hello solids, goodbye breast?

[islandkiwi]

Our daughter Anna is six and a half months old and is being introduced to solids...we started with the cereals and have moved on to other things after 3-4 days each, as is recommended. She normally eats twice a day, but not more than a tablespoon or so at each serving.

The problem now is breastfeeding, she is screaming bloody murder when presented the boob. She will drink breastmilk from a bottle, but where she used to drink about 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours, she now drinks about half that. I will add that she has always been breastfed nights/weekends and bottle fed during the day. Bottom line, she's not drinking nearly as much as she used to and it doesn't seem she's eating enough to make up for it either.

I can't find any information about this, anyone have any ideas?

[caheinz]

The solids are really more for practice now than nutrition -- your breastmilk is much more nutritionally complete (and calorie-rich) than the baby foods.

It may just be that she's trying an early nursing strike. If the solids are competing, it might be worth stopping them for a while until she's nursing more again.

Babies really don't need anything but breastmilk until they're about a year old. She's got a ways to go, so even though the solid feeding might be fun, it's not imperative that you stick to any sort of schedule for them!

[natesmom]

I am dealing with a very similar feeding situation, however, my DS (8.5 mos) doesn't exactly pack in the solids, either. We have been dealing with low breastmilk intake via the bottle for a while. We have tried nearly every bottle, nipple and sippy cup out there to see if he will increase his intake. He will happily nurse the equivalent of probably 3-6 ounces with each nursing (also evenings and weekends, just like you) and I know this because of how much I can pump when he does not nurse (of course, its an estimate). I have also been told "babies will take what they need" (even in one of my other postings) but this is a child who will fuss and continue to act hungry after just taking an ounce or two from a bottle/cup, then refusing any more. If its any consolation, I spoke to our pediatrician and another doctor that my son sees and they both assured me that this is normal with some little ones - and that some of his best feedings may just be coming before bed and during the night. If it makes you feel better, definitely see your pediatrician. Mine encouraged me to come in for regular weigh ins when I got concerned, so we go in every couple/few weeks or so and he is still gaining fine (though would probably be a porker if he was drinking all the milk that he probably "should be" getting). Also, try not to pay attention to the feeding guidelines written by formula companies - they provide big overestimates for a reason!

[jellytalk23]

I don't feel so alone after reading these posts. My baby is 7mos and this week, her milk intake has gone down a lot. Coincidentally, her motor skills have taken off and she is sitting up and crawling, crawling, crawling! Brazelton's books say that the newfound skills may affect feeding and as long as you get 2-3 good feedings in a day, that's really all the baby needs. But I can't even get that! DD takes 2 sucks (breastmilk - breast or bottle) then wriggles out of my hold to go crawl and play! I am lucky to get 3-6oz in, and that's over an hour's time! ie: she'll drink 1/2 oz, play a while, realize she's hungry, cry, feed another 1/2oz... it's exhausting.

I REALLY hope this is short term, b/c I don't think she's getting enough milk. And she's already a small baby (10 percentile)! any suggestions? Thanks...