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  1. #1
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    Default 10 months - milk and food and weight - Confuzzled

    Feeling confused on how all this feeding stuff is going. DS is 10 months and EBF. He's done well with solids since we introduced at 6 mos. I'm having a hard time (in my head) of how we are transitioning from milk to table food. My goal is to BF until 1 year and I'm almost there.

    I work FT and send milk to daycare. As solids have become part of the mix I have gradually been sending less. I've heard the rule of thumb to send 1 oz/milk for each hour you are away, but surely younger babies need more than older babies. I am away the same length of time, so I don't get it. In my mind you gradually taper off milk as you approach 1 year. Maybe that line of thinking is incorrect?

    At his 9 mo. appt Ped was concerned about weight. 17 lbs, which they said was 5th percentile, although they must be using the old CDC charts, not the 2006 WHO charts - where he's at 15th percentile. I know it's not a contest where every baby must aim for 50th, but Ped was def concerned and suggested we may need to supplement w/ formula. I'm not convinced of the need for that - DS is happy and healthy, meeting milestones (crawling and pulling up, a very busy boy). And I also know that many BF babies have a pleateau at some point, so defensively I want to ignore his weight concerns. We go back at 10.5 for a wt check.

    DS has milk 4x/day. Morning + bedtime, and 2 bottles at daycare (or 2 nursings if on weekends). He's pretty distractable now, and I am not feeling great that he's getting enough, the nursings aren't that long and he's so interested in crawling around. I try keeping lights low or going somewhere private w/o conversation. Ped recommended 20-24 oz/day, and I don't have confidence we're meeting that. At daycare he has 9 or 10 oz. soooo.... is that bad?

    I guess what we are doing is BLW, although I never thought of that as our "plan", simply what I assumed was how all babies transitioned. DS does a combination of self-feeding and spoon-feedings, depending what we give him.

    Ped also gave the OK for cow's milk in small amounts (like to mix in with oatmeal). He encouraged us to push the proteins to get some weight gain, so that was one of his suggestions.

    What happens at 1 year - do most of you gradually switch from BM to cow's milk, like 25/75, then 50/50, 75/25, etc?

    Sorry, lots of wonderings in my head and not confident we know what we're doing. Wow this is long. done now!
    Sarah

    DS1 8/2010
    DS2 11/2012

  2. #2
    lizzywednesday is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    I don't see a problem. You mentioned that your DS is crawling ... well, he's burning those calories with the additional moving. I would question your pediatrician about the growth charts. There are more ways to see if a child is doing OK than how much he weighs!!!

    My DD was EBF as well, but her weight gain stabilized/tapered down as she started to crawl and, now, as she's learned to walk.

    She's only about 20lbs right now, but she's tall and very active, so we're not concerned.

    She doesn't complain about feeds, loves her solids and still nurses in the a.m. before I start working and at night before bed, sometimes waking once overnight, which is fine with me. She'll occasionally want to nurse in the afternoon, which I permit on days when I've been in the office all day, but I'm trying to keep feeds down to three or fewer times a day.

    She does cow's milk a lot more readily when I am not around and will take varying amounts. DH found that he's got to warm it a bit for her to take it.
    ==========================================
    Liz
    DD (3/2010)

    "Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle

  3. #3
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    wellyes is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    It doesn't matter at all where he is on the chart, what matters is where he is on his own growth curve.

    It's tough. A baby will thrive, physically and emotionally, on less food than they they'd like to have nutritionally. Which is a real blessing in some ways for babies who can't get enough due to poverty or similar global issues.... but it makes it hard for EBF moms to gauge if we're providing enough food.

    At my DS's six month checkup, he had gone down. It was an alarm bell for me. I added two 6 oz bottles to his schedule, which he cheerfully slurped down. I'd been feeding him based on what my daughter ate at that age, but his needs were different. So based on my experience, I'd consider adding a couple feedings. Babies will always let you know when they don't need any more, so don't worry about overfeeding at that age.

    At that age, my DS was having 3 small solid meals a day, morning and night nursings, plus 4 6-8 oz bottles per day.
    DD - 8
    DS - 5

  4. #4
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    I agree, I would add a couple extra feedings each day. I don't personally think that is enough for a baby that age.

    I did pre and post nursing weigh-ins with my babies a few times just out of curiosity to see how much they were taking in, and it was 6-8oz. per feeding once they reached 6 months. They nursed every 3 hours during the day, and once at night.
    They weren't really interested in solids until 7-8 months, but by 9 months were eating solids 3x a day, plus still nursing every 3-4 hours (6-8 oz. at a time).

    Remember--breast milk and formula should be the primary source of nutrition until 1 year, with solids being for practice and added nutrition--it should NOT take the place of breast milk. I would not try to taper off how much B.M you send in until they are 1 year and eating a good hearty breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks. Then I would be okay with only a few cups of milk.
    Mama to "The Fantastic Four":
    DS 02
    DD 06
    DS 09
    DD 12

  5. #5
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    Thanks guys. I have a feeling in my gut he's not getting enough.

    I will try weighing pre- and post-nursing, great idea.

    I am stuck between going off of baby's cues, (mine doesn't seem to want more milk), and the general consensus out there that he's not getting enough. I have read time and time again that food doesn't replace BM, so we can try smaller meals to try to increase his demand for milk.

    Wellyes, how did you add 2 6-oz bottles to the schedule? Was it BM? Did you pump like crazy and your body adjusted?

    Did anyone feel like all they're doing is eating? Currently, our schedule is:
    5 or 6am - Nurse
    8am - Breakfast at daycare
    9:30 - Snack
    10:30 - 5 oz bottle
    11:30 - Lunch
    2:30 - Snack
    3:30 - 5 oz bottle.
    6:30 - Dinner at home
    8pm - Nurse before bed

    And there are 2 naps in there. It's not easy for me to see where to stick in more bottles - milk or formula if I have to start supplementing. I could ask that he not participate in snacks, although now that he's mobile he'll be all over the table like white on rice.

  6. #6
    wellyes's Avatar
    wellyes is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    I supplemented with formula. I EBFed DD through a full year, but didn't get that far with DS.

    I think starting supplementing did decrease my supply (vs how much I made with DD), but I still give 4 full nursings, which I am happy with and plan to continue past his 1st birthday -- next week!

    I would try to add in 4-6 oz bottles of formula in place of snacks. It's just 2 months, right? When he hits 12 months, he'll wean and start having cow's milk.
    DD - 8
    DS - 5

  7. #7
    Beth24 is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Schmitty21 View Post
    Thanks guys. I have a feeling in my gut he's not getting enough.

    Did anyone feel like all they're doing is eating? Currently, our schedule is:
    5 or 6am - Nurse
    8am - Breakfast at daycare
    9:30 - Snack
    10:30 - 5 oz bottle
    11:30 - Lunch
    2:30 - Snack
    3:30 - 5 oz bottle.
    6:30 - Dinner at home
    8pm - Nurse before bed

    And there are 2 naps in there. It's not easy for me to see where to stick in more bottles - milk or formula if I have to start supplementing. I could ask that he not participate in snacks, although now that he's mobile he'll be all over the
    table like white on rice.
    I was about to post that I would cut out the snacks and fiddle with the times, but give him BM instead. My 11 month old eats three meals, has 5 to 6 nursing sessions and no snacks. I will add snacks in after a year when he seems ready to
    drop some feedings bc after a year his primary source of nutrition will start to shift from BM to food...of course after rereading your post I see he has his snacks at daycare, which def makes it more difficult esp if the food is sitting out and all the other kids are eating.
    DS, 15
    DD, 10
    DS, 3

  8. #8
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    My DS is almost 9 months old, so a bit younger, but I'd say I nurse him about every 3 hours during the day. So, for instance, today I nursed him when he woke up at 4 a.m. , then again when he woke up at 7, then not again until 11, then 1:45, then 3:45 (he was super fussy & it's the only thing that would calm him down), and finally at 6:45. He also usually wakes up anywhere between 9 or 9:30 and about 10:30, and I feed him (or give him a dream feed before I go to bed if he hasn't woken up), though DD never woke up to do that. I also give him breakfast, lunch, and dinner of pureed fruits or veggies, and some puffs or something similar to occupy him while I'm getting the food out.

    Could the daycare place just give your son something like puffs or Baby Mum Mums, or something very low in calories that wouldn't really be a filling snack, but would serve more of a social purpose since the other kids are snacking? And just get more calories into him through milk? Unfortunately I can't help with the how-many-ounces thing because I don't know how much babies this age need, and I can't measure how many ounces my DS is getting.

  9. #9
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    ourbabygirl - that is a great idea. still allow him to participate in snack time to be social, but just have them serve him puffs.

    i started to talk to the daycare teacher about this today and it resulted in a big blubbering 1-woman cry fest. Lovely way to start my work day. The teacher was so supportive, and had a good suggestion, give him formula alongside the meals. Currently he just has water from a sippy cup, but i can bring in formula instead. she estimates he'd probably drink 2 or 3 ounces at a meal (or snack) so that could be another 8-12 ounces/day.

    Also at play here is coming to terms with giving formula, but fortunately that isn't hitting me as hard. More important is that I am giving him what he needs in enough quantity. I only have 2 months to go (thanks wellyes!).

    Just get overwhelmed trying to do the right thing, but not always knowing what that is. Oh, and not loving my job does not help when I turn to leave DS behind. So grateful to all of you for being out there, it's a great comfort.

  10. #10
    PGTB is offline Gold level (500+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Schmitty21 View Post

    What happens at 1 year - do most of you gradually switch from BM to cow's milk, like 25/75, then 50/50, 75/25, etc?

    !
    I know what you must be going through, weight issues are so hard and very stressful, hang in there, things will get better soon!

    DS had weight issues and is still probably underweight according to the CDC charts at 14 months. He was almost diagnosed with FTT at 10-11 months as he was only 17lb. He was about 18lb at his 1st year appt and we had to take him to GI doctor. His problem was intro to solids that didn't go so well and the fact that he simply refused bottles at around 8 months when he cut his first tooth. At the age when babies are still getting used to solids and not eating in large enough amounts, the ped said, the main source of nutrition is still milk. But it so happened DS refused bottles completely, we could only manage to have him take a few oz a day from straw cups. I WOH and pumped till 11 months and some of it went to waste, DS would not care for EBM. Formula supplementing wasn't helpful as he didn't drink more than 2 oz of that stuff either. Basically, the little guy wanted to nurse only or eat solids and that was causing him to stall in weight gain. I was also worried like you about how much he is getting from me nursing him night/evening/morning - sometimes daytime when working from home or weekends, which was not enough.

    When EBF he was in good 35% percentile, then dropped off the charts, now he is back on the chart after turning 1 and getting better at solids.

    coming back to your questions, we started him on cow's milk at 1 year and I am still nursing night/morning/evening and sometimes naps. But this didn't help much as he would not increase his intake of milk anyway. It was like supplementing with formula or EBM - a few oz. He still wont' drink milk when I am around, insisting to nurse. but, upon advice of the GI doctor we started adding lots of fats to our solid foods and giving him more nutrition dense foods instead of crackers and yogurts, etc. he started eating avocado and we make sure he always has lots during the day. We add butter to EVERYTHING, rice, cereals, soups, give him some full fat ice-creams, buttercream cake, fruit. he also loves meat. He is eating better now, keeping my fingers crossed, although there are still days of fussy eating and him refusing food, which are hard. We also started putting him at a table with us and not worry about the mess, he is self-propelled and insists on using utensils himself, which makes it hard to feed him.

    I'd just say as long as your baby is healthy, growing height-wise and not delayed in milestones, it might be just a temporary glitch until he starts being more comfortable with solids and getting more calories.

    If your baby still drinks milk, try to send more to daycare, supplement with formula if you must until he is 1 year old and then whole milk. Make sure they feed him full fat yogurt, sour cream and other fatty milk products. Add butter to some foods he eats and avocado. Crackers and puffs are low in calories, try replacing them with cheese or toast with butter, sliced avocado, etc. If he refuses to drink enough oz milk during the day when you are working, then it really is all about increasing the calories he gets with solids, until this happens, he may not experience sufficient weight gain, but in due time it will happen! Hang in there and
    DS 04/2010
    DD 09/2013

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