Can she possibly be getting enough - 8.5mo?

[gwc1023]

My dd is 8.5 months old and nurses about every 4 hrs, so four times a day (around 7, 11, 3, 7) plus a df still (and up once in the night when she gets a bottle).  During the day I often feel like I'm forcing her to nurse.  I know they get very efficient as they get older, but can she possibly be getting enough when she'll only suck for maybe a couple of minutes on each side?? 

I'm not sure if I should be nursing her less often to try to get her to take more at a time or what - my son I don't think ever nursed less often than 3 hours, so even 4 hours already seems like I hardly ever feed her!  She is on solids, three meals a day now, but the most she takes is about 1/4 cup (total prepared - I usually mix fruit/veg/meat with cereal) at each meal, so I really don't think she's eating too much, judging by how much others have posted their lo's eat.

I'm just concerned that she's not getting enough breastmilk these days.  She's certainly not lacking for fat rolls, lol, but she hardly ever wants to nurse!  Any ideas?

[Samuel's mum]

When you say 'a couple of minutes each side' have you ever timed her? (sorry if that's a dumb question!). I don't know if I would be able judge time especially with an older sibling around. Is there any chance it could be longer or perhaps longer for some feeds in the day?
I know babies can be scarily quick sometimes. Are you happy about wet nappies and her swallowing sounds?
I agree she doesn't sound as though she's eating too much solids - How do you schedule her milk feeds and solid feeds?

[gwc1023]

No, not at all a dumb question! I don't think I ever had actually 'timed' it exactly, but I just did for this last feeding and it was 2 minutes on one side and 3 minutes on the other - and that was a pretty normal feeding I would say.  If I try to get her back on to nurse some more, she either completely refuses, or bites me good and hard as soon as she's on.   

As for scheduling, her breakfast and lunch solid feeds are about an hour after nursing, and supper is a couple hours after her afternoon nursing and an hour or so before her bedtime nursing (I feed her solids at the same time as the rest of the family is eating).  So I don't think it's a matter of filling up on solids and not wanting to nurse.  And yes, I'm definitely having letdown and she swallows lots quickly while she does nurse.  Lots of wet diapers.

LOL, after my son I said that my second child would probably be totally different and sleep through the night very early, and be a picky eater.  So I keep telling Abby that if she's going to be a picky eater she'd better start sleeping through the night!! 

[daisymelan]

I would say my lo nurses only 5 minutes, sometimes I can stretch him to 10, but not often.  He is 8 months old and receives the exact number of feeds as your lo.  HTH

[squeaky's mum]

I am finding this thread reassuring as Sophie is doing exactly the same thing. She is also 8.5 months old. Her second tooth is on the way and with it her biting is more frequent. But I am lucky if any of our nursings are longer than 5-10 minutes during the day. I often get a good 1/2 hour in just before bedtime. But then I think she is sucking for for comfort.

[Samuel's mum]

From your description everything sounds just fine to me. I wouldn't worry.

[FreddieEden]

Good to know someone else gets a biting if they try to extend nursing.  DS has two teeth now and it's really put me off encouraging him to take more!

[teezee]

what is the difference in feedings between night and day?  i had that problem with my lo - when i realized that she was getting all of her calories at the night feedings. have you tried cutting down on the night feeding and/or df at all?

[gwc1023]

She was previously waking twice a night to feed, and that's when I switched her to bottles at night, and did the watering down of the night bottles recommended in another thread.  That got her to waking only 1x a night to eat, with a very watered down bottle (about half, maybe a little less of the regular powder).  But she keeps waking for that, and since she's not taking a huge amount of solids during the day I am not convinced that she doesn't need one feed at night. 

I keep thinking about cutting out the df, but I guess I just haven't gotten around to it yet - I think by doing it for so long I'm subconsciously worried that I won't get a good stretch of sleep after I go to bed if I don't do it.  The other problem is that she wakes for the df half the time probably, so I don't think I can cut it out cold turkey since she often wakes for it anyway.  Should I just start moving it back 15 minutes at a time (i.e. clsoer to bedtime?)

[teezee]

you could either move it back 15 min at a time or so, or do what you did with the night feeding and water it down bit by bit.  i too was hesitant about stopping the df but when i finally did at nearly 8 months i wished i would have summed up the courage to try it sooner...if after a week or so it hasn't helped you can always start it again.

[Mommy in Moose Jaw]

THought I'd add my two cents    I remember reading somewhere that around this age, average total daily intake of formula or breastmilk in ounces actually decreases as compared with younger babies who are not yet on solids.  I was concerned about the same thing with our dd as she was nursing exactly as many of you are describing -- just a couple of minutes on each side and a longer one at bedtime that seemed more for comfort.  She continued to seem satisfied so I wasn't worried about lack of intake and it was definitely letting down and she was gulping, just for a very short time!  Also, remember with breastmilk the content changes and may be much more fatty now so same calories.  I have to say I agree with the idea that the night feeds could be starting to cut into the day's intake.  Anything taken in over night will start to compromise day feeds, that's why TBW recommends eliminating the df around this age also.  I got really 'strict' about no extra feedings in addition to the df a few weeks ago and her sleep has steadily improved, aside from teething  This might be your indication your lo is ready to drop the df as well.  I'm going to start eliminating the df soon also.

[nathan_smom]

Just wanted to let you all know how happy I came across this thread. I am nursing my 7 month old and was running into the same problems....he seems to be nursing around 8 minutes on each side.  I initially thought he couldn't possible be getting enough milk so I began giveing a bottle for one feeding a day.  Now that I have read that this amount of feeding time is more normal....it makes me feel a lot better..even though he is a bit younger than your Lo's. Thanks for all your posts!