weaning and breastfeeding i just dont get it

[whimsicalquark]

my dd is now 6 months, we have been weaning really slowly for the last few weeks (as she could sit up well with support, trying to grab everyones food and had lost the tongue thrust reflex etc etc ) however i just dont get what im supposed to be doing. She currently has porridge for breakfast and either a bit of lunch or tea usually some mashed vegetable or fruit combo and whenever im eating something (as long as its suitable) I give her some to much on (eg toast crust etc)
DD is breastfeed on demand but Im just really unsure about the weaning. im aware that food is supposed to be complimentary for ther first year so im paranoid about her dropping feeds, im really careful to try and time food about an hour after a milk feed and to not overfeed but how am i supposed to know how much to give her ? all ppl ive asked and books say to feed until shes full but if I do that surely she will be too full to have her next milk feed? what portion sizes should i give her and when should i increase them? when shjould aia be offering 3 meals a day ? or should i increase portion size instead and keep to 2 meals ? will she drop milk feeds at some point is this inevitable?
I have read a couple of books but they confused me even more as they had feeding shedules etc in which are no good for me as somedays dd has 5 breastfeeds (plus maybe 1 or 2 overnight) and somedays more.
To be honest this whole thing is really stressing me out , no one can give me any instructions and if one more person tells me to follow my babys lead I will scream !!! sorry for long ranting post
please could someone tell me some simple weaning instructions , what to give and when and how much ?

thanks

I separated milk feeds (bf) to solids. So had wake-up bf, then solids, then as many bfs as they wanted in morning, then lunchtime solids, then bfs in afternoon, then tea time solids, then bedtime bf. Like you I naturally found that there would be a hour gap between a milk feed and solids.

At six months I definitely offered three meals. Depending on the baby the solids will be consumed to the extent the need for milk decreases so they very obviously drop or shorten feeds. Other babies will eat less and still want the milk feeds more for nutrition and comfort.

Over the next few months if will become more clear and more separate. Increase portion sizes when she happily finishes what you you are currently offering. Also if you want to reduce milk feeds offering more solids and possibly mid morning finger foods will reduce the bfs in my experience.

Op, are you me? I was just about to start a thread with exactly the same questions as you!!! I'm at my wits end with all this weaning business!! I started DD a day after she was 24wks and she is 25wks tomorrow and I feel the past week has been a disaster! DD doesn't care for being spoonfed but likes to feed herself! So I have a feeling thy we will end up going down the blw route!! However she ha gone off the breast! My breast are feeling quite full most of the day and everytime I try to offer her the breast she screams bloody blue murder! I try to follow her lead but when I have she has gone hours without taking the Breast!! Yesterday was a nightmare and I felt so sa by the evening as I feel she is beginning to self wean! Sorry to hijack your thread but I need some advice on this too and will be watching what others say! Surely the less DD feeds the less milk I will make and then the less milk DD will get when she eventually does want the breast! I too am very confused with how much she is wanting solids as surely her tiny belly can't hold a milk feed and solids!! I haven't a clue when it comes to timing! I too have read about "a schedule" but trying to apply it is demeaning impossible!! DD use to have 10 feeds a day and now I can barely get her to have 5or 6 and when she does she is barely on then. I can notice she is taking less as my breast feel so full all the time!!

Sorry for the rant too!!

We did BLW starting at 6 months and I just gave dd some of what we were eating whenever we were eating. Sometimes she ate lots, sometimes nothing. By leaving her in control it was easier.
As for portion sizes she needs lots - some to smear round her tray, some for the floor, some for under her legs, some for the wall and some to eat.

One thing that doesn't help is the terminology- weaning can mean to start solid food or to stop breastfeeding. If everyone were to call it 'introducing solids' then that might clear up a bit of confusion! At this age, food is just for experimenting; it is not intended to replace BF.

As a general rule at this age you can BF before meal times and then just give them some food to play with. It doesn't matter too much if they don't eat a lot (or any), if you are offering them some healthy food and eating together then they will get the hang of it at their own pace.

Baby Led Weaning is a fabulous book, there is also a lot of info here with some ideas for first foods etc.

I remember feeling like this.

Bf is main source of nutrients and so food is fun and exploratory until they're one years old. Introducing solids is complimentary to their diet. If you can get your head around this, it will take the stress out of planning meals, times, worrying ably bf feeds.

I agree with Eaurouge that the BLW book is probably useful to both of you and BLW is a good route to go down. Best thing I did was read this book, it'll be in your local library or babycafe library.

It doesn't matter if you don't do 3 meals a day. It doesn't matter if you do 6 little meals a day - do what feels right to you. Over the next few weeks you dc's will start working out the food is fun, tasty, not so tasty, messy, feels funny etc etc. They eventually just "get it" (hence why people have probably said to follow baby's lead).

My dd is 9 months. Started BLW a week before she was 6 months. She wasn't quite ready so after a few sicky and gagging episodes, I stopped introducing food for few days and started again about 6 months 2 weeks.

I didn't have any routine or schedule (her bf'ing on demand still has no 'set' times of feeding so I to couldn't understand how to add food in on schedule either) so basically, when I was hungry, dd had a bit of my food too (like fruit, roasted veg, potato, toast, porridge). I put it in front of her and if she could pick it up she could have it. If she couldn't, then it went in the bin!

I sometimes skipped "meal times" in the early days as things happen like nap time clashing with my lunch - it didn't matter, she was getting my milk so she was still being "fed". Id offer something afterwards and sometimes she'd take it sometimes she wouldn't.

Breakfasts in particulr would be fairly late compared to other friends (they'd be feeding pre school run which is when I was getting out of bed ) or she wouldnt be that interested (preffered lots of mummy milk in the morning) and dinners would be hit and miss depending on when she was tired (normally in bed by the time I started dinner ). Again, it didn't matter too much in those first few weeks.

I didn't tend to breastfeed dd a strict hour before eating, just ensuring she would have a bf before eating (this is so when they eating food, they're not necessarily hungry as they'll then get frustrated).

At around 8 months, dd just got eating. She started self feeding and telling me when she was food hungry not just milk hungry. So now, a little more "rountine" for lunch and dinner but this morning for example, she's not had breakfast as she's had a shit nights sleep due to teething and has been back to bed instead! So I still don't do the 3 meals a day thing BUT that works for me and my dd.

Her bf milk feeds haven't necessarily dropped but she goes longer between feeds and tends not to be on as long. I notice more if I'm not around (ie nipped to have hair done and left her with mil) she just copes without bf milk and waits till im back. DP commented over the weekend that she hadn't bf'd as much and I hadn't noticed but we had family up and she was playing with older cousins so was pre occupied. When i gave her a cuddle as she hurt herself, she was all about the boobie milk! She'd just forgotten too.

Hopefully this isn't too waffled. Feel free to pm me if you have any more questions. Happy to share further experience of BLW'ing.

DD must be on a nursing strike or something then as she is not accepting the breast at the moment and if she does she hardly takes much!!

I feel like leaving blw now till she is 26wks. This is so stressful.

Gina - keep pumping if you can, as it will keep your supply up; if she's teething, she may be finding it hard to suckle. Poor little duck.

Hope you feel less stressed soon

How soon will my supply start to decrease? Tbh I can't be bothered to pump!! I'm do tired of all the ups and downs that I feel like giving up!!

Gina does she feed at night to make up for it?

I remember the stress of weaning DS. Once we'd sorted it, we fell into three meals a day plus a snack plus some BF. took ages.

In the end, I would have a meal with him at mid/late morning as this was his best time. This became lunch. Then we added breakfast, then tea. I made a note of BFs and nap times and started napping at set times. His feeds and solids then followed. We didn't get to three meals a day until 9 months.

Try and make a note of times she feeds and you might find that there is a rough pattern. Then try and slot in one set meal time. Early lunch at aroun half 11 usually works best. Then think about naps and add a second then third meal.

I remember starting with a ice cube full and it increasing, they will naturally increase the amount theyeat. Like others have said, alternate bf, breakfast, bf, lunch, bf, tea, bf. eventually (maybe around 8 months) the volume of milk mid morning and afternoon will not be wamtedvst which point change to a snack. They should have about 20 fl oz of milk in a day but it's obviously tricky to tell volumes with bf babies. Yoghurt, milk in breakfast etc also counts towards this total volume. I should think you'll find a natural solids intake and a decrease of daytime milk

She only feeds 1-3 times a night! Every night is different! She refuses to feed in the morning which I find so strange. E.g. He woke at 1.30am and fed for 10 mins then at 3am for 10mins and then 7.20am and fed for 5 mins and then 10.30am for 5 mins and then 12.10am for 30mins. Does this sound ok. She was feeding every 2-3 hours for over 20 mins but as of last Monday she has been reducing this! Shes not had any substantial meals this week only tasters!! So I'm so confused as to why she has reduced her BM intake! I can tell mainly by how my breasts feel! They would always feel a little full in the morning but by 10am they would feel soft and remain soft! She's also adopted a lousy latch and hurts most of the time.

It sounds like teething especially the poor latching. Try a bit of bonjela or calpol to see if that helps.

Can anyone advise when milk sippy starts to decrease?

Thanks

Bump

I could've written this OP myself (and was just about to!!)
My DD has just gone 7mo and I feel like I've totally messed everything up because I'm chopping and changing so much, she must be so confused. We started with purées (annabel Karmel) but it didn't really work and we've now gone to BLW but it seems she's hardly eating anything. I'm also paranoid about dropping milk feeds and to add to it all I'm trying to cut down breast feeding ready for my RTW so started on formula yesterday which I also don't have a clue about.

Every book tells me different things like AK had milk feeds gradually dropping off so by this stage there were only 3 or 4 a day but with BLW she still needs them all doesn't she because she hardly eats anything? I'm so

I had a meltdown this evening so have written a timetable to have some sort of routine but I don't know if it's right or not:

Early morning - Breast
8.30 - Solids
9am - Breast
12:00 - Solids
12:30 - Breast
3pm - Bottle
6pm - Solids
Bedtime - Breast

(gradually replacing breast with bottle over time)
Does this sound ok?
It's so hard to balance it all so that she's a) having solids at same time as us b) hungry for solids and c) having enough milk

I never thought it would be this hard!! My DH says to stop stressing
Sorry for the hijack OP at least you know you're not alone!!

Gina, a nursing strike is not a baby feeding 5-6 times and only taking a small amount....my guess is that your baby is just in a phase at the moment. Your supply will not disappear (it takes weeks or months for breastmilk to go when it is well-established, as yours is).

Chill :)

The more you stress yourself and your baby by trying to make her bf or bf for longer, the more difficult the situation is.

Just go gently with the solids, offer the breast, let her take it or not.

All will be well soon :)

A book I've found help me to get my head around it all ready to start soon is Weaning Made Easy by Dr Rana Conway. She doesn't say too much about how to make it work with bf on demand but great schedules and meal plans/ideas for purees, BLW and also how you could combine.

It would take more than a week for your milk to disappear at 6mo I believe. Mine was in hospital for brochiolitis when she was 7mo. I think went for a week just pumping 2-3 times a day. (She was on IV and then feeding tube). I had no problem meeting her demands afterwards. Gina as you are feeding 5-6 times a day, that's way more than I was pumping at that stage.