When to drop a BF

[Claire Marie's mommy]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone can advise me on when babies begin to drop a BF during the day.  DD is 9mo +1 week and is rarely interested in the 11:00 BF anymore.  She started this about 3 weeks ago.  I always offer and she'll eat for about a minute, then start playing and sometimes biting !  I don't know if I should continue to offer anymore.   Here is our current schedule:

6/7 wake and BF

8 - cereal, yogurt and some cheerios

10:30/11 BF (Try to anyway)

12:30/1:00 Lunch- meat, cheese, fruit

3/3:30 - 5-6 ounces of formula

5:30- Dinner - usually some cereal and fruit and veggies

7:00 - BF and bed

She does still feed once in the night at about 3:30 or 4 and it is her best BF in a 24 hour period.  I'm would LOVE to stop this, but am hesitant because she's tiny (15.5 lbs) and I don't know if she can go a full 12 hours.??  This is my first baby, so I'm not real sure what they're capable of
Do you think that if I can stop the night feed, she might make up the calories during the day? Any ideas on how to do this?
And when do they start to drop a day feed?  Sorry I'm all over the place here!  I would appreciate any help!

Thanks
Jessica

[jwebb]

Hi Claire Marie's mommy,
I think your LO is only waking up by habit. Even if she's small for her age 15lbs is plenty big for sleeping through the night. She seems to be getting plenty of calories during the day.
I would use Tracy's techniques for eliminating the night time feeds like wake to sleep and then see how she feels about the 10:30-11 BF.
If even after that, she still doesn't want the 10:30-11 BF try a snack instead like a bitter bisquit or some crackers or more cherios.
Its OK if they don't want their snacks during the day. The problem arises when they don't want their main meals. 
Good luck!

[Claire Marie's mommy]

Thanks for your help jwebb!  I'll try offering a solid snack if she doesn't want to BF at 11.  She loves to feed herself, so at least this way she will be getting some calories.  Also trying to work on a plan for eliminating that 3/4 am feed.  I kind of suspected it was habit, but its rarely at the same time (sometimes as early as 2, or as late as 4:30) so I just kept doing it to be on the safe side.  I'm hoping that after a few rough nights she'll get the hang of it.  Thanks again.

Jessica

[debbieforbeck]

Hi there,
My little one did the same exact thing...  you have to tough it out and not do the 3 or 4 am feed.  It's totally habit.  You have to get her to eat more during the day.  She won't like it, I'll tell you that.  I'm not sure if you need to stop the 10:30/11:00 feed.  She'll be more hungry once you stop that middle of the night feed. The other thing is, my doctor said that since my little girl was so small as well that I should juice up her formula intake by changing the proportions -5oz of water to 3 scoops of formula vs. the 2oz to 1 scoop recommended dosage.  This would give her more calories.