How much breastmilk does an 8-month-old need

[neobunny]

I had posted this in Kid Food last night but i didn't get any replies so i'm posting it here, too. I hope someone can help me.

I'm not sure if i'm pumping enough milk when i'm at work. Here is what my DS has been eating/drinking;

He wakes up usually around 5 am & i nurse him for as long as he wants. Then he goes to grandma's & he gets about 4 tbsp of infant oatmeal, 2 oz of stage 2 fruit, & 3 oz of BM at 8 am.

11 am he gets 1 jar (4oz) of a stage 2 combo meal, 2oz of fruit & 3 oz of BM.

2pm he gets 4 oz of BM

5 pm he gets 1 jar of the combo meal & since i'm home from work at this time I nurse him.

7 pm he gets the cereal & fruit. Then between 7:30 & 8pm i nurse him to sleep. 90% of the time he sleeps all night till 5 am.

I work 4 days a week & i pump twice a day. The way he's eating right now i need 10 oz of BM but lately i've been getting less. I also take the supplement 'More Milk Plus' & eat oatmeal almost every morning before work. I've been pumping right before bed (between 9:30 & 10) but i'm lucky if i get 1 oz. It's not the time of the month right now but i did get an IUD (mirena) a couple of weeks ago. About 2 weeks or so ago i added the 4th meal of cereal & fruit at the suggestion of a couple of coworkers because DS was not sleeping thru the night for a few weeks (he's been sleeping thru the night since he was 2 months), but he's sleeping MUCH better since giving the 4th meal.

Now my question; Is he getting enough BM while at grandma's house? Or is he getting too much? Grandma (my MIL) says that sometimes he doesn't finish the 3oz of BM so she saves it to give to him for the next meal. I wondering if 2 oz of BM would be enough with his meals, which means i would need to pump 8 oz instead of 10 oz, which i have no problem getting right now.

[sarahsthreads]

The *average* amount (according to kellymom.com) of milk a six-month-old takes in is 25 oz. in 24 hours. You DS is older than that, and you nurse him three times, so as long as he's getting 4-5 ounces when you nurse each time, he's probably getting enough. Unfortunately we don't have convenient little ounce markings on the boobs, right?

I don't usually give milk (or nurse) at meals, but in between - at wakeup, before her two naps, once in the late-ish afternoon, and before bed. (Times are variable and mostly on-demand.) She gets a little bit of water in a straw cup at meals to practice with. And we do meals as breakfast, lunch and dinner - mainly because if we're eating and not feeding DD2 at the same time she protests loudly!

I'd personally combine the 5pm and 7pm solid meals into one (maybe at 6?) and nurse when you get home from work and at bedtime. Their tummies are so little if you're feeding him solids at 5 and then trying to nurse him there's probably not so much room for milk at that point, kwim?

Sarah

[neobunny]

I'll try nursing him between meals instead of with meals & see how he (& my supply) do. Basically when i'm home on my days off i nurse him 6 times thru out the day & sometimes i nurse him extra when he wakes up in the middle of the night. The night wakings were becoming more frequent that's why I was giving him the extra meal before bed, which is helping though he still wakes at night from time to time & sometimes (like last night) he wakes & doesn't want to go back to sleep. So it makes me wonder if he's waking up because of teething, or is he getting enough food or milk, or what? Thanks for the suggestions!

[baileygirl]

DS1 is 2.5 and it is already hard to think back to him being 8 months. On days I worked I nursed him a similar amount of times, but I think I sent 4-6 ozs more of ebm. I also think I gave him less food then that. I have no idea what is "right".

[Clarity]

My dd will be 9 months this week.
She gets:
6:30a.m. Nurse
7:00a.m. some quaker rice puffs for breakfast
11:00a.m. 5oz bottle of milk
12:30p.m. 1 stage 2 jar of baby food
4:00p.m. 5oz bottle of milk
5:15p.m. (comfort nurse to connect with mommy home from work) then dinner which is either a stage 2 jar of food or some finger foods (fruit or veggie)
8:00p.m. nurse at bedtime

[lizajane]

sounds like a LOT of solids for a 9 month old to me, but that may be because mine didn't start solids until 9 months. just be sure you are giving MORE Bmilk than baby food.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I answered in the feeding forum, but basically I said it is a lot of solids for a nine-month old. That many solids can cause breastmilk supply to go down because baby isn't nursing enough.

my baby is almost 9 months old and she is getting 32 ounces a day of a combination of breastmilk and formula. We haven't started solids yet, but when we do I don't expect the amount of breastmilk/formula to go down or I will back off on the solids.

[DebbieJ]

Your supply is best in the morning. Anyway you can get up before your DS and pump first? There will still be plenty left to nurse him.

[miki]

It sounds like a lot more solids than either of my kids ate at that age. Also, I would ask grandma to give the BM first at each meal and then the solids.

[BeachBum]

At this age I think you are still supposed to do breast milk before solids. That way you are sure they are getting the calorie packed stuff first and the solids as "extra".