9 month old - # of BFs and amount of solids?

[carasmom]

I am starting to think that we should transition to 4 bfs a day... primarily because the last 2 feeds are so close together and she's not eating dinner until 7 pm!
Here's our routine:
8am - Wake and BF
9am - Breakfast - 1-2 tbls cereal, 2 tbls fruit puree, practice with finger foods
10:15 - nap for 1.5 - 2 hours on most days
12 - BF
1 - Lunch, 1-2 tbls cereal, 2 1/2 tbls veggie puree, practice with finger foods
2:45 - nap usually for 30-40 minutes... she doesn't want to lengthen this one!
3:30 - BF
6:15/6:30 - BF
6:50/7:00 - Dinner, 1 tbls cereal, 2-3 tabls veggie/meat puree, practice with finger foods
7:50 - BF, then bed

Should I drop the 6:15 BF and do dinner instead and then BF before bed as normal?  She never refuses food and sometimes I think she would eat more if I offered it to her.  But I hesitate to fill her up on solids when I want her to get most of her calories from Breastmilk.  Am I offering enough solids?  I see some people are offering 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup per meal!  She does great with "puffs", but is having a hard time with soft foods like bananas, avocado, or mashed foods, but we keep trying!
Please any suggestions would be appreciated, I am not sure where to go from here. 
Also, she just started sleeping through the night with no wakings last week, so I hesitate to move stuff around too much as maybe we have finally reached a good balance.
Help, Trish

[A pair of Charlies]

Hi there

It's a personal choice and babes vary so what works for one might not for another.

4 feeds per day sounds great and for us, 4 x feeds worked up to a year or so I think. There's some sample routines for this age group here if it helps see what others have done - http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164030.0

Up to a year old, solids are really about introducing them to tastes, textures, handling and swallowing food with not too much pressure on how much they eat really. There are some babes who go for solids with gusto and fill their boots, and some who are a little more reserved. I think dropping the 6ish feed and bringing supper earlier may help a lot with solids at that meal. And hopefully won't affect your nights!

What do you think?

Charlotte

[muddyfeet]

COMPLETELY agree with Charlotte, and would like to reiterate that quantity of solids is very individual. My LO is eating about the same amount as yours. She's just 10 months. She loves solids, but definitely loves her milk too. So don't worry. If your LO isn't acting super hungry, and isn't waking in the night starving, you're doing fine.

[Tay]

or just spread the BFs on four hour intervals (feed at 4/4.15pm instead of 3.30pm and then again at the usual feed before bedtime - 7.50pm isn't it?).

Having said that, if you try it and your LO starts NW, just go back to the way you knew worked...
xxx

[Elenas Mummy]

Just bear in mind that at the 1 year mark, it's estimated that most babies should still be getting 75% of their nutrition from breast milk...  Just a thought

[carasmom]

Well...I think I goofed it all up... instead of going cold turkey eliminating the 6:15 feed, I offered her one breast instead of both, then we had dinner right after - she was hungry still!  I gave her 3 tbls of stage 2, 1 tbls of oatmeal cereal with Breastmilk, some puffs, and she tried to get some mashed banana down, a few sips of water, and then we BF at 7:45 before bed and she was up at 6:50 for a feed and then back to sleep until I woke her at 8:05.  Should I go back to our old routine of eating later, or do you all think it was a fluke?

[Tay]

That's brilliant! I would keep it up for a couple of days to see how it goes.
xxx

[carasmom]

But she woke up for an early morning feed, which she hasn't done for over a week.

[A pair of Charlies]

A toughie. 
If it was me, I would drop the 6pm feed for a few days and instead, bring supper a lot earlier - say 5.30pm - give time for food to settle, and allow time for a good long BF at bedtime. If the result was NWs or EWs from hunger, I'd probably go back to what was working.

Yes, 4 feeds per day is common at this age but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's right for your LO. AND solids are for exploration & a top up until they are a year. BM should ideally be her primary form of nutrition for the first year. So, if you have something that is working well for you both right now, please don't feel under pressure to change it in order for her to eat more solids. To me, the need for more solids would be if she was waking a lot in the night from hunger and that the current milk feeds weren't enough.  Does that make sense?

[carasmom]

Yes...it does make sense.  And frankly, I would prefer to only do 4 breastfeeds, but today I went back to the old way. (fingers crossed for no EW), Since she also woke early, she ended up with a BF at 7, 8:15 (top up), noon, 3:50, 6:30, and 7:50 (6!) And only a 30 minute nap in the afternoon -:(

Thanks for all your help...so much appreciate being able to get ideas from everyone (and vent)!