Breastfeeding an 8 mth old

[Sai]

Hv told me today that ds should only be having 1 feed a day now (as opposed to 3 he gets at the mo) and the rest should be food.
Ds wakes up once at night and has a big feed.
Hv told me thats because he's not getting enough food in the day and doesn't really need bf anymore and I should feed him more food.

When I asked how as he eats 3 meals a day plus a snack and eats well and til he's full, she just shrugged and told me that I should work something out.

Am I getting rubbish advice again or is she right?

Rubbish advice. Bottle fed babies are still on 3 bottles at that age, why should breastfed be any different. I think actually DD was on breastfeeds morning and night and bottle feeds mid morning and mid afternoon. Then I dropped the mid-morning one at about 9 months.

If you are not happy about the waking at night, continue as you are with the solids but try and offer an extra breastfeed in the day.

I'm sure many other people will join this one, but I fed my dd til she was 11 months, and at that stage, and even now at 23 months, she has 3 drinks of milk a day, one at 8-30am (a late waker!), one after her nap at 3pm, and one before bed at 8pm. Hope this helps.

Sorry rubbish and very unhelpful. Mine were mixed fed by that age and probably on am and evening breastfeeds with an afternoon bottle of formula. They also had 3 "meals" a day.

tosh, sorry

Total rubbish, Sai. Babies still get a great deal of nutrition from milk (as they should!) until they're one.

WHY are health professionals so anti-bfeeding?! Gah!

Keep on with what you're doing - sounds like you're doing really well with him.

As for the shrugging and telling you to work something out...what I work out from that is she's a mental HV, I'm afraid.

Oh what rubbish. Milk is still very important at this age!

Would be interesting to know what she'd have said to you if it was three bottles your DS was having.

Thanks Bozza.
It just didn't sound right to me to be only giving him 1 feed a day.
Why are hv's so rubbish? I just don't get it.
I was shocked when I read here that someones hv was telling them to start giving solids to a 15 week old!
I know rubbish hvs have been the subject of a million and 1 threads but just had to rant.

Would echo Bozzas advice, what is it with HVs do they train them somewhere off the planet? They are obsessed with getting food into little babies stomachs and obsessed that if there is anything wrong with a BF baby you need to give formula!

Anyway DD was on about 5 feeds a day at 8 months, think I dropped one at 9 months and she was on 2 morning and night ones by 10 months. Milk should still be their main diet at this age, remember theres more calories in your milk than food.

Some babies will wake in the night for a feed for comfort not because they are hungry.

Oh, sorry - lots of replies.
Thanks everyone.

Hi Sai
My ds is 8mths and has 4 x bf a day and on ave 3 during the night . I offer 3 meals a day but tbh he's not always that interested and often doesn't eat very much at all in the way of solids. Wonder what your HV would say to me!
As I can't and wouldn't want to force him to eat more solids I think it is really important to keep up the bf.

my baby is 9months old and still has over 3 b/f a day as well as 3 meals and sometimes a night feed.

This is such utter garbage...apart from anything else, babies of eight months old may not be very adept at using a cup, and they may need several bf a day in order to stay hydrated, let alone well-fed.

Waking at night and feeding is normal behaviour.

so far everything that i have read suggests that milk,breast or bottle should remain the main source of nutrition until 1 year old and that they they should still be having 20oz a day (including milk used to cook food). my ds is 9 months old and still has 4 breastfeeds a day, although could probably drop the dream feed soon. i'd be impressed if any baby would manage 20oz in one feed!

My dd, just one, has just two breastfeeds a daymorning and nightand has done since about seven or eight months. She's never had a bottle during the day but she eats a lot and drinks plenty of water. Seems happy and healthy!!