A customer recently sent us this inquiry:
"My son is almost 8 and half months and has been exclusively
breastfed, with solids introduced at around 6 months. He takes good
feeds for most of the day (7am, 11am, 2:30-3pm) but it is our last
feed of the day, the evening feed that he has always struggled
with. He has solids at 5pm and then a bath and then I offer him a
breastfeed at 6:30pm, at which he will cry and arch away. I don't
force him so keep offering up until bedtime at 7pm but then I feel
like I am reinforcing a feeding to sleep habit (although he is
always awake when he goes down). He will suck for up to 10 times
but then cry and turn away, at which my milk lets down and so he
really isn't taking much at all. I have never got into expressing
so I am unable to say how much he actually takes but at a guess it
would be very little.
Is it that he is not hungry after his solids (he usually gets a
small amount of veges followed by a half cup of fruit &
custard). Should I decrease this amount to up his milk
intake? He has always been grizzly and hasn't fed well at
this time (tired!) and he will always wake early in the night
(9:30pm) for a huge breastfeed. I would love to be able to cut this
night feed out, but am concerned that right now it is probably his
best feed of the day and am reluctant to if he doesn't feed well at
6:30pm.
I would so appreciate any advice you could give me about how
to improve this feed!"
You sound as though you have an amazing routine / rhythm going
with your baby, fantastic! We do hear your concerns about the last
feed at night.
It's important to keep in mind when looking at baby behaviour,
to look at the whole day as well as the whole baby. Baby feeds,
both breast and food beautifully throughout the day without any
fussiness, and the fussy feed at the end of the day has never been
his favourite by the sounds!
As for the quantity of milk Baby's having at this 'fussy' time,
it really is amazing how much an 8.5 month old can take in a very
short amount of time, and the fact that he takes himself off when
the letdown comes down, perhaps suggests that he isn't really after
a full feed at this time of the day. My feeling is to not offer a
breastfeed at 6.30pm after the bath, but to wait until bedtime,
just half an hour later, where he may, perhaps feed a little
longer.
Babies will often behave quite differently at the end of the
day, (just like us!), which can be concerning for parents
sometimes.
Don't change baby's dinner intake, he is doing just great with
food for his age. There is a lot of information out there on 'bad
habits' and 'habit forming behaviour' in relation to feeding to
sleep (some of it not always true!), I can reassure you that due to
your little guy happily going to sleep on his own after the feed,
there is no breast/sleep association going on!
I also would be very reluctant to change that 9.30pm breastfeed
(as I know you are!) as it sounds as though Baby has a wonderful
feed then, sleeping until 7am which is wonderful!! Sometimes babies
and small children just 'need it when they need it' not when we as
parents would like them too - I thinks it's great that it's 9.30pm
and not 2.30am!!! This 9.30pm feed will pass.
This question was answered by our BabyCare expert Simone