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Question: How often should a 8 and a half month old baby be breastfeeding?
My daughter has always been a good nurser. She’s coming up to being 9 months old and she breastfeeds 3-4 times a day. Sometimes one more time, sometimes one less time. She is eating solid food “meals” a lot more often these days. My goal is to get her as close to two years of age with breastfeeding as possible. I’m worried that this infrequency will cause her to wean early. How often should I be nursing her? How long did you nurse your baby? Thank you for the advice.

Answer:

Answer by Smurfy
How are her wet diapers and weight gain? If she’s wetting adequate diapers and gaining normally, then she’s getting enough from the 3-4 nursing sessions she has in a day. My youngest nursed way more than that when he was that age, but he was big on comfort nursing. He still nurses frequently, and he’s 21 months old. I’m used to a baby that nurses much more often, so 3-4 doesn’t sound like a lot to me, but that might be because of my experience. It certainly won’t hurt to offer the breast more often, in my opinion. Here’s a link that might be helpful: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/enoughmilk-older.html

Remember that solids are meant to compliment breastfeeding – not replace it – until 12 months old. If she’s been nursing less since she started solids, you might want to ease up on the solids and offer the breast more often: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html Breastmilk (or formula, if breastmilk isn’t available) should be the main source of nutrition for the first year, and after that as long as mother and baby both mutually desire. I offered solids no more than twice a day (and maybe some Cheerios as a snack) until after a year old.

ETA: Jessica, the World Health Organization recommends nursing for at least 2 years.

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