6Mnth Started Solids, How Much Breastmilk?

My daughter is 5 months old now and does the same thing.. I dont express milk takes to long, but when I do express I only get 3-4 oz anyways. Breast milk is so different than formula. It sounds fine to me.. How much does he weight? as long as he is gaining fine and not upset over this.. Its all good.

R.,
Congratulations on breastfeeding for so long! It is great that you want to continue to do this wonderful, healthy gift for your son!

How much breastmilk do you want available for him? There's no right or wrong amount! If you want to continue to breast feed, you will want to have him nurse definitely during those times you want to continue (waking, napping, sleeping at night).

I found I was feeding my son too much when he first started eating - he didn't have room for the milk he wanted. My supply started to drop off, and it hasn't come back the way it was since. He is still very much wanting to nurse, but very disappointed when the milk runs out.

You could breastfeed him for his entire first year and he would not be the worse for it - a little low in iron perhaps, but this is not the case with every woman. So, if you are really curious, call La Leche League or visit Dr. Jack Newman's site:

http://breastfeedingonline.com/newman.shtml

Good luck!
M.

At 6 months of age the amount of breastmilk or formula should not decrease. His primary source of nutrition should come still be coming from his milk. After feeding him the milk, then it is ok to give him solids but he should not be replacing any milk with solids at this point. Starting solids now is just to get him used to tastes and textures. My son is 7 months old and breast feeds every 2-3 hours still. When he takes it out of a bottle he will only take in 3-4 oz. at a time. You want him to still be getting anywhere from 28-36 oz. of milk a day.

Hi R.
I can say I am an experienced breastfeeder :) I have a 21 month old who loves the breast.
When you start the solids it is normal for him to take less milk. And if you are giving hime breast milk in the bottle 4 oz of breast milk is plenty. You can not compare breast milk to formula oz per oz because the calories and values of breast milk is much richer and fuller. I strictly breast fed for first 6 months and started solids than. I had the same worries as you did but my doctor friends had given me exact answer I am now sharing with you.
hope it helps

All babies are different. I am still breastfeeding and I have a 7 month old. I nurse first thing in the am then do solids. I nurse every 5 hours which has me nursing 4 to 5 times a day. I give him a bottle of 8 oz.s of goat milk total. He gets his solids. He nurses at night to go to bed.

I hope this helps.

I think 3-4 ounces is fine for your baby since she's taking solids now. Don't overfeed the baby, if the baby is still hungry after you feed him/her, the baby will let you know. If all the baby wants is 3-4 ounces, then that's fine. My baby started solids at 6 months, she takes a bottle in the morning (about 5 ounces), then solids, then a bottle in the afternoon - usually around 4 ounces, sometimes less, then solids, then a bottle in the evening around 6:30, also 3-4 ounces, then solids and then a bottle before bed time. Around bed time, she'll take around 4-5 ounces, depending on how full she's from earlier. So I think you have nothing to worry about.

Hi R.,
4 feedings of breastmilk a day are not enough. It would be unusal for a breastfed baby to take a 7 or 8 ounce bottle of milk, because they are supposed to nurse often. He should be nursing at least 6 times a day, and solids should not be replacing any of his breastfeedings. In the first year, milk is his primary source of nutrition, solids are just for tasting, a supplement. The solids at this point should just be two small servings a day AFTER he's had breastmilk. It sounds like you're replacing his milk with food, and food does not give an infant the nutrition that they require. I would cut out the solids for now, as they aren't needed, if they are keeping him from taking in the milk that he definitely needs. He should still be nursing about every 3 hours during the daytime.
Good luck!

I think you need to talk to your pediatrician - everyone has differing opinions and I CERTAINLY disagree with having to nurse a 6-7 month old every 2-3 hours!!! In my opinion that child is grazing, using the breast as a human pacifier, or something... but by 6 months, my son (who is now 11 months and still nursing) quickly started enjoying solids (and way more than a couple of teaspoons - and no, I didn't consider it "dessert.") He was a big boy with a hearty appetite who enjoyed food! He continued to nurse in conjunction with the food - but he is my fourth and I not only didn't I have the time, but neither the inclination to nurse him all day long. Brand new infants are different - but by 6 months and going forward you can start moving to a schedule, (my son woke and nursed, had breakfast, nursed before morning nap, had lunch, nursed before afternoon nap, had dinner and nursed before bed - so every time he nursed was technically before his meal - so he took what he wanted in terms of the milk and I think this will be true for either breast or bottle). I also made all of his food so anything that went into his mouth was organic, nutritious, etc. My pediatrician agreed with everything I was doing and said that he will drink what he wants and eat what he wants and not to get caught up in the amounts. Two nursing sessions and two bottles sounds great. And if you prefer to pump and give bottles then that is great too - obviously you are doing what works for you so I also disagree with the advice to only offer your breast! That wasn't your question! My opinion is that if a baby is put to the breast all day long - that is what they will get used to. And that doesn't fit in with everyone's lifestyle. But if you want to do that - then go with it. There are guidelines out there concerning average 6 month olds - but no hard fast rules about ounces, how often to nurse, how much solids, etc. If your baby is thriving, gaining weight, sleeping and smiling then I think you are doing everything right - talk with your pediatrician - I think you will be pleasantly surprised... Sometimes I think this website is great - other times I think it can make you crazy with all the "experts" out there who state what appear to be facts rather than opinions!!! Good Luck!

Hi R.,
My son did the same thing. My niece was drinking 8oz formula and my son was breastfeeding and if I gave him a bottle he barely drank 3oz. My sister got me all nervous he wasn't getting enough. I asked the doctor and he said formula babies will need to drink more. He said at this age babies shouldn't be getting more than 24oz breastmilk a day. My son is now 9 months and since 6months only drinks 2-3oz. He feeds 8-10 times a day. I was never able to get him to drink more than that. He is very healthy. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions.

My daughter is almost 7 months old and currently gets breast milk 4 times a day. The first and last feeding of the day I breastfeed, and during the week the other 2 she is bottle fed 6 oz(I breast feed when I am home on the weekends). She also gets 2 feedings of solids, one at 9 am and the other at 5 pm. Others have indicated that this is not enough milk, but I can assure you that my daughter is a healthy weight and not dehydrated, and if she were hungry/thirsty she would let me know.

Are you giving your son the solid food before or after you give him the bottle? That could make a difference. My daughter always nurses/gets a bottle at least an hour before she gets her cereal/fruit/veggies. While the cereal should not replace milk, my daughter did give up one of her "cluster feedings" at night once we started the cereal and now nurses and goes to bed about an hour and a half earlier than she used to.

As far as holding out on the bottle in hopes you give him the breast, that may be true. My daughter will not take a bottle from me, and I cannot be in the same room when she starts a feeding from a bottle. It may be worth trying to have someone else give him the bottle and see if that changes the amount he takes.

You need to be breastfeeding him (or giving breast milk) probably 5 or 6 times a day for a total of about 28-36 oz per day. The amount of milk that your son drinks should not decrease when just starting solids. At this point, solids should only be a few teaspoons once a day. Look at it like dessert. If you are giving him more solids than this, cut back and see if he is more hungry for the breast milk. Solids are much lower in calories and fat and other nutrients than the milk, and it's much more important for him to be having the milk. Not only that, a lot of breastfed babies don't like bottles and will balk at eating even small amounts from them. My son was the same way, and still does not drink much from his sippy cup (he is 1 year old). If you are home with him, why bother pumping and giving the bottle? If you are at work, that is another story.
Look at this website for more guidance on starting solids and breastfeeding.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html

once babys start eating solids, then their breatmilk intake is less. i would check with your ped. to see how much milk he recommends the baby be drinking in the afternoon and perhaps you might need to supplement with formula.

My son is 9 months old and for the past 2 months at least he has only been drinking 3-5 oz of milk in his bottles during the day at daycare.

I may be overstepping here, but why are you pumping & bottlefeeding? If you put him to the breast, he will get exactly the amount he needs, no need to measure. Trust your body to make what your son needs, it has done so well this far. Pumping is not the same as putting baby to breast. If it has to be, that is fine, but if you are with baby, let him nurse. Don't mess up his digestive system with formula, at this point it can only hurt, and decrease your breastmilk supply even more. Breastfeeding is supply & demand.
Hope this helps,
L.

My son is now 3, so i have a harder time remembering ounces that they "should" drink. I want to say 28-32oz/day. The one thing to remember is that ALL of baby's nutrition the FIRST YEAR of life should be breast milk (or formula) if eating solids at this point is making him cut down on that then need to probably cut back on solids a little, always give breast milk first, and if right after that some solids.

The only reason they eat solids the first year is to "practice eating" and maybe to fill up a little bit more if the breast milk isn't cutting it.

If he's only taking in 3 oz at a time, then feedings should be maybe 3 hours apart all day... like 8 feedings... my son would chug 8 oz bottles, then 4 times a day was good. But try to look up total ounc requirement for that age, and meet that first, then add solids to compliment/not replace.

Good Luck..

At 6 months 4 feedings is probably not enough. Solids at that age are not a replacement for calories, but more of a supplement. That means keeping the same or slightly less breastmilk. My baby is almost 8 months and she's been on solids since 6 months. I do notice the decrease in milk consumption, but it isn't that much. She still feeds 5-8 times a day, and then eats solids 3x/day. When I do provide a bottle, it is usually around 3-4 oz, so that sounds about right for breastmilk (formula would be more like 6-7 oz I think).

This was all discussed with my pediatrician and she agrees. But every baby is different, and if your baby is growing and happy, then all is well.

To the other poster: We're not all "experts" on here, we're simply sharing our experiences with others....there is not one steadfast rule for anything.

the thing with breastmilk is you will never really get a straight answer from anyone. with your first baby, you wonder all these things and with your next baby, you just kind of let them lead you.if i were you i wouldn't change a thing. you may be right, he may just take less because it's the bottle, but he will still be fine. i'm sure he makes up for it at the morning and night feedings. what i do with mine (10 months) is i give him (or i should say my husband does since he gives the bottles 1xday) a set amount and if he drinks it all down and seems like he would take more we drfrost another small amount of milk and let him drink what he wants. eventually you figure out what he likes until he decides he needs more or less. since he is getting solids he probably just doesn't need more than the 3 oz. they know what they need, and they do drink less when they get on solids.

That does sound like he is not drinking enough. I have a daughter who is also 6 months & she is taking 4 bottles a day & eating solid foods twice a day. First bottle in the morning she drinks 6 - 6 1/2 oz, plus 3- 4 tablespoon of Fruit & Oatmeal. Next 2 bottles approx. 6 -7 oz. Dinner bottle: 8, sometimes 9 oz plus veggies & oatmeal.

At this point your son will each a little less because of the solids, but at this age they are just practicing how to use a spoon. Half of the food gets on my daughters bib. How much do they really get? Formula or breast milk should be there main source of food. According to the recommended amount of formula/ breast milk for a 6 month old is between 24 oz-32 oz per day.

3-4 oz is perfectly fine. My daughter is 18 mos old and never took 7 oz ever. He's only taking that much because he's full. Don't force feed him. Treat the bottle like the breast and when he's done he will push it away. Don't worry about oz. When he's full he'll stop eating. Burp him. And then offer the bottle again. If he pushes it away, he's full and take it at that.