When do babies drop milk feeds?

[HelloToes123]

My baby is 9.5 months, breastfed, and on 3 meals a day. He devours all 3 meals and they are all substantial. And his milk. He still breastfeeds 7 times a day and he does take in a lot of milk. He does not feed 7pm - 4 am though.

I'm back at work so was hoping I could drop some of the pumping but this child is not slowing down.

Do they just drop it by themselves one day? How does that happen?

I tried to cut one of the breastfeeds/ bottles and wait to give him a bigger feed an hour later but he was huuungry.

We've tried food first vs milk first and no change.

His growth has suddenly shot up. He was always 30th centile since birth, growing steady, and at the 9 month check up he was 80th centile for height and 70th for weight.

Sounds like he’s thriving. They grow so fast it changes all the time. Hopefully you can stop feeding at 4am soon and naturally they stop having 2 naps and have a more normal routine with 1 good nap that changes things. And by 1 they get all their nutrients from food and not milk, breastfeeding then is a top up to the food rather than the main goodness.

Sounds like you’re doing brilliantly, and how gratifying to see him getting big and strong from your milk and those lovingly made meals. Well done! But gosh, are you pumping at work multiple times a day? If so, I’d say you can absolutely stop that. Gradually, so you don’t give yourself mastitis. Baby will adapt during the working week - and probably make up for it when you’re back together!

@NutsAndMay I only pump twice a day (which is enough to produce for 3/4 feeds) although would love to drop one. I'm just wondering if that frequency of eating is normal. I see posters on MN saying their 5/6m old can go 3 hours between breastfeeding sessions but mine has NEVER done that. We tried dropping his milk in the day, as again, I've seen posters say babies adapt and have more milk morning/evening but he was ravenous and crying with hunger. I can't do that to him, I gave in quite quickly.

I think maybe he's more of a snacker? Doesn't take big feeds so needs to eat frequently?

I'm just struggling to see how we move on from so much breastfeeding/ pumping.

I am very tired (also have a 9mo, though he doesn’t sleep as well as yours!) so apologies if I’m being dense. But do you mean you’ve tried to drop/delay a breastfeed (in person) or an expressed bottle feed?

@NutsAndMay Both. I tried on a weekend and the nanny tried too while I was at work....

Ah ok! I’d say he’s unlikely to accept less from you, since you’re right there in front of him, but it may be worth the nanny persevering… I don’t count how many times I breastfeed in a day, I just offer whenever it seems like he might want it or can’t be settled in other ways, but it could well be as many as you say on some days, with only 1.5 hours between, though it does vary. In answer to your question, yes, they will drop feeds eventually, and things will probably change a lot just in the next couple of months. But breastfeeding is a partnership and you also get to have a say in it, so I think at this point you could absolutely reduce your pumping sessions on work days IF you want to, and baby would adapt. He might object to start with, but he’d be ok!

He’s certainly caught up and he’s going to be tall, I expect. Perhaps 12 months for dropping a feed may be more realistic?

@marmaladeandpeanutbutter yeah I know 12 months is more realistic. I had a very unrealistic expectation I think re breastfeeding, I really thought babies drop their milk intake when you start solids (because so many people told me that!!!), so I was hanging on to that. I never expected to still be pumping and breastfeeding so much still at nearly 10 months.

@NutsAndMay my fear is him not getting enough calories in the day and him waking at night for more feeds. He already has at least one feed, although the last 2 nights since I posted he also wanted a feed at midnight. I tried to withhold it and he screamed and kept falling asleep for 15 minutes then waking up again, went like this for 1.5 hours until I gave in and fed him. I work full time with a lot of responsibilities so this kind of sleep deprivation is unsustainable for me.