Question for Breastfeeding Moms of 7-8 Month Olds (Or Recent 7-8 Month Olds).

Breasts do not 'drain'. They're glands (manufacturing plants) not bladders (storage units). It is normal for babies to only nurse on one side at each feeding. It is also normal for babies to nurse between 26 and 50 times in a 24 hour period --averaging 6 minutes per feed.

Solids (of all kinds) have a lower nutrient profile than breastmilk, so every spoonful of 'other' food displaces a more calorie- and nutrient-rich spoonful of breastmilk...which may be the whole of why she's needing to eat so often in the night. So, kind of exactly the opposite.

It is abnormal for children under 4 to sleep through the night --and the medical term 'through the night' is 5 hours. In sleep studies, it has been found that even if parents think their kids are sleeping through the night, they're not. Sometimes, they stop waking their parents and sometimes the parents stop waking even though their kids are crying loudly.

Sometimes, parents get wrapped up in the ego-value of having 'the right kind' of baby (who sleeps soundly for 12 hours at a stretch) and actually lie about their kids' sleeping habits. They'll say 'she's slept through the night since she was X weeks old' but under accepting and careful questioning will admit that there has not been a single night in months when she didn't nap too late, or have teething or have a nightmare or get startled by something or was cold or too hot... the list just goes on and on. And they genuinely believe that their baby has, in fact, 'slept through the night since...' in spite of this, because all those exceptions don't count, or weren't 'really' waking. It's hilarious to watch.

Do you sleep when she sleeps during the day? I've met a tremendous number of sleep-deprived moms, but remarkably few sleep-deprived babies... you should still be sleeping when she sleeps, and even if you can't sleep, you should still be putting your feet up, closing your eyes and resting for the whole of her naps. Because she's going to be waking through the night for some time to come.

Hi J.,

I would recommend getting the book "No Cry Sleep Method".

I have a 6 month old son and this book has changed my views on sleeping and eating habits.

Anyway to answer the questions you have asked--
1)I nurse him 3 times during the day (once in the morning and 2 times in the evening) then he has 2- 6oz bottles (breastmilk) and 1- 3.5 bottle at daycare
2)along with 1 tbsp of organic oatmeal cereal mixed with 2.5 oz breastmilk. I just introduced apples in the mesh feeder bag, mostly for his teeting (he has 2 bottom teeth)
3) 1-3 times at night

Before reading this book it was 3-5 times at night so it has siginicantly cut down and most nights it is 1-2 times.

I hope this helps!

Hi J.,

My son does just about that same as your little girl. He was sleeping 4 hour chunks at night but then right around 6 months, everything changed - it went down to like every 2 hours. It's been 2 months since the change and now we're back up to 3-4 hours chunks, but some nights are worse than others.

Now he's 8 months. He has 3 meals during the day - 2T cereal + 2T fruit or veggie. I mix BM with cereal - probably about 1 oz for each tablespoon. After solids, I offer milk if he wants, but often he doesn't. About an hour or 2 later, usually he will take milk, but probably about 2 oz. I send about 10 oz to daycare - about half goes in the cereal, half he drinks.

I also thought that maybe my son was not getting enough caloric intake during the day but I can't get him to eat more than he is. I like the No Cry Sleeping Solution. I have tried not going to him right away at night. I have tried patting his butt and rubbing his back. I've sent my husband in. Sometimes he goes back to sleep within 10 min other times I find him standing in his crib. Sometimes I'm so tired, I just nurse him just so he will go back to sleep right away and so I can too.

Good luck!

My daughter is 8 months old. She is eating solids now as well as BF. I mix pumped breastmilk in with her oatmeal/rice cereal. I also make my own baby food and then freeze it in ice cube trays. She started off with only a tablespoon or so of the cereal and one cube of the food. Now she is up to 2 cubes of food and 2 tablespoons or so of cereal. I also nurse her either before or after her food, which she gets 2x a day. I have the book "The Nursing Mother's Companion", which I love. It states that at this age BF should still come first, so it's OK if they aren't really interested in solids. If you are giving solids, you should still be BF at least 7 times a day, during the day. My daughter goes to bed around 9/930 and is up sometimes at 430am and other times will sleep until 730am. My question for you is whether your daughter is actually hungry, or does she just want to suck on something? Does she take a pacifier? My advice is to either let her fuss for a few minutes the first time she wakes up and see if she really needs to be fed or not. If she ate last at 1130pm, is she really hungry 2 hours later? Try just going in, giving her the pacifier, and walking back out again. If you give in and nurse her every time she fusses at night, that is what she is going to expect. A trick that a friend of mine uses at night is this. Nurse the baby on one side for 10-15 minutes. Burp. Wait 15 min, then nurse them on the other side for 10-15 min. This should fill the baby up and hopefully she'll sleep a little longer. Also try mixing the cereal with the breastmilk, because she'll probably like the taste of it better, and want to eat more. As far as the fruits and veggies go, it takes babies sometimes 10-15 times of trying a food before they really decide if they like it or not. So keep trying. My daughter's favorites are pears and sweet potatoes. Cube up a pear and boil it in water for about 10 minutes. Put the cubes into a blender with either a little of the water or some breastmilk. I have started adding frozen blueberries to it and it is so yummy. With the sweet potato, just poke holes in it and roast it in the oven like you would a baked potato. Peel off the skin, cube and put in blender or food processor. Again add either some water or breastmilk and blend to your desired consistency. Try adding 1/3 of a banana to it sometimes as well. Then you get fruit and veggie in one serving. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze. Then pop them out and store in freezer bags. :) Good luck!

The rule I always followed with both of my daughters during nursing was: ten minutes on the first side, then as long as they wanted on the second side. The next nursing started out at ten minutes on the second side then as long as she wanted on the first side. You just keep switching the side you start on.

This allows stimulation of milk ducts on both sides at every nursing, as well as letting baby get a lot of the fore-milk from both breasts.

I nursed my first daughter for 27 months, and my second self-weaned at 19 months. I used that rule for both the entire time.

As far as her sleep patterns go, she is probably going through a major growth-spurt right now - both mentally and physically. Rapid physical and psychological changes will often disturb sleep patterns. In addition to changes in the sleep, children often need additional reassurance and snuggle-time while going through these changes.

Good Luck!
K.