Family Forum / Pregnancy / Breastfeeding / August 2006

So, it sounds like you are how many nursing sessions, not how many
meals for a baby eating solids, right?

Assuming that is the question...

First, I didn't find it dropped off so fast that you could tell
monthly.  Second, since this is the time when their solids were ramping
up, and they didn't consistenly eat the same amount of solids each day,
there would be a large variation in both solids intake, and in nursing.

Second, there were other things that would change the ratio of solids
to nursing.  For example, if they were teething or ill, they would go
off solids entirely, and nurse constantly.  I have heard of other
babies that would be put off nursing when they were teething.

Any numbers would be averages, and there would be a tremendous variation,
from probably half that to twice that.

That said....

at 6 mos to 10 mos, they were probably nursing 7 - 9 times a day, which
also included 2 night nursing.

at 10 mos to 14 most, they were probably down to 6 - 8, and Niel was down
to 1 night nursing

at 14 mos to 18 mos, Niel was down to 5 and Clara was still at 6 with 2
night nursings.

at 18 mos to 24 mos, Niel was down to 3 - 4 and Clara was still at 5 with
2 night nursing.

beyond 24 months, they were at 3 - 4, and Clara was down to 1 night nursing,
Niel was not nursing most nights.

And so on,
Larry

I can't really remember how many feeds for those ages, but DS (2yo) has 2
(sometimes 3) bf a day at present.

I do remember differences between DD (now 4yo) and DS when they were
babies... DD was definitely a cluster feeder and would have heaps of bf
every day (I remember days when I seemed to bf her all day long and several
times at night).  DS was more of the regular but hearty meal variety feeder
... fewer feeds per day, but at regular intervals.

I'm thinking that at 12mo they were both on between 4 and 6 bf a day
(brekky, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper) with probably
only 3-4 of those feeds being big feeds and the others more the quick snack/
comfort variety.
Amanda

All three of mine went down to 3 feeds a day once solids were established
(6/7 months).  Up until then, threre was 1 feed in the middle of the night,
and 4-6 feeds a day (I think).   I stopped feeding DD1 (regrettably now) at
7mths, so no further info there.  DS and D3 carried on with 3 feeds until
beyond the 1 year mark, and dropped to 2 feeds (morning and night) at around
13/14 months.

I am perhaps a bit hard-nosed in that I won't let mine comfort feed, or in
for a quick bite to eat!  It's a full feed, or it's not happening, so for
that reason, there are probably less feeds than others.

HTH,

Suzanne

J's Mama
   It wouldn't drop off remarkably every month. I don't allow the kids
to snack it's both sides or you don't get it.
6-8 months DS & DD were nursing about 6 times.  (breakfast, snacktime,
lunch, afternoon, dinner, bedtime feed).
8-12 months they would usually start to get rid of the breaskfast,
lunch and dinner feeds  one by one b/c they were eating solid foods at
those times.  I weaned after 12 months so I'm not sure about beyond
that.  Hope that is helpful.  
   Jamie
DD 5/2000
DS 9/2002
DD 4/2006

Do you want "normal" or "optimal"?
If the parents are enthusiastic about solids, the baby will drop feeds
quickly.  If the parents take it slowly, the baby will drop feeds gradually.

I just read a bit of info for the 0-6 mo cohort: Jacqueline C. Kent, Leon R.
Mitoulas, Mark D. Cregan, Donna T. Ramsay, Dorota A. Doherty, and Peter E.
Hartmann
Volume and Frequency of Breastfeedings and Fat Content of Breast Milk
Throughout the Day
Pediatrics, Mar 2006; 117: e387 - e395.
Try this link:
http://tinyurl.com/rkv3g

ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE. We aimed to provide information that can be used as a guide to
clinicians when advising breastfeeding mothers on normal lactation with
regard to the frequency and volume of breastfeedings and the fat content of
breast milk.

METHODS. Mothers (71) of infants who were 1 to 6 months of age and
exclusively breastfeeding on demand test-weighed their infants before and
after every breastfeeding from each breast for 24 to 26 hours and collected
small milk samples from each breast each time the infant was weighed.

RESULTS. Infants breastfed 11 ± 3 times in 24 hours (range: 6-18), and a
breastfeeding was 76.0 ± 12.6 g (range: 0-240 g), which was 67.3 ± 7.8%
(range: 0-100%) of the volume of milk that was available in the breast at
the beginning of the breastfeeding. Left and right breasts rarely produced
the same volume of milk. The volume of milk consumed by the infant at each
breastfeeding depended on whether the breast that was being suckled was the
more or less productive breast, whether the breastfeeding was unpaired, or
whether it was the first or second breast of paired breastfeedings; the time
of day; and whether the infant breastfed during the night or not. Night
breastfeedings were common and made an important contribution to the total
milk intake. The fat content of the milk was 41.1 ± 7.8 g/L (range:
22.3-61.6 g/L) and was independent of breastfeeding frequency. There was no
relationship between the number of breastfeedings per day and the 24-hour
milk production of the mothers.

CONCLUSIONS. Breastfed infants should be encouraged to feed on demand, day
and night, rather than conform to an average that may not be appropriate for
the mother-infant dyad.

HTH
Amanda

well, DS2 is 11 months & he has usually 3 feeds during the day. some
nights he will have lots of feeds but mostly it's just 1 or 2.

DS1 on the other hand at this age was feeding at least every 2 hrs so at
least 12 feeds during the day. and he had 1 or 2 at night.

6 mo -- 6 times during the day, plus at night (don't know how many)
7 mo, -- same as above
8 mo -- same as above
9 mo -- probably 4 times a day, plus at night as she wanted
10 mo -- same as above
11 mo -- 3 times a day, seldom during the night
and 12 mo -- once a day

We started solids at 7 months and she's always been a good eater.

Hope this helps

Elle