How many times a day does your toddler nurse?

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Just wondering. My 13 month old is still going strong at about 7-8 times in 24 hours. He eats 1 good meal a day, sometimes 2, but throws the food and gets upset at our other attempts (several snacks and another meal). I usually offer food first, although in the past I have tried nursing him first to satisfy that craving. I'm not trying to wean him (I'll let him decide that later), but I am very underweight despite my best efforts and would like to encourage him to eat more solids.

[MamaPhD]

We started DD on solids at about 7 mo, once a day around my lunch time. We didn't really pay attention to nurse first or food first thing. She continue to nurse 7-9x per day, just like before she started solids.

At about 10 mo, she started eating more substantial amount of solids plus she STTN. At this point, she was eating every 2 hours or so, alternating nursing and solid food.

My DD is now 14 mo and nurses 3-4 times a day now. Once when she wakes up, 1-2 times for nap (she naps 2x but sometimes she will fall asleep without nursing, i.e. in the car), and at bed time. She mostly STTN but if she's up at all at night, we do a quick nursing (<5 min) and she falls back asleep.

My DD loves solids so we didn't really have to encourage her. But I would try to offer many different foods to try to find his favorites. Also, try giving solids between nursings, like solids are snacks and nursing are meals. Is your baby walking yet? My DD sometimes doesn't like to sit at the high chair but still wants to eat. So I would try to change your feeding environment, too, to encourage solid eating.

Good luck!

[cmhermes]

At 13 months both of my girls nursed apprx. 5-7 times a day. Now they are 3.25 yrs and 23 months and they nurse 2-4 times a day. Mostly before sleep and upon waking.

[Emmery'sMom]

My DD is coming up on 13 months and she usually nurses a minimum of 6 times during the day (including nursing down for her nap), and 8 times at night. Sometimes she's on the boob constantly through the night though- 20 times or more

[meganlisbeth]

My DS is 21 months. His nursing varies widely. He's in daycare 3x/week and on those days he nurses 3x/day. On days where we're home all day together, me may nurse a TON or hardly at all. His biggest and most consistent time is early morning.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Whew. Thanks for the reassuring replies, mamas! So many around us are concerned that he is not eating more and that he nurses as much as he does. But it doesn't sound like it is all that abnormal. I would like for him to eat a bit more during the day, so that hopefully I can gain some weight back, but I guess all of that will come with time.

[Vegan Princess]

DD is 12 mos and she asks to nurse ALL THE TIME. If i has to guess, I'd say she nurses about 8-10x during the day and a couple times at night! We do 3 meals/day but sometimes she just drops her food on the floor or only takes a bite or two. Sometimes she eats a decent meal but she is very picky and just isn't as into solids as some other babies her age. I always follow meals with nursing and she will also ask to nurse at other times in the midst of her play or whenever we come home from being out of the house. Right now I feel like I nurse more frequently than we did for most of her babyhood. She used to be on an every 3 hour schedule but now that she can sign and ask to nurse we are nursing much more than that. Her pediatrician mentioned putting her back on a schedule of 4-5x/day (she said that is avg for this age) if I so choose (I was concerned bc she won't take a bottle or sippy - apparently she has no desire bc she is nursing so much). Anyway I'm not ready to stop her from nursing on demand.

Have you tried adding lots of good fats to your diet? I eat at least an avocado every day. I make a great chocolate pudding out of it. I can give you the recipe, if you'd like. I also eat dessert every night. :-) For a while I was still losing weight but my weight has finally stabilized - at my lowest weight in 12 years!

Cindy

[detroitgirl77]

My 2 year old nurses 10+ times a day--mostly due to my milk supply dwindling while preggo. Even before we got preggo, he would nurse at least that much.

[CheriK]

Current nursling, DD 14 months, nurses a LOT. Probably at least 6 times minimum during the day and I don't even want to think about nighttime (if she's latched on all night, does that count as one nursing? ). From what I can remember, the older ones nursed at least that much, also. And this baby is a much more enthusiastic eater than her older siblings were. I didn't feel like the twins got more than a token amount of nutrition from solids until they were close to 2. So at least here, it doesn't seem to make much difference how much solids are going in, they still nurse a lot.

Do you eat a snack whenever you offer your toddler food? Typical toddler eating patterns really helped me maintain weight w/ my twins. And they need the healthy fats, so if you're feeding them a good diet, just snack along. I added cod liver oil to my oatmeal in the morning, cook with plenty of olive oil, keep nuts around for snacks, full-fat dairy products, use lots of almond/peanut butter, hummus, etc.

[isabchi]

My DS 19 mo who eat tons of solids, nurse 10x regular sessions in 24 hrs. I consider this very normal for him. He's a super busy toddler, to many milestones to acchieve, to many fun things to do and learn.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

It is so good to hear all this! Everyone had me thinking that it was terrible he is nursing as much as he is, maybe because of my weight, but my instincts tell me that as long as he is thriving, then it must be fine. I eat a ton, lots of good fats (and some bad as well, lol). I can't eat wheat or dairy though b/c DS is sensitive to them. I still manage to find lots of yummy treats to bake - tonight I'm making coffee cake!

Cindy - Avocado pudding?! That sounds divine. I looove avocados.

[Vegan Princess]

I eat the pudding for breakfast almost every day. It's just 1 avocado, 1/2-3/4 cup water (depending on how big the avo is), 1 tbsp raw cacao powder, 2 tbsp agave. I usually throw in some dried coconut flakes. Blend till smooth. I eat it over banana and tangerines. During summer you can just blend an avocado and a ripe peach and it's divine!

Cindy