how to keep breast milk as main source of nurtrition?

[lilapple]

Hello!
We have just pretty much successfully gone from ESA to EAS (she formerly couldn't sleep w/o nursing first)  which i am vry thankful for!  I have a question as I just introduced solids 2 weeks ago.  I would like to keep breastmilk as her main source of nutrition until about a year.  In a span of 2 weeks she has gone from 2 tsp 1x day to  1/4 cup of cereal 2x a day.  today we had a situation during the 2nd nap where she started crying and sucking her hand.  I was soothing her back to sleep but then thought maybe she really is hungry  so I took her out and fed her solids and put her back to sleep--it took about 20 min of soothing for her to get to sleep.  So now Im wondering if she is really hungry at this time of day and I should introduce a 12:30 solids feeding or if that will sway her towards solids and away from the breast?  (She did gulp down that cereal pretty fast when I gave it to her!!)
Thanks!  Here's her schedule:
7am wake and bf
8:30 solids
9:30 nap--10:45
11 bf
1pm nap  (this is the troubled one!)
3pm bf
5-6 catnap for 20-45 min
6pm solids
6:45 bf
7pm sleep
thanks!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

How old is your lo?  Usually, as long as you give the breastmilk first, she'll fill up on that and just have enough solids to supplement and practice on.  Most of her calories will still come from milk.

[GraceKellysmom]

You could try a 3rd solids meal. As long as she is taking in 4 milk feeds until 9-10 months. You may consider what she has for breakfast and see if that is upseting her tummy? Has she been constipated or could the hand chewing be teething pain?

[lilapple]

hi stacy and erin!
thanks for replies.  lo is 6 mos.  could be teething   -- i gave her motrin before this nap--we'll see--she's asleep now    slept only 1/2 hr 1st nap.  so she is overtired.  constipated? she was but worked that out (pun intended) her poops are definately more solid--pastey.  i did not give her noon feed today and i'm ruling that out as a reason for yesterday's waking.   i just dont want her to prefer solids yet as i've heard can happen.

[milliesmaw]

hi Lilapple - we meet again
Could it be that your lo is hunting for her thumb to suck? Unless she has found it already that is? I remember in another post you mentioned your dd scratching her ear. My ds does a lot of tugging and scratching of random facial parts (!) when he's trying to find his thumb or something to suck on to self soothe.

[lilapple]

hello again!  hmmmm... could be, plus she makes this sucking sound  any tips on helping a 6 mos old learn how to suck her thumb--just keep sticking it in???

[GraceKellysmom]

LOL, that is what I did with my ds to help him suck his.