When and how to switch from 4 to 3 BFings????

[LaurieJ]

My DD is 10 1/2 months old and I am wondering if she is ready to go to 3 BFings a day?  Is there an average age that they usually do this?  She has not been taking a good feeding in the evenings especially (and I think this is causing her to wake up early very hungry).  So, I'm wondering if she went to 3 BFings then she might nurse better before bed and get a good full feed in?  How do you go about switching from 4 to 3???  She eats solids 3 times a day as well as snacks. 

[deckchariot]

We switched to 3 bfs around 10 mos as well.  I substituted a snack for the afternoon bf and then bf when she woke from her morning nap.  She also started the 2 to 1 switch then, so that worked well in terms of coordinating bfs with odd naps.  So, our 4 feed EASY was:

7:30 - wake and bf
8:30 - breakfast
11:00 - bf
11:30 -lunch
12:00 - nap
3ish - bf
4:30 - catnap
6 - dinner
7:30 - bf to bed

Then we dropped the 3 ish and gave her a snack when she woke from her am nap.  Sometimes, she didn't want the bf at 11, so I'd do lunch, then 1/2 bf before the nap and the other 1/2 after the am nap.  It was a bit crazy til naps all sorted out.  Eventually, I replaced the mid morning with a snack around 1 year - she just wasn't interested any longer.

hth
michelle

[LaurieJ]

Michelle - Thank you for your help! So your DD started switching to 1 nap around 10 1/2 months?!?  I was wondering when they do that too.  A friend of mine has a 17 month old and she still takes 2 naps.   With the bf's, the hard part is trying to SEE if she's interested and if she's not then it seems like she ends up "snacking" a bit at a couple of bf's.  I'm hoping to figure out how to get her more interested in (or more hungry for) her before bed feed.  Yep, this period does seem a bit crazy with trying to figure out the bf's and then switching naps soon too.
Thanks

[deckchariot]

Abby started the nap switch at 10 mos, wasn't fully on just 1 nap til 14 mos - it was a long process - there are some good threads on then naps FAQs to help with that.  I did find when I went to 3 bfs a day, she did eat better, especially at the bedtime feed, so hopefully that will be your experience as well.

[LaurieJ]

I looked through a lot of the posts on the naps FAQs and that was very helpful like you said  

So, when you went from 4 to 3 feeds did you just drop one totally right away or was there some way you eased out of it? 

[deckchariot]

I just dropped it cold turkey and replaced it with a snack.  She didn't seem to miss it at all, and I didn't experience any engorgement or anything - I think she was probably only snacking on the 2 middle of the day feeds, so when I cut one out, it wasn't a big difference for either one of us.

[LaurieJ]

That makes sense!!  Thank you   I'm hoping it'll do the trick for the last feed...we shall see

[deckchariot]

good luck and let me know how you get on!

[LaurieJ]

Yesterday was the first day that I REALLY did only 3 feeds (without trying at the other time(s) thus getting a slight snack) and she nursed MUCH better for her bed time feed!  What I'm wondering is if I should do the mid day feed around 11 after her AM nap BEFORE her lunch (give her lunch around 12) so that she gets more bm rather than filling up on lunch first?

[deckchariot]

YAY!!!  I would definitely do the bf before lunch - you want to make sure she's taking milk first and not filling up on solids so that she doesn't take the milk.  I'm so glad it's starting off well!!!

[LaurieJ]

Thank you!!

[LaurieJ]

Hey Michelle - so it has seemed these last few days that DD isn't too into the mid day feed.  You said your DD stopped this one around 1 year.  I am hoping it's just a glitch for my DD because we just dropped down to 3 and dropping down to 2 seems like it would be too little for her right now.  Hmm...we'll see.  I guess I'll just keep trying and see how she does.  I just want to make sure she's getting enough bm vs. too much solids...don't we all worry about that?!?

[deckchariot]

we're moms - we worry   She may just need to adjust to the 3 vs. 4 feeding routine a bit.  Just make sure that you're always doing the bf before the solids (except the bedtime one, that's different).  If you think she's not hungry enough for the midday feed, you could cut back on her solids a bit at breakfast and see if that makes a difference.  I suspect she's getting plenty of milk - she's at the age where they do start to make the transition to getting more from solids than from milk (that happens at a year, and she's 6 weeks off?).  Abby was always a quick nurser in the daytime - too much going on, so when I dropped from 4 to 3, that midday feed was still smaller than the other 2, but the evening feed went so much better than with 4, that I suspect she was getting as much with 3 as she was with 4.