# How often does a nine month old nurse?



## mytwogirls

Please answer this. My nine month old, who now is on solids three times a day (not puree, I chop up veggies and fruit and some meat for her) nurses in the morning, at her morning nap and afternoon nap and then at bedtime. This does not seem like a lot. She does wake up once during the night to nurse, but that is it. I try to get her to nurse more, but no luck. Is this normal or what? Please help me out here mamas!


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## spmamma

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mytwogirls* 
Please answer this. My nine month old, who now is on solids three times a day (not puree, I chop up veggies and fruit and some meat for her) nurses in the morning, at her morning nap and afternoon nap and then at bedtime. This does not seem like a lot. She does wake up once during the night to nurse, but that is it. I try to get her to nurse more, but no luck. Is this normal or what? Please help me out here mamas!

I'm sure there are many variations of normal. When my DD was 9 months, she still nursed many times during the day (I never counted, but I'd say about 6-8 times) and at least twice during the night. With that being said, she didn't eat nearly as much in terms of solids as your babe and still doesn't. She just wasn't ready or very interested. I'm sure your babe is doing just fine.


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## alegna

Personally that sounds like a lot of solids. Is she self-feeding that much? At under a year she should be nursing before any solids.

My dd was nursing at least 10-12 times a day at that age.

-Angela


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## Mrs-Mama

My DS had two meals a day at that point (about 2-3 oz worth of food per meal) and nursed 5 times a day.


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## rmzbm

I would cut back on the solids and try to increase the nursings. At 9 months I really would be concerned about the BM intake. Good luck.


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## mytwogirls

Hmmm...maybe I am giving her too many solids. She LOVES them though, and she does self-feed but she drops food a LOT so I help her out. I don't make her finish all her meals, she quits when she wants. Her diapers are always plenty wet and she poos fine. Maybe I need to back off on the solids???


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## alegna

I would back off on the solids. At LEAST 75% of her nutrition should be from breastmilk at this point.

-Angela


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## Brilliantmama

my eight month old sits with us at meals and gets nibbles here and there, but she probably has 6-10 HEARTY nursing sessions throughout the day. She also nurses a lot at night, which I don't mind.

My advice would be to give her a few (maybe 5) small pieces of food (avocado dices, banana, etc.) then let her eat what she wants. I think babies tend to drop off nursing when they are _fed_.


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## lachingona1

My 9 month old nurses about 5-6 times a day and she is not a very good sleeper so she nurses about every 2 hours at night, some nights less than others.
She is not really interested in solids yet, we've introduced quite a few things to her. She sometimes eats a little bit of avocado or young coconut but she wont let me feed her from a spoon.


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## momileigh

I'm sorry, but I am not reading a problem here! Is she growing? Is she happy? Is your gut telling you something is wrong with her, or are you just second-guessing for no good reason?

I don't believe in numbers. I believe in happy, healthy, growing babies who breastfeed as often as they want to. Don't borrow trouble. If she is enjoying her healthy solids and she's getting your milk as often as she wants it, there's no need to overanalyze the situation. You can trust yourself and trust her.


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## leighi123

my ds turned 9 months on sunday - he nurses 4-5 times a day and 1-2 times at night - --
He has no solids at all.


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## Llyra

My DCs nursed between 4 and 8 times a day at that age, depending on whether they liked the solids I was offering that day, how distracting my oldest was on any particular day, and how emotionally needy they were feeling. DS nursed at least three times during the night, and DD once. So figure anywhere between 5 and 12 times a day. But I also don't see a problem. Are you accomodating her anytime she seems to want to nurse? Are you watching her cues and letting her self-feed, so that she's not taking more solids than she really wants? If so, I think you're doing fine.


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## mytwogirls

I let her nurse whenever and however many times she wants. I think I was pushing the solids too much though. I backed off a little on the solids last night, but she just wanted more and more of beans and bananas so I said to hell with it and gave them to her. I think she is just not as of a nurser as her older sis, so she nurses about five times or four times a day plus once during the night. Thanks for all the tips! I appreciate it.


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## mrsdocmartin

My son still nurses around every 2 hours all day, and sometimes more than that at night. He sometimes gives me a longer stretch but not always. He only nurses for maybe 5 minutes at a time though. He gets solids, but we don't really do purees. He pretty much self feeds, and still gets most of his nutrients from mama milk.


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## mytwogirls

Yeah, sometimes her nursing sessions are only five minutes so I have not been counting those! Ok, so if I count the five minute nursing sessions then she nurses 6-7 times a day plus once at night. Can they get a lot from only nursing five minutes?


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## alegna

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mytwogirls* 
Yeah, sometimes her nursing sessions are only five minutes so I have not been counting those! Ok, so if I count the five minute nursing sessions then she nurses 6-7 times a day plus once at night. Can they get a lot from only nursing five minutes?

Oh yeah, 5 minute sessions count









-Angela


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## thatblondegirl

my son (1yr) has NEVER nursed longer than 7 minutes. and he's PERFECT! lol i wouldn't worry so much.


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## becoming

Yes, those 5-minute sessions definitely count! If I didn't count 5-minute sessions, my 9-month-old would be practically weaned.







He still nurses about 6-8 times during the day, and then at least 4 times during the night, but they're typically ALL 5-minute sessions.


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## mytwogirls

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That is about how I feel now! So funny how dumb you can be after nursing two kids! So, I guess they can get enough even after only five minutes! Oh, I need a vacation.......


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## floye

My dd just turned 9 months. She also LOVES to eat solid foods and will eat as much as I put in front of her! I nurse her when she wakes up, twice during the day and right before bed. She is growing and happy.








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## momileigh

How funny!

My second rarely nursed for more than 5 minutes at a time after about 4 months or so! I have a fast and furious let-down that meant that MOST feedings were short, sweet, and to the point... and unlike my first, my second didn't feel the need to hang on for a while after getting a flood of milk.


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## veganone

DD is only 7.5 mos, but her nursing sessions are rarely any more than 5 minutes. I have fast letdown and she's a fast eater! If I didn't count those she'd be nursing maybe twice a day vs. the 10+ times she actually does!







Assuming she gets what I pump (since there's not much left when she's done), she's getting around 4 oz per nursing...


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## Bunnybee

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thatblondegirl* 
my son (1yr) has NEVER nursed longer than 7 minutes. and he's PERFECT! lol i wouldn't worry so much.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *becoming* 
Yes, those 5-minute sessions definitely count! If I didn't count 5-minute sessions, my 9-month-old would be practically weaned.







He still nurses about 6-8 times during the day, and then at least 4 times during the night, but they're typically ALL 5-minute sessions.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *momileigh* 
How funny!

My second rarely nursed for more than 5 minutes at a time after about 4 months or so! I have a fast and furious let-down that meant that MOST feedings were short, sweet, and to the point... and unlike my first, my second didn't feel the need to hang on for a while after getting a flood of milk.


Quote:


Originally Posted by *veganone* 
DD is only 7.5 mos, but her nursing sessions are rarely any more than 5 minutes. I have fast letdown and she's a fast eater! If I didn't count those she'd be nursing maybe twice a day vs. the 10+ times she actually does!







Assuming she gets what I pump (since there's not much left when she's done), she's getting around 4 oz per nursing...

Sorry to the OP if I hijack, but just wanted to say reading all this makes me feel better. DS eats very little solids but is also a 5 minute nurser so I was concerned!


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## bellacymom

My DD is almost 10 months old but she nurses about 6 times during the day and at least two during the night. She doesn't eat a whole lot of solid food though. Probably about 4 oz a day at the most.


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## IsaFrench

at about 8 months, my 3 children would typically nurse about 4 times a day, about 5 minutes each side (my eldest a little more maybe) and I was offering solids once a day for a month or two, then twice a day ...

the eldest was no longer nursing at night, the second one was a night nurser for a long long time, and this last one, only nurse at night occasionnally (I don't count the 5:00 am or 6:00 am session we have in bed & when I let her sleep a few more hours afterwards, I count it as "breakfast") but of course she will nurse much more at night is she 's about to get a cold, or having a cold etc ....

I'm not feeling confortable when I read about "backing off solids" a little .... I read a book that suggested that the job of parent is to offer food for consumption but to let the child decide how much goes in his or her mouth ... or course, it's disenheartening to see some home made preparation go to the floor ..... & I like to make homemade veggie soups and she can't self feed with soup yet so I do help her for some of the food, so of course she might eat more of that "to please me" than if she was self feeding .... on the other hand, she can be quick to put her hand up and stop me from getting the spoon too near if she's definite she doesn't want any right now (she might eat the same thing a few minutes later mind you ...)

I understand you might be unsure about quantity of milk ingested, since the breast isn't graduated ... but as written previously if your child seems generally happy ....


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## MilkTrance

When DS was that age, he was still eating breastmilk most of the time. So... maybe 10+ times/day?


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## Kiddoson

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Brilliantmama* 
my eight month old sits with us at meals and gets nibbles here and there, but she probably has 6-10 HEARTY nursing sessions throughout the day. She also nurses a lot at night, which I don't mind.

My advice would be to give her a few (maybe 5) small pieces of food (avocado dices, banana, etc.) then let her eat what she wants. I think babies tend to drop off nursing when they are _fed_.









:
my 9 month old eats with us at dinner, that's it. some nights he sleeps during dinner so gets nothing. he nurses at least 6 times during the day and twice at night. hth


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## hipmummy

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
I would back off on the solids. At LEAST 75% of her nutrition should be from breastmilk at this point.

-Angela

I agree. My ds is 19 months old and he still nurses at least 8 times a day. He eats less food than your average tot but gets about 80% of his nutrition from bm. At nine months we did one taste of solids a day. He was nursing at least every hour and a half.


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## NaturallyBaby

My DD will be 9 months in a few days. She eats (mainly self-feeding) 3 times day, and nurses at 7, 11, 3, 7 and once through the night (usually). Her nursing sessions are never more than 5 minutes.

She's happy, growing and thriving!

I too went through a bit of a panic when she cut back, but I think it's normal at this age.







:


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## Equuskia

5 minute sessions count. At nine months, lots of babies already have bfing down pat, get down to business and keep going. Plus they suck harder, so can probably drink faster and more in 5 minutes than say, a newborn.


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## bellacymom

Quote:


Originally Posted by *momileigh* 
How funny!

My second rarely nursed for more than 5 minutes at a time after about 4 months or so! I have a fast and furious let-down that meant that MOST feedings were short, sweet, and to the point... and unlike my first, my second didn't feel the need to hang on for a while after getting a flood of milk.

Same here. Sometimes now it doesn't even take her that long.


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## columbusmomma

I work outside the home do DD gets pumped milk during the day and most days I see her for nursing at lunch. Then when I get home she nurses on demand(every 2 hours or so)before bed, and 2-6 times thru the night. WHen I'm not working she nurses about every 2-3 hours. She is also doing some self feeding with veggies, fruits, etc.


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## mytwogirls

Whew! Ok, I let my DD self feed at all meals and I actually watched her eat the entire meal once and she does just fine (I don't spoon feed her at all) and since I am NOW counting the five minutes session (gee I still feel dumb) she is doing ok. I just panicked I guess. Thanks mamas! I feel so much better now.


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## *Kelly*

DD (9 months) eats 2-3 small meals a day and then BFs every 2-4 hours. She also feeds a couple times during the night. I agree that BF is really important though. Try having regular quiet times where you go sit alone to feed. Make it a special enjoyable time for both of you. They are very distractable at this age.


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