How often are you BFing at 10 months?

[SarahDC]

I'm a part-time working mama, trying to plan ahead for our next childcare situation this fall. How often is your 10 month old nursing? We are EBFing (gets about 4 bottles/week of pumped milk from nanny) and doing baby-led solids. She's still nursing every 2 hours at 6 months right now.

TIA!

[desertgirl01]

Hmm, I'm guessing my just-turned-11 month old nurses every few hours, if not more.

If you're wondering how many bottles she's going through a day when I'm at work, I can better answer that one. My mom gives her 3 5-oz bottles of breastmilk when I'm at work. Quite soon, like tomorrow, she's only going to be having 2 4oz bottles of milk a day. That's all I can pump nowadays, and I'm out of freezer stash (except for my emergency stash). I nurse her all morning, and all night, so I'm not worried about my supply or if she's getting enough breastmilk milk or not.

[SarahDC]

Thanks, that helps! She will be at daycare for about 4-5 hrs at a time and I was wondering if nursing her right before and after would work... sounds like she'll need at least 1 bottle though.

[YvonneC-M]

My about-to-turn 11-month-old nurses every 3-5 hours during the day on weekends, and gets two 4-oz bottles a day while I'm at work. She would get more EBM if I could pump more but, like desertgirl01, that's all I can pump these days and my frozen stash is long gone. I also don't worry because she nurses as soon as I get home, and then again about an hour later when she goes to sleep for the night. She wakes sometime between 4AM-6AM to nurse, and then nurses again before I leave for work at 8AM. Occasionally she nurses in the middle of the night, but that's rare.

Your baby will probably be fine if it's a 4-5 hour stretch at day care and she gets a meal during that time, but having a bottle on hand is a great idea, just to be sure.

[Tiana]

My 9.5 month old (who we're doing baby-led solids with) doesn't eat a lot of solids, and still nurses every 1-2 hours during the day. I think how much milk you'll need to have on hand is going to vary greatly from baby to baby, so it's a bit tricky to predict. Some will be just fine going for 4-5 hours without, if nursed before and after, like PP said. I know my son would not tolerate that long. He would need at least one bottle of pumped milk during that time. If I were in your position, I would plan for one bottle during daycare, with maybe one extra bottle per week, then adjust your pumping after she's in care and you know if she'll need more or less.

[mambera]

I think one bottle for a 4-5 h stretch at daycare would be perfect.

I WOH two days a week. My 10.5 month-old gets two 4-oz bottles on my 8-h day and 3 4-oz bottles on my 12-h day. I'm sure she'd drink more if I could pump it but I can't and she eats plenty of solids and is growing fine.

On the days we are together full-time she will nurse every 2-3 h (sometimes just a couple of sucks though) if we are home, but if we go out of the house and she is interested in other stuff she can easily go 4-5 h without asking to nurse.

[SarahDC]

Thanks all! Very helpful. I wasn't sure if the every 2 hours was going to space out or not.

[LindsC]

DD is about 10 months old and gets three 4oz bottles at daycare on the days I work and she is there for about 9 hours.

On the days that I am home with her, she can nurse as frequently as every couple of hours or spread it out as long as 3-4 hours if she is distracted by something or we are out running errands.

I would say that 1 bottle for a 4-5 hour stretch would probably be enough, especially if she is eating solids by then.

[MangoMommy]

My 10 mo old nurses every 2-3 hrs still, and eats some solids. She nurses a lot more when I'm around, so I bet a 4-5 hr stretch having 1 bottle, nursing before and after would be fine. She will do up to 4 hrs in the morning, like nurse at 7am and then won't want to eat again until 11am sometimes if we are out and about.