Breastfeeding after introducing solids/ beyond 6 months- when to drop a feed etc

[happydaze77]

Some relevant background first: DD was full term, is healthy with normal weight gain etc, and was ebf without any problems for 6 months.

She's now 7 months and we're currently on 2 solid meals a day (lunch and tea) - mainly purees and wholegrain cereal, with some finger-foods here and there.

I'm confused as to when (or even whether) we should actively start to drop her milk intake. Will she do this by herself? I tend to initiate most feeds as she doesn?t really demand breastfeeds like she did when she was younger. She never refuses any feed either though.
She currently feeds 6 times during the day, plus a dreamfeed at 10:30. Some of her feeds are bigger than others (from what I can tell).

I?m perfectly happy feeding her this often but would like some guidance as to whether this sounds about right. Some sites imply that a baby her age would be on 3-4 feeds a day (doesn?t sound like much to me - are they assuming formula here?). On the other hand there?s the ?food for fun until they?re one? mantra playing in my other ear.

I would greatly appreciate anyone?s opinion/experiences. TIA

Hello. DD3 turned 7 months yesterday and I would say she has about 5 feeds a day and 1-2 feeds overnight.

She tends to have milk first thing, mid morning, early afternoon, late afternoon and bedtime. She is on three meals a day although I'm going more down the baby led weaning route.

I think she could probably drop one of the afternoon feeds but they tend to just fit in around naps. I would also say that she doesn't "ask" for milk like she used to.

Sounds like your daughter is doing fine to me :)

Thanks holidays. Those times are about the same as ours - and do fit around naptimes very well.

My dd2 feeds like that too, 5 feeds a day, since she really got going with solids. She is now 8.5mo and has just started sleeping through (well, not having feeds in the night anyway, settles without feeds in the night).

I'm wondering about this too. Have been googling but not turning up much useful. If I was going to be SAHM I would just wait for baby to self-wean but I'm going back to work in around 10 weeks when baby will be almost 1, I don't seem to be able to let-down to the pump anymore and want to at least wean him off daytime feeds so that they can give him a bottle and eventually cow's milk in childcare. I've found very little helpful info on this on LLL which is disappointing. Their advice seems to be geared towards SAHMs only or to discouraging people from weaning actively at all. Ideally I'd like my baby to drop feeds by himself but don't know how this occurs and I'm concerned because I do have a deadline.

My baby is 9.5 months old. He's an easygoing baby who has never really demanded feeds in an obvious way. I have always just offered. He has been feeding 5 times a day for a few months now though, as he is taking 3 meals nearly every day (BLW), his BFs have become very short (3 mins a side roughly) except for the morning one which is twice that length and more concentrated. I just can't make out if I should start trying to drop a feed now or can/ should I wait until closer to the time. Dropping three day-time feeds in the space of only a few weeks seems a lot for us both. I've had plugged duct problems before, so it seems to me I should probably be thinking about phasing a feed out now but I just don't know how to go about it or if he is too young for this.

Anyone any similar experience? Would he just start taking more at the other feeds to compensate?

Nothing useful to say from me, but I'd like to know the answer too! Have a nearly 9 mo and I'm back to work in about 10 weeks. Currently have 3 'meals' a day (finger food only as I have a spoon refuser, so not that much goes in) and around 5-6 feeds a day plus 2-3 at night. How do we get them to BF less and eat more? Or will I need to switch to formula and then cows milk?

Just an update on this. I tried dropping one of the daytime feeds (the lunchtime one) and for the past week it's been going fine. He's now on 4 breastfeeds a day plus three solid meals with a small amount of water offered with each (which he doesn't drink much of). His BFs in mid-morning and mid-afternoon are maybe slightly longer but not much.

Still wondering how to prepare him for creche/ daycare though. I don't know if I should start offering him a bottle instead of this feed a few weeks before he starts daycare or not. I don't want to introduce formula any earlier than necessary. Was kind of hoping he might be able to progress straight to cow's milk in creche if he needs it (he'll be only 2 weeks off first birthday) with me feeding him in the morning, late afternoon/ early evening when I collect him and last thing before bed too. Still a bit at a loss and would love to hear from anyone with experience of this.

I went back to work when DS1 was 10 months and like mumsnoc's LO was down to 4 breastfeeds a day.

I didn't bother swapping out the lunchtime feed with a bottle until he actually started creche (it was EBM rather than formula), though did do a couple of practice days with my mum before he started. Worked fine - I just fed him as usual morning, when I got in from work, and bedtime, and pumped for the lunchtime feed in work until the creche staff said he was losing interest in the bottle (a couple of months after I went back). Supply adjusted pretty quickly, though he still sometimes had the lunchtime feed "from the tap" at weekends after he dropped the expressed one on weekdays. The feed when I got in from work went next, then we were down to morning and evenings for over a year until I got pregnant again.

Oh, and I thought he'd go on to having cow's milk as a drink in creche when he dropped the EBM bottle, but actually he doesn't particularly like it (his father is the same), and still doesn't. He had lots of other dairy and drank plenty of water so I knew he was ok for calcium and hydration.

Hope that helps!

Thanks leedy that is really useful. Just like mumsnoc and HabitualLurker my main reasons for asking are because I will be going back to work when dd is 11 months old and would like to know what sort of feeding regime we can expect then; and when to start working towards it. I agree with you mumsnoc that there isn't a great deal of info on the subject. It seems that breastfeeding sites are very much geared up to getting you through the first 6 months, and any info regarding feeding beyond 6 months tends to be about what solids to feed, iyswim.

Thanks leedy. That's really useful info. I might try ebm for creche like you. I'm just nervous because the last two times I tried to pump I just couldn't let down to the pump (the stress probably didn't help of course). I hate pumping at the best of times so not overly keen on doing it in work. He's had formula a couple of times in emergencies and hasn't seemed too picky about it so I suppose that can always be a back-up plan if expressing isn't a runner.