when to drop bf

[Sarah J]

just a quick query that i hope you can iron out...

my lo is 6.5mo and is having 3 meals a day as follows

7am -bf
8am - cereal
11am - ??
12pm lunch and pudding
3pm bf
430pm - tea and pudding
7pm - bf

my health visitor has advised i drop one bf, 11am was suggested, and replace with a snack with a view to dropping 3pm a little later on.  this is in keeping with his start a t nursery next week  but he feels a little young (??) and from what i have read your babies still seem to be having milk at that time.

i am giving him yoghurt and fruit or a banana at 10.30 sh since he does not actually take much when given a rice cake or the like, he is still learning and playing.

please advise

[milliesmaw]

Hi Sarah - I'm curious about this one as well. I'm also in the UK and my HV had suggested looking to drop the afternoon b/f which surprised me. DS is 7 months and we have a similar schedule to yourself although I do evening solids later to coincide with returning from nursery at about 5pm. He will be starting nursery in a month.

I have noticed that ds is really not that interested in taking much for his 11am milk feed. I have moved to a bottle or cup for this feed now but he doesn't take that much.

When dd went to nursery I think she was a bit older before she dropped the am and pm milk. What they did at nursery was to give them milk in a sippy cup and a snack. So you could offer some milk in a cup at 11am and a small snack. I think at this age milk should still be the main source of nutrition. I do give ds rice cakes but really just to play with and suck on when he's waiting for his food. I think as a snack yoghurt is a good choice.

I'm going to continue with the milk at present. Once ds is at nursery I'm sure he'll move onto snacks quite quickly as he loves food but there's plenty of time for that

[deenz]

I kept four bf up to 10m with dd1.  I then dropped the 3pm bf first.

[Mommy of 3]

This is very interesting to me as well.  I've been told by family friends that I should drop a bottle feed as well.  I also noticed that DS hasn't been very interested in his 11 bottle feed as well.  My routine is very similar to yours as well.  I haven't thought about it as well because I thought that the most important nutrients of their first year is from the formula. 

Thanks for posting this topic.  I'm very curious to see future posts to this topic.

[Sarah J]

thanks for your replies.

i thought he was doing OK with yoghurt snack etc at 10.30 and certainly is eating more at lunch, which i am hoping will be the main meal of the day.  for the last few days, however he has been waking for a feed at 10-11pm and takes between 5 and 9oz ebm.  maybe this is due to him missing milk at 1030am???  mind you he doesn't seem so interested in his bf at 7pm.  like you, milliesmaw, i am using the same meal times as his nursery.  i will take up your suggestion to give milk in a sippy cup with his snack and see how he gets on.  - did you mean to put ebm in the cup or regular milk, BTW?

i am concerned about how i will keep up expressing when i return to work as i will need to express at least 18oz each day if he continued with milk at 1030am.  its soooo confusing!!!

please let me know how you are getting on.....

[milliesmaw]

Hi Sarah - It is confusing. Yes - I meant ebm or formula. They can't have whole milk till after a year. I had a look back at my dd's nursey log book (!) and found that she was having some milk at 9.30am - snack time, some at 1pm and some at 4pm. DD was very small and I was obsessed about getting milk into her. So I think I suggested offering her milk at every opportunity. She's still really small but is now a milkaholic!
So not much help. Today DS took about 6oz at 11am but had a smaller lunch...then b/f at 3pm and then big dinner.

I would just go with your instincts. As long as your lo is getting the required amount of milk or milk products per day then it will be fine. And I did find that nursery was helpful in terms of food and drink and they kept me right.

Well done on expressing. My job involves a lot of rushing about and I know that I couldn't keep it up. If your ds takes some milk from a sippy then he prob won't take a huge amount so it won't be a lot of extra milk. And if the snack is working then maybe you don't really need the milk. 

Hope that helps a wee bit!

[Sarah J]

yes, thank you again!!!!

[ryleesmom]

hey just wondering when you started tol wean I am trying to stop bf at 6months is that a good idea

[Sarah J]

hello!

i started to wean onto solids when ds was just over 5.5months.  when he is attending nursery he has one bottle of expressed breastmilk at 230pm but otherwise is still bf at 7am, 2.30pm 7pm and occasionally 11pm.  i replaced the 11 am bf with a snack (as per my query) but i do intend to continue to bf at least morning and night until.... well.... whenever!!!

hth