Dumb questions about a 9 month old

[Cathy]

Am I right in thinking that teething will cause big changes in feeding
habits? Our little gannet for solids has gone to only wanting mummy, and
then only sometimes - she lets me know very clearly if she doesn't want
milk.

Also, should I now be giving solids before nursing? (well, when the teeth
are through). Currently she has one side (only wants one), and then solids
about an hour later. With daylight saving now upon us, it would suit me
better to give solids first - but is it too early? And if I give solids
first, is she likely to drop the nursing for that feed? She is currently
nursing 5 times a day (and once at night) - sort of breakfast, morning tea,
afternoon tea, dinner and bedtime snack, with solids for breakfast, lunch
and dinner.

And the good news is that this teething time, I don't seem to be having any
trouble (touch wood!) with plugged ducts that is got with the first 4 teeth!
Phew - I am so relieved.

TIA,
Cathy

[Chookie]

In article >,
"Cathy" > wrote:

> Am I right in thinking that teething will cause big changes in feeding
> habits? Our little gannet for solids has gone to only wanting mummy, and
> then only sometimes - she lets me know very clearly if she doesn't want
> milk.

My DS always bfs a lot for comfort while teething, particularly at night.

> Also, should I now be giving solids before nursing? (well, when the teeth
> are through). Currently she has one side (only wants one), and then solids
> about an hour later. With daylight saving now upon us, it would suit me
> better to give solids first - but is it too early? And if I give solids
> first, is she likely to drop the nursing for that feed? She is currently
> nursing 5 times a day (and once at night) - sort of breakfast, morning tea,
> afternoon tea, dinner and bedtime snack, with solids for breakfast, lunch
> and dinner.

To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the solids-after-bfing rule as DS
wasn't hugely keen on solids anyway. I gave solids when it suited *me* -- ie,
at mealtimes.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
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[Cathy]

Chookie > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Cathy" > wrote:
>
> > Am I right in thinking that teething will cause big changes in feeding
> > habits? Our little gannet for solids has gone to only wanting mummy,
and
> > then only sometimes - she lets me know very clearly if she doesn't want
> > milk.
>
> My DS always bfs a lot for comfort while teething, particularly at night.

It's nice to know it's not just my little horror! Still, 3 teeth at once is
a bit much. One is through, one is nearly, and the other seems to be going
up and down. Couple lack of sleep with daylight saving, and mummy is
finding it hard to be nice to the grumpy girl!!
>
> > Also, should I now be giving solids before nursing? (well, when the
teeth
> > are through). Currently she has one side (only wants one), and then
solids
> > about an hour later. With daylight saving now upon us, it would suit me
> > better to give solids first - but is it too early? And if I give solids
> > first, is she likely to drop the nursing for that feed? She is
currently
> > nursing 5 times a day (and once at night) - sort of breakfast, morning
tea,
> > afternoon tea, dinner and bedtime snack, with solids for breakfast,
lunch
> > and dinner.
>
> To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the solids-after-bfing rule
as DS
> wasn't hugely keen on solids anyway. I gave solids when it suited *me* --
ie,
> at mealtimes

This is the only good thing about daylight saving - it has brought DDs
mealtimes more in line with ours. So I'll start offering solids when it
suits me, as you suggest. Thanks for the advice.

Cathy

[Nevermind]

"Cathy" > wrote in message >...
> Am I right in thinking that teething will cause big changes in feeding
> habits? Our little gannet for solids has gone to only wanting mummy, and
> then only sometimes - she lets me know very clearly if she doesn't want
> milk.
>
> Also, should I now be giving solids before nursing? (well, when the teeth
> are through). Currently she has one side (only wants one), and then solids
> about an hour later. With daylight saving now upon us, it would suit me
> better to give solids first - but is it too early? And if I give solids
> first, is she likely to drop the nursing for that feed? She is currently
> nursing 5 times a day (and once at night) - sort of breakfast, morning tea,
> afternoon tea, dinner and bedtime snack, with solids for breakfast, lunch
> and dinner.

I think you can do whatever you want as far as scheduling the BFs and
the solids. At 9 MO, I think most babies still want breast or bottle
when they're really hungry. Your child is still BFing 5X a day, which
seems like a good safe amount for that age to me, so I think you're
safe to take any approach she seems happy with.

I'll tell you what we do: My 9 MO is BFing only 4X a day now, as she
recently dropped her night feeding (or had it dropped out from under
her, as I forced the issue). When she first wakes up, she MUST BF, as
she hasn't had a thing in her for about 11 hours and would simply howl
if I tried to feed her "food". Plus, for me, it's a nice calm way for
us both to start the day (she wakes me up, so I am not quite ready to
rush a "meal" out onto the table yet). Anyway, she BFs at about 7,
then has some fruit and either Kix or some of a piece of toast at
about 8. She naps in mid-morning and Bfs upon waking, which is usually
at about 11 or 11:30.

She eats "lunch" at about 12:30. She naps later in the afternoon if I
can manage it, then usually wakes up and Bfs again at about 3:30 or 4,
though often she has a BFing "snack" a bit early -- especially if for
some reason she cannot get a decent afternoon nap; I think this is for
comfort.

She eats "dinner" at about 5:30. The rest of the family isn't ready to
eat dinner until about 6 or even 6:30, and I have tried to hold her
off, but she is hungry by 5:30. It's only been in the last few weeks
that I have noticed her seeming hungry for that solids meal; before
then, I felt it was more for me than for her.

As for teething's effect on feeding, I can't really say for sure. With
all 3 of my kids, I was never really confident in blaming teething for
their ups and downs of sleeping and eating. It makes perfect sense to
me that teething would make eating certain foods annoying to a baby,
though. And I'd expect any discomfort to *increase* a kid's desire to
nurse. Good luck!

[Cathy]

Nevermind > wrote in message
om...
> "Cathy" > wrote in message
>...
> > Am I right in thinking that teething will cause big changes in feeding
> > habits? Our little gannet for solids has gone to only wanting mummy,
and
> > then only sometimes - she lets me know very clearly if she doesn't want
> > milk.
> >
> > Also, should I now be giving solids before nursing? (well, when the
teeth
> > are through). Currently she has one side (only wants one), and then
solids
> > about an hour later. With daylight saving now upon us, it would suit me
> > better to give solids first - but is it too early? And if I give solids
> > first, is she likely to drop the nursing for that feed? She is
currently
> > nursing 5 times a day (and once at night) - sort of breakfast, morning
tea,
> > afternoon tea, dinner and bedtime snack, with solids for breakfast,
lunch
> > and dinner.
>
> I think you can do whatever you want as far as scheduling the BFs and
> the solids. At 9 MO, I think most babies still want breast or bottle
> when they're really hungry. Your child is still BFing 5X a day, which
> seems like a good safe amount for that age to me, so I think you're
> safe to take any approach she seems happy with.
>
> I'll tell you what we do: My 9 MO is BFing only 4X a day now, as she
> recently dropped her night feeding (or had it dropped out from under
> her, as I forced the issue).

We got DD out of her night feed, for about a week. What bliss! Currently
she is feeding twice at night, and boy is she hungry.

And your daughter's routine seems quite a lot like ours was. But currently
there isn't a routine, so I'm offering solids when I feel like it - like
this a.m. she didn't want to nurse, and had about 2 bites of breakfast. So
when she seemed hungry about 2 hours later, she got the rest of breakfast,
not bf.

Thanks for the reply - I'll keep doing what I'm doing till the teeth come
through, and then if she doesn't settle down a bit, I might start trying to
get tougher on solids - and also trying more table foods, as she might want
that (I just can't stand the mess at the moment!).

Cathy