How much, how often?

Hi,

My DD is almost 8 months and I'm thinking about reducing the number of breast feeds each day.

She's currently eating 3 small meals a day (only about 4 tsps) with a small amount of water. I BF after each meal, once in between each meal, before bed and once or twice during the night. I've tried not feeding in between meals but she gets extremely cranky and I end up giving in - the same with night times.

Any tips, ideas or advice on how to make things easier? I plan to keep maybe 2 BFs a day for a bit longer.

Thanks, Jen

Hi Jen

At 7 mths my DD was only just accepting some mushy food. By about 9 mths she suddenly decided food was GOOD and would eat everything and in greater quantities than I thought possible for such a small child! She is still a pig to this day. Until 12 mths, milk will be her major source of food. It sounds like you are doing the right thing by offering 'solid' food first and then a bf.

The ABA have a great booklet on introducing solids for $5 that I bought and obeyed to the letter. I honestly think it's one of the main reasons my DD is such a good eater and we've never had any troubles.

Is there any reason why you want to cut back on bfs at the moment? How many bfs per day and night in total is she having at the moment?

It sounds like you've done a great job and you should be proud of yourself!

I'm breastfeeding on demand - roughly 5 times during the day and once or twice during the night. Although the past few days when its been hot she seems to feed all the time - she drinks a lot of water too.

I've just felt recently that I spend half the day with her on the boob and it's quite tiring. My health nurse said last week that I shouldn't be feeding her during the night but she always wakes up hungry and it takes ages to get her back to sleep without giving her a feed. Maybe I should be tougher and get her out of that habit?

I may have to go back to work soon so will need to get some sort of routine in place.

Hi,

Your daughter sounds like a pretty normal sort of an 8 mnth old to me. Normal amount of feeds! Feeding is time-consuming, whichever way you slice it up. On reflection most mothers find that it is the *work of motherhood* that tires them out - not breastfeeding as such. In fact, breastfeeding often means that a mum will sit down and have a rest - which she might not otherwise get.
You can start to try a bit of a routine if you like. You two (you and your baby) will work out a bit of a compromise between your needs and her needs.
Warm Regards
Barb