My DD is 9.5 months and she usually wants to nurse when I get home about 430 each evening. The past week she isn't wanting to nurse that much she might start then stop. I understand this is normal and everything but I was just wondering should I offer her breast milk in a bottle if she isn't wanting to nurse or snack?
She nurses at 0530, 4oz bottle at 930 and 1230 and was nursing at 430 and nurses at bed at 730. I am worried she may not be getting enough ounces during the day. We increased the oz's in her bottle to 8 at 9months because she was going through a growth spurt but then she stopped drinking all of it so we went back down to 4oz and she is happy with that again. Oh yeah, she does get solids at lunch and dinner.
I agree with Melissa, it sounds as if she doesn't need that feeding anymore, which is totally typical at that age.
If she's self weaning, it means she doesn't need the nutrition that time of day. You could always put the milk in a bottle or sippy to give her with her solids, but around this age is when babies start nursing less and less. My twins gave up the 4:00 feeding on their own at 10.5 months old and we just replaced it with a snack of solid food. If they self wean it is definitely not something to worry about.
Correct me if I'm wrong here mamas, but most 9 month olds are only nursing on a wake-up/nap/bedtime schedule. In my experience, anyway. Don't worry about your daughter cutting out a feeding. She's old enough now that you can use that time cuddling while reading a book, or playing toys with her. If she's thirsty during the day there should be a sippy cup of water in the same place all the time that she can go to and take a drink when she needs one. I've always kept our girls' cups on the bottom rungs of our livingroom coffee table which is near their play area so they just crawl on over and grab it when they want to.
Most babies who chose to forgo a nursing session generally will make it up overnight if they bed share with Mommy. If they don't bed share, then maybe breastfeed as much as possible in the evening times, especially before bedtime.
Unless she's losing weight and/or acting sick, I wouldn't sweat it. She's probably slowing down her growth (they do slow down a lot at about this age) and/or getting more if what she needs from solids. She'll let you know when she's hungry! :-)
