DS loving his solid food while breast milk supply dwindling ..

[redruby]

Dear Mumsnetters
I have been weaning my DS for around 6 weeks now and he has taken to solid food really well. But what happens about breast milk?!

He is now up to 3 solid meals a day (8am Breakfast; 12 noon Lunch and 5.30pm Supper) After Lunch and Dinner I also give small yogurt / fruit for desert. I offer the breastfor desert but he never wants it.

So while all this positive transition to solids is going on he is of course drinking a lot less breast milk. I know he is supposed to still drink 600ml of milk a day, either from breast or as part of food, so I was still giving him a feed before the solids meals, but now it is as if he KNOWS the solids are coming, and those are his favourite, so he only drinks for about 2 minutes! (while he has always been a fast feeder - this is super fast for us!)

Coupled with this he is waking less in the night (once or twice) all in all we are maybe having 4 - 6 breast feeds in 24 hours.

He does not drink from a bottle (we have tried since he was 6 weeks old - no luck!) so I cannto see how much milk he is getting

My dilemma:

1. Is he getting enough 'milk'?

1. I sense that my milk supply is dwindling. The let down takes longer, is not as strong, my boobs just feel a lot less full (partic when considering the hours that can now go in between feeds)

My question:
I did not want to stop BF till DS was about a year old (I dont feel ready to let go of it yet plus resent buying formula to get those 600ml if we can get it free from the boobs!!)
?? - Is there anything I can do to keep DS interested in the breast as part of our feeding 'routine' and to keep my milk supply up? Even with Expressing harly any is coming out!!

Thank you xx

How old is he?

600ml is for formula fed babies, I don't think you can know how much a breastfed baby has - and the volume of milk they take doesn't increase with age in the way formula fed babies do. At 6 months my ds was down to about 6 feeds in 24 hours, and now at 7.5 months he has 4, sometimes 5.

How much of a gap is there between milk and food? I did a breastfeed on wake-up, breakfast an hour later. Breastfeed before morning nap, lunch after the nap. Then breastfeeds during the afternoon (before and after a nap) and tea again an hour after a breastfeed. Then breastfeeds at bedtime and at night

I'm interested in this thread cos my nearly 8 month old (BF, BLW)goes to nursery 3 days a week and has 3 x 4oz bottles, but has, since the introduction of solids, started only drinking half of them each time. He seems to BF as often as before, but for shorter time periods. Maybe he's just slowly taking less?

It's all so hard to know - I've decided that as he doesn't seem hungry, I won't worry about it too much - but at the same time, it's nice to know I'm not alone in my bewilderment!

Hi redruby,
My DS sounds just like yours - he loves solids and although I feed him before meals he seems to be holding out for the meals! His 'routine' is roughly as follows -
6.30 wake and BF
7.30 breakfast
8.30 nap
10.30 BF (it used to be 10ish but he takes a good feed at 10.30 - 11)
11.30 catnap
12.00 Lunch (refused the pre-lunch BF and now takes more at 10.30)
2.00 BF before nap
4.30 Supper
6.00 BF before bed
and 1 or sometimes 2 BF a night. He has spaced out the feeds so now feeds better. I have stopped worrying TBH. He eats really well and loves cereral with milk, yoghurt and cheese and weight is fine.

Your LO sounds fine!

HTH

Agree with RitaMorgan, that sounds like our routine too.

Keep breast and solids separate as much as you can, and offer breast an hour before you want to do a solid meal if you can, that way he fills up on lovely milk and has solids in addition.

You can definitely keep feeding until a year if you want to - as I understand it, not feeling "full" is no indication of how much milk you have, it's just what happens when your body settles down, and expressing is no indication of supply either. Some ladies can hardly ever express anything but feed their babies with no problems.

Post in breast and bottle feeding too for some support and good advice

HTH

Dear Mumsnetters
Thank you so much for your advice and thoughts. I am worrying a lot less now I knpow that 600ml is for Formula Fed Babies, I was wondering how it could apply to BF Babies as how can we ever tell how much they are getting. I am also trusting that just becuase my boobs do not feel full, it doesnt mean they are not full enough for DS! Lastly I am no longer having that heart sinking feeling when DS wakes at 1am; 2am etc as I now think "YEAH! Time for a BF!" My DH said I 'bolted' out of bed the other morning when DS made his sniffing noises. So I am trying to relax, I am reassured that we are in the same boat and with many thanks xx