Which feed to drop next?

[Cashew]

Hi,
I'm BF my 11 month old DD twice a day - first thing & before bed.
I can't decide which feed would be the next one to go & can't remember what I did with DS.
Can anyone shed some light?
Thanks.

Just out of interest when did you drop down to 2 a day and when did LO start having 3 meals a day?

Oh and I am a first time Mum but FWIW my friend told me her LO dropped the morning one first as he was so keen to get up and go for the day. He didn't even notice! The night time feed was more a wind down snuggly time so that feed stayed for a while longer.

Hope that helps!

I dropped to 2 feeds last week.
It was her 9am feed that went, I kept it on for a lot longer than she physically needed, but it was, bizarrely, by far her favourite comfort time of the day (maybe as it was on return from the nursery dash & so a chill out quiet time!)
I return to work in 3 weeks so it was time to say goodbye to 9am!
Her desire for food fluctuates a lot, she has been offered 3 meals a day since about 8 months but her intake varies a lot. Some days she eats for Britain & others she's just not interested. (I haven't noticed a change in this related to dropping feeds.)
Thanks for your reply greeneone12.

I'm doing similar at the moment Cashew but am just behind you and planning to drop the mid-afternoon feed today (wish me luck!). Next I was going to do the morning one and just get ds straight out of bed and get breakfast instead of bringing him into bed with me for a feed. Though at the moment he is waking between 5am and 6am for the day and I don't really fancy getting up that early

Does your DD drink milk from a cup/bottle? I've swapped the mid-morning feed for cow's milk in a cup and DS only drinks 50ml at most.

Early morning feed is nice as you dont have to rush out of bed for a hungry baby but bedtime is a nice way of settling, which is more important to you/baby

I am confused. I thought the little ones drop feeds themselves when food increases? Is this not so? Sorry for all the qn's but we are coming up to the last 3 months of LO's first year and am interested!

Green My DS is 9m (today :)) and dropped his afternoon feed himself about a month ago. He is on one at bedtime, one at about 4.30am and one at about 11am. Hes just (first time last night, so fingers crossed!) dropped his midnight feed too. I'm back in work in six weeks, and aiming to have him on one morning and one bedtime by then, as I wont be able to feed him in the day. Hes been eating three proper meals a day since about 6.5 months, he eats loads!

We're doing the same here. DD is nearly 7 months and am back to work in 4 weeks. I've replaced the morning bf (post nursery dash for DS) and she has a dreamfeed (bottle) at around 10pm, although I plan to leave drop this soon too. I still feed her first thing when she wakes (5.30am ish) and at bedtime (7pm). I also feed an hour or so after lunch but I need to start thinking about replacing this too soon. She won't take from a cup, only a bottle and takes approx 5oz formula.

Sometimes she will have two meals, sometimes three per day, it just depends on what we are doing and when she is sleeping. There is no set routine really and she has a mix of finger foods and spoon......although spoon feeding is rapidly being declined as 'Miss Independant' has her own ideas on how to do things

I would like to carry on bf her morning and evening when I'm back at work but will just see how it goes.

Green - I'd say it is a joint effort at dropping feeds between me & DD! Some I've dropped almost without her noticing, some she has taken less so I've taken the hint & others (10.30pm is a perfect example) I tried to drop & she complained a lot so I restarted for a bit, then dropped easily.

Rita - your LO sounds just like mine - drinks cows milk from a sipper cup, but never more than about an inch (not sure how many ml that is!), and usually just a few enthusiastic sips then she gives up. I'm hoping this changes when I've given up BF, or else she'll have to have a lot of yogurts! .

Harriet - your response got me thinking - morning important for me (selfishly!) to get a few more mins in bed (early rising at mo!) But evening more important to LO. I guess that gives me my answer.... (reaches for the matchsticks to keep eyes open!!)

greeneone - DS dropped feeds himself, from 8ish at 5 months to 4 a day now at 11 months (though I prompted him to drop the night feeds!). I'm not really dropping feeds so much as swapping them for cow's milk now as I think I'm going to stop breastfeeding at 12 months. Or maybe I'll keep doing the morning and bedtime feeds and give him cow's milk in the day, I'm a bit conflicted about what I want to do

Babies/children will eventually self wean but are unlikely to do so before 2 of you feed on demand, so that's a bit of a commitment!

I really don't want to feed past 1 so might start to do what you do Rita and start introducing a bit of cows milk now. Maybe just at the end of each feed so she gets a taste. We are on 4 now she is 8 months but she is not eating all that well so will be a while before she starts dropping feeds.

ideally a baby drops the feeds themselves, but many parents choose to encourage it. I did with my first two for no reason other than I thought its just what you are "supposed" to do. I then went on to research why people chose to continue past a year and was very disapointed in my earlier choices. I wished I knew then what I do now. and with DD I have done complete baby led weaning and allowed her to cut back on BF herself up to about 24 months and then I encouraged her to feed less during the day so that we fed only in the morning and after dinner (she had dropped the before bed one herself many month previously) about 3 months ago I cut out the after dinner one and now at almost 30 months its just first thing in the AM in our bed.
With my sons whom I did encourage to wean at 1 I found that both of them clung onto a different feed so I would say play it by ear and whichever it is she is more attached to continue with.