Give him food or skip a meal?

Hey all....

I'm just not sure what I should do here. DS2 is 8.5 months and has been baby led weaned since 5.5 months. He absolutely loves his food and would keep eating if I kept giving him food. The issue I have is that he's not a fan of his breast milk. He will take 5 mins, if I'm lucky, then refuse any more. Mainly in the mornings. He has his last breastfeed before bed around 7.30pm (which is generally a good feed), and wakes up around 6/6.30am. He will have a good BF if he falls asleep at the breast, which I allow him to do as I can be sure he's getting enough milk that way.

The question I have is when he doesn't take his breastfeed should I still give him his solids after? I have tried to skip lunch in hope that he takes his afternoon feed better, which seemed to help a little but not a whole lot.

Some mornings I will express & put around 100mls of EBM on his cereal so I know he is getting enough milk but I don't want to have to do this every morning.

I know that they take what they want etc etc.... But I also know that food is just for fun under the age of 1.

Any tips/advice/experience would be appreciated

Thanks in advance

My ds3 was a quick feeder. It is probably very efficient at it and loves his food more! I wouldn't skip a meal

How many feeds is he actually having a day now?
Sometimes a quick feed doesn't mean he hasn't gotten a lot, they get more efficient as they get older so maybe he's just a good sucker :)
Personally if he's sleeping well, having plenty of wet nappies etc and he's gaining weight then i'd continue with what your doing, maybe no offer any 'extra' solids if he doesn't feed but i wouldn't be reducing any if he seems to like it now.

I have considered that he is an efficient feeder, though my breasts still feel very full after the feed.
Thanks for your replies. It has certainly helped.

I'm not sure if he's gaining weight as I don't weigh him regularly. Perhaps that's something I should do. He's quite lean. I wouldn't say underweight but he's definately not the chubba bubba DS1 was.

He has 4 or 5 feeds a day. If I offer at other times he'll either refuse or just suckle for a minute or so.

I would ease off the solids a bit - make sure you are offering the breast first, and don't offer the solids immediately after he pulls off.. If he isn't draining the breast effectively at any feed, I would focus on that.
Is he being otherwise distracted from the feed? TV, other kids, etc?

4-5 is probably fine at this age. Trying to force more is often counterproductive. Distraction can be a factor, though, do you take him somewhere quiet and borign to feed? Sometimes that helps.
If he's feeding himself and you follow his lead then it will probably be fine.

Hi,
Babies eat and breastfeed - one doesn't have to be at the expense of the other. And they can guzzle down a boob in no time flat at this age. And like all kids they get fidgety and unco-operative if they are made to sit at the table when the meal is finished (He'll be the same as a teenager!)

I saw a mug at "Typo" that said "Stay calm and keep drinking. Should be one for BF mums - stay calm and keep feeding. Your baby knows what he needs. He's fine. doing what babies do.

Sometimes he is distracted easily but other times I will take him into my bedroom and it doesn't make any difference.

Yesterday morning he only took a few mins off one side so I expressed 100mls & put it on his cereal. He ate the whole lot (a whole weetbix plus, wholegrain rice cereal). I offered the breast again around 10.30 but he wasn't interested. I then offered again at 12.30 which he happily took as he fell asleep at the breast. He fed for around 30 mins (both sides). I ended up transferring him into bed (at the lunch time feed) & he slept for an hour & a half then I didn't know whether to give him food when he woke. I ended up giving him a quarter of a sandwich (with avocado & cream cheese, no crust) & a slice of mango (i had already had his lunch prepared when I prepared the other kids). I then sat down with a mandarine myself & he screamed at me cause he wanted some. I just gave him a rice cake (mum mums). So that was around 2.30pm. I offered the breast at 4pm. He had around 3 to 4 mins then refused anymore. So I offered again before dinner (5pm) which he took another 3 to 4 mins. He had a piece of broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, a bean & a strip of rump steak (he didn't eat it all), then he had another piece of mango & a strawberry then around 100g of greek yoghurt. He squeeled a little after the yogurt like he wanted more but I stopped offering there. He then had his last breastfeed at 7.30pm where again he fell asleep so fed for 30 mins taking both sides again. So he did get two decent feeds yesterday.

How does that sound? Do you think I should have skipped the late lunch? Or would you have given something small too?

Is he drinking water? You could see if stopping that made him thirsty for more milk if you're concerned.
Sounds like he's just a really good eater! He's 9 months now, right? I think this is ok. Don't push it offering the breast if he's not interested - that can just make them even less inclined to take it.

No, he's not drinking much water at all. I offer it after meals but he mainly plays with it.

Yes, he's 9 months next Wednesday. He definately is a really good eater. Byron was never this good at this age. He just loves food.

Funny enough he had two really good feeds yesterday, awake. So I didn't hold back on his lunch & dinner.

I guess I just have to go with it and keep doing what i've been doing hey.

Thanks so much to you all

yeah. he's fine :)

:D Thanks