How often does your LO drink breast milk?

Question

I’m having a serious issue with my husband after we went to the 9 month app. Our son is in the 8% for weight and the doctor wants him to breastfeed less often and eat more solids. I usually breast feed him every two hours and he BARELY eats solids. So the doctor told us he’s old enough that he should go way longer in between breastfeeding and he needs to be hungry enough for solids and more hungry for breastmilk. So now my husband thinks I should only breast feed like twice a day, and his main nutrition is solids and he doesn’t need to “fill up” on breast milk anymore. 🤦‍♀️🙄 I keep telling him we’re stretching out the hours in between breastfeeding because he’s just snacking on milk all day instead of being hungry enough for a belly full of solids AND milk. Sorry for the rant 😓 I’m just kinda depressed of this whole situation.

Answer

Breast milk should be their main source of nutrition until at least 1. My daughter eats every 2-2.5 hours, sometimes more, some times less. She barely eats any solids and my doctors arent worried in the slightest. She could go 2 hours without breast milk and if i give her solids, she will only a tiny bit and then she could still eat for the same amount of time right after.

Answer

It's really strange that the doctor is recommending breastfeeding less... my daughter was always a bit on the skinny side (more like 30th percentile) and also wasn't very into solids for a long time. I've always worked from home so I couldn't really feed her completely on demand, but we still did nurse about every 3-4 hours. My son is a big fat pig and only nurses about 4-5 times during the day and has an all night boob buffet 😭 (bedsharing).

Answer

Think your doctor is confused- milk is their main source of nutrition until 1, not food! I BF and when home she typically nurses every 2hrs... 3hrs if I’m lucky. She does eat 3 meals and maybe a PM snack. We aren’t big snackers so I forget kids do lol. How much does your baby weigh? Long as they are on their own growth curve then it’s okay. Mine just turned 10m today and she’s 16.5lbs. Dr has no concerns.

Answer

Breast milk is their main source of nutrition but we still do both milk and solids.  She gets milk 4xday at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm and will typically drink 6-7oz per feeding.  We do 3 solid meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as 1-2 snacks depending on the day.  We usually offer her either water/breast milk in a sippy cup during solids meals or snacks.

Answer

Ugh that's so frustrating when doctors  give bad advice. My 10.5 month old recently and I mean very recently became interested in real food. It was super stressful because so many babies are eating 3 meals at this age. Try waiting until baby is more hangry to nurse and then wait 30-45 minutes and offer food. Mine nurses 7-12 times during the day and is now eating 2 meals a day. Maybe focus on high calorie foods? Steel cut oats and fruit, 9% milk fat yogurt, eggs and toast etc. Breastmilk digests pretty quickly my LO is very active and can nurse and immediately be willing to eat real food so you can try that as well.

How often does your LO drink breast milk?

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