BF and solids for 8mos old...questions...

[mstormin]

Hello!
I am BF my 8mo DS, he also gets 2 meals a day (3Tbsps rice or oatmeal cereal & a 1/4 of a jar of fruit or veggies).  He also gets a snack for lunch of graham crackers and usually some cherrios/bread before or after his meals.

My question is:
Is this enough for an 8mos old?  I worry about whether it's too little or too much solids. He's not all that interested in BF and would rather eat lots of different solids!

Thx!

[teezee]

does he seem hungry after eating solids? wanting more? i would give him more as now he nows 'when he's full' as with younger lo's sometimes they can't tell.  i would slowly increase his intake (probably go to three meals at this point) and then add a little more every few days keeping close attention to his bf's (that they're not getting shorter due to solids, and not starting to wake at night). some lo's eat more than others so the 'norm' won't necessarily apply to your lo either way - it's just a general idea.

[Samuel's mum]

Your instincts are good. It's true that milk needs to remain the primary source of nutrition before 12 months. What makes you think he's not interested in breastfeeding? Could it be that he is just getting faster and more efficient at feeding?  Some people who breastfeed offer a solids meal about an hour after a breastfeed.
However I also agree with the last poster you could move to 3 meals around now. I would also think about ways to introduce fresh fruit and vegetables. If finger foods go down well how about banana pieces rolled in crushed graham's cracker, soft cooked broccoli, fingers of roasted squash or sweet potato. Have fun!

[daisymelan]

For the past few weeks, my lo (7.5 months) has become an unbelievably efficient nurser... makes me wonder if a lot of it was for comfort before.     lol

Anyway, I agree with what the other mamas said.  I feed solids after one hour of nursing.  But he is on a 4 hour EASY.  So he nurses 3 hours after he ate, ensuring he will take a full nursing feed.

I do 3 meals a day, but I have to admit that you have your lo on finger foods.  I would think that you can up it to 3 meals a day.

This is what our feeding looks like, just so you have an idea.  but each lo is different, but you could use it as a rough guide.

8 BF
9  Cereal 1/2 cup
12 BF
1  3 cubes of veg/1 cube of fruit
4 BF
5 2 cubes veg/1 cube fruit/cereal

Your local health authorities likely have a guide for feeding that is recommended for your country as I know each recommend different things.

HTH

[lilapple]

Hi Mstormin,
My lo is also 8 mos. and bf.  and on solids 2x/day.  She was getting, it seemed to me less breastmilk I think b/c she was distracted with other things going on in the room, or her sock, whatever.  I was nervous that she might, like you said, not be interested anymore in bf.  But I think it turned out, actually, that she was getting full up in solids and that she was distracted by goings on.  I try now to nurse in boring places, actually the same boring place, so as to minimize distractions.  I also began to sing simple songs and rock her.  I was amazed at how this seemed to work.  It's so cute.  When I finish "Mary Had a Little Lamb" she pulls off and just looks at me, like "what's the next song?"  And I start "twinkle, twinkle"  and she's like "Oh, yeah, that's a good one." and she goes back to nursing.  I cut back a bit on the amount of solids at each meal.  I theorized that her solid feed in the am was causing her to not be hungry for her 11 am feed.   I did this to tip the scale in favor of bf b/c like Samuel's mum said, it needed to be the primary source of her nutrition.  She's bfing a LOT more now 

[Samuel's mum]

That song story is so cute!