9 month old still breastfeeding 10 times a day

[Kefalonia22]

My baby has just turned 9 months and he is still breastfeeding a lot.
He is on 3 meals a day but most of it ends on the floor tbh so I’m not sure how filling it is for him.
He feeds probably 5/6 times in the day and the same at night.
I’m just wondering if this is normal? As I thought once he started solids he would want to feed less but he always seems to want to feed.
He is fed to sleep for both naps and bedtime and night wakings and does seem genuinely hungry at night so I know he’s not ready to night wean.

Hello! This is totally, biologically normal. And developmentally normal. Under 1 breastmilk or formula is still their main source of nutrition and food is more about exploring and learning. I found that around 12/13 months my baby became more interested in food and although she still feeds regularly she definitely enjoys both.

breastfeeding is recommended until they’re at least 2 for optimal health and the protein content raises from 1 onwards to support growth spurts. Your baby feeding will also be determined by teething, sickness etc. they might eat less and breastfeed more.

are you happy continuing to breastfeed? You’re doing amazing!

Are you planning to go back to work at 12 months?

I think you could consolidate those night feeds into 2 or 3 rather than 5 or 6 if you wanted to.
Depends how you are feeling, sleep wise. But I think under 1 milk is their main source of food.

Totally normal.
If you want to change things you can, but totally up to you.
Mine didn't start eating a lot of solids til after 1, so still lots of breastfeeding.
I did nightwean at 8m and 14m as that's when I couldn't deal with constant night feeds any more.

I know it can be a bit of a pain but it's normal. Bf is about comfort and closeness as well as food, sometimes they might want to feed because something scared them or they're tired or teething or just want a cuddle.

Be careful what you wish for as the alternative might be dealing with an upset baby who is hard to soothe!

It will tail off eventually, you could try comforting your baby other ways like a cuddle, song, walk in the sling etc if it's not long after a feed, it might make make him have fewer but longer feeds if you space them out a bit more - obviously without letting him go hungry. But eg if you fed 20 mins ago it's probably more about comfort.

It takes a while for babies to get enough food in them and also be able to digest it for it to be nourishing. You need the right gut bacteria to break down food, when they first have solids their guts are attuned to milk and take time to transition to being able to digest other foods. So for a while it basically goes straight through.

Thanks all. Glad to know this is very normal!

My 17 month still feeds like a new born 🫠

My 11 month old still feeds quite a few times during the day and through the night. I asked the health visitor if it was a problem as my first was bottle fed and on 3 bottles this point so I wasn’t sure. She said it’s not an issue as long as they are having solids alongside it and that breastfeeds are often about comfort or being thirsty rather than hunger.

I went back to work a couple of weeks ago and do 2 days and I’m out of the house for around 12 hours. She won’t accept milk from anything else so she just has food through the day and then catches up when I’m home. Although this has calmed down a bit.