How much is enough when starting solids

[yorkshire]

Hi
My ds is 6.5 months and started solids 4 weeks ago.  He is now having lunch and tea and I started pupd 2 days ago to get him on a routine and try to stop boob to sleep association and night waking and extend naps etc...

Now he doesn't snack before and during naps and night, I am a little engorged and wondering if he is getting enough milk.  He is BFeeding 4 times a day but sucks for between 4 and 12 minutes.  He doesn't drain my breast/s at a feed.  Could this be enough for him?  Is this the right amount of Bfeeds for his age/stage?

Thanks in advance.

[clh]

Hi--
First a few questions...  How often (or how many times) were you feeding before?  How long was he sucking before?  What does your current routine look like?

In answer to some of your questions...  My ds was on 5 feeds at that age, but all babies are different.  Also, babies that age can be very efficient feeders and can be done in 5-10 minutes.  (Mine has always been a leisurely feeder.   )  Have his "diaper habits" changed?  I'd think that as long as he is putting out an appropriate number of wet diapers, shows no signs of hunger, & is continuing to grow, then you're fine.  Good job, mom!

[yorkshire]

Hi

Thanks for your pertinent questions though not sure I know the answer to all of them.

Before he was feeding a random amount of times as it was always to get to sleep and then when he woke during sleeps (day and night) I would feed him again to get him back to sleep.  So some feeds lasted up to 10 mins but many were just 2 or 3 minutes.

His new/current routine is varying a little day by day as we struggle with pupd for naps but goes roughly like this:

6.30 Wake
7am BF
9ish Nap
11 BF
12-12.30 Lunch Solids
1ish Nap
3pm BF
5-5.30 Tea Solids
6pm BF one side
Bath
6.30 BF the other side

Having previously woken at night many times and occasionally not at all, the last 2 nights he has slept right through. 

Diapers seem to be ok though maybe a little drier.  He is definitely hungry when it comes round to a feed time, maybe a little earlier though he has gone through the night twice the last 2 days.  I don't know if his weight has changed since on this new routine as we have only been doing it 2 days.  I will weigh him next week and see how he is doing.  Not sure how many ounces he should be putting on at this age per week. 

I think he may be an efficient sucker by the feel of it!

Cheers.

[jbepko]

Four feedings is enough for some LO's at this age- some still need 5. But if he is sleeping through the night, then he is NOT hungry. Its good to separate solids from milk like you are doing to ensure the bulk of his calories are from mommy's milk. I think you are on the right track! Good luck with Pu/PD. 

[clh]

That looks like a great schedule to me!     I agree with Jeni:  If he's sleeping thru, then he's *not* hungry!  You say he's definitely ready to eat when it's time to bf.  My guess is that's because you're not allowing him to "snack" as much as before.  I missed that you'd only been doing this 2 days.  Oops.  If you're concerned about weight, you can have him checked.  Also, there's a growth chart for bf'd babies on the FAQ section.  As long as he's not dramatically changing percentiles, I wouldn't worry.  Mine hangs out around 25th percentile.  That doesn't mean anything except that he's a smaller baby.  If he started out at 90th & suddenly dropped to 25th, *then* there might be a need to look closer.  Make sense?

OK.  I'll stop rambling now.    Be proud you're doing this for your ds! 

[yorkshire]

Thank you both for your support and responses.  I'm so pleased and amazed by the nights so far and I think we are ok with feeding.  Finding the days very tough though as his short nap stints are resulting in a lot of crying/soothing/pupd when I try to get him back to sleep.  I know this isn't the place to talk about that but your encouragement means a lot.
Thanks again.

[Samuel's mum]

When it comes to the weighing, as a rough guide a bf baby should have doubled their birth weight by 5-6 months. Obviously weight loss is a possible warning sign but there is a massive range of normal when it comes to weight gain. An average weight gain for a 6-12 month year old is around 2-4 oz a week. However weight gain isn't really the way to judge if a baby is getting enough - look at nappies as you are and overall behaviour e.g. sleep.

(BTW - not relevant in you case but just incase anybody else is reading this with a very young baby/newborn. 'Sleeping through' is not always a positive sign a baby is getting enough. Some new babies who are not feeding sufficiently can go into hibernation mode and sleep more than is healthy and that can be a worrying sign. This is NOT at all your situation but I just want to mention it here incase someone with a newborn thinks if their baby is sleeping for many many hours in a stretch they must be getting enough milk. I hope you don't mind me popping that in here!)

[yorkshire]

No that's a good point.  He has doubled his birth weight and has been doing fine on the 75th percentile so I will perhaps check him in a couple of weeks to see if things seem to be continuing in that vein.  Meanwhile - on with the nap extensions...