Too young to drop a feeding?

[caseyb]

Hi Ladies!

I'm back and need some more advice.  My DS is now 8 months and has been really fighting his 11am feeding (both bottle and breast).  Is he too young to drop a feeding?  Here's our EASY (with the 11am feed):

Awake/Eat: 6:30 (eats great)
A: 6:45 - 9:15, solids 8:30
S: 9:30 - 11:30
E: 11:30
A: 11:45 - 2:30, solids 1:00/1:30ish
S: 2:30 - 4:00
E: 4:00
A: 4:00 - 6:30, solids 5:30
S: 7:00 (usually try a top off bf before bed)
Night feed:  somewhere between 12 and 1

I tried to feed him today at 11 and he would have none of it.  He did great with his lunch today and then went right down for his nap.  When he got up, he fed WELL and from both breasts which is unheard of.  He ate a great dinner and then had a good top up before bed.  I'm just worried that he isn't getting enough during the day.  We're having a TON of nw's and I think most of them are habitual and not so much for any other reason.  I was feeding him when he woke at 4ish but haven't done that in a few weeks. 

Do you think it's okay to drop that feeding and go down to 4 (first awake, after the second nap, top off and df)?

TIA for any advice and thoughts!!

Casey

[ashley10]

hello,

afraid I am just listening in as I am wondering the same thing with my 7 month old who eats loadsa but not very interested in his milk feeds during the day.
x

[qjane983]

I think that's fine, as long as they have a balanced diet including dairy such as yogurt and cheese and you offer water throughout the day. I only feed 4-5 times a day now

[caseyb]

Hey there,

I haven't been able to give yogurt or cheese to DS yet as DD had reactions to dairy when she was his age, so Ped has said to stay away for a few more months to be on the safe side.  I would love to because I think it would be good for him, but I hate for him to have a reaction.  DD has mostly outgrown hers and is fine with dairy now. 

Plus, DS has terrible eczema which has only gotten worse as we've gone along.  I think he is having a reaction to something that I've been eating so I'm going to start eliminating the big triggers from my diet to see if things improve.  Makes me even more nervous to give dairy...

I hate to drop a feeding if he still needs it, but I can't force him to take it...  

[Tay]

Hiya,
 The WHO recommends 4 milk feeds a day for babies your LOs age - at this stage they're still supposed to get most of their nutrition from milk rather than solids.
What I'm thinking is that you can either try to reduce the amount of solids your LO is taking (have you tried it yet?)
 or you can just cut the 11am feed but take the night feed as the fourth feed (does that make sense?). If you're happy enough to feed at night, I don't see a problem.
Hope this helps
xxxx

[caseyb]

Thanks.  I've been trying to change feeding times a bit to get 4 in during the day.  I'm thinking that stretching to about 4.5 hours has helped a bit.  I've tried reducing his solids a bit also (and some days he just isn't as interested) but he still doesn't seem to want that 11am feeding.  So, I've moved it to 11:45/12:00 and that's seemed to work. 

The last few days have been a little strange.  He's been waking around 11pm or so to DF, which I don't mind doing if it gets him through the night.  However, last night he STTN (which he hasn't done in MONTHS!!!!!!! ) so I will be interested to see how his feedings are today.  He nursed well this morning, so hopefully since he didn't eat during the night he will be hungrier during the day and we can just call this a phase!

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Tay]

Hope it continues like that!
At the end of the day, the important thing is that you're reading your baby's cues - if he's not hungry then he's not hungry! (especially when he's STTN...)
xxxx