Unsure what to do

[LouiseEH]

I would be asking my health visitor about this but can’t until after the new year.

Dd is 8.5 months and had been on solids since 5 months, she has been ebf and does not like the taste of formula.

It now feels like she is self-weaning which is fine but I was told that milk is still a very important part of her diet, since she doesn’t like formula and is now wanting less and less breast milk, I’m unsure what to do.

She has 3 meals a day with water and a very small amount of breastmilk after and she no longer likes to feed to sleep.

Is this something I should be worried about and should I be trying to give her more milk?

How often is she Bfing a time the moment Louise. Are you Bfing then offering solids an hour later, something like this?

7am BF
8 am breakfast
11 am BF
12 pm lunch
Bf on wake up then again at 4 pm
5pm tea
7pm BF.

Is she getting a decent multivitamin too?

There isn’t a set routine but on average it’s like this

7.30am- Breastfeed
9am- Breakfast with breastfeed straight after
11am- very small breastfeed to sleep
1pm- lunch with water
4pm- very small breastfeed to sleep
5.30pm- dinner with water
8pm- slightly bigger breastfeed to sleep

She wakes up during the night a few times and I feed her back to sleep.

The last couple of weeks she’s been feeding less and less and is very distracted or wriggly while feeding, she’s always been this way but now it really seems like she’s just not interested anymore

And she doesn’t have a multi vitamin right now

Firstly, I’d start giving her a vitamin supplement. It’s recommended by the NHS.

I know you’re saying she’s not taking a lot but she’s having 5 BFs in the day, plus some at night.

If you want her to have more in the day and less at night, try these tips on reverse cycling

By that age my DD was doing her own breast compressions so that the milk came more quickly, so you could try doing those

I will definitely look into a multi vitamin, I haven’t had the money for it but I should sometime after new year

I know it sounds like she’s getting a lot of breast milk but it’s only a couple of ounces at a time and her feeds are getting shorter and shorter

Thanks for the link, I will look at it properly later tonight

but it’s only a couple of ounces at a time and her feeds are getting shorter and shorter. If you’re Bfing, how do you know how much she’s drinking in a feed? I’m genuinely interested

As for the vitamins, are you entitled to any free ones?

Well I don’t know the exact amount, it’s an estimate based on how much I pump for the same amount of time she she feeds for, she doesn’t feed for long so she can’t be getting much at all

Honestly I think it's fine, but do check with your HV when you can.

I remember at 10mo DD was having 4 breast feeds like you discussed above.

I don't think there's any link between how much you can pump and what they drink. Also, I thought I was doing lots of mini feeds overnight but when DS dropped them suddenly I came down with bilateral mastitis instantly. He was clearly taking much more than I thought over night.

Does she have much other calcium in her diet? Cheese for example?

Vitamins, boots do a multi vit syrup for 3.99. My baby wouldn’t take any others but likes this and it lasts ages! Maybe worth a look if money is tight as some are ridiculously expensive!

she doesn’t feed for long so she can’t be getting much at all. She’ll be far more efficient at feeding than any pump so you can’t really know how much she’s taking

Have you thought of talking Allergy of this through with a BFC on one of the BFing Helplines? She may be able to give you some reassurance

*talking all of this through

I suppose you’re right, she probably is getting more than I think she is

She has a yogurt most days and she has lots of veg that are full of calcium

Thabks for the suggestion, it’s outrageous at how much some multivitamins cost

I’ve never looked into a breastfeeding helpline, as soon as DS is asleep i’ll do that

All that sounds fine to me. Mine just turned 10 months and I would say that probably from around that time he’s only really had a bf first thing in the morning, around 11am, 5pm, then bedtime and once during the night. He has 3 meals a day and a snack in the afternoon. He’s probably getting more than you realise, but breast milk is very bioavailable so they don’t need loads of it.

*She! Sorry!