how many breastfeeds a day for 8 month old?

[hawaiiWave]

Hi, I am really hoping for some tips and advice, grateful in advance for any responses!

My 8 month old barely breastfeeds during the day, maybe once before his morning nap and once in the afternoon. At bedtime he feeds to sleep. Then he wakes two or three times in the night wanting bf, which I give as I think he's hungry/thirsty and because he barely bfs during the day....

He used to bf more during the day and only once per night until a week or so ago. Now he's not interested in bf during the day, despite me offering regularly, he's having three meals a day and drinks water from a sippy cup which he loves, as well as fromage frais etc to eat which he loves too.

So my qn is twofold...is five bf per 24 hours enough for 8 mo? And is there anything I can do to persuade him to bf more in the day? Perhaps the sippy cup of water is a bad idea,could he be preferring water to bf?

Thanks again :)

Hi
My DD will be 8 months at the end of the month, in the last 24hrs she's fed 7 times but usually it's 8 or 9 (she only woke up twice last night hurrah!).
I usually feed when she wakes in the morning, before she has her naps (she feeds to sleep), after her naps if they were long ones and on demand through the night. I always try and make sure that she's had a BF about an hour before mealtimes too, sometimes we don't always hit this but I do my best.

As an example, today went as follows:
Woke 7.30am, BF
Breakfast 8.50am
Nap 10.30am, BF
Woke 1pm, BF
Lunch 1.30pm
Nap 4.15pm, BF
Woke at 5pm
Dinner 6pm
Bed 7.45pm, 40min BF
And she fed twice in the night.

She only has a sippy cup with water at mealtimes as she eats better with a drink but the rest of the time, drinks are BF only.
I don't know what the norm is, she used to feed a lot more but her night wakings are settling down now.

Maybe he's a very efficient feeder, how's his weight gain?

Hi fhdl,
Thanks so much for your info. He is quite an efficient feeder,but during the day has pretty much stopped bf. I think I will try your bf an hour before meals routine,as perhaps he's so full from his meals that he doesn't want bf unless he's really hungry! His weight has been gaining but he's been sliding down the percentiles a bit,from sixtieth at six months to fiftieth at seven months and fortieth at eight months.

Thanks again

Milk should be the priority until they're 1 because their stomach isn't big enough to take in the amount of food they'd need to fulfil their nutritional needs. DD doesn't eat loads but she's maintaining her line. If they were on formula they'd need at least a pint per day until they're 1 but obviously with BF you don't know how much they're taking in. Are you giving him vit drops too? DD fed 4 times last night, I'm knackered today lol

Thanks, I have been so worried to get him on solids I think I've given them priority over bf,which sounds like its the wrong way round..

I went to buy vits but pharmacy only had ones for age 1+, do you know where I can get some suitable ones and what they're called?

we use the abidec vitamin drops, they're usually on 3 for 2 in sainsburys or Tesco. They're in an orange box. I picked those over the wellkid ones as it was a lower dose so less liquid to get in her (abidec is 0.3ml dose whereas wellkid is 2.5ml). She used to spit it out in the beginning but takes it all fine now.