This was a big question I had with my first born.  I knew he would nurse 8-10 times a day in those first few weeks, but what about as he grew older?  I found a helpful chart in the Babywise book that had the suggested number of feedings for a baby during their first year.  This is by no means a hard and fast rule, or what you have to do, but it was very helpful to me, and I’d like to share it here.  

• Weeks 0-8, 8 to 10 feedings per day 
• Weeks 9-15, 5 to 7 feedings per day
• Weeks 16-24, 4 to 6 feedings per day
• Weeks 24-52, 4 to 5 feedings per day

This feeding chart is actually the only helpful information that I took from the Babywise book.  The rest of it didn’t work for me.

One more thing I’d like to share with you is this breastfeeding log I made for my own use.  I didn’t want to purchase a tablet of them, so I just made this one, saved it on my computer, and printed it out weekly.  You may be thinking I’m crazy, but it really helped me to know, and be able to look back at these charts.  I always knew exactly when the last time baby had eaten, pooped, or peed.  This chart would also work for a formula fed baby.   I actually keep this chart for the entire first year and even write down the solids they start eating to help watch for food allergies, and to keep track of what their eating and how much.  It was helpful for me to look back at Gabriel’s charts and know what I did with him and when as compared to Nathaniel.

Hope these are a few tips you could use!  I know I could have used this information in those early weeks right after I was a new mom!

It seems the time has come to start weaning my little guy, Nathaniel.  Gabriel seemed ready when he turned one. He even started weaning himself at about 11 months and dropped some feedings on his own. After he dropped one, I would wait a week and drop another, and so on for about 4-5 weeks.

Nathaniel doesn’t seem as ready. He has started to nurse for shorter periods of time. He used to always nurse for ten minutes, and now it’s more like five, most of the time.  About a week ago, I stopped going in to him when he wakes in the middle of the night to nurse.  Johnny went instead and reassured him, and this transition was a fairly easy one for him.  He didn’t cry much, and now he’s not waking up anymore.  But he’s not refusing any of the other opportunities to nurse.

With Gabriel, distraction, or changing up the norm, helped a lot.  So this morning after Nathaniel’s first nap, instead of nursing him, I decided I would take him into the kitchen for a snack.  We have some new crackers, so I let him try those, and he didn’t protest at all.  I added some cheese and he was really happy.  I needed to run some errands, so after he was done, we left the house.  He seemed a little grumpier than usual and by the time we got home he was really grumpy.  I’m not sure if he was hungry or if he suddenly remembered he got tricked out of a nursing.

Dr. Sears has a great article on weaning, and his tips helped me with Gabriel too.  I won’t force the issue with Nathaniel.  If he’s not ready, he’s not ready.  I think he’s really close though. He really likes his first-thing-in-the-morning nursing.  It’s like his morning cup of coffee. It’s what starts his day out right.  I think I’ll cut out some of the less favorite nursings and go from there.