How does bf change as solid foods are introduced?

[jaggythistle]

I realise this will differ for each individual baby and how much food they take etc, but am interested to see if there is an 'average' experience iyswim.

Also is it necessary to actively try to 'drop' feeds as I have heard many people mention?

So far I am still just feeding DS as and when required, he is having a mixture of mashed/pureed stuff and bits to play with. He is 7mo so we have only been at this for about a month.

I seem to be feeling some pressure from somewhere to be moving along with food! We have only been doing a couple of 'meals' a day, although we did fit in a wee 'lunch' today. He has some water in a cup with food.

Another reason for my interest I suppose, is that introducing solids has coincided with me being back at work and DS now being at home with DH. I am expressing twice a day at work and he takes 4-5oz EBM from DH twice while I am out. Just wondering when I might notice this pattern changing.

I don't really count so I don't know how many feeds he has a day just now.

Sorry this has ended up so long, thanks if you have read this far!

I will be interested to hear your experiences.

Hi Jaggy, just marking this thread as we have just started solids and I'm interested to see what people have to say. Our HV just said "when he's on 3 good meals a day you can drop the bfs to 3 times a day" - bit vague AND at the same time rather specific really...!

cheeky little bump for me and mistressploppy whose name I like a lot

Hello - my baby is 8 months and eats 3 meals a day, sometimes quite a bit, other times not that much.

I'm just bf on demand as and when I think he's wanting for a feed or if we're going out, I generally offer him a feed before we go. He still feeds at night too. So probably feeding him first thing, mid-morning, after lunch, after school pick-up, bedtime, last thing before I go to bed and in the night (which is all a blur) Not sure that helps?! Gosh, I'm bf quite a bit and hardly realised! He's quite quick, sometimes only takes 5-10 mins.

I think it depends how you want the breastfeeding relationship to continue.

for example, I am keen that ds3 self-weans, so I am not actively encouraging him to drop any feeds. In fact, he has dropped to 3 a day by himself and so I am encouraging him to feed more as I think he is only feeding so little as he is being distracted by his brothers! lol

I personally think that feeding on demand is the way to go. ds2 and ds3 both upped their breastfeeds when we first started solids, possibly as they were thirstier? but i evened out over the following few weeks

milk should be the main source of nutrition until they're around one, so there is no need to feel that you should be actively encouraging them to feed less. plus, they still will want/need the emotional side of breastfeeding- it isn't just about the milk! :-)

We did BLW and ds didn't really actually eat much of anything until he was about 10mths. I carried on bfing on demand and he continued bfing every couple of hours until he was about 11mo when he did start to naturally drop some feeds. He's now 1yo and bf morning and night (and sometimes in the day if we're together as he demands it much more if I'm there and it's on tap so to speak!) he has milk morning/afternoon when he's at nursery too as he still doesn't eat that much in the way of solids but he's less interested in the milk but definitely wants the comfort of bf especially when he's been at nursery - it's the first thing we do when we get home.

Thanks, I guess people seem to be expecting him to be feeding less already (from comments I have had), whereas I am quite happily still feeding on demand and going with the flow. I can't imagine how I would decide not to feed him anyway, when he's hungry, he's hungry is the way I look at it.

Now that I am back at work I really appreciate extra cuddles with DS so am not desperate for him to not want lots of feeds.

(people in RL, obviously not on here have made comments)

Useful thread. (And I like your name too, Jaggythistle - I'm an expat Scot living in Hampshire...)

People seem to think that as soon as they have solids, that's it - graduated from milk, never to return...

I second everything thisisyesterday said.

My experience, FWIW

I bf on demand and always have. I BLW too and DS ate virtually nothing solid until he was 10m, and then I'd say only really started 'tucking in' (ie, whole bananas vanishing) at 13m. My periods came back when he was 15m so I must have been bf him less. It has been really, really gradual, and I think he still relies on breastmilk for a lot of his nutritional needs AND comfort, sleep cues, etc. (He's 17m!)

I was one of those people, mistressploppy that thought, boom! 6 months, bye bye milk!

Because I don't and never have fed to any sort of sheduale or routine, I can't really 'drop' feeds either.

I never thought I'd be this easy oasy go with the flow (pardon the pun) but... oh well!

So was I, MrsMM! I assumed bfing would end then . When I realised that they NEED milk up to at least year and usually much beyond, I suddenly understood why people wanted to continue bfing

most of mine actually consumed very little food until they were well over 12 months. mostly it was played with or rubbed in hair/ears or decorating the tray / floor

so i pretty much bf as normal ie on demand