Feedings: Frequency and Recent Changes

Question: How often do you BF Jude? Brooklyn is 3 months and I feel like I am still BF every 2-3 hours.

Answer: I will (as always) indulge and answer this in more detail than I need to:

When Jude was in the 1-2 month range he ate roughly every 2-3 hours for about 20 minutes. I usually fed him on one side for about 15 minutes and then flipped and offered him the other side (but he rarely took it). At first we were heavy on the every 2 hour side because of jaundice and then backed off. Feedings felt VERY frequent and that's probably because we were basically forcing him to eat. As they say, the first so many minutes is the thirst quencher and then behind that is the 'fatty' milk. I'll also add - this was every 2-3 hours during the day and less at much less (if at all) during the night.

When I went back to work, he ate much less during the day. I made it clear to the lovely lady watching Jude that he only NEEDED to eat when he showed hunger signs. Within an 8-9 hour period of time, he would sometimes only take like 2 bottles. She said sometimes she would think he was hungry, go to prepare a bottle and he'd fall asleep instead. Since I was pumping, this is A. OK with me. That just meant that there was less of a demand on me. He was still growing like a champ and sleeping well, so we were fine.

After I started staying home, he began eating MUCH more frequently than he was with Katie. I will attribute this to "out of sight, out of mind". With Katie, the milk wasn't constantly in his face, so he didn't feel the need to go for it. But when I'm home, he knows it's there. I can go all day without eating if I'm busy, but if I'm at a party and there's food set out, I'll pick and eat all day if I can - so will he. While he still seemed to be eating roughly every 2 hours though, the feedings were considerably shorter. They say at some point, your baby will de-latch (not the right term I'm sure) on their own. Jude on the other hand: not at all. If I let him suck all day, my man would SUCK ALL DAY! However, I did notice over time that after a certain period of time, he would slow down. Often times he'd take a few second break in between sucks. Or, more common than that, he'd fall asleep. I would not wait for him to take himself off, I'd do it for him. He never cried or fussed for more (and still continued to grow), so this is what worked for us.

Eventually he found his thumb. Once he found his thumb, I would take him off and in his thumb would go. Which reconfirmed, he just wanted to suck. He liked to suck so much, that my mother in law watched him once and he ate DOUBLE what he would any other time JUST because it was there (and then spit it up)

This was our routine until he was about 7+months old. He nursed roughly every 2-3 (sometimes more) hours for 15, 10, 5 minutes (decreased over time).


Current Feedings:
Jude began solids around 6 months. We were very slow with them because we were doing "Baby Led Weaning" (or at least something very close to it). I had originally heard about it when Barbie posted it on her blog awhile back and it struck me as interesting. I first started by giving him chunky purees. So, foods in mushed forms that he could handle. He had very little interest at first and even when we tried to feed him, he stuck his nose up. Because of this, we would go days at a time without offering him food. I'd some times put my fruit up to him to see if he'd take it... and sometimes he would. I remember my family would put foods in his face sometimes and see if he'd eat it. I almost got the impression that they didn't believe me when I said he just was not that into it. For this reason, he was still BFing every 2-3 hours

Once he really started to get the idea that these foods we were putting up to him were good and interesting, then he actually started to consume some of it. I'd say this happened about a month ago. So, in Jude's case, around 7 and a half months is when he was really ready to start making the transition. Currently we offer him solids twice a day. Once around 11am and once at our dinner time. Sometimes I'll offer him his "Purely O's" (my brother would call me out if I called them Cherrios... but that's basically what they are) in between, but usually there's no reason to.

So, let's assume Jude has a good sleep night. He'll nurse at around 5,7 and when he wakes up for good around 8:30 or 9:00 (sometimes the 7 o'clock feeding doesn't happen... sometimes the 5 o'clock doesn't... etc). On a pretty normal day by 10:30 or 11:00 we have showered, dressed, done some cleaning or started our errands. I rarely eat breakfast, so this is 'lunch' time and also when I present Jude with his first solid.

Not too long after is nap time. Sometimes I'll nurse him to sleep, or on very rare occasions he'll go to sleep by being rocked, in my arms, in his carrier, etc. So, maybe a nursing at nap time (12:30?) and then maybe 2 more before dinner which is when he gets offered solids a second time. Finally, I'll either nurse him before bed or Ryan will give him a bottle if I'm working (very rarely, he will fall asleep at night without his last bottle - but it has happened).

He appears to still be an every 2-3 hour eater.... but now that we have solids it's breaking up the nursing a bit.

I hope that helped... basically, I would say that what really helped is when the feedings got shorter. I was not nursing for 20 minutes at a time, so when my 2-3 hours were up, I did not feel like I had JUST finished feeding him.

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid???

In other food news:
- Jude has successfully eaten a few 'whole' bananas. Not only has he eaten the whole thing at once, but he eats it the way a grown person would eat a banana. It has got to be one of the cutest things. Ever. On the rare occasion that we're in the middle of doing some when Jude should be presented with his solids (and I feel bad substituting that meal with breast milk), the banana has become the most convenient 'on the go' meal. I hold it, he bites.

- Tonight, we gave Jude his first piece of meat. Apparently we're at the age when meat and dairy can began to be introduced. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for 'cheap' wing night and I got chicken fingers. The service was pretty rough and we were through all of Jude's purely O's (and banana) before our food arrived. Being that we were approaching his bed time he was a little fussy, so we let him play with a piece of the chicken finger (without the crunchy outside). I didn't like the idea of fried meat for him... but what can you do? He ate a couple of small pieces and seemed to like it. I was really hesitant to start meat and dairy, but... what can you do? Perhaps in the next couple of days I'll make some more wholesome chicken and really let him try it.