Advice on 8 mo old feeding behavior

DahliaFlower · June 2014

I am a full-time working mom, I pump on my working days and basically EBF on weekends / days off. DS gets pumped BM bottles when we are out and about, since he is quite used to taking bottles and is too distracted if I try NIP.

These days, he is taking pureed fruits / veggies 3 times per day, and his appetite for solids seems to be increasing. We have started some yogurt blends, which he likes. I don't feel that he is ready for any type of BLW w/ solids, I have considered this and trialed it a little - it's not the method for us.

Usually, DS takes bottles of BM from about 7 am until 4 pm. Some days when I get home from work, I am arriving just in time for dinner, so I am feeding him his pureed veggie, etc. and he seems pretty satisfied with that. He has nighttime routine with bath around 6 / 6:30. We used to do a nursing session prior to bedtime between 6:30 and 7 pm. Lately, he is sleepy-agitated and fussy by that time, so he is not nursing well right before bed. He still wakes up a couple of times per night and definitely wants a nursing session at those times. I have tried sending DH in for soothing, but DS screams and cries until I come in for night feeding. I am basically OK with this, but I do wonder when he will ever stop wanting to feed at night. This is the time of day that he is most interested in feeding of the breast - he eats quickly and falls right back to sleep. I am contemplating working on weaning at around 9 months, since it is extremely cumbersome for me to pump at work, and DS seems to be increasingly interested in solids during the day. My concern is if he may continue to feed at night with this frequency. Ideally, I would prefer to get him STTN for real, not just 3-5 hours at a time. I would definitely consider trying to cut back on daytime pumping sessions and just feeding at night on demand.

Does anyone have any thoughts? What would you do?

Lena122 · June 2014

It sounds to me like he's eating too much solids and not taking in enough BM during the day. At 9 months his primary nutrition should be from BM or formula. If he's not getting enought during the day he'll continue to wake up at night for it. I might try to cut back a little bit on solids and encourage more nursing during the day.

DahliaFlower · June 2014

Lena122 said:

It sounds to me like he's eating too much solids and not taking in enough BM during the day. At 9 months his primary nutrition should be from BM or formula. If he's not getting enought during the day he'll continue to wake up at night for it. I might try to cut back a little bit on solids and encourage more nursing during the day.

It may not have sounded this way from my post, but really, he isn't eating too much in the way of solids. Usually he's only been eating about 2 oz at a time. Only rarely now is he eating most of a 3.5 - 4 oz container. He is 23 lbs at 8 months, (but very long so not too chunky), so I do not think this is an excessive amount. He is usually getting around 20-25 oz in bottles during the day, plus what I feed him when I am home.

DahliaFlower · June 2014

casey78 said:

It was around 8m that Leah started showing more interest in solids. She did that for a few weeks and then backed way off. It wasn't until after 10m that she dropped a dc feed (went from every 3 hours to every 4 hours) and picked up more volume. Still, she has days where she doesn't want to eat much at all.

I would also want to be careful about replacing bm with solids at this point, esp as many purees don't have the same calorie, fat, and protein content of milk. If you want to wean from pump at 9m, it will be important to add in formula to supplement for the three months.

I definitely agree that veggie purees do not have sufficient calories / fat / protein to stand on their own. I have heard that if babies at this age are still getting 3-4 bottles (maybe 15-20 oz?) of BM per day this is sufficient. I do not have any intention of adding formula at this stage. If anything, I would start transitioning to WCM or a milk alternative + cheese / yogurt.

Critter015 · June 2014

Your son sounds very similar to how mine was at that age. Mine does not take bottles but at around 8 months he started being too distracted to nurse during the day and would only nurse well at night. He was eating purees really well but I was concerned because his sleeping was getting worse. I made a consious effort to make sure I offered him the breast prior to feeding him any solids and I fed him in a dark quiet room with minimal distractions. He started eating a bit less solids but started sleeping through the night for the first time. Now at 10.5 months he is eating mostly table food but still nurses 4-5 times per day, including an occasional night feeding.

DahliaFlower · June 2014

theresat858 said:

Wait...you are considering weaning at 9 months but not introducing formula? That is not nutritionally healthy for your baby. Baby needs most of his nutrition from formula or breastmilk for the first year -- not the first 9 or 10 months. Any supplementation prior to age 1 should be done with formula unless it is a small amount (4 ounces or so per day, not more than that) starting around 11 months or so, in which case WCM might be acceptable.

I would try to stick it out if you can. DD started sleeping longer and better around 9-10 months, and started STTN inconsistently at that time too - without doing any sleep training.

If he is waking at night hungry, he needs to eat. Trying to get more milk in him during the day may help, but switching away from milk to foods that do not have the nutrition an infant needs will not improve things at all.

Yes, I am considering supplementing with something other than formula. I have done some research on the options and I have not found a preparation that I feel comfortable with. I don't think it's really gospel that an infant absolutely needs to be given BM or formula until exactly 12 months. In fact, I have read some experts that disagree and suggest that WCM is acceptable by around the 9 month age, particularly if the infant is still getting some amount of BM. Unfortunately, I am also not excited about giving cow's milk either. Hence my reluctance to change anything.

It's really not an issue of wanting to sleep more, as much as it is the problem of how difficult it is for me to pump at work. I have gone to great lengths and great effort to pump sufficiently so that he has never had a drop of formula to this point. I frequently work more than 12-14 hours at a time and sometimes overnight. Pumping at work is a significant stressor for me. I'm just interested in considering options and contemplating if he really *needs* BM all day and all night.

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