BF and turning 1

Hi guys

My 1 year old has been EBF and now eats 3 meals a day with some snacks here and there. My question is how often should I be offering milk now? (I use the word should loosely...).

He starts nursery at the end of the month and I'm not massively concerned about that with milk as I know he'll catch up at home and eat food etc. But I'm aware that he should be gradually having more food now and sometimes he doesn't eat as much as I *think* he should be? He's currently on 3 BFs a day. Recently dropped the first feed when he wakes up and give him breakfast straight away. He definitely eats more breakfast now but seems very upset beforehand. I just don't know how structured I need to be with the milk - I want to give it to him flexibly but not hinder his solid food progression and/or cause any distress at nursery.

Any insight on what others are doing and what works for them would be massively helpful. I don't exactly want to ask the HV as I get the most generic outdated advice every time I go to them.

Thanks a lot!

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My sons one on Saturday and ebf, he has no day time feeds he’s only 3 meals and 2 snacks drinks plenty of water. He weaned himself off and would much rather food during the day he still has an evening feed and a night feed (probably more for comfort than anything else). Milk stops being their main source of nutrients after one, you can continue breastfeeding as long as you want. WHO recommends 2 years I’ll probably keep the evening and night time feed as long as he needs but I have realised they’re getting very short so he’s probably in the process of weaning himself off which is good as he starts with a child minder next month. Really it’s all about going with your baby and when you feel like he needs a feed, at one they’re more looking for comfort than the actual milk too x

We still feed 4 times a day (morning, before both naps and evening) and then overnight as required. Sometimes if my daughter is upset or overwhelmed etc… she feeds a bit more. I think the advice is to continue to feed on demand so whatever works for you two! There are so many distractions at nursery that it is completely possible to feed just morning and evening on nursery days but then feed more in the day when you’re at home together and baby will adjust, you don’t need to wean down in preparation for nursery. While solids do become more important after 1 and it is good to make sure that they’re eating meals, I read somewhere that breast milk continues to contain 75% of the nutrients they need after 1 so I try not to worry about it too much. The advice of offering 3 meals and 2 snacks is also based on formula fed babies who stop having milk after 1/smaller amount of cows milk) so if my daughter has a good breastfeed we often consider this her snack which means she eats more meals.

Sorry about the waffle! I’ve been thinking about this too but ultimately decided to take my daughters lead as long as she is eating but it’s whatever works for you as a BF pair 😊

No no that's amazing, thanks . There just doesn't seem to be AS much info on breastfeeding after 1 in terms of frequency etc. I basically do the same as you with my feeds. We're going through some major development/molar teething atm so I don't really want to restrict milk and make him more distressed. He's not a big comfort feeder anyway and never has been. But as long as I know he's getting what he needs, I'm hoping that's ok! X

I think a lot of the general advice is definitely geared more towards formula feeding so you just have to do what’s right for you. Breast milk will change to suit what your baby needs as they get older (it’s pretty amazing, research shows that when you’re feeding a toddler your BM has different levels of vitamins/nutrients etc… compared to when feeding a newborn!) after all we literally evolved to breast feed so I think as long as you’re following your child’s lead you can’t go far wrong! I don’t think you need to restrict it unless you want to wean or they’re not eating at all! 😊

On demand here too, 3 meals a day plus some snacks! Generally have a feed on waking, for first nap/late morning, before dinner, for bed and whenever he feels like it in the night 😂 mostly 3 times!!

At childcare/with family I send in milk as one of his snacks then he has food too c

Thanks this makes me feel better!!

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