How many times a day does you 7 month old nurse?

Colleen - posted on 09/24/2010

Tania is completely correct. Let your baby tell you what they need. As you can see from the posts, no baby is the same. My LO nurses in the morning, 2 bottles and 1 solid at day car, nurses when arriving at home, solid for dinner, then a final nursing at night. I was worried with the change when I put her into day care a few weeks ago but she adjusted quickly and with ease.

Trust your instincts.

Shannon - posted on 06/17/2009

My son is 9 months and loves to eat... he eats Gerber Graduates already, stage 3 jars were not enough food for him.. plus he likes to eat by himself. We were into stage 3 jars at 6 months... every child is different though.

Now he still nurses 6 to 8 times a day around the clock... atleast 2 times during the night, and 4 to 6 during the day, depends on what we have going on. I'd say that as long as your child is active, gaining weight and has the 5 to 6 wet daipes a day that you should be fine!

Kat - posted on 06/17/2009

Hi I nurse my 8.5 month old daughter 4 x a day. Every 4 hours during the day. She sleeps 12hrs overnight & does not wake to feed. She also has 4 solid meals a day, I make my own food.

Tania - posted on 06/16/2009

I'm breastfeeding my 8th child - she is 7 months old. The baby food jars are big because the manufacturers know that you will buy it, and making special sizes and different textures means more sales, and if a lot of it gets wasted because your baby can't eat that much before it goes bad, you have to buy more. And they're in it to make money, not to provide your child the best possible nutrition. (end of rant)
Don't worry about what the pediatrician or the baby magazine or your sister or anyone else says about how to feed your baby - he's your baby and you will know best! If he's happy eating what he gets now, and continuing to develop and grow, you're doing great. Continue to offer a little more than he's willing to eat - he'll stop when he has enough (quantity and nutrition - babies and little kids are good about that - it's only later that people eat beyond what their bodies need). When he shows interest in more food (either wants to nurse longer or more often or finishes off the solids you offer him), let him have more. And remember that a baby's appetite changes from day to day - they go through growth spurts and periods of intense muscle development that spur temporary increases in appetite, so if he doesn't eat as much on one day as he did before, it's not always a cause for alarm.
Trust your gut - you're the Mom.

Minnie - posted on 06/16/2009

My eight month old nurses about 12-15 times a day. She typically nurses 2-3 times an hour and a couple of times at night. She is exclusively breastfed.



Every woman has a different capacity for milk storage. Every woman will produce enough milk for baby, but the number of times baby has to nurse to satisfy his caloric needs is different. Solids do indeed fill baby up, it is good that you are nursing first, but they can still hold baby over so that he's not hungry to nurse for a while.



What I would personally do is cut out all solids and see how often he nurses. And then reintroduce solids, in small amounts. But it's up to you. If he is gaining weight, even if it's a little bit (he doesn't have to meet averages on those charts), and his urine isn't dark or smelly he's fine. Babies your son's age will probably be urinating about once every hour.

Nicole - posted on 06/16/2009

My eight month old nurses a lot but it does vary- sometimes she will nurse multiple times in an hour other times, three hours will pass. I think she averages nursing every two hours( I co-sleep with her at the breast so I'm can't be certain about night feeds). As far as solids, she is very sporadic with those too. I make homemade baby food so I am not sure about jar quantity, but I portion solids into 4oz servings. It is hit or miss whether she finishes them or not. I wouldn't worry since he is going through at least five diapers in a day. Phoebe goes through about 5/day herself. She is a giant for her age- 22lb12oz.

Jenell - posted on 06/16/2009

Feeding can be so stressful. My 7 month old loves to nurse, I still nurse her every 3 hours through out the day, but she is just getting onto solids, She eats a small cube (I always freeze the baby food into small cubes so I don't waste 2/3 of every jar). Twice a day she eats a small cube of a veggie, fruit and about 1-2 tbls of cereal. Some of my friends at this point only nurse 3 times a day.



Sounds like your son has enough wet diapers. Is he gaining weight? If the Dr hasn't been worried at this point an dhe is not super fussy I'm sure you are doing just fine.

Holly - posted on 06/15/2009

My seven month old nurses every two hours like clockwork... solids or not, it doesn't matter.



I change 5 - 6 wet/dirty diapers a day... one during the night.... yes, we're up every two to three hours during the night as well...



I'm tired. lol.

Vicki - posted on 06/15/2009

My eight month old nurses between 4 and 5 times a day. I think that if your baby (I've nursed both of my children) doesn't want to nurse, then they don't need it. Keep offering and when needs it, he'll take it. As long as he's gaining weight and hitting milestones, he's fine.

Katie - posted on 06/15/2009

I've nursed on demand since my son was born, which ends up being 2-5 minutes every 1.5-2 hours. He is 10 months old now and will go 4 hours if he is thoroughly entertained and not being held by me. If he does that, then he nurses for 10-20 minutes the next time.



Feel his soft spot. If it sinks in, then he is probably dehydrated and may need to nurse more (or have a little water). Other then that, if he isn't fussy and he's gaining weight, then he is probably fine. If he is grabbing at you to eat, then feed him.



I'm sure he's fine, though. I hardly have ever used jar food (I used to just puree and freeze in ice cube trays, now I just freeze in slices and chunks) so I can't judge size.



If he is not gaining weight, then you might want to try a sling (I love my maya wrap and still use it) for a few hours a day, which can give him easy access to nursing and also allows him to use more calories for growing, since he will cry and move less while being worn.