decreasing feedings, among other questions

[jerabelle]

hi ya'll

our DS is 5mo and i have enjoyed every minute of EBF.  due to a few recent circumstances, we have decided to introduce solids to him.  he's LOVING it and it seems to be helping where we need it to.  however, ive never had to go thru this 'decreasing supply' thing and i'm a little worried i'll do something wrong.  we only give DS one 'meal' of solids/day in the evening, so it's not a drastic thing or anything, but not sure what to do - do i pump since i'm so full from missing a feeding, or do i just give it a few days so that things will regulate on their own?

also, i hope i'm not being too candid, but my monthly cycle has been nowhere to be found since DS was born and my doctor says that once i drop to about 3 feedings/day, it should return.  any help on that subject?  i had some bleeding issues have having DS and am just a little worried about any long-term effects it might have had on me since i havent had my cycle return yet.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!  MUCH APPRECIATED!

[PatioGardener]

Welcome to MDC!

Before 1 year of age, it is recommended to breastfeed baby before solids, so solids are actually in addition to the same amount of breastmilk, rather than replacing breastmilk.  This is useful because it keeps your supply the same and you don't need to worry about your supply decreasing.

As for your cycle, it is completely normal not to have it when you are exclusively breastfeeding.  My little guy is 8 months now and my cycle has not returned yet.  All women are different, and cycles return at different times.  I hope mine stays away for longer!!! 

I don't know what your bleeding issues were after having your baby, but unless the mother had severe severe postpartum hemorrhage I haven't heard of bleeding affecting fertility in the long run.    It's probably good (and normal) for our bodies to take a break and recover from pregnancy/birth!

[KoalaMommy]

My lo generally wants to nurse after eating if I don't nurse him before.  They're really not getting much in the way of nutrition or calories from solids as compared to breastmilk at this point, so you don't really want to cut out nursings just because he's eating solids.

As for your cycle, I'm not sure what you're worried about, I have bleeding issues and I'm going to go ahead and call you lucky because my cycle has returned around 2-3 months with all 3 of my children in spite of nursing full time!

[P.J.]

I agree with the PP: until 1 year or so, solids are more about learning to eat than nutrition, and it's wise to BF your baby just before he eats any solids. There isn't really anything you can "do wrong", as your milk supply will regulate itself according to how much your baby is nursing and/or you are pumping, as far as I understand it and IME.

And as for the cycle returning, it varies widely but I am 7mo postpartum and no period yet, so hooray for that!

[memz]

Like the others said, nurse before feeding solids...and I'm almost 12 months pp and no AF yet, so don't worry.

[myk]

definitely breast first, solids second.

my cycle returned at 5 months, having not introduced a single bite of solids until after 6 months. someone else i know was 15 months before AF returned. both are considered normal - it's an individual thing that varies widely. i just wasn't lucky i guess :)