Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

9 month DD and feeding

27 replies

Zimm · 13/05/2011 14:04

Hi all,

Have not posted on this board for ages - found it v helpful in early days. My 9 month DD is EBF plus 3 meals a day. Typically she has five feeds a day plus 1 night feed. But all feeds are very short - 5 minutes really. Is this typical? should I drop a feed to make other feeds longer? She basically has other thing she wants to be doing in the day than feeding! I really want to ensure she has a decent amount of BM still. How many feed are others of similar age doing?

OP posts:

Albrecht · 13/05/2011 14:11

ds is 10 months and probably has more feeds than that but still isn't eating much solid food. But often only feeds for 5 mins or less.

I think you can trust her to take what she needs. I wouldn't bother trying to drop a feed unless you have to for some practical reason.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 13/05/2011 16:54

Zimm don't think your DD would sleep so well if she was hungry. Think that everything sounds ok to me too.

Original poster

Zimm · 13/05/2011 18:38

Thanks I am not worried that she is hungry, more worried she is filling up on solids rather than milk. But she doesn't actually eat a huge amount of solids so I guess it's fine! Good to hear short feeds are normal.

OP posts:

jandmmum · 13/05/2011 20:01

I had been thinking of posting something similar. DD also 9 months is down to 3 feeds a day and doesn't particularly request any of them but she does eat like a horse. She is blw and eats twice that of 3yo DS. Don't know where she puts it though as she is a petite thing and only gaines 3oz in last 6 weeks. She is in nursery 3 days and has a bottle of ebm, where she will take from 2-7oz. Gutting when she has only 2 as I know the rest has gone down the sink! Not sure if I should try to increase her intake but with bf it's hard to know how when she's not demanding.

jandmmum · 13/05/2011 20:02

ps sorry for hijack but advice welcome

jandmmum · 15/05/2011 04:32

anyone?

cinnamongreyhound · 15/05/2011 07:52

Ds1 had 3 feeds a day until 9 months then dropped to 2, he had a bottle of ebm with his childminder which was 9oz and he drained it. Ds2 is 8 months and is down to 3 bf a day too he is sometime up at night and if he is woken up from a nap he will often have an extra one. He has only just taken to solids in a big way, although he ate everything would never eat more than half what I offered but in last few weeks eats all and crys when it's gone at times. I have always demand fed my two and continue to do so, which has worked well and I trust that ds2 will let me know when he wants milk and I respond. I don't know how much he's having as he's with me so doesn't have a bottle but he is following 75th centile well and is a happy little thing. Plus don't forget they will have other sources of dairy now too. A friend I saw yesterday told me her hv said a petit filous yogurt is the same as 2oz formula, not sure about this but something to think about!

jandmmum · 15/05/2011 18:20

thanks cinnamon. DD has always been a little difficult to totally rely on demand feeding as she would go too long when she was little so I've got used to going more by the clock, if she demands I of course feed but particularly since being on solids she hardly demands. She does have lots of yogurt. 2-3 dessert spoons of Greek yogurt after most evening meals. She also loves cheese although I limit that a little due to salt content.

organiccarrotcake · 15/05/2011 19:45

5 minute feeds are ok but I would recommend offering more often if possible :)

organiccarrotcake · 15/05/2011 19:48

Sorry, reading and posting in a rush and mis-read.

3 feeds a day at 9/10 months is low but 5-6 is great. 5 minutes for a feed is fine at this age as they are very efficient.

HTH and sorry for rushing.

MummaHG · 16/05/2011 13:33

After reading these posts im now worried my 8 month old isnt having enough BM, he only feeds morning & at bed time but still wakes up 2/3 times during the night. My HV said its fine as he has a varied diet & eats really well, do you think i should encourrage more bf in the day??
Sorry for hijacking :)

cinnamongreyhound · 16/05/2011 13:47

I personally don't think it's a problem but organiccarrotcake obviously disagrees. When I had ds1 I was told by hv to try and drop his 4pm by 9months. Bf is so personal to the baby, the milk changes, how efficient they are at feeding changes and babies are pretty good at letting you know what they need. I don't see how anyone can say that x number of feeds are not enough as everyone is different. As a newborn ds2 had 6-8 feeds a day (his decision not mine) and now at 8 months and having 3 meals a day including dairy I don't see why he should be having 5-6 bf a day. He's very content on 3-4 bf a day but I will go and see if I can find some recommended volumes even if it's formula to give a rough idea. I'm not an expert but just go by my baby and common sense :)

ILoveDrKarl · 16/05/2011 13:55

DTs are now 8.5m and have just dropped their afternoon milk feed. They now just have 2 milk feeds a day - breakfast and dinner. They have 200-250ml at each of those feeds and in addition to that are getting plenty of dairy from other sources like yoghurts, cheese, sauces etc...

Recommendations for this age are approx 500ml-600ml per day minimum (which includes what they get in foods) which my girls easily get. Remember though that just as the dairy/milk intake is important, so too is getting enough fluids. If you are EBF then all fluids will be coming from BFs and therefore you will need to be offering more. If they are taking cups of water though like my girls do then they will be getting plenty of fluids from that too and will need the milk for the sake of the milk rather than also for the sake of fluids, iyswim.

My girls eat 3 full meals a day of "normal" food as well as an afternoon snack. They drink water with lunch and with their afternoon snack and guzzle it - easily 300ml a day.

As an example - yesterday they had...
8am - weetabix & rice krispies mixed with formula and a cup of formula for breakfast (full milk intake was about 230ml)
11.45am - pancake, little cubes of cheese, 1/2 slice of "nice" ham pureed fruit pot and 3 dessert spoonfuls of yoghurt each, along with a cup of water.
2.30pm - small plain animal biscuits and 1/2 small box of raisins each, along with a cup of water.
5pm - chilli con carne and rice with grated cheese and sour cream and a cup of formula milk. (drank about 200ml)

My 2 older children were also down to 2 milk feeds at around about 9 months and they are fine!

RitaMorgan · 16/05/2011 13:57

I have a feeling breastfed babies will be taking a much smaller volume of milk in each feed than a bottle fed baby - certainly not 200ml per feed.

ILoveDrKarl · 16/05/2011 14:04

That's it exactly Rita! Because I know what the girls are drinking I know it's fine to just give them water during the day (and a heck of a lot easier than making up milk feeds!). Also - they love water and I do think it's good to get them used to drinking something other than milk and also out of a cup as early as you can.

cinnamongreyhound · 16/05/2011 14:08

On the rare occasion ds2 has ebm from a bottle he has 6oz but ds1 would have 9oz not sure of conversion. I think it varies so much from baby to baby. Both my boys had water from a beaker from 4months and the volume increased as their bf decreased.

ILoveDrKarl · 16/05/2011 14:21

6oz is about 180ml / 9oz is about 27ml - roughly.

ILoveDrKarl · 16/05/2011 14:21

oops - sorry that should read 270ml - NOT 27ml!

RitaMorgan · 16/05/2011 14:25

Yes, mine will chug gallons from a bottle too But given that the amount of milk a breastfed baby consumes doesn't increase with age in the way formula consumption does, I suspect each breastfeed is smaller volume - for instance, at 5 months ds would take 6-7oz from a bottle whereas each breastfeed was probably around 3oz.

bemmabegan · 16/05/2011 14:26

My 9 month old dd is bfeeding 5 times a day(generally short drinks apporox 5 mins)plus eating 3 meals a day often with yoghurt and cheese. She is starting to lose interest in her afternoon feed so I'm not offering it her unless she lets me know otherwise. However she has started to wake up an hour after her last feed and gone to bed, demanding a feed. We have her 8 month review tomorrow so am going to ask HV if feeding her enough, will post if any interesting info.

Original poster

Zimm · 16/05/2011 17:40

Hello all good to see some more discussion on this thread.

So today DD has had:

7am - 5 min BF
8am Weetabix with cows milk plus a plum yoghurt
11am - 5 min BF (Drink)
12.30pm - Lunch - 1/3 banana, half a rice cake, bit of cheese, bit of salad, bit of potato - not much really
2.00pm 5 min BF
4.30pm - 5 min BF
5.00pm Dinner - pasta with lentils, vege sauce, finger foods of broccoli and baby sweetcorn and a plum yoghurt.
She will have a ten min BF at seven and probably 1 night feed.

So -- should I offer BF less frequently to make her take more? Less solids? i don't think she has loads of solid,really.

Or does this look ok?

OP posts:

RitaMorgan · 16/05/2011 18:12

Sounds fine to me.

bemmabegan · 18/05/2011 09:58

saw the hv yesterday discussed concerns about whether bfeeding dd. She has advised that, because Im due back at work in July,(dd will be 12 mths in August)to drop my day feeds and bfeed early and evening. As she has 3 meals a day its ok to do this. If I feel she is not having enough milk, I can give her yoghurts and custard type things. I amm going to drop my feeds gradually starting with the afternoon one abd then the mid morning.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 18/05/2011 10:14

bemma if you are dropping feeds I'd give a Bfing Counsellor a call and have a chat with her. Don't want to undermine your HV but it may be best to check the advice out before you start.

bemmabegan · 18/05/2011 10:57

thanks JJJ didnt think of that.

Flip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread