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7-month-old suddenly nursing less

RDK24RDK24 member
in Breastfeeding
My LO always loved a long nursing session, especially in the afternoons/evenings. She gains weight appropriately, right amount of wet/dirty dipes, etc. 

She's more distractible than ever these days -- loves to pull off and look around the room, even if there's no one else around, TV off, etc. She also seems to be content to just nurse 5-7 min/side, whereas before she'd go at least 10-15 min/side. 

I know the only way to know for sure how much she's getting is a weighted feed but I'm wondering -- anecdotally -- if anyone else has had this experience. Is she suddenly getting more effective? Do nursing patterns change at this point in development? 
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Re: 7-month-old suddenly nursing less

  • RDK24RDK24 member
    PS- no supply issues. I have a nanny while I work from home and she gives LO bottles of pumped milk. I haven't noticed any change in pumping output. No PP period yet, either. LO is EBF with solids twice a day. 
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  • vvvvvfeevvvvvfee member
    probably a combo of all the things you mentioned-- as babies get older, they go through distractible periods where they don't want to nurse as much or as long. it can coincide with a new skill that they're learning (like sitting, crawling or walking). it could also be the solids- at this age they're not actually taking in much, but i did notice a drop in my pumping supply a month or two after DS started solids. and, like you said, they get way more efficient at nursing as they get bigger and stronger and it just doesn't take as long.

    kellymom has some good suggestions on how to nurse a distractible baby- basically, in a dark and quiet room when baby is a little sleepy. 

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  • lilies&orchidslilies&orchids member
    Do we have the same LO? :) You just described my situation exactly, even with your follow up comment! I am just chalking it up to baby growing older, being more efficient. He pretty much nurses and then wants to get down and play.
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  • RDK24RDK24 member
    Thanks to all for the advice! @casey78, those nip stretches are the worst -- so painful! I'm doing everything I can to convince my LO she's not missing anything, but to no avail.

    @lilies&orchids, too funny! Maybe they're on a message board when we're not looking, trading tips. 

    @somerandomchick good idea to think of her as a newborn again and offer more. I don't want to get in the habit of "snacking" instead of meals, but obviously don't want her to be hungry either. 
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  • suv75suv75 member
    I'm in the same boat but he barely eats for 5 mins and most of that is popping on and off. He gets about 1 to 2 oz at those times. I'm paranoid and give him a bottle which he takes only sometimes. How often are you guys feeding? My LO definitely makes up for it at night but I'm exhausted!
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  • RDK24RDK24 member
    suv75 said:
    I'm in the same boat but he barely eats for 5 mins and most of that is popping on and off. He gets about 1 to 2 oz at those times. I'm paranoid and give him a bottle which he takes only sometimes. How often are you guys feeding? My LO definitely makes up for it at night but I'm exhausted!
    I've been super lucky to have a LO who's been STTN since about 3 months old. She gets two bottles during the day from the nanny while I work, and I'm nursing twice in the AM and once in the PM always, plus another mini session or two if she doesn't seem to be having a full "meal."
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  • RDK24RDK24 member
    casey78 said:
    somerandomchick said:
    My daughter is 7.5 months. She eats a lot faster but is also pretty distractable. I feel like she's a newborn again... I'm feeding her practically every hour when I'm home because she won't focus to eat a full meal! So you can try offering more often to make up for it.
    Same about the frequency at home, @somerandomchick.  At dc, she takes 4.5-5oz bottles and eats every 3.5 hours (oz high but sleeps some longer stretches).  I think she takes the bottles better because she can look around and engage her world during them.
    That makes sense -- mine does fine with the bottles during the day because she can look around and not be tethered to the boob, I guess!
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  • suv75suv75 member
    Mine gets distracted with bottles too!
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  • CNYBride05CNYBride05 member
    Yup, mine get distracted all the time and a few mos ago, their became much more efficient nursers, going from 15ish min sessions to 5! Totally threw me for a loop!
    Natural m/c Oct. 2005

    Dx: balanced translocation and LPD

    TTC since Oct 2011

    BPF 02/19/12, EDD 10/31/12, natural m/c 02/28/12 (4w6d)

    IVF (BCPs starting 10/30/12, ER 11/18/12, 5dt of 1 beautiful, healthy embryo 11/23/12)
    BFP 12/02/12, u/s @ 6w,5d showed 2 HBs! Identical twins!!
    Bed rest from 21w-35w due to short cervix, hospital bed rest from 23w-32w due to PTL
    Our rainbows were born 07/19/13 (36w, 5d)

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