B/f questions - when to reduce feeds, when to add cow's milk etc?

we're a bit sloppy with feeding schedules I must admit, but very very roughly; 7am, wake up, BF and breakfast (rice pudding and fruit) 10/11am good sized snack (usually fruit, i.e a whole banana or a pear and sometimes a yoghurt) 11am BF and down for a nap 2/3pm BF and lunch (scrambled eggs, dahl, etc) 4pm BF (not scheduled, but whenever he asks for it) 5:30 dinner (meat and veg of some description) 7pm BF and bed To be honest I often give fresh fruit or vegetable snacks throughout the day and BF on demand so there are more BFs than that, I also give him water as often as he wants it. I guess I give a "split" lunch or more like 4 meals a day as he sleeps through the middle of the day, so I make sure he has a good sized snack before his nap and [b'>try[/b'> and remember to feed him as soon as he wakes up so its not too close to dinner. I find if he doesn't eat before his nap he doesn't sleep as long so even when his nap was at 10am (at around 12 months) I gave him a snack just before he went down. Breakfast and dinner are in the highchair but the 2 lunches are often just me stuffing his mouth while he plays. :) HTH

When we dropped to one nap, bedtime was shifted earlier. Why don't you try one nap, at 10am and then bedtime before/by 6pm (she'll be tired, try an afternoon trip to the park to pep her up a bit). You've got nothing to lose. ;)

It will happen when she is ready I promise :). I did just remember though that just before DS was 12 months he dropped to one nap (we missed the nap one day and once I saw how much better he slept we went with that), it made an immediate difference to his sleep and it just got better from there (with a few relapses from time to time). Most kids seem to drop the morning nap but for us it was the afternoon nap that went. He now naps between 11 and 2, we gradually pushed the morning nap to 10am and then 11.

DS is 15 months and I use cows milk in cooking and started giving him a little yoghurt recently, I don't often give him cheese or milk drinks. The only reason you would cut BFs and replace them with cows milk is if you wanted to wean. Obviously from a nutritional standpoint BM is better than any cows milk products and WHO recommends you aim for 2 years + if you can manage. When you do decide to wean then you can directly replace BFs with milk feeds, or just include dairy products in her diet in general and give extra water drinks as well. I demand feed, and would BF at least 6 times a day (they are mostly little snacky feeds, more or less whenever he is thirsty or bangs his head and needs comfort) but thankfully he now doesn't need any feeding in the night (although I was still feeding him a few times in the night until around the 12 month mark and then he just dropped them by himself without intervention from me). Some days he feeds a lot and others hardly at all. I recently started giving the occasional drink of cows milk, from a regular cup or a sippy cup, I give maybe 50-100 mLm maybe once a week. I don't give it instead of any breastfeeds as I'm happy to continue BFing for now, so its more to introduce him to it and watch for any reaction to it. I have recently (last few weeks) started gently removing the association of feeding and sleep, so now I don't BF right before his nap and at some point I'll stop feeding him as part of his bedtime routine. (I always give it if he asks for it though). So long as your LO is eating a reasonable amount of solids and is sticking fairly close to her curve (using the BF babies charts) there is no reason not to continue to BF as often as your LO wants. If you thought that milk was filling her too much for solids you could consider giving less (and not replacing the BF with a cows milk feed obviously) there are conflicting points of view as to how much of her diet should be milk based at this point. Personally I'm in favour of trusting that your LO will instinctively take as much milk and solids as is individually right for her and not to mess with that all that much. You might find this link helpful http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/toddler-foods.html it gives some guidelines as to the percentage of your child diet coming from milk vs solids etc, as well as advice about introducing cows milk. Don't stress too much that the night feeding will last forever, or think that you have to wean completely to fix the night sleep I surveyed a lot of mums who had breastfed toddlers and most of them saw the night feeding stopped naturally by around the 15 month mark.

My LO is 7 1/2months old but Ive been wondering how much milk he should be taking now that he's on solids. So Ive been checking into this and spoke to two lactation consultants today. Both said it depends on the baby. Anything over 450mls is fine if they really likes solids & they are getting enough nutrients, going up to 900mls if they dont eat much. I was told that translates to roughly 3 daytime feeds and a dreamfeed if they need it, this is till around 9 months. Then they would only have 2 daytime feeds & a dreamfeed if they need it until one year. Then if they tolerate dairy well it would depend on how much cheese, yogurt, cereal with milk etc that they get. It should all work out to at least 500mls plus a day. That sounds about right, i was given the same advice! You've just explained it better :)

Wow!! Well done on feeding for so long when you have to get up that much during the night. My LO is 7 1/2months old but Ive been wondering how much milk he should be taking now that he's on solids. So Ive been checking into this and spoke to two lactation consultants today. Both said it depends on the baby. Anything over 450mls is fine if they really likes solids & they are getting enough nutrients, going up to 900mls if they dont eat much. I was told that translates to roughly 3 daytime feeds and a dreamfeed if they need it, this is till around 9 months. Then they would only have 2 daytime feeds & a dreamfeed if they need it until one year. Then if they tolerate dairy well it would depend on how much cheese, yogurt, cereal with milk etc that they get. It should all work out to at least 500mls plus a day. I express for his dreamfeed as my husband loves the chance to feed him, and also so I know how much he's had to ensure he's full enough to sleep through the night. Have you tried a dreamfeed? I dont know if it would help you, but my LO has been having a 10pm feed whilst he's totally asleep since he was less than 3 months old, and he's never once woken up during the night since. So maybe if you havn't tried it, its worth giving it a go. Also I would stick to a sippy cup at one yr old if you can get away with it. Hope any of that helps. Brilliant job on making it to one year. I bet you have a beautiful healthy little one :)

GQ - from what i have read, 1yr old seems to be the average age to wean them onto cows milk! I am starting next month (and i think so are you) and will move it straight into a cup! My DD is on 3 feeds a day (she is FF however), but before she was weaned onto formula, she was on 3 breastfeeds already (i just replaced them with formula). 9am (before morning nap), 2pm (before afternoon nap) and 7pm - these were her breastfeeds from around 8 months on... There are a couple of books and sites i am following when i start the "cows milk" weaning, so i have not fully figured out my game plan yet! HTH?