BFing, solids & long a times!

[stevesmum]

HI,
Lo is 6mths, started solids and was EBF. How do you work in Bf with solids and a 3hr - 3h30 a time?? I've checked the faqs but bub is much younger and not on that much solids, maybe twice a day.
Any suggestions where to look?
Thanks

[amayzie]

I can tell you my Easy as we have the feeds/solids you describe-

BF: 7:30 (on waking)
solids: 8:30 (or so)
S: 10:30 (or so- we have sort of set naps now...)
Bf: 12:30
S: 3:30 (or 3.. again)
BF: 4pm
Solids: 5:30/6
BF: 7pm
S: 7pm

That's how we do it anyway- still on 4 feeds a day.

Others may be able to share theirs too?

[becj86]

I did:

7am - wake & BF
8am - breakfast
10 - nap
11:30/12 - wake & BF
12/12:30 - BLW-style lunch (didn't take much in initially)
3 - nap
4:30 -  wake & BF
5 - dinner (take it or leave it)
6 - bath, BF, sleep by 7pm

Only what I did with DS, may not work for you.

[stevesmum]

Thanks ladies that's perfect. We've finally beaten short naps, sort of set naps/a times, and i find myself almost feeding at night time to avoid wu due to hunger, but then he's not necessarily hungry between naps and is like snacking??? cos I keep offering bm!!

[becj86]

Exactly the dilemma I was in with DS around that age! I found the natural cluster feed really helped a lot more than solids in the evening for DS to sleep through without the NF. In fact, even now at nearly 10 months, if he's off his dinner, he'll drink up big on his BT BF and STTN

[amayzie]

And don't panic about getting heaps of solids into him- at his age the milk is the main priority

[stevesmum]

Hey you're in Newcastle!! and Airlie Beach!

Yeah, he seems to really love the solids, but milk is a bit humha... unless of course at night or bt... or going to nap! I just can't figure it out, i know they say not to 'starve them' into eating (so to speak) but my in built habit, no matter how hard i try, is to offer regularly... but a nibble here for a few mins and another an hour or so later... When a full feed is 10min (using both sides) i guess they add up!
I notice that you both have larger than 4hrs at times and then smaller ones to make up.. I'll guess i'll work it out tomorrow when i see what times he wakes! he's finally made it out to a nf at 4.30/5/5.30 which then makes wu bf tricky... like he's not hungry?!

[amayzie]

Yeah- after 4 months it sort of turns into a 4+hour easy... We also had a period of the early wake up feed- followed by an hour or 2 down and then no interest in the WU feed- i just kept offering.. threw the day out though! It's just something you need to muddle through i think. For us it was fine keeping the early morning feed- it eventually went of it's own accord.

And yes- an all australian thread! And a bunch of night owls.. Actually- you queenslanders don't have day light saving do you..

[stevesmum]

NO - but dh is watching the new alcatraz series, i'm doing some office work and waiting for df!!
early morning feed - you mean like the 4.30am one? I gave up trying to get rid of it, and now it seems to be moving out by itself.
this morning was the first morning he went back to sleep after the early feed, though the last few days it was 5-5.30.. but again, i think this had to do with the last a time. thankfully he only had an 3hr a time this arvo, so who knows - a sleep in maybe? I CAN DREAM CAN'T I??!!
so you reckon just keep offering the bf - i've been holding off the solids until after he gets a good bf in, i figure i don't want him filling up on the solids and not milk.

[amayzie]

We had a morning BF sometimes 4/30, but then moved to 5, or 5.30... he would usually go down after it. Are you still on 3 naps? surely not with that A time...

I would just keep offering the BF- if you have a long A time you can afford to delay the solids til after he eats the milk. I would not at 6 months offer food first... especially if he's refusing the BF. I can imagine a situation where he refuses the wake up feed, you potter about, get organised and get breakfast sorted- offer it to him and he happens to be ready then- but then the solids take the place of the BF.. make sense? At 6 months you can afford to skip the solids too if he's not interested in a BF. Just keep offerring the BF...

Yeah with us i never did anything much to get rid of that feed- it just went (i was very lucky...)

Ha- i don't think i noticed you had 2 bubs before! You possibly didn't have the tickers up... Yay!

[stevesmum]

No, Ben (the eternally happy baby) was fighting the cn and no matter what i did I couldn't get him for a third in the end (as it was they were all 30m usually anyway!). So i pushed him out and now he's roughly doing two good 1.30hr naps - saying that he probably won't today! sure enough not hungry on wake up this morning, despite having a nf at 3.30am. oh well, at least he went back to sleep! What we do is as you said, i get Steve organised (and me) and then try offering again... no food though until he has a bf, solids aren't that important iyam.i think some of it is just distraction, but even so, he just doesn't seem starving for a big feed lately...

[amayzie]

The other option is to try not offering that night feed- have you tried just settling him instead? I only ask as i always just fed, never tried just settling- so you may be the same. You might find that he can go to sleep without a feed and then be right for the morning BF.

Also- we still had a dream feed at that point- do you do a DF?

[stevesmum]

I do generally try to settle first, but then who's at their strongest in the wee small hours??!! So feeding usually happens! We do still DF but even that isn't as big as it used to be,though i note that that may be due to a half hour later bt (therefore half hour later last bf for the day) but i haven't shifted the df out - so instead of 4hrs out, now 3.5hr...

[amayzie]

Yeah- as i said, i never even tried to settle so you're one up on me! I figured if it's only really one feed then that's fine and he probably needs it- and it did go. Probably closer to 7 months it was gone totally? I guess when the solids were well established he didn't need it... Hold onto the dream feed till after the 6 month growth spurt is my advice- we dropped it about 2 days before, but then were in a real mess!! May as well wait till after that.. (that's my suggestion- do what you want of course! )