How much does your 9 month old eat and nurse in a typical day?

[Snapdragon]

Please share how much your 9 month old eats and nurses in a typical day (including through the night)We are transitioning to more and more solids and less nursing ( I mean in a typical day/night he will nurse about 7 - 10 times- for 10-15 minutes varying sometimes more or less- but now he is also having solids 3 times a day), partially because my 9 m.o seems hungry for more solids, and partially because since he has teeth I have gotten a little timid aobut nursing~~ which I feel kind of guilty for- anyway-I am wondering how many times and how much a day your 9 m.o eats solids and also nurses to see if my transition is similar to other babies of the same age.I think I am doing a pretty good job of feeding the baby- and still nursing-- I wish I were nursing a little bit more than I do- I tend to cut him off someitmes towards the end of a session as I keep having some fears about biting- he bit for a little while and now doesn't do it much- but his way of nursing has changed with teeth- and I do find myself less relaxed about it than I was before- I would love to overcome that. anyway- thanks

Edited by Snapdragon - 12/17/10 at 7:46pm

[McGucks]

My almost nine month old nurses about every two to three hours between when he wakes up in the a.m. (anywhere from 5:30-7) and when he goes down (usually in the neighborhood of 7 p.m.).  A typical nursing session is maybe 5 minutes to 10 if he's comfort nursing (such as before a nap).  He still wakes up to eat several times during the night, but not for long.  That said, he is not a very "schedule" type baby.  He is not a great eater of solids.  He was EBF until 6.5 months.  Some days he eats some solids, some days he hardly eats any solids.  He was kind of on a solids strike (with lots of fussiness and high-pitched screeching) for the past several days--turns out he has two new teeth on top (for a total of 6 now).  There is a huge range of what's normal in the eating habits area for this age child...try not to stress about how much solids he eats.  It is okay to feel scared to nurse when your LO has teeth.  My strategy with biting is to tell him "No...no bite...that hurts Mommy" every time, then I cover up.  I have read other posts that say many babies bite when they are not really hungry enough to nurse much, and that is the case with my DS2.  If I am trying to get him to go to sleep during the night by nursing him and he's not into it, he's more likely to bite.  It's not too fun, but it's tolerable and I know it will get better.  Good luck and congratulations for hanging in there with breastfeeding!

[Snapdragon]

thanks!  The thing is that he was biting for a while a coule of wks ago or so- and he is not even really biting anymore- I just have this very annoying fear about it now in which I feel when I nurse him that it is like this big brave thing to handle- to put my nipples in a mouth with teeth! I don't know- it is just different than when he was a little infant. It is more me than him- in that he isn't really biting- just nursing more like a little bit older baby- and sometimes he is finding his latch and I think he will bite and so I pop him off- so I am not that flowing with it like when he was younger I would judt offer the breats, relax, and let him go until he was done. Now I switch breasts, pop on and off- etc. I need to get over it! or maybe it is okay and he is getting the right balance of food and breastmilk and water- I hope so

[Knitting Mama]

Cecilia still nurses every couple of hours. She's not a solids kid, though. She hardly eats any solids at all. And yeah my experience with the biting is that she does it when she's not really hungry.

[Unlikely Mama]

My 9 mo.DD nurses every couple hours throughout the day and unfortunately, is back to nursing 3-4 times at night.  She was down to 1-2 MOTN nursings but recently decided to start waking more often again.  She started solids at 6.5 months. I was reluctant to start, didn't think she was ready, etc. but her Dad was insistent, so I thought we'd give it a whirl.  She loves solids! She's really into sitting at the table and eating and has yet to reject anything I've fed her from brussel sprouts to kiwi to ground turkey. She has 3 solid meals a day, though one of them is more like a snack.  I always make sure that she breastfeeds first, about an hour before any solids.

[greenemami]

Ds just turned 9 months.  I dont' really keep track, so these are kind of guesses, lol.  He nurses 2-3 times during the day and at least two of those times of for 30 minutes or more.  He nurses frequently throughout the night, I'd guess every 3 hours? We cosleep, so I dont' really wake up so that is a hard one to guess! As for solids, I offer him a bit of whatever we are eating three times a day, sometimes skipping a meal if he happens to nap through it.  Sometimes he will just throw it everywehre, sometimes he will eat a lot, just depends on what it is and how he is feeling :) 

Dd at that age was nursing SO much more and sometimes I worry, but he is growing well, so I try not to worry!  He only has two teeth and still sometimes manages to bite me while nursing (which dd never did until she was much older) so I hear you about being tense-that freaking hurts!!!! Good for you for sticking with it, I hope the biting decreases and the enjoyment increases again soon :)

[skfmama]

Ds nurses about every 2-3 hrs and eats solids 2ish times a day, not really huge amounts. We've made some major strides w night nursing - down to only every 4-6 hrs mostly. I want to offer solids more but so far it's been hard to manage - more effort and clean up than nursing. I sympathize about teeth - sometimes his latch is just plain uncomfy.

[Zangua]

My almost 9 month old is really transitioning into solids- via baby led weaning. She just loves to eat. Veggies, fruits, grains, lentils... whatever we put in front of her she eats and smiles.

She still really likes to nurse, but does so less frequently. I also work four full days a week now, so when she is with her dad she really eats solids 3 times a day and sips breast milk from the bottle in between but she has never been big on the bottle- which made my work schedule hell before we started giving her solids. She still nurses to sleep, once in the night and then a bunch in the morning.

I am just kind of going with it- and noticing my milk supply is going down a little- which is kind of a bummer, but also nice to have a little independence back.

[octobermom]

 Margaret still nurses around every 3 hours during the day and at least once during the night. She does get in soem solids mostly just bits of what ever we are having though I do sometimes give her some fruit or yougurt in addition.

 Right now shes is sick and is only nursing and sleeping.

Deanna 

[octobermom]

 Ohh FWIW while weve been doing some degree of soilids since 6 months its still kinda hit and miss.. We go days at a time with just breast and then suddenly have a day where it like she is BEGGING for solids. Like the onther day I made some pot roast with veggies and mashed potatoes shes jsut kept eatting and eatting  both off my spoon and her self feeding.

Deanna

[goinggreengirl]

My almost 9 month old doesn't eat solids. We've tried everything and he's just not interested. So, he nurses every two to three hours during the day and probably at night (we cosleep so I barely wake up to nurse him). He has six teeth- four on top, two on the bottom- and I am definitely more watchful when he latches on. He's really good about not biting. He only bites if he's not really interested in nursing or if he gets way too excited while latching on. I just tell myself that the pain doesn't last long and he still really needs his mommy's milk.

[SunRise]

My 9 month old prefers solids over drinking. I just noticed the past week or so that she isnt "drinking" much during the day. She prefers to eat/ try solids. But during the night she makes up for it, drinking throughout.

We were doing a morning and evening meal, but since she is not taking in much at all during the day, will offer her a "lunch" meal now too, and snacks. And water.

[ericaness]

my son is 10 mos now, but his eating hasn't changed much in the last month. he nurses every 2-3 hours all day and night, occasionally going 4 or 5 hours is we are out and he is too distracted to nurse. i offer him food every time i eat, but his desire for solids is not consistent at all. sometimes he will go for days refusing all solids and sometimes he wants to eat a lot. he didn't show much interest in solids at all until about 9 months though. before that, he would try a bite or two, but no more than that. now he might eat an ounce or two of food, or none at all.