7mo down to 3 feeds a day - is this enough?

[Moulesfrites]

My 7 mo ds is ebf. He is now on 3 meals a day, and during the day only has bfs first thing, mid pm and at bedtime. He was having one mid morning but the past few dats he has just not been interested. He is hot and miss with his solids - he wolfs them down one day and other days is not bothered, and never eats huge quantities He is contented and has always tracked the 91 st centile

Nights area different matter - he can feed between 2 and 4 times at night, so I wondered at first if there was an element of reverse cycling going on but I have monitored it and it does not seem to be related to the amount of milk or solids he has during the day - on the days when he had not had the mid morning feed he has actually slept better!

I know I am supposed to feed on demand but tbh during the day he doesn't really seem to demand at all- I feed him mid afternoon and he takes it, bit he never kicks off if it is later than usual.

I am just worried because I read on here about 2/3 yo having 4/5 bfs a day!

Sorry for typos!

With a child under 1 I think its best to think about how many feeds they have in a 24 hour period rather than day/night. if you look at the max number of feeds he has in 24 hrs its 7.

At 7 months he is hitting a classic distraction age and its common for babies his age to feed less frequently or become tricky to feed, doesn't mean he is self weaning or doesn't need bm anymore.
I know how tricky it is to feed a reluctant feeder however, my middle child did this at just shy of one and regretably i gave up. :(

Some ways to re ballance his solids/bm intake are to allways offer boob before food. try to "remind" him to feed in the day time go to a darkened quite calm place to feed with no distractions, and of course allways feed him when he requests.
If you don't allready you could try co-sleeping lots of mums find this enables them to cope better with babies who like to night feed and still feel rested. sometimes a reluctant feeder will feed well in their sleep.

Ooh forgot to add, another tactic that lots of mums find works is to feed baby in a sling so they are presented with the breast right in front of them(what you can see allready seems more tempting hey0 and the enclosure of the sling helps cut distractions down too.

Kellymom recommends offering bf an hour before solids so that milk stays the main form of nutrition till 12 months.

ok thank you for the advice.

I do offer boob before breakfast and dinner, but with lunch it seems to be more difficult to fit it in because of his nap.

He does feed really well in the night - you can hear him guzzling it down - people have told me that night feeds are "just for comfort" but I am convinced it is when he is having the most of his calories!!

I can cope with the night feeds at the minute. Can I just carry on as I am of he is getting enough over 24 hours or do you think I need to actively address this reverse cycling, if that is what it is, and do something?

I go back to work at 11.5 months and had planned just to be down to am and m feeds by then - I have been assured on here that this will be ok but that it might lead to more night wakings - just when I will actually need my sleep?

if the reverse cycling doesn't bother you, then it is not a problem, if you feel you'd rather address it then I'd say drop solids at llunch time and bf instead then perhaps offer solids later on in the day say mid afternoon, milk is more important than solids at this age and there is plenty of time for filling up on food later but at 7 months milk is more important.
As for going back to work, well only you know how you will feel about this, co-sleeping helps lots of mums cope with night feeds at this time, and of course you could try pumping and leaving ebm in a sippy cup for your care provider to give during the day to ensure he still gets a fair amount of bm during the day. though if you do go down this route you may find pumping is easier the sooner you begin as it can be quite tricky for some mums and buillding a stash pre return to work can be helpfull.

I feel so much better having read all the advice here. I'm weaning as well but it's been strange the last few weeks as the night feeds seem to have increased again. I thought I was doing something wrong until I read all your comments. My DD is 7.5 mnths too and I plan on going back to work soon so I too was thinking of reducing BF down to morning and night. Lots of confusion caused by Dr Hillary on TV saying DD doesn't need feeds at night, but I too have been convinced she's hungry so I've BF and sometimes co-slept so that I could get enough rest.

Thanks from me too - 7.5 months and feeding all night. However, I can't cope with the night wakings as can't feed lying down. I suppose I just have to try to get more milk into DD during the day somehow. We already only bf in quiet, dark room. She wont let dh with EBM be a substitute either :(