10 month old DD dropping feeds at a rate of knots, surely this is too early for self weaning?

[DeJaVous]

I BF on demand and always have done, but DD is dropping feeds all over the place. Until very recently she was BF 6 or so times a day, the last few days she's only really wanted AM and PM feeds. She even slept 7-7 last night

I really hope this isn't the start of self weaning, surely she's far too young to do that?

I've just found out I'm pregnant and I know that can effect the taste of the milk, but TBH she seemed more far bothered when I had my period than she does now. She doesn't fuss at the breast at all, just makes it clear that she really doesn't want any milk.

Is she too young for morning and evening feeds only?

I went to the doctor to discuss this when ds went through the same thing DeJaVous. He seemed to think it's perfectly normal and that as babies will get a lot of nutrition from their solid food it is not as much of a problem as it would have been at say 6 months.

If you are really worried go to your doctor. I don't think relying on bf "advice" on an internet forum is the way to go!

Of course you could just ignore that piece of advice to!

GP: no specialist bf training at all and (generally) little knowledge of it

tiktok: trained bf counsellor

If I know nothing about nutrition why is my son thriving? Why did I bf feed him? You know fuck all about me and don't you dare assume that I know nothing about infant nutrition. Just because I don't quote reams of "research" on an anonymous internet forum does not mean I do not know how to feed my child. You should be ashamed of yourself.

But I doubt you are.

Yes why would I trust what a person who is trained in infant nutrition (my GP is actually) rather than some random poster who could be 14 yr old boy for all I know?

Blimey.

Food until is just for fun.
You're right to be concerned about this DeJa.
I'd say, as Tiktok has, that it is a nursing strike and hopefully won't be too difficult to resolve.
You need to keep up supply whilst this is happening so try to express sometimes otherwise there may not be any milk for her to go back to.
Have a look here on kellymom

I, personally, wouldn't suggest going to the doctor for BFing advice, they rarely know much about it. Is there anyone else you could call in your country?

Also, is there any possibilty of her being ill and associating BFing with pain?
Or possibly even just bored!

Nope, LaVie - not ashamed of myself at all. Why would I be?

You don't need to know about bf or nutrition to breastfeed a baby - and I did not suggest you did not know how to feed your baby.

I am only judging you know little about breastfeeding and infant nutrition because of what I read in your posts.

Mothers actually do need to know a little bit about these topics before they make suggestions to another woman, or at least they need to know where their 'boundaries' are, so they don't tell her something that i) does not address her concern ii) misleads her iii) someone told them in their situation which does not apply to the other mother in her situation

I think exchange of experience is fine, and can be supportive - but you don't do this. You told DeJa she was 'worrying too much' and what her baby 'should' be getting, and made the preposterous suggestion to a mother who clearly did not want to stop breastfeeding that she express and give her milk in a cup.

I've read enough of your posts on these boards to know that anything you say about infant feeding needs to come with a 'health warning' - you are unaware of boundaries, and your attitude to me is is bizarre.

LaVie, what your doctor said is true - nutritionally-speaking, a baby refusing breastmilk poses less of a concern than a baby of 6 mths.

But breastfeeding, and breastfeeding in DeJa's situation, is more than merely comparing the nutritional impact of 6 mths versus 9 mths.

DeJa, if you've not abandoned this post because of the abusive language, wanted to let you know that my DD has had a couple of nursing strikes around this age.

I found kellymom full of useful advice. It was nerve-wracking and I felt rejected, but DD did come back and she's still nursing at 16 months. At the time, I searched MNet archives and did a lot of googling and found out that some babies do go off milk when Mum is first pregnant but go back to nursing after a while ... and then they enter the world of tandem feeding.

Good luck with getting your DD back on the breast!

FeelingLucky - that is a good point about pregnancy. The occasional baby who is 'put off' in early pregnancy has mostly no more than a temporary lull...and maybe it is something to do with taste, as DeJa has said.

DejaVous Congratulations on your new pregnancy I hope your DD comes around soon. I see you have the best (and worse) people on this thread to help you.

LaVie, It wouldn't matter if Tiktok was a hairy handed trunker (sorry Tiktok). What does matters is the information she posts is always accurate and is backed up with research. IME I have found GP's to have very poor level of basic information about breastfeeding, so I would take Tiktok's advice over a random GP any time.

Thanks, Babies

(checks hands for hairyness...)

Well, I'm not sure what's going on. I've been reading up on nursing strikes and it doesn't really fit. Might be, might not be. I think the best thing I can do is just protect my supply and carry on taking a gentle approach to encouraging her to feed.

Tiktok, I think BF counselors are probably much less expert (generally speaking) here than in the UK. I've spoken to a few and have been unpleasantly surprised each time.

There is good support for BF during those crucial first weeks and women are encouraged to go to antenatal breastfeeding classes, which is great. There are a lot of private lactation consultants too, I'm pretty you can claim the costs back from the health insurance. It's a pretty good system but it does leave a gap were BF counselors should be.

Strangely enough BF later than 3-6 months is still not common Probably because maternity leave is only for 12 weeks after the birth...

Ooops forgot the, nice stats about BF over here. Not good enough, but going the right way.

DeJa - I think protecting your supply and being gentle and encouraging is a great plan, and I would expect it to succeed. In fact, it doesn't matter how you label this incident, that is, as a strike or not...the response you are making to it meets both your needs, and that's got to be a good thing.

Shame that the Dutch who are so great with home birth don't get good support for breastfeeding beyond the newborn stage

Well, I have no idea what she's up to. Maybe she's just asserting a bit of independence? She fed happily at bed time, at 11, 6 and 8...

I think we'll get through this just fine now that I know self weaning at this age isn't something normal. Hopefully I'll be able to feed right through the pregnancy, my mum did it so I'm sure I can do it too!

Thanks for your help

all sounds good, Deja!

Glad to hear that your daughter nursed well for her last few feeds.

I nursed though my recent second pregnancy and we are now tandem nursing and I am so pleased that we did it, as I think it has helped my DD get on very well with her little brother

There are a few pregnant nursing mums on this thread Breastfeeding whilst pregnant thread

HTH

Thanks for that Babies I'll get myself over there!