7.5 MO - not sure our feeding routine is working...

[CEJ2014]

Hi! I am new to these forums and looking for some advice about my 7.5 month old. Her schedule just seems to be completely wonky recently! I posted on the nap board but wanted to post here about her breastfeeding routine...

My LO has been STTN for about 3 months. Previously, she was nursing about every 3 hours (7, 10, 1, 4, 7, and 4am) and that NF kept moving later until it became the first feed of the day. BUT we never dropped a feed, just somehow squished the 6 together in the daytime. Now that she is dropping the third nap I am a little lost. So now, this week our routine looks something like this (it varies...so I will tell you what today was):

6:15 wake and BF
7:30 solids (a few Tbsp fruit)
8:30 BF (usually starting to go to sleep...I did not used to do this one but as her A time lengthened I started offering)
8:45 Sleep 1.5-2 hours
10:30 (or whenever wakes) BF
1:00 BF again (2-2.5 hours after last BF)
1:30 nap 2...this one is NOT working. She sometimes lays in crib babbling, sometimes falls asleep right away but is only getting 30-45 minutes sleep. Today, she wouldn't settle for over an hour, went to sleep from 2:50-3:50.
4:15 BF
5:00 solids
7:00 BF and asleep by 7:30

So...the thing is, my LO is not demanding to feed at all of these times, I offer because I worry about her being full enough to get through a nap, or worry about her getting enough over whole day to STTN. I think that she would probably be fine nursing 5 times but I don't know how to rearrange our day or what to try! She doesn't always nurse well at all of those times but she is also in a distracted phase. Obviously the schedule is not working as it is with the sleep times...and I figure it is all somehow related. Any thoughts? Or anyone with experience, what was your baby's schedule like at this age?

One other thing, I also pump before bed (was having engorgement issues in morning so started doing this for relief) so I have about 4-5 oz of EBM each day...I've just been freezing it all.

[*Ali*]

My DS2 also struggled to make it through that first nap without a second BF before sleep. What I then did is not offer the BF on wake up from the first nap but I offered solids half an hour after he woke and then a BF a couple hours later. I know that meant he was having solids first which isn't really recommended but tbh he was eating so little solids at this age that it worked fine for us and he still took the BF just fine. Then as he got a bit older, maybe 8 or 9mo I didn't offer a BF when he woke from nap two either and again did a dinner of solids and then the BT BF. We did BLW and again he wasn't taking a whole lot of solids but it was enough to keep him happy until BT. He was still having a NF at this age.

If you don't offer solids at lunch, as it looks from your routine, do you think he would be happy with just one BF around 12.30? Or if you do what about a BF at 11.30 or 12 and solids an hour after.

Re your sleep issues I would try pushing that second nap later as it sounds UT. You could also push the first nap later to balance the day a little.

But as the old saying goes if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you re happy to BF six times a day and the eating schedule if working then stick with it. As she is sttn she is obviously getting sufficient milk in the day

[CEJ2014]

Thank you! I honestly don't mind nursing her 6 times a day, I do wonder though if tweaking things a bit would help her get a better second nap. She often falls asleep nursing before that nap and I suspect that little snooze might be keeping her awake! I think I'll either try only one feed between nap 1 and 2 like you said, or maybe drop out the second morning feed and see how she does...maybe she'll nurse better following her nap and I could push up the following feed?

[*Ali*]

Yes if she can last until after her nap then that would work. That's what I did with DS1 at 7mo when he was having a 3hr A time and 2hr nap. It meant there was 5hrs between his first and second BF but he was happy with this as he took a decent amount of solids for breakfast.