If you still breastfeed on demand, how much does your 19-month old/similar age eat?

[SolomanDaisy]

I have read a few threads recently about how much toddlers eat and I am a bit worried that my DS may be getting too many of his calories from breastmilk. He only has tiny feeds during the day, but quite a few, and big feeds before nap and bed. He also still has some feeds during the night, again not long feeds.

He's getting enough calories, on the top of the charts for height and just below the top for weight. So how much would you expect him to be eating?

DD1 was living off breastmilk and fresh air when she was 19 mo. I thought DD2 (23 mo) ate a lot but today I'm looking after a friend's DS (22 mo) and boy, can he eat! All are/were BF on demand. Cutting down on BF will not necessarily increase his solid intake and breastmilk is full of vitamins and minerals in a very easily absorbed form. If your DS is health and happy then I wouldn't worry too much.

Have you read My Child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzales? Well worth a read, if there's an LLL group near you then they'll probably have a copy you can borrow.

My DD is 18 months and still bf on demand day and night. Her eating is totally unpredictable. I just started trying to write a list of what she typically eats but not possible! Sometimes she refuses all breakfast and snacks, sometimes she'll have a few spoons of porridge and or a nibble of toast... She'l bf to sleep late morning or early afternoon and I count a lunch of say 10 pieces of pasta and grated cheese as a success.. A heaped teaspoon or two of yoghurt if we're lucky... Maybe half a digestive and a bite of banana in the afternoon... A scrambled egg sometimes goes down ok for tea or a couple of teaspoons of baked beans, or a cream cracker with cream cheese... Or it may be a firm 'no!' to all of the above. I'm treating breastmilk like a miraculous multivitamin energy drink that just keeps her going, she's on 98th centile for height and weight, and always full of energy, so it's not doing her any harm!