9 Month Old Breastfeeding and Sleeping Schedule

Sounds perfect to me! He is probably more mobile than he was at his last doc visit...moving into toddlerhood, he won't gain weight like he has been for the last 9 months. You might add in a scrambled egg or a soft cooked egg with just the yolk on toast (makes finger food) No worries, sounds like he is eating all good things. My 3 girls never slept through til hmmm, I can't remember. He really doesn't NEED more food, you are still breastfeeding. Mine were breastfed and had NO solid food til a year. BUT, if you want him to sleep through, it might help to give him a bit of cereal before bed. Keep up the good work Mama!

For the 1st year of life: a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition is from breastmilk or Formula. NOT solids and not other liquids.
Solids... is NOT as nutritionally dense... as breastmilk or Formula.

Nurse/give bottle, on-demand.
Day and night.
Especially at growth-spurts.
Do not make, solids his main source of intake.
For the 1st year... a baby does not have to... eat solids 3 times a day like adults. It is merely an introduction... to eating. Not their main, course.

Him waking once a night to nurse, is normal.
My kids at that age, were waking every 2-3 hours, to nurse. I did so.
I nursed them, on-demand. Even if they were on solids.
I never... nursed them according to a 'schedule.'
When nursed according to a schedule, a baby does not get what they are needing... per their growth-spurts or daily fluctuations of hunger.
Hunger, is not the same everyday, nor predictable. Some days a baby needs more nursing, than other days. That is why, nursing according to a 'schedule' is not recommended.

This is also, per our Pediatrician.

Always, nurse or give bottle... BEFORE solids. Which you do seem to be doing. Because otherwise, a baby will be too full to nurse, after solids.

9 months old... is a growth-spurt time. And they need, more intake in terms of nursing/or their bottle.
This is normal.

My kids had GINORMOUS appetites, per nursing. And they grew like weeds. I simply nursed on-demand. 24/7. At night too.

If you are giving a bottle, to replace direct nursing... sometimes, this will decrease your milk output.
Unless you do have ample milk production.

Looks similar to what my daughter was doing at that age. I would add in avacado and shredded, sliced or cubed cheese to his diet. Not only are they easy finger foods (my daughter didn't like purees either) but they are also higher in calories/fat for weight gain/growth. Also, for a better nap, why not nurse again before the afternoon nap, so that he sleeps longer. Good luck!

nurse on demand... the breastmilk has more nutrients and necessary body fats that are needed than pureed/finger foods or formula. If he's hungry, he'll eat. I wouldn't worry - he's most likely very active, distractable and on the move which means he's burning much more calories than he did with tummy time or sitting.

Are you eating enough including proteins and proper fats? For his age he seems to be doing fine. He may just be slowing down for a while and then it'll pick up into a growing spurt as often is the case. It's a falacy that children need to eat before their teeth come in so I assume he has teeth as most nine month olds. Some children are'nt interested in eating as much as others, I had one child like that. If you're worried, offer more snacks throughout the day and see if it helps or let him get a bit hungry and see if he'll eat more, with some kids/babies ya have no other choice when they don't want to eat and usually then they'll eat well. If you get him to eat a little more and all works out I wouldn't worry. But if he's eating fine and all and still doesn't gain I'd go to another doctor there could be a hidden reason. Maybe he just needs more food. When you give fruit give it alone as anything you mix with fruit causes the fruit to turn to an acid, especially when mixed with carbs. C.

By 9 months my son was nursing 4 times a day, eating 3 meals and 2 snacks, so what you are doing seems reasonable, although if he's still waking at night hungry he might not be getting enough during the day. Not all babies sleep through the night at that age, and if he's small he probably does still need to eat, but I would try to increase his calorie intake during the day. At 9 months my son really liked to pick up his own food, so we tried a lot more finger foods. If you are having issues with him gaining weight then you should try to increase the calories in what he's eating. Just like Laura said he probably should get more fats and protein at meals. I assume you are doing whole fat dairy, avocado has lots of good fats, hummus has protein and fat and my son loved it. Even today at 2 he will eat it with a spoon. We are vegetarian, so no meat, but he did like scrambled eggs and tofu a lot and we tried to incorporate beans when we could. Cheese was also a big favorite at that age.

I have a ten month old who also nurses so I get where you are coming from. I just wanted to say that maybe you need to add some proteins and fats to his diet. My little one loves avocado, refried beans, scrambled eggs, chicken (which I pull apart into small pieces), bananas. I think protein has them full longer. Is it possible to try and push back that first nap a bit? Maybe try and get a nap at 10 and 3?
L.

Your son's schedule looks a lot like mine did at 9 months old. He really started to get into finger foods just around that time, so if he's showing a lot of interest in that go with his interests and offer him more. Maybe instead of pureed fruits/veggies for breakfast and lunch you could offer little bits of chopped soft fruits and veggies. My only suggestion since you said he wakes from his nap early and you think it is because he needs formula or breastmilk - maybe you can try to switch the 10:30 bottle and the noon solid meal around so that he has a good amount of bottle before settling in to sleep. I would just play around with bottle and meal times until you get it so you know he has a nice full belly before nap time because those naps are soooo important at his age. I always made sure one of my sons bottles happened like 1/2 hour before naps for this reason. As for the night waking - fine at his age especially if he's on the smaller side. After a few months you can work on that as well as moving to strictly table foods and whole milk. good luck!