Baby reducing his own bfeeds while weaning?

[berri]

How can I tell how much milk he's getting if I'm breastfeeding? He is starting to refuse feeds, or only feeding for a couple of mins each side, and he is getting a little constipated.

He's 6 months and a week, and has been doing great with weaning.

He won't take any water at all though, but I keep trying in case this will help.

Will he automatically get enough milk, or do I need to try something else to persuade him to feed more? I thought you don't reduce their milk feeds when you are weaning, but what can you do if they are refusing??

I'm worried my supply will be going down the longer this goes on for...

Should probably mention that he has one bottle of formula before bed each night....so not exc. bf.....

hi berri
i was about to post something similar to this, baby is nearly 7 months old and he also has become completely disinterested in breast feeding other than during the night of course!!!

he is having some formula at night, and also drinks some formula from a cup during day, but nothing like 20oz, so i wonder what to do...

weaning also going well, he loves finger food and eats jacket potatoes, omelette, falafel, pitta bread with humus, etc etc just gums it all up its amazing! not so keen on my marvellous purees tho!

x

Hello ladies! I've been doing ex BF and baby led weaning, so not the same situation as you, but one of the main points of BLW (and the reason it works) is that baby will eat what baby needs - no more, no less!

If your DCs are reducing milk feeds that should mean that they are increasingly getting their nutrition from solids. As long as their weight and development is still OK (bearing in mind most babies' weights apparently plateau a bit at 8 months or so) then you don't need to worry - it just means that weaning is working!

My dd did this when she first started weaning and was really excited about it and then got more interested in bf again when the novelty wore off a bit - about 9-10 months.

I disagree that the reduction in milk feeds that early isnt a bit of a worry though - until a year its important. I would offer the milk before the solids to make sure that he's not full up with food beforehand.

Hi Kirsty - am hoping this is the case as he seems happy and we still have lots of wet nappies. Perhaps he's getting more milk from me than I think, if he is though he must have become miles more efficient at feeding recently as he'll only stay on for about 10 mins max!

gks - he always has a bf before any solids....maybe he's still excited about what's coming next so as you say the novelty might wear off after a while??

Might mention it to my (useless!) hv to see if she has any suggestions, but I guess I can't make him drink the milk if he doesn't seem to want much anymore...

Hi Kirsty - am hoping this is the case as he seems happy and we still have lots of wet nappies. Perhaps he's getting more milk from me than I think, if he is though he must have become miles more efficient at feeding recently as he'll only stay on for about 10 mins max!

gks - he always has a bf before any solids....maybe he's still excited about what's coming next so as you say the novelty might wear off after a while??

Might mention it to my (useless!) hv to see if she has any suggestions, but I guess I can't make him drink the milk if he doesn't seem to want much anymore...

If he is still getting loads of wet nappies that suggests he is getting enough (my 7mo only usually feeds for 10 mins or so) but if he is getting constipated then I think you should speak to your hv.

I suppose it depends on how long you have been weaning, how many meals a day and what volume of solids he eats as well - but like you say, you can't force a baby to breastfeed if he doesn't want to!!

If he is still having regular BF a couple of times a day, and his weight etc is fine then it is probably OK - but I find it is always best to speak to hv (hoever useless!!) just to set my mind at rest.

Good luck