Stop BF to improve solids/sleep?

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During my 1 year check with the health visitor she suggested I should cut down on breastfeeding to improve my baby’s intake of solids and to help her sleep better. I’m in two minds about what to do because I feed her to sleep, so without changing that it’s quite hard to cut down the feeds considerably.

For reference she’s 11, nearly 12 months. I feed her to sleep for all her naps and bedtime, which is 3 times during the day and during any night wakes, which is probably another 2 or sometimes 3 feeds overnight.

She rarely eats anything much at breakfast. Lunch she might have more, for example a homemade savoury muffin and some yoghurt. Dinner is hit and miss, sometimes she might eat a handful of pasta and some veg, other times it’s nothing.

I just wondered if this sounded normal or if I should start making changes. My health visitor is a bit old school and told me my baby is waking so much because she’s hungry and was surprised I’m still BF. I don’t buy that, she’s always woken a lot and I think it’s comfort she wants. If I do decide to night wean for instance I could just be removing the quickest and easiest way to get her back to sleep?!

My baby is the same age and similar! I have absolutely no intention of weaning or reducing bf as he is doing fine and it will change as he matures. Your HV sounds old fashioned and gave bad advice imo. I would look up more knowledgeable advice, eg from an ILBC certified breastfeeding consultant.

Still getting a lot from you (plus all
the antibodies etc)…

I'd follow the advice if your HV.

I personally wouldn’t as for starters, milk is main source of nutrition until 1 and secondly, if it doesn’t improve her food intake you’ll be kicking yourself. Wean if you want to, not based on her opinion. My personal preference was getting my dd to fall asleep without being fed, I still feed her on demand though just not to sleep (she’s 14m and eats really well). Just goes to show how erratic the HV schedule is though as DD is 8 weeks older than yours and not had a 12 month check yet 🙃

side point though, I definitely could be wrong but 3 naps sounds a lot during the day, if you adjust that to 2 you may get a longer stretch of sleep overnight without a wake up? You also may not lol.

My son was the same. I can distinctly remember his first birthday - I had prepared some pasta and a few other bits and he ate nothing. I was so stressed out. He didn’t even eat the cake! But he’s now almost 3 and eats normally (and I stopped bfing at 17 months when I was pregnant)

it just happened naturally - keep breastfeeding, it’s giving them what they want and need. You aren’t going to have a 5 year old who gets all their calories from breast milk (even if you were still feeding then!)

you are doing brilliantly, so easy to say but take some pressure off. If you are coping with the sleep situation then why change it, you can always night wean if/ when it feels right. However, I agree that why make your life more difficult by removing this super power!

check out Lucy Webber (as per PP image) she’s fantastic.

Maybe just cut out night feeds? You don't have to cut out the day ones. I mean you don't have to cut out anything for you don't want to. I took night feeds away between 13-16 months with mine and it resulted in them sleeping through and eating more in the day.

3 naps is a lot at that age. Many babies will be only a month or two off one nap a day. I would consider changing to 2 naps a day.

My first child was ff and didn’t have any milk over night from 13 months but she still woke up loads! My second child is 6 yrs and still barely eats breakfast. All kids are different.

Are you back at work yet? If it’s a recent change then that can cause lots of over night wake ups. At 12 months you can starts adding in 3 snacks a day and that may make a difference.

Ignore the HV and if you have the energy, complain that she's giving advice which isn't evidence based and is potentially harmful. You're doing brilliantly.

Thank you all for the reassurance. It was my gut instinct that I should carry on, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being daft by not following advice! My older daughter was eating a lot more at this age but they are all so different.

Sorry, wasn’t clear - she has 2 naps a day but including bedtime that’s 3 feeds during the day. And then she wakes 2/3 times during the night. I am tired but I don’t think she’s ready to stop - and I don’t think I am either.

Just a thought if you’re cosleeping perhaps you could try and swap with your partner. Some times they sleep better if they can’t smell milk.

DS1 ate like a trooper, dropped all night feeds at 9 months (his choice) and stopped feeding to sleep shortly afterwards. And he still woke every fecking 90 mins.
Imagine night wearing, and she still wakes, and you need to find a different way to get her back to sleep......

I cut out any day feeds for DD as she wasn’t eating properly. She’s 1 and I still BF her to sleep at night, and will continue to until she’s done. She only has one nap a day though - so perhaps you need to cut down a nap?

Your HV is old fashioned and very inappropriate to say that. I’d report her if I were you. There is no reason to reduce BF unless you want to. You can’t force them to eat, some kids just take a bit longer. Mine is only eating 3 meals consistently at nearly 15 months. 3 day feeds and 2/3 night feeds isnt that much. Mine still has a morning feed, bedtime feed and about 2 feeds overnight . Follow your instincts unless there is a health issue which it doesn’t sound like there is

A few of my baby group waned around that age to improve sleep. They all found that sleep did not improve and it was now really hard to get baby to sleep.

Personally I’d follow the HV advice but appreciate everyone is different. I never fed to sleep and I weaned both mine off night time feeds at 9 months and both started sleeping through when I did. But I’d also say go with your instincts as you know her best. If you cut down the breast milk they usually start eating more solids. My son did at around 12 months when I cut right back on breast milk.

I think that all sounds normal. I wouldn’t change anything about your milk feeds other than to make sure you’re offering solids first. So no morning feed, breakfast only, first bf of the day after breakfast or at her first nap, etc.

I don’t think night weaning will help with sleep. Mine night weaned at 9 and 15 months, respectively. They didn’t sleep through with any consistency until 3.5-4.

But yes, the amount of food sounds normal to me. In addition to 3 meals a day, I’d also be offering 2 snacks. Around this time, I think the morning snack replaced the milk feed, so then they didn’t have a milk feed until the afternoon nap.

the amount of women still bf at a year is tiny so your HV is not basing her advice on experience. Just her opinion.

do what you think is right. Because in this situation you know far more than your HV.

Why

I still breastfeed about the same amount, my toddler is 16 months. He eats an insane amount of food but he is also extremely active. He took first steps at 10 months, was properly walking at 11 months and never stops.

Is your baby walking yet? You will find she might get hungrier then.

I still feed to sleep except any wakes between bedtime and 4am. DH goes in then. DS protests a bit at first but accepted it quite quickly and it really improved his sleep. It's like he's decided it's not worth screaming the house down just for daddy 😅 whenever he cuts a tooth or is sick, sleep goes downhill, but once he is better, we go back to this rule and he quickly starts sleeping 10-11 hours again.

Yes she starting taking steps at 9 months and she is very active. I’d say she’s walking 70% of the time now but crawls when she wants to be speedy! I think I might start asking my husband to do some of the early night wakes as she isn’t hungry, she sometimes just latches and then drifts straight back to sleep. I’m a terrible sleeper myself so it takes me forever to get back to sleep 😴

When mine was that age he also has two naps a day and breast fed three hourly on average at about 6am, 9am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm (and slept through the night). His meal times natural fell in between his breastfeeds and I would say he ate relatively good amounts but not huge amounts. We did BLW and just put a range of foods and let him pick at it and take as much or as little as he wanted, as well as healthy snacks dotted about during the day.

Breast milk/formula is supposed to be a baby’s main source of nutrition until they are at least 1 year old anyway so I would ignore the Health Visitor’s advice for now.

If your baby is growing as expected and is happy, healthy and meeting milestones, and their feeding routine is one you are happy to follow, then just be led by their cues.

Maybe re-visit the situation in a few months if you still have concerns but at this age I wouldn’t be too worried.