hv advised to cut down bf my 9 month old.

[pinkyp]

he currently wont eat breakfast and have from 3 - 5 feeds during the day and we co-sleep and feed in the night. he'll eat some lunch & tea though. my hv says we only need to be feeding am & pm and can give water during the day. Is this right? If so how would i do it? he only feeds on one side per feed so would i do morning - right and bedtime - left? I'm also thinking of expressing a feed for durin the day rather than bf myself perhaps around 2-3pm ish. What do you think and when do you 9 month old feed?

And what's wrong with feeding for comfort

I offered my daughter bf ( as opposed to her alwayxs coming to me)and at times, parricularly around 9 months wondered if shed ever cut down and increase solids She slowly but surely increased her solids and is now on 3 feeds a day at 12 months. Why the hell is your hv interfering thank goodness you have the sense to come on here and check!

I had to cut my now 12mth old down at 8mths ready for my return to work as 9mths he fed on demand in the day and slept all night though he didnt eat much solids ate small amounts but also refused breakfast.

I cut down to 3 feeds initially morning 2pm and then bedtime and extended the 2pm over a week to 4pm then eventually to 4.45/5pm to coincide with when we would get home after collecting from childcare as he is a bottle refuser!

I express so he has milk on his breakfast as dont want to use cows milk yet, He eats lots now but it was slow going getting him to eat more however the reducing breast feeds wasnt as hard as I expected it to be.

However having said all that and being happy about it as can now leave him with husband at weekends etc I wouldnt have cut down the feeds if I wasnt returning to work.

At that age, DS ate 3 big meals a day, fed 7 times in the day (usually both sides) and 3-5 times at night.

Your HV sounds daft.

Kellymom recommends offering bf an hour before solids until 12 months, which is what I did. That ensures that milk stays the main form of nutrition till then.

Do you think I should change my routine then or stay as we are?

My routine (well...loose routine) for 9 month old DS is very similar to yours...except he has breakfast about an hour after the early morning bf.

I would not cut down on bf just yet - don't forget it isn't just about calories but about liquids too. My DS will only sip small amounts of water with his meals, and without frequent bf I don't think he'd be getting enough fluids.

I mean, we as adults drink several times a day, I mean rather than !

I have a 9 month old DS who eats loads (3 meals plus 2 snacks) and drinks water and still wants at least 4 feeds during the day (plus lots overnight this week apparently!)

I was finding that if he'd fed during the night and had a big feed in the morning he wasn't so interested in breakfast until 8 months ish, however I started offering him different things and discovered that if he ignored his cereal he may still eat toast/fruit/pancakes/full English breakfast (and then go back to the cereal!) :)

It totally depends on if you are happy with your routine as it is Pinky! If you are, then why change?