8-month old - how do I know he is being fed enough?

[RomanGoddess]

Baby is 8 months old. We started him on baby-led solids at 6.5 months and although he has started to eat a little more, he still gets 95% of his food from breastmilk.

Recently - I would say during the past 10 days - he seems to want to nurse all the time. He also recently (just this week) got his first 2 teeth. At first I thought it might be the teething but now that the two teeth are in and he still wants to nurse all the time, I am wondering if breastmilk is starting not to be enough for him. He just wants to nurse and nurse and I just don't seem to have the milk to give him (he is also constantly unlatching after a few seconds and then latching on again).

We do not weigh him (no scale) and I have never bothered with the baby well-checks (We live in Madagascar and my feeling is that there are no pediatricians here worth seeing), so I have no idea how his weight gain has been. His wet diaper output is pretty normal. He only has about one dirty diaper every one or two days.

Any insights?

[katelove]

My instinct is that as long as you continue feeding on demand and his elimination patterns remain the same he'll be fine. The increased feeding at the moment may be him increasing your supply. I wouldn't worry about how much solid food he's eating - "food's for fun before one" etc - just keep offering as you have been.

We lived in an isolated area when my brother was a baby and my mum used to occasionally put him on the fruit and vege scale at the shop. Would that be a possibility?

Alternatively, if you did want some objective measurment of growth, you could measure around his waist and thighs with a tape measure.

[sparklefairy]

That doesn't ping any warning bells for me. I've seen many 8-month-old children thrive exclusively on human milk.

[RomanGoddess]

ok but what is with the unlatching, turning head and relatching constantly? Is this just distraction?

[twins+1]

My 7 month old constantly unlatches, looks at me, and relatches until the let-down. And then every noise he hears he whips his head around to see whats going on. lol I'm glad its not just my baby! lol
My 7 month old has been drinking and draining my breasts so quickly too. I'm trying to drink more fluids, eat oatmeal, eat fiber foods and nurse him on demand. so far, i don't seem to be making a lot more yet???

[CookAMH]

I have the same concern!

Same question here with my 8mo old so I thought I'd keep it here instead of starting a new thread.

For me, my concern is slowed weight gain (but growing head so that is good) and believing that he would easily eat 2x what is available at a feeding. He was 9lb 2oz at birth and is around 19 now at 8mo.

I know pumping is said to be an inaccurate comparison, but if I pump around midnight after last nursing at 8 when he goes to bed, I get 2 1/2 oz, maybe 3. I've always been able to pump a decent amount since birth. He nurses one sided. I have tried to restablish supply on other side but it's been a challenge to devote the time to it. Fenugreek has increased supply on the one side he eats from. He won't stay on long enough on the other side and I never feel letdown like I do on the right side. I feel like if I could get supply back, he'd eat from both sides each feeding and get more milk.

I got Super Baby Food for Christmas and was reading that and it said he should be getting 32 oz a day?? I've heard differently elsewhere and am not sure how often I'll really use that book. He usually has 8 feedings including one at night, and my guess is he gets at least 2oz at each, maybe 2 1/2 with a little more in the early morning if it's been several hours. If he randomly goes 10 hours, my breast is very full but not as full and firm as it was a few weeks ago when he was sleeping longer (has been teething). With eating every two hours during the day, there is not as much produced as when more time has passed. I'm guessing he gets 18-19 oz a day. He pops off at the end of a feeding, pops back on to try to get more. NEVER refuses the nipple like he used to, even a half hour after eating when he'd normally be full. After nursing before I close up shop, he kind of makes sounds like he wants more and looks at the breast. Ate a 4oz pumped bottle last week. I know babies will eat more from a bottle but I just feel like he wants more than what comes from my breast at each feeding. And since he doesn't linger and suck, the demand isn't really there to increase supply.

He's interested in foods but doesn't eat much but I'm not stressed about that. I just worry whether I have enough milk for him to grow well or just get by. He LOVES coconut oil so he gets maybe 1 1/2 tsp of that a day. I'm thinking that is probably the max he should have but am glad he gets that fat. I plan to buy CLO for us and he liked the few licks he had at my parents' last week.

He usually pooped every 4 days but it's been once a week lately. Regular wet diapers for the most part.

Anyway, any tips or reassurance would be appreciated.

[lactatinggirl]

I'm guessing baby-led solids is the same as baby-led weaning? Meaning you give them real food (as opposed to "baby" food) from the get go. If so, that's what we're doing.

My daughter recently got her first two teeth (9 months) and had what I'm thinking was a minor ear infection (didn't go to the doctor). During that time she rarely ate solids and breastfed A TON. It actually got to the point where when she started to feel better and eat solids again I got engorged and leaky. Anyway, the point I'm trying to get at is that when she was sick she reverted to wanting just breastmilk. Your child is likely doing the same.

[RomanGoddess]

OK he has stopped wanting to nurse all the time now and only nurses every 2 or more hours again, depending on how hot it is. Guess last week's continuous nursing was the teething or just a bout of separation anxiety or a growth spurt. Oh, and we weighed him today, on the luggage scale at the airport while en route. 9.7 kg (21.38 pounds) with the (lightweight) changing pad underneath him and wearing a disposable diaper, bodysuit and cotton pants, so I'm thinking 9.2 kg (20.3 pounds)? (500 grams /1 pound for the other stuff?). So he has stayed in the same percentile as at age 2 months.

He is still unlatching and turning his head often but I am less worried.

[sparklefairy]

I swear my babies knew when my body was gearing up to ovulate and would up their nursing to keep it at bay. No evidence but my own instinct and noting my fertility signs, though.