When to switch to solids before milk?

[Anmarnad]

My DD will be 9 months old next week. She is now on 4 BFs a day and has solids 3 times a day and one tiny snack. At least in theory. I cannot say she is a big fun of solids - she eats but not much at all, or sometimes she skips the whole meal completely. Usually the evening meal is the best, breakfast sort of ok and the rest super random. She is at the day care and I just got an advice from them to reduce the amount of ebm from 180ml (6oz)  to 150 ml  (around 5 oz) ( she gets one bottle of emb there)  and to give her solids before milk. I know that milk is still very important, but my question is - when is it advisable to switch? Should we reduce the number of BFs from 4 to 3 by now as well - that's what they suggested as well. I guess I'm a bit nervous and it feels early, but maybe it's not? I'm worried because of what it might do to my milk supply... I would like to continue BFing till she is 1 year old.
Thanks a lot for helping us out!

[Buntybear]

Hi I think that we dropped our first feed at 10 months. I don't think that reducing the bottle by an ounze will hurt and it may just increase her interest in solids.

[creations]

Hi. I never switched to solids before milk.  Gradually one of DS's milk feeds went down, he lost interest in it, then rather than drop that feed completely I gave a snack and drink in a sippy cup at that time (pretty sure that was the mid afternoon milk).  Then later switched the mid morning milk to a snack and drink, leaving just WU and BT milks.  Moved BT milk to supper/snack and sippy at 12 months and switched WU milk to a straw cup at 13 months.
I don't think I'd personally switch to solids before milk unless no solids were being taken. It's a gradual process moving from milk being the most important (right up to 12 months) to solids being the most important.  I always left a full hour (or more) between a milk feed and a solids feed though so that he could build an appetite.

[Anmarnad]

Thank you so much for your help. I do give her a bit less milk to the daycare now and I have been doing my best trying to space all the meals a bit better. And on Saturday it worked like a charm, on Sunday she didn't really want to eat at all, and today she had an OK breakfast and completely refused dinner (even though up till now that was her best meal of the day) - she seemed very tired, but when I took her out of her chair she was happy to play for a bit still. I really don't know what to make of it. But reading your posts I think I should just continue for a bit and see how it goes... I wish she had a better signalling system for me to know whether she is really in pain from teething, tired, or someting else. In any case - thanks a lot ladies!

[creations]

A lot of LOs eat sporadically, one day lots, the next day not so much, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

WRT communication, have you thought about using some baby sign language?  I'm qualified in British sign language but chose not to go all-out with teaching signs to my LO.  I chose very few but used them a lot; food, drink, toilet.  There's a sign language thread if you're interested.

[Anmarnad]

Baby sign language sounds like a great idea! We have been trying it for a couple of days now and she seems to be mainly laughing at me :-) but it sounds like fun anyway. Thanks for that!

All the eating is still very shaky though.  I'm not too happy about her eating schedule at all actually - having hard time accommodating day care schedule, her funny wake ups, BFs and solids. I think it's time for someone to look at our routine again. But I guess it's better if I post that in the EASY forum as well?
Just in case here is her schedule at the moment:

6:00 - wake up ( our aim is to wake up at 7:00 though) & BF
8:00 - breakfast
10:00 - fruit at the day care (this is part of the day care routine and hard to move)
10:30 - bed
12:00 - wake up and EBM at the day care
12:15 - lunch (this is part of the day care routine and hard to move)
14:45 - snack
15:00 - bed
16:30 - BF (that's when I come to BF at the day care; but yesterday she was fighting the nap till 15:50 was sleeping till almost 17:00!)
18:00 - dinner
19:15 - BF
19:30 - bed

I have a feeling that in the morning she gets really big gaps between her BF, and then too short. She is not complaining but then she is also not eating her solids well and the 4:30 pm BF is sometimes really bad.

Thanks so much for thinking along!