Solids at 9 months

[CrimpleDimple]

What is an acceptable amount of solids a 9 month old should be consuming?
I'm having a very hard time with my son's solid consumption so any reassurance and/or advice would be much appreciated!
He's breastfed, as well. He nurses all over the place and in between I try to offer solid meals which he usually takes a few bites and then he's over it. I'm wondering if maybe he's snacking and not really taking a full meal. .....

[~ Vik ~]

Could you post your EASY routine?  Just to get a better idea of what your day looks like.  If you don't have a consistent routine, could you post what yesterday looked like?

Until age 1 milk (either breast or formula) is their primary source of nutrition, and solids are more about fun and learning.  As babes approach age 1, solids take on the primary role and milk is more supportive.  So as long as he's gaining well and is eating *some* solid food you're not in a bad place!  We'll take a look at your routine and see if any tweaking might help...  At this age Dylan started really refusing the spoon, how is your ds' behaviour when you're feeding him?  Is he refusing/fussing/etc or just done with the meal?

[CrimpleDimple]

I don't have a routine and I have no idea what yesterday looked like. I'm a zombie.

There is just so much going on that I can't even write out a description of what I'm going through, honestly.

[~inbalance~]

(((hugs))), if you don't have a routine can you post generally what times you feed at, both milk and solids?  How often is your LO breastfeeding?  Has he always been this way with solids or is this new behaviour?

Vikki is right, solids before 1 are mostly for fun and experimentation.  With that said, your LO is 9mos so now is the time you want to start encouraging more solids so that he is ready to make the transition around one year to solids being his main source of nutrition.

Does your LO eat meals at the same time as you or with the family?  What sorts of things are you offering?  Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get an idea of where you're at so we can help you out. 

I think the main thing is to keep offering a wide variety of solids on a consistent basis and in a relaxed atmosphere.  At this age you can try lots of different things, assuming you've already introduced a good variety of foods without issues.  If he's not keen on purees or spoon feeding, which as Vikki pointed out is often the case around this age, what about offering more finger foods? 

Here are a few links that might help as well:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=92560.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=70142.0

HTH

[~ Vik ~]

First, loads of (((hugs)))  You sound so stressed out.  I will do my best to give you some ideas, but without a starting point I'm not sure if these will work with your lo and your days.  So take everything below with a grain of salt, and if you can post a day when you get a chance I will try to go into more detail and help you make a plan that will work for you both

He nurses all over the place

I think this might be the root of your problems, at least on the feeding end anyway.  If he's nursing all the time (and by all the time I'm assuming you mean every couple of hours?) then his belly always has *something* in it.  So it's no wonder he doesn't want his solids, kwim?  I know I have days when I'm grazing and munching all day long (usually just after I've done the shopping and there's lots of food in the house ) and then I'm not hungry when supper time rolls around - it's likely the same thing for him.

So if that is the problem, what to do about it?  The quick answer is don't breastfeed as often - but as a mom who didn't find BW until my ds was 6mo old, I know that that quick answer isn't an easy one.  This is where knowing a typical day, when you breastfeed (every hour, two, three, after naps, before naps, nightwakings, etc.) and when you offer solids would be helpful - using what you're doing now as a starting point, we can help you get on a routine as far as feeding is concerned.  But, typically here's what a 9mo feeding routine might look like:
7am bf
8/830am solids
11am bf
12/1230pm solids
3pm bf
430/5pm solids
7pm bf and bed
(ebf babies will still sometimes have a night feed here too, I know that we did!  Sometimes two )

So what your end goal should be is roughly 4h between breastfeeds, and then solids 1-1.5h after breastfeeds in a breakfast-lunch-dinner routine.  But if that's nowhere near what you're doing now, I don't recommend jumping to this in one swoop - it's better to make the changes gradually and get him used to having that space between feeds.  But I can pretty much guarantee that if you can get him spacing out those breastfeeds that you will see his interest in solids pick up.  If you're having sleep troubles too (and I'm assuming you are because you said you're a zombie ) you may find that spacing those feeds out and getting him on a better feeding routine will help on the sleeping end too.

What do you think?

(posted at the same time as Martina

[CrimpleDimple]

Thank you so much for you reply Vikki! That sounds like a good idea but the whole trying to space the feeds out is difficult when he's really hungry ....how do I do this gradually? Can you give me an example, please?

He also nurses a lot at night, as well. All of his problems are related to another problem and I don't even know where to begin!

[~ Vik ~]

Spacing feeds out can be tough, but the trick is to go slowly.  Almost like you're stretching A times - you go slowly to prevent OT, and you want to do feeds the same way to give your lo time to get used to the new routine!  So, for example, if you're currently feeding every 2h your feeding routine might look like:
7(wakeup), 9, 11, 1, 3, 5, 7(bedtime)
To start stretching, try:
7(wakeup), 9:10, 11:20, 1:30, 3:40, 5:50, 7(bedtime, really close to last feed but ok while you're stretching)
So instead of feeding every 2h, you're feeding every 2h10m, and you should do that for a couple of days.  Then move to 2h20m between feeds for a couple of days.
7, 9:20, 11:40, 2, 4:20, 6:40(this you could make your bedtime feed, or top up before bed)
If he's tolerating the stretching well, you could space the feeds by 15m instead of 10m.  The whole time you're doing this I would continue to offer solids in whatever breakfast, lunch, dinner pattern works for you.
I hope that example is helpful?

The nice thing at this age is though he might complain, it is easier to distract a 9mo old than a 3mo old!  Try to have something *exciting* to distract him with at your old feed time if needed.  An interesting toy, music, books, even a short video, just to occupy him and keep him distracted for that 10m.  Even if you can change environment so that he's not thinking of nursing - take a quick walk around the block in the stroller, for example.

As for the frequent nursing at night, do you think that he might be teething or anything?  The discomfort could be causing him to wake, and then he wants to feed to help himself settle.  Have you tried pain meds to rule that out?  If he's feeding a lot at night that could be contributing to your solid feeding troubles too...  When we were doing night feeds (and we did one until 1yo) I used a feeding routine rule of thumb through the night:
- if he woke less than 3h (or 3.5h, or 4h, whatever our daytime routine was) since his last feed, I would try to settle another way (shh/pat, for example, though at your lo's age you might need to use a different technique)
- if he woke more than 3/3.5/4h since his last feed then I would feed and put back to bed
using that rule helped keep the night feeds at a manageable level for us.

Hope something in this rambling is helpful!

[bumblemum]

Hi there, I have been on a mission to stretch out feed times because my nearly 7 month old lo was BF'ing every 3 hrs up until recently. The advice I found useful was that ideally you should BF as soon as they wake up. They then have 2 hrs awake (or more if older) followed by a decent nap. This means that in the lead up to their next feed they are asleep so you're not having to distract them for ages before a feed.  I finally managed this recently because my lo could manage over 2 hrs awake and it made the world of difference.

I had been following BW routine since about 3 months but it took this long to stretch out feeds. Good luck with your efforts and it may take a fair while for you to get to where you need to be.

I found this forum an amazing support (and still do!).  It makes it so much easier now I can predict roughly what the day will look like. I've recently met Mothers who were BF'ing every few hours and they were pulling their hair out. Recently one was able to move to every 4 hours overnight and their baby is so much happier.

Good luck with encouraging the solids!! I'm sure it will all fit together soon.

C  x