7 -8 MONTH OLD ROUTINE

[otm]

HI
I am wondering how many times you bf your babies and what your days are like... I am thinking that its nearly time to go down to 3 bf's instead of 4..

Our day is like this (7.5 month)

6.15 wake and bf
8am breakfast
 9-10am sleep
10.30 bf (often a fussy, crap bf!)
12/12.30 Lunch
 1-2 sleep
2.30 bf
5pm Dinner
6pm Bath
7pm Sleep

Slept through the night since 6 months. Eats loads - quite a big boy - over 9 kilos.  The other day a nurse told me his routine is 'wrong' coz should be eating before drinking milk. What do you reakon?

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Do you do a last bf before bed too?  I still bf 4 times a day at one year old... At 7-8 months, I'd be reluctant to go down to 3 yet OR switch to solids first - your son's main source of nutrition is still supposed to be milk, NOT solids (sorry - I disagree with the nurse!!).

[otm]

yes,ooops - i still bf before bed - don't bf him to sleep though. Last bf is at 6.30pm, then put him down awake at 7pm.

Does anyone only do 3 bf's?

Thanks

[otm]

hi redstarfalling
thanks for your reply...

as far as i've read by 12 months you 'should' be giving 1 or 2 bf's... but as its totally a personal thing...

I only  want to be giving ds what he 'needs'. i don't want to bf for comfort or whatever.  he can get lotsa hugs and kisses for comfort!  I think they only drink about 600mls around his age.

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

You're completely right - it's a personal thing!    But I'm curious where you read that they "should" be only bf 1 or 2 times at a year... I personally don't know any 1 year old who only gets milk once a day, although I'm sure there are some...

This is from Kellymom.com:

Your child can continue breastfeeding just as often during the second year, but offer solid foods a few times a day. After 12 months, you can begin offering the solids BEFORE baby nurses, if you wish, instead of after. Your milk is still an important part of baby's diet and will offer him many benefits (nutritionally, immunilogically and emotionally). There is not any particular "recommended number of times per day" that a toddler should be nursing. Some are only nursing once or twice a day, while others continue to enjoy lots of time at their mother's breast. As baby slowly moves into eating more solids, your milk will fill any nutritional gaps nicely. Once you do start to breastfeed less often, remember that you must make a greater effort to ensure that your child eats several meals of nutritious food each day

Some toddlers are eating very few solids, or even no solids, at 12 months. This is not unusual and really depends on your child - there is quite a big variation. We like to see breastmilk making up the majority (around 75%) of baby's diet at 12 months. Some babies will be taking more solids by 12 months, but others will still be exclusively or almost-exclusively breastfed at this point. It is normal for baby to keep breastmilk as the primary part of his diet up until 18 months or even longer. An example of a nice gradual increase in solids would be 25% solids at 12 months, 50% solids at 18 months, and 80% solids at 24 months.

[otm]

Thanks for reply...

I've read/ been told about these amounts from;

karitane, tresillian (mothercraft nurses centres), the Australian breast feeding association, early childhood centres, and in many books which aren't too extreme one way or another.  I'm familiar with the kellymom website - i think it has lots of useful information, but it is based on attachement parenting...

[annamum]

May I chime in?

Yes, kellymom.com has tons of excellent info and it is AP oriented, true. But breastfeeding has its own dynamics that differs from bottle feeding dynamics. Breastfeeding is naturally "designed" to be more attachment oriented, if you know what I mean  :wink:. In my opinion, breastfeeding needs to be more flexible regarding schedules and such in order to succeed.

As for the number of breastfeeds per day, I think it really depends on mom, how she is planning weaning and when. If weaning is not in near futrure, there is no need to cut on feeds. If you plan to wean, just make sure your baby is getting minimum required amount of milk per day, doesn't matter how many feeds but matters the amount. I think you are right, at age of 1 year, 600 ml is a good amount.