How many times a day?

[MrsBakesALot]

Afternoon everyone! Some of you may have seen my post in general sleep about my LO's sleep issues...our Dr reffered us to our Health Visitor and we had a visit from her yesterday.

Daniel is now 7 months and she suggested that I should be dropping the mid morning/post morning nap BF in favor of a snack & water and therefore cutting down to 3 BF a day....any opinions on this as it seems a bit early to me.  That said I cannot remember whe I was doing with DS #1 at this point as he a) stopped BF just before turning 7months as he was a biter and b) he chomped everything you gave him.

Now I have to admit that if we are out and about and Daniel has his nap in the pram then he has (twice in the past week) missed his mid morning BF but today, after a 6am start and pre 7am breakfast...he was really desperate to feed and struggled to do much with the puffed wheat snacks I gave him. I mean he loves his food at meal times but really doesnt do well with finger food.

She also suggested that my afternoon BF should be earlier, about 2pm...it had been around about 4pm followed by dinner at 5.30pm and pre BT BF or formula at 6.30pm.  I can see how that makes sense but I wanted to know if anyone else out there had any furter insight.x

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

At that age I would not be replacing feeds with solids and water...the whole "before 1, food is for fun".  BM or formula should be the main nutrition at that age not solids. My kids were both on formula at that point so I honestly have no idea on timings etc! But they were still consuming a lot of formula, I would venture they had 4 x 8 oz feeds but I really do not remember precisely.

[Fiver]

DD was having a WU feed at around 7am, a mid-morning feed somewhere from 10-11am, a mid-afternoon feed around 2-2.30 and then BT feed at 6pm and this remained the same up until almost 12m.

[*Ali*]

Your HV's advice totally confuses me tbh. On what is she basing that advice? And what is the problem she thinks requires a change in BFing? As pp says breast milk is your LO's main nutrition until 12mo. She seems to be giving very prescriptive advice and I wonder if she is getting confused with FF LOs moving to three bottles (although I think even that is normally a good few months later).

I expect many 7mo BF LOs are on 4 day feeds and most a night feed or DF too. Mine certainly were. We didn't drop to 3 BFs until after 12mo when they moved to one nap and dropped the NF. I think 10-12mo is the most common age range I see LOs dropping to 3 day feeds and many are still having a NF too. The NHS recommend 2 solid meals a day at 7mo and introducing a third between 8-9mo. Snacks come later. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/solid-foods-weaning.aspx#close

The WHO and UNICEF recommend BFing on demand as many times as baby wants btw.

I did find at 7mo it was just too much to fit in a BF, a solid dinner and a BT BF  all into the last A time so we moved the third BF to before the nap around 7mo. That way they could eat dinner shortly after waking from nap 2 and then have time to get hungry again by the BT BF.

This FAQ has some example routines for fitting in solid food and milk. Routines for Solids and Bottles/BF's 6-12months

[MrsBakesALot]

Thank you for all the replies...its very helpful.  I did think that the HV was getting ahead of herself a bit, I am more than happy to keep on BF as I am enjoying it immensly and I don't think Daniel would appreciate having it less than he does currently...if he does miss a morning one due to us being out and about then fair enough but I do try and fit it in after his am nap.

As for the 3 meals that he is on, dinner isn't that big...but as I am feeding a toddler at the same time it's more a case of giving him more finger foods so he feels included in the activity as he is hyper aware of every move that Gabriel makes...its facinating to watch!

The HV (I think) made these suggestions as Daniel is a VERY hungry baby and subsequently a big baby for 7 months (nearly 11kgs) and has had issues sleeping but this is an issue that I don't think food can fix as its more to do with being settled and development issues.  She even suggested coming over at a meal time...not sure what that would achieve bar seeing that Daniel is a very demanding when it comes to feeding or if its just more of a case of seeing how I am coping as I am on anti-depressants. Who knows?!

Anyway, I feel much better having read what you all wrote and will just continue with my BF as Daniel wants

[Fiver]

I would tend to agree with you. Glad you feel happier with your decision now :-)

[*Ali*]

Being "overweight" when EBF is not a problem at all. It doesn't carry the health risks that if does if it is due to formula or junk food. Both my kids went up to the top of the weight chart but started slowing once the became more mobile and they were eating a decent amount of solid food.