We just started DS on baby food last weekend. He had been eating rice and oatmeal cereal for a couple of weeks. Just wondering, did you cut back on how much BM your DC gets? I'm still sending the same amount in bottles to day care (and feed on demand at home) but I assume the more we increase food, the less milk he'll want. He gets oatmeal at day care after his second bottle, and a veggie at night. My supply has dropped so I'm dipping into frozen stash now to keep sending the same amount of milk, but I'm wondering if I should send less? Or I thought about telling them to feed him cereal before the bottle, but he gets mad when I do that at home, not sure if it would work.
Re: Those that BF and waited 'til 6 months to start solids
We waited till a little before 6 months. We only do food at dinnertime. I didn't want to start anymore yet. Nothing seems to have decreased as far as her nursing sessions and I still send the same amount to daycare.
I've been pumping less and I talked with somebody in LLL about it and she did suggest maybe sending in food for lunch at daycare rather than doing it at dinnertime and cutting back a little with the oz in her bottles at daycare.
But I'm not ready to do that yet. I feel like right now solids are only supposed to be for practice and should not be replacing any BM. I have about 2 weeks off around Christmas and plan to reassess things after the new year. She'll be a little older and I'll see how she's doing. I may start sending in lunch sometime after that.
She still eats the same when I am at work. I do have them feed solids during the day, though, because I read that it is better to do that to help with your supply if DC does start reducing intake. I can't say that it has made a difference, though. And now I am down to pumping 5 oz total while at work (I used to get 12-14), so my freezer stash is going to be gone soon. I wish that the solids had helped a little, but I don't want to deprive her of milk that she needs either.
They're supposed to take in approximately the same amount of breastmilk or formula until the end of their first year.
Solids in the first year are generally for practice or "fun" - not for nutrition.
That said, we haven't even had a solid diaper yet. So I won't complain!
It was not until really recently that DS started reducing his BM intake. It actually was like a lightswitch at around 10 months: he went from regularly eating 3x6oz bottles at daycare to eating only 2x5-6oz. Unfortunately, he's now gone back to eating a night. UG. I'm trying to work with the "reverse cycling," though, because my pumping output is tanking, also... Just... SIX... MORE... WEEKS... (until he's a year and I can stop stressing about breastmilk production).