breastfeeding 8 month old

jessicastj · May 2012

My son is breastfeeding and doing baby led weaning. He eats 2 meals a day now but he still nurses every 3 hours or so around the clock! Sometimes he will go 4 or 4 1/2 hours during the day but he still wakes up every three hours at night. Is this normal-ish? I thought he would have dropped a feeding by now. Or at least at night. I have started just trying to get him back to sleep without feeding him at the begining of the night. I just figured he would be going longer at night without nursing by now.

tokenhoser · May 2012

Normal. You can try to push off the night feeds, but it's perfectly within normal that he still wants them.

jessicastj · May 2012

thanks. I only breastfed my daughter for the first 6 weeks so this is all new to me this time around. I wasn't sure when he would start dropping feedings. I was reading a few other posts and it doesnt sound like they do until closer to a year or after.

tokenhoser · May 2012

I think it varies a lot from kid to kid. I have friends with babies all around a year. Some of them have cut back on breastfeeding quite a bit. Others, like my son, are still totally into the boob. Normal is a big range. Smile

I know my doctor would like to see my son eat more solids, but I really don't know how to accomplish that. I offer 3-5 x a day and he eats what he wants. I figure he'll naturally move over to more solid food when he's ready.

beautiflaw · May 2012

Is he breastfeeding as in nursing on the breast or as in drinking pumped milk? Just wondering because with a bottle you can see how much he's getting per feeding. Its harder to tell with a breast but I'm sure you know when he's hungry or if he just wants to nurse for comfort.

If he is eating enough during the day (I think most babies his age who are eating solid meals drink like, 24-32 ounces of milk) then it should be ok to drop the night time feedings. I think its perfectly natural for him to want them (mommies are so nice and soft and soothing, and nursing is very comforting) but I think you can drop them without him going hungry. Try to space out his feedings in the daytime so he eats more per session and that way it may be easier for him to go a longer stretch at night. Maybe even start doing 3 meals with the solid food and see how he handles that. He might be less hungry at night if he has dinner BLW style plus a bedtime nursing session.

ChelsiAnn13 · May 2012

Yup normal. My LO is 8 months and eats 2-2 1/2 meals a day and bfs every 4 hours and still comfort nurses but not nearly as much. She will wake up 1-3 times at night.

danienross · May 2012

tokenhoser:
I think it varies a lot from kid to kid. I have friends with babies all around a year. Some of them have cut back on breastfeeding quite a bit. Others, like my son, are still totally into the boob. Normal is a big range. I know my doctor would like to see my son eat more solids, but I really don't know how to accomplish that. I offer 3-5 x a day and he eats what he wants. I figure he'll naturally move over to more solid food when he's ready.

This. While most older infants and toddlers start cutting back not all do. My daughter did not start cutting back her feedings until just a couple of months ago. She has finally picked up her solids intake (I only got concerned when I got pregnant and knew my supply was struggling). Our original pedi started giving us grief at DD's 9mos well check about DD still nursing every 3-4hrs but I chose to ignore her. Finally after DD's 15mos well check I decided to switch pedis to someone more supportive of BFing.

You know your son better than anyone. Trust your instincts mama.

pixieprincss · May 2012

Totally normal. We are big believers in the adage, "Food before one is just for fun." Even if your kiddo is eating a lot of food, it is very normal (even optimal) for the breastfeeding relationship to continue at the same pace. Some reasons why: no solid is as perfectly nutrient rich as BM--baby's body and brain grow so fast in the 1st year that all of those goodies (especially the perfect fats) are imperative building blocks; for comfort and closeness; keep up supply and demand, and to discourage premature weaning if that is something your family wishes to avoid.

In terms of night-waking, that also is very normal. Kellymom has some great info on night-waking, which includes great reminders that night-weaning does not = STTN. Babies wake for many normal reasons. It is normal for baby to wake to nurse (after all, BM processes in as fast at 90 min), but even if you pushed the issue and started night-weaning, it could still be normal for baby to wake. For what it is worth, DS nursed about every 2 hours from 7 months to 12 months (thank goodness for bedsharing, I mostly slept through it once he was latched).

pepomntpat · May 2012

DD didn't drop any feedings until 11 months. Then they really started dropping off.

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