breastmilk and juice

[newmommy21]

Hello everyone! Well...my 7 month old ds is a big boy! He is exclusively breastfed and weighs 22 pounds. His doctor said that there is nothing to worry about as long as I teach him healthy eating habits because he will probably thin out as he starts to walk. He is a very happy, active, spirited boy and I just do not want him to have any weight issues when he gets older, I'm concerned that he's getting too big. Like I said he is exclusively breastfed and he loves it! I started solids at 6 months and for now, he is just having fun with it, but would rather have breastmilk. I had decided that my son will be getting no juice only because it is not necessary and it will just add extra calories. DS drinks a lot of milk, he gets about 6 great big full feeds a day. Well... I was doing some reading online and I just read that juice fills a baby up more than breastmilk with fewer calories and in my head I'm imagining that I will now give him some juice once a day which will reduce the amount of milk he drinks and therefore, will not gain too much weight....is this bad thinking? I know that I shouldnt be thinking too much about his weight at this age, its just that obesity is such a big problem nowadays and I dont want my son to have to deal with it. Please share your opinions. Thanks!

[deenz]

I definitely would not be worried about his weight.  As your dr says, as long as the food you feed him is healthy, then this is the size he was meant to be.  Is he on 4hr EASY?  Then presumably he is having a couple of night feeds...  Is this a problem for you?

If he doesn't start eating a bit more solids, then you might want to think about cutting a milk feed or two, so that he has an appetite for the solid food... extra iron intake is becoming important at his age.

If you want to give something else to drink, give him water.  My dd2 has only ever drunk water and bm (and now cow's milk), and dd1 only very occasionally has juice.

Sounds like you're going well!

[newmommy21]

Yes, he is on the four hour easy, and yes he still has night feeds. I tried to wean him but the one feed is genuinely out of hunger and it's no problem for me, he eats then goes right back to sleep. I do give him water, he loves hit. How do I cut a feeding? I'm not too worried about the extra iron intake because I do make sure that he eats his cereal. The thing he is, he does eat, he loves it, especially the homemade food I give him..but then when he nurses after that, he eats like he was starving. And he is a snacker as well, he always wants a few minutes of bm after a feeding of solids. Because of his size, I never deny him the bm..is that ok?

[binxyboo]

I think your lo sounds great and you don't need to worry about a thing. You both have obviously got a great breasfeeding partnership worked out. Breastmilk really is the best thing for him and I wouldn't deny him either!

[Erin M]

Seems to me that as he gets more into solids over the next few months, he'll fill up on that and maybe lose a feeding or two, but I wouldn't push it until he's getting more calories from the solids.  I was probably around where you were around 7 months with my DD -- she only had BM and water and we had recently started solids.  (Though she didn't seem to have quite the appetite that your DS does!)  She's only had juice a few times in her life, I really never saw the point as she eats loads of fruits and veggies and she's always been fine without it.  (Much better IMO than other children who are always asking for juice.)  Basically, I think it's fine and that you shouldn't worry.

[Carter'sMama]

I have always believed that juice is a main cause of people being overweight.  I always read that if someone is trying to lose weight they should cut out juices because they are mostly sugar and not very nutritional.  BM on the other hand is very nutritional! 

Sounds like you and your lo have a great schdule worked out that works for your lifestyle.  Your DS just sounds like he is a healthy eater (which when he hits the toddler stage you will be very thankful for!).  I wouldn't worry about his weight because he is most likely not very active at this point conpared to what he will be in the next few months.  Get ready for that 

[newmommy21]

Thank you so much you guys! You all told me what I knew but still needed to hear! thanks

[First Time Mom]

I just wanted to ditto what all pp said! As for the iron, babies absorb 50% of the iron in breast milk, 4% in formula if ff, and only 4% from their cereal so he's actually getting more iron from you than his cereal. My dd is 10.5 mths and takes 5 feeds a day (no nws) in addition to her solids, I'm letting her decide when to drop a feed as I've done in the past. Your ds sounds like he's doing great!