frais during the day.

blimey, my 12 months old feeds about 6 times in the day and 6-10 times overnight . he's a really good eater, and only average size but very active, what is he doing with it all!

very interested to hear what others are doing. i hope in 2 months he'll be feeding less and i'll get some sleep and even, whisper, an evening out!

sorry OP, realised i offered no anwsers to your questions! i'd think if it is a battle to get your dd to take an afternoon feed she's ready to drop it and you could bf her at bedtime or just continue with your cows milk. perhaps offer to bf at 5pm for a bit, then 5.30pm etc and if she doesn't want it then it will merge with the bedtime feed.

distractablitiy - a soft toy she can handle when bf? a nursing necklace?

I've never fed from both sides - well, not since the early weeks of bfing. DS always fell asleep before I had time to swap him so we just never got into a rhythm of switching. Now, at 15 months, he feeds first thing, say about 7:30am, then after lunch to send him off to sleep (naughty mummy, I know) then maybe once in the late afternoon and again before bed - it's the only way he's ever gone to sleep! Sometimes we might squeeze a little feed in mid-morning but only if he's being cranky. And I feed him in the night if he wakes. I don't think he takes in that much any more, think a lot of it is comfort sucking.

He doesn't have any other milk or liquids apart from lots of water.

My dd is almost 14 months and feeds in the morning at roughly 6am and in the evening at roughly 7.30pm. Occasionally my dd will ask for a feed during the day but not alot anymore, and only when we are at home. With regards to length of feeds, my dd feeds for approx 7-10 minutes on one breast then a couple of minutes on the other in the morning. Length of feed varies at night, depends on how sleepy she is etc.
I don't get engorgement at all and did not when my dd started dropping daytime feeds around 10 months. I just figured that my breasts would adapt as my dd's feeding patterns changed. In fact my breasts are always soft these days. Do you express in the evening to keep a supply of expressed milk or just to empty your breasts? The reason I ask is because if you keep expressing your breasts will keep supplying so it might be better to stop expressing and only feed when your dc demands. Natural weaning is usually a very gradual process over many months.

Thank you so much for all of your replies. Very interesting to hear the range very different feeding patterns.

weasle thanks for the tip. I do try toys but she has this little habit of throwing them on the floor and refusing to cotinue feeding until I pick them up for her.
harverina I was initially expressing to give her some bm along with the cow's milk at night but have really reduced the time spent expressing and would like to stop altogether but have been wary about mastitis. I think I will have to try again to stop expressing.

To those of you who are not giving formula as well as bm, do you worry about iron deficiency? A paediatritian I saw recently said I might like to consider giving her formula instead of cow's milk as it is fortified with iron. He did also say that dd didn't look anaemic and I try to make sure she has red meat 2 or 3 times a week - though I'm not sure if this is sufficient or how much meat she should have as a portion. TIA

Hello, I have only ever fed from one side at a time and DD is 9 months old.

With regard to iron, I've been giving dd vitamin drops (Abidec) since we started weaning, at 6 months, on the advice of a paediatrician, & will continue to do so. She also has red meat prob 2-3 times per week. I'm generally not a great believer in vitamins for the sake of it, I think it's much better to get nutrients from food where possible, however babies & children have so much growing & developing to do, I'd prefer not to take any chances. I would've thought that giving formula in place of cow's milk would be an alternative to vitamins. It's not just the iron that's important, but also vitamin D, as deficiency in this nutrient is a widespread problem.

By the way, I should probably explain my 1 bf per day, I work part time, & on the days I work, am out long hours, hence this feeding pattern has evolved! She has continued to maintain her centile line, so I'm confident this is sufficient for her, & I ensure she has a good intake of dairy products every day.

We don't do iron drops. I'm veggy, ds is yet to have any meat, but when tested my iron levels have always been great. There is a lot of iron added to formula but i think it is questionable how much is bioavailable (can be absorbed) so imvho you are better off with meat and bm (iron in bm is very bioavailable). Plus iron can cause constipation.

Definitely true about iron & constipation (have experienced this), however dd has never had a problem in this regard with the vitamin drops. I guess every child reacts differently though.

Thanks again for your replies. I also give dd Abidec and had heard that the iron in formula wasn't that easily absorbed.

Have just seen this. Please excuse that it comes from a formula site but it does seem to have useful advice.

Sorry - meant to say that this website roughly calculates how much iron your baby is getting per day.