Breastfeeding at 10 months...

My DD is not a big eater at the moment, has gone right off solids and her weigh has dropped back a bit on the graphs.
I'm not overly concerned, she still has some to spare :)

However our chn suggested we cut back a breastfeed to encourage solids. At the moment she feeds 6.30am, 11am, 3.30pm and then before bed around 7ish.

Which feed would I cut out? What is everyone else doing for there baby around this age?

I didn't think 4 feeds would be excessive at this age?

Any advice would be much appreciated x

Oh wow, my DS is 9 1/2 months and probably has twice as many feeds as that still! We would have an extra one on top of your day ones, and then the same again at night time.

To be honest, i would be reluctant to cut out any feeds- i go by the rule food is fun until they are one, i would re-assess in a few months time if she is still not eating many solids. My DS likes his food, but can have days/weeks where he is just not interested in it. I try not to stress, if he is hungry he will let me know.

DS is 13months and still pretty has the same rountine as yours....throw in a few night feeds as well :S Maybe just offer her more snacks before a feed?

My boys would have still been on 3 or 4 feeds a day at 10 months. Some babies eat lots in one feed though, and others not so much. You might have one that drinks till they are totally chockers so has no room to fit anything else.
I wouldn't be too concerned, she is probably just going through a stage. My boys go through stages now where they don't seem to eat very much at all and there is no breast milk to be distracting them from their solids. If you do want to cut a feed I would make it either the 11 or 3.30 one. Probably the 3.30 one if she has a nap after the 11am one.

At 10 months old Moo was having 3 to 4 breastfeeds per day, more if he was sick or we were somewhere unfamiliar. Plus he was still having night feeds, at least 1 overnight. So more than your DD!

I personally wouldn't be cutting out any breasstfeeds if she's not eating much solids. Isn't the saying 'food is fun until I'm one' or something?

:hug: it's hard to know what to do, especially if the advice doesn't feel right.

4 feeds is not a lot at that age, many babies are having more than that. Personally I wouldn't see any reason to drop one until your DD decides to do it for herself. Breastmilk is still the most important nutritional source at that age so I would be reluctant to cut it back to make way for solids.

In terms of the weight gain slowing, there could be a few reasons for that. Certainly weight gains do slow when babies start getting mobile, and also they do have periods where they seem to plateau at various times. It might be that your DD has dropped percentile lines because she's starting to settle into her "true" growth pattern - sometimes babies start off higher or lower than their genetic potential and then adjust back to their ongoing line.

The type of solids she eats can contribute too. Pureed vegetables and fruit are not high in calories so lot of those could have an effect on weight gain. Supplementing breastmilk with "growth" foods at that age is something that many mums do - eg meat and dairy products are good sources of calories and "good" fats, and meat is also essential for iron and zinc. Certainly fruit and vegies and a good variety of foods is also important but if you are concerned about weight perhaps increasing the growth foods (which includes breastmilk) and cutting back a bit on the other foods could be a better option.

Good luck!

:hug: hun, its so confusing, isnt it!!! My MCHN told me the same thing at that age and tbh I think its a total crock, but thats only imo. DD was have 4 or 5 feeds at that age. Heck, shes still having 3! Im huge supporter of 'foods only fun until they're 1'. Trust your gut, and if you think 4 feeds isnt excessive then I bet your right :D

But seriously, some awesome advice above!!!

My 10 month old is still having around 10-12 feeds a day and that's not including the waking overnight!

I have also been told to cut back on the feeds in the day time to encourage solid eating but to me this was really wrong information. I challenged the nurse on this when she said it and she got annoyed with me.

Food before one is just for fun. We're doing BLS and she's coming along nicely at her own pace. DD's weight has also slowed down and even lost weight a while back there but she's meeting all of her developmental milestones and is ahead in certain areas of mental development.

What does your baby want to do? :) She sounds like she's maybe slowed off on the solids because she's got other things she wants to work on?

xxxx