how do you know when to drop daytime feeds?

[marilyn73]

Hello all,
When my 8.5 month old grabbed for my cup of water and drank most of it with my help, I started to wonder - did I miss the boat on introducing the cup?  I've been BF 4x daily, with solids 3x daily, and dd STTN.  After solid meals I've been giving the sippy cup with water with mixed results (for the last 9 weeks or so) - sometimes a few swigs, and then tip it upside down to shake it, or drop it on the dog's head etc... Just discovered that she did better with a cup yesterday.
I've read that the first BF to go would be the one after the am nap.  How do you know when to do this?  I'm on mat leave for another 4 months, so it's not essential from that perspective.  DD has no problem taking a bottle, so even if I needed to wean her, she could have bottles.

What is the proper amount of breast milk for them to get each day when they go from 4 to 3 feeds? 
When you drop a milk feed, what do you replace it with?
We haven't tried juice yet (she eats a lot of fruit, so I didn't see the point) - she just has breast milk or water.  Thanks for any insight.

Than

[~ Vik ~]

Hi Marilyn

We only just dropped to three feeds a few weeks ago, at 13mo!

Current recommendations for ebf babies are to stay on at least 4 milk feeds per day until 10mo old.  Even then though, there is no rush to drop a feed.  Your best bet is to follow you lo's cues and she will let you know when she's ready to drop a feed.  She may begin to show less and less interest in a feed, may refuse a specific feed, or may nurse for progressively shorter times during both her day feeds.  By consolidating to one mid day feed she will likely regain interest and take a better feed, kwim?

What is the proper amount of breast milk for them to get each day when they go from 4 to 3 feeds?

TBH, I'm not really sure    I bf in the morning and before bed, and he gets a bottle of ebm (usually between 4-5oz, whatever I could pump the day before) at daycare after his nap.  Recommendations for milk intake tend to be based on age rather than number of feeds.  Here is the link to the formula FAQ, which you may find helpful for a ballpark figure:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67933.0

When you drop a milk feed, what do you replace it with?
We haven't tried juice yet (she eats a lot of fruit, so I didn't see the point) - she just has breast milk or water.

We replaced our milk feed with a solid food snack and a sippy of diluted juice or water (ds is allergic to dairy, still trying to transition to soy but not going so well )  It is recommended not to give los juice too soon as it really is mostly sugar - I only give very diluted juice, and really only did it so he would have something else to drink!

If it helps, here is our current eating routine.  Ds is usually on one nap (he has the occasional 2 nap days if he has a rough night or an ew, and things get adjusted accordingly).
7am bf
8am snack on the way to daycare
930am breakfast (most would do 8 breakfast, 930 snack but this is how it works for us with ds' daycare)
1130am lunch
bottle of ebm upon wakeup from nap (usually between 2-3pm)
4pm snack
530pm supper
7pm bf

hth!
Vikki