grazing!

[jessica]

Hi,

My little one (7.5months) has decided to graze on the boob on and off all day!! It was easy when she fed 3 hourly - she would cry exactly on 3hrs and I knew to feed her! Now she can go for more than 5hours without asking for food! So I tend to offer and she takes it but only for about 3-5 minutes!! She's eating three good solid meals a day (about 1/2 a cup per meal) and has recently decided to start waking at about 1am for a feed in addition to her usual 3.30am feed... how often should she feed at this age? Maybe just with her solids? I wouldn't mind the grazing thing if I didn't have to go back to work soon, the plan is to get her onto formula ASAP (had no luck when I tried a few months ago!)...

Help! :confused:

[willsmum]

Hi there,

my little one is 2 days older than yours and we are having some of the same problems. She would drink all day long if she could. I've started her on a sippy cup with boiled water - I figured she may just be thirsty - and that helped a bit. I didn't want to use a bottle cos I'd rather wean her straight to a cup. The Heinz Baby Basics first tumbler works best - I've tried a few others and she had trouble sucking hard enough to get anything.

Mine eats heaps of solids. Have you tried giving yours 2 courses? A savoruy/meat & veggie one followed by fruit/yoghurt/custard? I find if she has a 2 course bigger feed at night she only wakes up once. If I feed her solids too far before bedtime, or don't give her enough, she wakes up 2 -3 times to top herself up. She definitely isn't good at having an empty tummy.

As for how much she should eat - let her guide you. If she is still hungry after her solids, put a bit more in the bowl. I breastfeed about 1/2 hour after solids to give her a chance to recover a bit. She also has snacky biscuits in between big feeds(Cruskits for example).

Hopefully someone else out there with a little one the same age will have a bit of feedback, cos I'm as confused as you about what they are "supposed" to be doing. Mostly I think every kid is different and I just do what seems right for her.

[mamafelix]

Hi Jessica

I wouldn't worry too much, sounds like she's doing fine. The thing to remember is that when they get older they get much more efficient at extracting the milk, and for some bubs (like yours probably) 5 minutes is all they need to empty it completely. So she may still be drinking quite a bit, it's just at speed.

Is she teething? going through a developmental/growth spurt? the 7-9 month mark can be pretty challenging as far as sleep/feeding goes, Felix was waking every 10 minutes for a feed at night for a while there.. thank goodness it all passes.

[jessica]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice - still confused though!! She always has a little water from her sipper cup after meals - helps get her bowels moving!! After lunch and dinner I always offer a little yoghurt for dessert ( she LOVES yoghurt!) - sometimes I worry if I give her too much food she might just be sick!

WILLSMUM - do you only breastfeed after meals? so three times a day? When you say your little one eats alot, how much is that? I hate to be pedantic but I'm curious? AAAHHH - its so confusing!! At least I know she's happy and healthy - so I shouldn't stress too much - :o

[willsmum]

Hi Jessica,

I have a 3 y.o who lives on fresh air, so maybe my little one doesn't eat heaps and I'm comparing her to him, but here goes:

Breakfast today:

Booby feed at 3.30am. Woke at 6.00am. Bowl of cereal and half mashed banana followed by anther booby feed (one side only) the ate a cruskit. Currently sleeping it off at 8.30am

Her brother has had half a slice of raising toast under great duress.

Morning tea will be at about 10.00am. She will get half a banana and a cruskit and water to drink. Lunch 12.30ish - probably meat and veggies (the equivalent of a small jat of baby food) followed by fruit and yoghurt (same amount). Then a full booby feed.

Mid afternoon she'll have a slice of toast with vegemite & water.

Dinner will be approx 5.30pm. Meat and veggies followed by custard or yoghurt then a full booby feed. Snack at about 7.30pm of fruit and then a booby feed to go to sleep. She will wake up 2-3 time a night usually for a quick booby top-up (probably a habit by now).

Hope this helps.

[jessica]

Hi Willsmum,

I'm so impressed by how much your little one eats!! I might try feeding my little one mornig tea and afternoon tea! I just run out of ideas as to what to feed!! this will sound dumb but how does she eat toast??? My little one would just choke? Or do they cope? I'm so impressed!! :D (sorry first time mum - easily impressed - no idea!!)

thanks so much for the detail - I just wonder how she compares in the old food stakes!! :rolleyes:

[willsmum]

Hi Jessica,

Make sure the toast is crispy otherwise it gets stuck to the roof of their mouth. I just put a smear of vegemite on it (for taste) and then cut it into thin fingers. She generally sucks bits off (no teeth yet).

The only thing she won't eat so far is whole peasIf I feed them to her hidden in other food she sucks them clean & spits them out!

Vicky