To drop a feed or not - 7 month old

[sweetthang24]

I attend a breastfeeding group every Monday and they have recently had a change of staff. I got some advice from the new lady and now I'm not sure if I should take it as I don't agree.

My LO was EBF until 6 months and 2 weeks and I then started him on some solid food (blw) he was having 1 or 2 meals a day depending on how the day went and was feeding from me every 3-4 hours for around 5-10 mins each side. He has recently become fussy at the breast and will get frustrated at the flow of my milk after the let down has come and gone so I asked for some advice with that.

She said that I should start giving him some water from a sippy cup and drop a daytime feed plus bulk him up to 3 meals a day.

I'm not sure i agree. She thinks he is fussing as he's not really hungry but is thirsty.

Does this sounds right to you? I didn't really want to drop a feed yet.

 

[toby1331]

This happened to us at around 8/9 months. I would offer the breast and if she fussed at it I would offer a small meal/snack and a few ounces if water. She would normally eat/drink it.

 

[MommyJogger]

I don't personally agree with her, either. If he's thirsty, breast milk will still satisfy his thirst. You can offer him some water, but "dropping a feed" sounds very much against the "feed on demand" recommendation that most people know to go by, as does insisting how many solid meals/day he has. When my LO was that age, he wasn't really taking much of anything in the way of solids. My advice would be more along the lines of "nurse, nurse, nurse". Whether he's hungry or thirsty, it will be solved by allowing unlimited access to the breast, like any other growth spurt.
You know your baby better than anyone, though. Does he seem hungry or thirsty? I would go with your own instinct on this one.

 

[SarahBear]

As far as I see it, I don't make decisions about dropping feeds. I offer solids, water, and milk. Violet takes what she wants and I follow her lead. At 6 months, I was just making an effort to make sure she had solid food once a day most days. Now that she's older, she is starting to refuse milk when she's hungry. So when she won't nurse but seems hungry or tired (but won't sleep), I try offering solids. Most days she enjoys eating 3 times a day. Today she only ate once though. If he's fussing, it's a good idea to try something different. Try offering water or food and see if one of those makes him happier. If it does, then go with it. If not, then try something else. I wouldn't follow that lady's advice about making specific changes, but it's not such a bad idea to offer your baby other choices to see if he wants something other than milk.