How much does your 9 month old nurse? and my question oabout my situation-

[Snapdragon]

 . . . and how much solids do they eat? My 9 m.o recently started eating more and more solids. He still nurses about 4 times a night and maybe 5 times or more a day, and now has breakfast lunch and dinner of solids, plus water and diluted apple juice.

I am trying to have a good transition of adding solids, which in turn decreases nursing- and trying to make sure I keep him well hydrated.

I am feeling a little guilty on the nursing thing though-  I posted here about how we went through a biting phase. Well that is mostly done ( and I stopped with the bottle of juice water and now just use sippy cups. cups/spoons for that). but I started getting less relaxed about nursing. And I don't like this. I am trying to relax about it but I find myself kind of tense when I am nursing him, wondering if he will bite! Even though he usually doesn't now.  Especially at the end of a session- and I wish  I could let go of that anxiety about him because I am wondering if I am not nursing him enough now.

I am making sure to nurse as much as I can- and each time I try to nurse fully. But I am also giving him more solids when he is hungry instead of always nursing first-

anyway, I just hope I am nursing enough and not giving too much solids and not enough breastmilk. I really want to get over my issue with nursing because it is making both the baby and I kind of jumpy about it-

so how much do you nurse and feed solids to a 9 month old?

[gardenmommy]

DD is still nursing about 8-10 times per 24 hour period.  She isn't eating a ton of solids; usually she shares my breakfast of lightly cooked eggs, my lunch of smoothie, and a bit of my supper.  I have found with all of my babies that if I follow their lead, I am pretty good.  Sometimes, it is easy to get so busy that I put off nursing the baby, which is ok once in a while.  However, unless you want to wean, you have to make sure to sit down and nurse, lol.  I would say that if baby wants to eat, that's great, but primary nutrition is still breast milk at this age.  IMO, solids before at least 12 months is more for experience than nutrition, so I don't want what my DD eats to replace a nursing session.  I don't always nurse before solids either, but I might if DD liked to eat a lot.

[KoalaMommy]

I'd say nurse as much as he wants and feed him as much as he wants.  I'm on baby #3 here and I seriously have no idea how often he nurses, probably 4-5 times a day and 3-4 times a night, so still at least 8 sessions daily and he's 10 months.  He also loves solid foods.  You'd know if baby wasn't getting enough milk because you'd be dealing with constipation from not enough fluid, unless you're supplementing with water.  This one does 3-4 solid food meals/snacks a day.  Generally he wants to eat real food when we're eating, he loves food.  I don't think it's bad to feed him first and then nurse, mine certainly still nurses well after eating. 

I think as long as baby is satisfied, he's probably getting enough.  He could be exclusively breastfed at this point in time and still be healthy, and he can eat quite a bit of solids and still be healthy.  There's a good range for normal, and as long as his needs are being met, it doesn't much matter where on that range he falls.  Some days my son only gets 1 solid food meal, and sometimes he gets 4.  I simply meet his nursing needs no matter how much solid food he eats.  And I think moms generally know when their baby wants to nurse, mine is not at all subtle about it. 

[gardenmommy]

Ditto.  This is baby #5 for me, and generally, I can tell when she wants to nurse, although sometimes she is so busy that she doesn't want to take the time to ask.  If I offer, however, she will get very excited and impatient about the whole thing.  Same with solids; if I offer, she will almost always accept. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by KoalaMommy 

I'd say nurse as much as he wants and feed him as much as he wants.  I'm on baby #3 here and I seriously have no idea how often he nurses, probably 4-5 times a day and 3-4 times a night, so still at least 8 sessions daily and he's 10 months.  He also loves solid foods.  You'd know if baby wasn't getting enough milk because you'd be dealing with constipation from not enough fluid, unless you're supplementing with water.  This one does 3-4 solid food meals/snacks a day.  Generally he wants to eat real food when we're eating, he loves food.  I don't think it's bad to feed him first and then nurse, mine certainly still nurses well after eating. 

I think as long as baby is satisfied, he's probably getting enough.  He could be exclusively breastfed at this point in time and still be healthy, and he can eat quite a bit of solids and still be healthy.  There's a good range for normal, and as long as his needs are being met, it doesn't much matter where on that range he falls.  Some days my son only gets 1 solid food meal, and sometimes he gets 4.  I simply meet his nursing needs no matter how much solid food he eats.  And I think moms generally know when their baby wants to nurse, mine is not at all subtle about it. 

[Mom2M]

I agree with this too.  The only thing I wouldn't give DD was juice because I just don't do juice really.

About the biting...that's a tough one.  I think I would probably tense up too after your experience.  I hope it gets better for you.
 

Originally Posted by KoalaMommy 

I'd say nurse as much as he wants and feed him as much as he wants.  I'm on baby #3 here and I seriously have no idea how often he nurses, probably 4-5 times a day and 3-4 times a night, so still at least 8 sessions daily and he's 10 months.  He also loves solid foods.  You'd know if baby wasn't getting enough milk because you'd be dealing with constipation from not enough fluid, unless you're supplementing with water.  This one does 3-4 solid food meals/snacks a day.  Generally he wants to eat real food when we're eating, he loves food.  I don't think it's bad to feed him first and then nurse, mine certainly still nurses well after eating. 

I think as long as baby is satisfied, he's probably getting enough.  He could be exclusively breastfed at this point in time and still be healthy, and he can eat quite a bit of solids and still be healthy.  There's a good range for normal, and as long as his needs are being met, it doesn't much matter where on that range he falls.  Some days my son only gets 1 solid food meal, and sometimes he gets 4.  I simply meet his nursing needs no matter how much solid food he eats.  And I think moms generally know when their baby wants to nurse, mine is not at all subtle about it. 

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by Snapdragon 

I am making sure to nurse as much as I can- and each time I try to nurse fully. But I am also giving him more solids when he is hungry instead of always nursing first-

 I think you are doing great following your baby's lead.

I work and pump during the day and my 9.5 mont old eats as follows:

Nursing 3x a day when awake (morning, dinner, before bed)

Bottles - 10-12 ounces BM day.

food - typically - 10-20 cheerios in the morning

at day care: whole alvacado, scrambled egges or cream of wheat (about 4 ounces worth) and about 4 ounces of another fruit.

night nursing - 3-4x but never for very long.

dinner: maybe a tiny bite or 2 of what we are eating.

I feel like my little guy eats a TON! I'm amazed at what food he eats. He's completely on table food. He's only in the 40 percentile for height and 20th for weight, so he's a little fellow but he really does eat a lot.