Breastfeeding on demand, and introducing solids: how to maintain supply, what to give and how to plan meal times!

[HelpMePleaseImConfused]

I have ebf my ds for 6 months which was yesterday (i am a guideline follower with him being my first!). Today i tried him for the first time on some purreed butternut squash mixed with breastmilk. He loved it and ate A LOT more than i expected.

However i am so lost on what to do that im starting to panic. I decided to start with breakfast and chose butternut squash after reading Annabel Karmel's baby weaning and taking her advice to start with a sweet root vegetable. However now i am thinking that veg is a bit weird for breakfast, but i dont know what else to give. I was thinking maybe some porridge, but is this nutritious enough or a good enough first food? And do i have to use the baby porridge which i imagine is expensive, or can i just use normal porridge oats mixed with my breastmilk?

Also as mentioned, i decided to start with breakfast and this is because i want to carry on bf as long as possible, and am going with the advice to offer solids one hour after a bf to ensure he gets maximum milk and in order to maintain my supply. This is especially important as i will be returning to work when he is 7 months old and i want to continue to bf mornings, evenings and days off until he is one. At the moment i can plan breakfast fairly easily around ds's first feed, but not his other meal times. DS is still very much fed on demand and has absolutely no routine to his feeds/predictable timings except i would normally count his morning feed as between 5-6.30am (although he still wakes once or twice in the night). So i decided he would have breakfast to begin with an hour after this first feed. However, how do i plan his other meal times, not knowing what times he is going to bf throughout the day? For example, if i give lunch at 12pm, what if he has had a bf at 11.30? Or do i not need to be this rigid with meal times? Am i thinking too much into this?

Also, most people seem to get babies onto three meals fairly quickly, but will this not mean that he will take fewer milk feeds? And if so, how many should i be giving a day and will my supply drop?

Sorry so many questions, but please share your experiences!

First of all, don't panic! There's no need, and you are slightly over thinking this :-)

You don't have to give 3 meals a day straightaway. It also doesn't matter if you do breakfast and lunch one day, but only manage breakfast the next. It also doesn't matter when you do each meal.

Your plan for breakfast is sensible. As for lunch, if you bf at 11.30 then offer food at 12.30. If you bf at 11.00 then offer food at 12.00, and so on. It will eventually settle into a more predictable pattern.

I don't think veg for breakfast is weird, but it isn't what we are used to. At 6 months you can give any food you like, apart from honey (botulism risk) and whole nuts (choking risk), so there is no problem with porridge. Don't buy expensive baby porridge, it's a waste of money. Just buy ordinary porridge oats - to make a smoother porridge blend the oats in a blender first. Oh and you can use whole cows milk to make it, if you want, rather than bm. Cows milk is fine in cooking from 6 months, just not as a main drink.

I wouldn't expect any milk feeds to be dropped for a while. Weirdly my ds actually seemed to increase his feeds at the beginning of weaning for a short while. Just continue feeding on demand and don't worry about trying to drop feeds.

HTH.

Thank you so much exbrightonbell - you literally answered all of my questions!! I bought some porridge oats and whole milk today, so going to try him on that tomorrow. Thanks!

I wouldn't worry at all about times of bf - give your baby something to eat when you eat, and just let them bf when they want.

I found that stage confusing too. I over thought it a lot and in fact my DS hardly wanted to eat until around 12 months so I just continued to bf on demand and he was fine. With hindsight I think it's fine however much they eat or don't eat as long as you don't cut down the milk feeds, allow the baby to do that themselves. Some babies really take to food, others prefer milk. Some eat and drink everything in sight which is not a problem I had but I've known friends who had to limit their babies' intake after a while as they put on too much weight. I think all will become clear in time!