10 Mth Old - When to Drop 4 to 3 Feeds?

[Burmese3]

Hi

Our 10 mth old girl is still breastfeeding 4 times a day, and is eating a good amount of solids 3 times a day.  However just not sure when I should be dropping off to 3 times a day breast feed.  Lately over the last 3 or 4 weeks, she's actually increasing her time on the breast, tho I suspect it's more comfort feeding than actually needing more breastmilk.

Routine roughly:
7am - breastfeed
8.15am - solids
11am - breastfeed
12.30pm - solids
3.45pm/4pm ish - breastfeed
5.15pm - solids
6.40pm - formula and topup breastfeed

I try to give her some water in a sippy bottle after meals, but she only drinks about 10 - 20 mls. 

She wakes up after her afternoon nap crying quite often, not sure if hunger or just grumpy from sleep.  The breastfeeds at 11am and 3.45pm tend to stop her from crying.

Any suggestions on when appropriate to drop a feed, and if so is it the 11am feed that is dropped first?

Cheers.

[RachelC]

I dropped the 4 feed around 11 months, but every lo is different.  I was feeding on a 4.5 hour routine at the time and the 11:30 and 3:30 (approx) feeds were not that interesting.  I eliminated the 11:30 and now we look like this:
6-7 (wake up sometime) bf
8 solids
snack sometime before/after nap, depending on timing
12 solids
1:30 bf (a nice long one)
3-4 snack (after nap)
5-5:30 dinner
6:45 bf

All the bfs increased in lenght and concentration when I dropped one.... drop the one she seems the least interested in.

Good luck!

[tiki_mama]

I recently dropped from 4 to 3 feeds and my DD has just turned 9 months. I only felt comfortable doing it because I am absolutley sure she is getting enough nutrients and a good balanced diet from solids. She also drinks a LOT of water. I think that is the main things to consider.

We dropped the 11am(ish) feed and now i offer her some fruit, or some yoghurt or rice cakes. She doesn't seem to miss it at all 

[Burmese3]

Thanks for the feedback.  She seems perfectly ok on 4 feeds still, so I think I will leave it a bit longer and see how it goes.  It's good to be able to see what others are doing at around this age as well.