feeling rejected :-(

Bella is BF and has been on solids properly since 5mnths old. We progressed to 3 meals a day and she really enjoys all food but......now she quite often turns BF down. I always offer breast milk first and sometimes she has a little bit (just not as long as she used to drink for) and sometimes she flately refuses but then gobbles her solids. It is almost like she anticipates her solids and just wants that. I am now trying to cut out her lunch and just give her boobie and she seems to have more but still not as much as she used to. I dont know if this is ok or not but I dont think she is having the recommended 700-900mls of milk as this age.
I am worried that she is not getting enough breastmilk?!?!
Any ideas?

Ok just thinking outside the square a bit here.

How many milk feeds is Bella getting a day? Are you demand feeding or 'routine' feeding. I was demand feeding Blair, but changed it when I got help for getting him to sleep. I was BF anywhere up to 6 - 7 times in a 24hr period, and we dropped it down to 4 - (he was nearly 7 months at the time)

This is what we ended up doing, I don't know if it will help but it worked for us then and is still working - we are now transitioning to solids before milk
Wake up, milk feed and solids (from starting milk to ending solids 1 hr, then another hour up and then back to bed. The next feed doesn't start until 5 hours after the last one started. Then a dream feed/last milk feed at night - normally around that 10 - 11 mark (again 5 hours after the start of dinner)
eg feeds start at 7, 12, 5 and 10

Another idea do you have access to a set of scales? I would weigh her before and after a BF to gauge intake



Edited by MonicaMouse

Jett was doing something similar a few months back.  I would try him with boobie first before solids, and he would strain away from me and arch his back.  I would leave him for a while, then try a bit later, and he usually would take it then.  Sometimes it would end up that I'd feed him his solids first, and he'd happily take boob after.  Even though they say to give solids after b/feed at this age, it's just what your baby wants to do, that you have to listen too.

 

I also tried not giving Jett so much solids, maybe only 3/4 of what I was giving him, and he was happier to take b/feed.  I think if the solids do fill them up too much, they're not interested in b/feed, so cutting down some of their solids might help. 

Maybe I will reduce her solids and try BF after aswell and see how she goes. Should I re-introduce lunch but give her less?
Thanks for the replys!!! So stressful when I really want to stay BFing(this coming from the lady who absolutely hated it for the first 2-3 months.
Oh and Peachy, she refuses formula too. Are you still on the search for that elusive manual? Let me know when you find it

I was told at Plunket that they only need 2 meals up till 8 months Not true for my boy who is just about to start on 3 meals as he anticipates it after every meal.

No advice sorry! Just hugs!

ha ha I just started 3 meals a week or so ago after plunket told me she should be on 3 meals by 8mths. I put it off too Nikki, and i'm struggling with the idea of switching to solids first!

*sorry Bellaboo - unrelated to your question!

She may have become more efficient as Liam now only feeds for about 3-4 mins each side these days (I am a timing nerd too ).

Liam has just started to have 3 meals a day but lunch is still pretty small. I try to wait at least 1 hour after a BF before feeding solids & he usually will eat everything he's offered.

How long has she been rejecting boobie for? Some days Liam doesn't seem terribly interested but then he comes right the next day . Hopefully she'll come right soon.

I think she's doing really well for 6mos! Yep, she's self-weaning but that's not to say that you'll be out of a job by next week! My Kryssi was very much like you have described, basically she is in the 75%ile for height and weight and she needed plenty of solids to live through the night. Milk digests too quickly for a growing/moving baby that age. But Kryssi still was having milk feeds right up to 12mos. At 9mos I changed her to formula, but that's because I was back to work.