Dropping a feed and other random questions..

[aimeeL]

(I love that the site has been up for 48hrs and there are already a gazillion posts... )

So my txtbk/angel DD is 10 mo old on thurs and is ebf... She's quite small for her age - maybe 16.5 lbs now - and so I think I'm always a bit anxious on the eating front....  anyways - we've been on 4 bfs a day for quite some time now - since 6 mo?... and while she's never been a big eater, every couple days or so recently, her appetite seems to have waned for bfing - either that, or my supply is dropping.. So my question is - how do you know when to drop that mid afternoon bf?  Like I said, I'm a bit concerned about her weight gain, so it scares me a bit to drop a bf, but on the other hand - if it'll get her to eat more at the other feeds, then....

This is our EASY:
E/A:  7 a.m. - solids at 8 a.m.
S:  10:30 a.m.
E/A:  11:50 a.m.  - solids at 12:30-12:45 p.m.
bf again at 3 p.m.
S:  3:15 p.m.
A:  4:30 p.m. - solids at 4:45 p.m.
bf for bedtime at 7:15 p.m.
S:  7:30 p.m.

Every once in awhile, she'll do a NF, but we've been on a good 3 wk stretch of STTN....  I do the 3rd bf before her nap, because I found that to do it after the nap, with dinner AND the bedtime bf so soon after - she wouldn't eat as much for the bt one...

I know I feel more "full" in the morning and definitely less so in the evening.. so again, I don't know if my supply is dropping and therefore she's eating less, or vice versa.  Is this normal, though?  What bf will she drop first?  And again, how will I know when I/she should?  Should I stay at 4 bfs as long as I can? - or will that actually hurt my supply in the long run?  I'd definitely like to keep nursing till at least past 1...

TIA!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

It's definitely normal to feel less full as the day progresses, and there also is often a natural progression to more solids and less bf for many babies.  I personally maintained 4 bf's basically indefinitely.  I treated it as a snack mid morning and mid afternoon.  Now that they're almost 3 and almost 5, I still give them a small snack at those times, which consists of some form of liquid and a solid - but in the past, it was breastmilk - kept that up until between 18 months and 2 years old, actually.  My feeling is why make an effort to drop nutrition at what's sort of a natural snack time?  Not sure if that helps!

[aimeeL]

No, that does help - thank you!  So you don't think that if it turns into a snack, it'll hurt my supply?  Because I'm happy to keep offering and letting her take what she takes, even if it's not much - just didn't want it to mess up the other more substantial bfs...

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

I don't think it's an exact science, but my personal feeling is that at this age, they're getting so much from other sources, that a dip in supply during those times should be fine. And it won't necessarily affect your supply the rest of the day either, IYKWIM.

[aimeeL]

'K - thanks again!  That helps a lot.. =)