BF Baby Getting Enough Milk- 11 Month Old

I nursed my 2 yr old till she was 14 months, she gradually started losing weight but the Dr's told me to keep at it. By her 12 month check up, she was only 11 lbs 2 oz (she was 8lb 4 oz at birth). She refused, by that time formula, so I quit nursing and went right to whole milk. She is still considered low wt now,10th percentile, but I am sure this is because she wasn't getting enough from me. As a result of it her Dr. diagnosed it "Failure to Thrive" and we were referred to the Children's Hospital Specialty Feeding Clinic. Those were very scary words for us to hear, but she is doing better now, just a very picky eater for being so small.

No, I wouldn't worry about your milk supply, however at 11 months you can give her a cup or two of water a day. Nursing 3-4times in a 24hr period is plenty for an 11month old, and you can give her a sippy or cup of water with her meals. Let her have a sippy with water durin teh day too, just leave it out on the coffee table or somewhere she can easily get to it.

Good for you for continuing to nurse. :)

My DS is 10 months old and I have the same concerns. He is a big boy though and is basically eating whatever we eat as far as table foods 3 times a day.

What I have done to alleviate my worry about it and try and ensure that he is getting enough milk is to offer an extra time or two a day if he only nurses for a few minutes or seems distracted (happens ALL the time, sometimes I have to go to a separate room to keep him focused on nursing). I am also generally nursing about 4x a day now (wake-up, before each nap, and bedtime.)

I also started trying to pump at least once a day again just to help my supply. I often only get 1 oz after quite awhile of pumping. I am sure you find you have NO time to pump having 3, so I usually have to do it during nap or after they are both asleep at night.

In the morning especially, my DS nurses when he wakes up, today was 5:00 a.m. Nursed pretty good then, but never went back to sleep and was just very busy playing and started getting very fussy again about 7:00 a.m. Instead of getting him his table food for breakfast right away, I nursed him a second time and he actually took a bunch more milk then.

As far as the diapers, that is a good question and honestly I have not really paid attention to that very closely since my babes were small infants. So, good for you for noticing the change! I have also been offering my DS water in a sippy cup at meals so that helps him get a little extra fluid as well.

Great job keeping up the nursing, try not to stress too much, if she is growing and content, she is probably doing just fine and getting everything she needs (this is usually the advice I get from the lactation consultants whenever I get worried!)

Good luck!

Diapers can vary, and if she is eating more solids she will naturally curb her liquid intake. Assuming her health is good, just watch health indicators - happy, contented, maintaining/gaining weight are all signs she is doing well.

SAHM of seven

mom, relax! first of all, i want to dispell ANY AND ALL thoughts that your milk is going. as long as she is still nursing and seeming content, she is getting enough. DO NOT feel like just because she only nurses a little bit that means you dont have enough milk. i encourage you to just keep doing what you are doing. it is most likely that your breasts and your daughter's nursing skills have increased to the point where she is so efficient that it only takes her a minue or two to get what she needs. also, as she grows and eats more table foods and stuff, she will naturally decrease the amount of times she nurses.

however, it is entirly possible that she is starting to be aware of her 'time to go' and she is peeing more 'on schedule' my son did this around 13 months and so i tried getting him on the potty now and then. he really responded well, and now he knows to go potty, he talks about it and he is really on his way to being potty trained. hes 18 months. every kid is different, and if you can manage it, you can go with it and see how it works. we never push, but we encourage them to keep following their body instincts. i had a child in my day care who wasnt potty trained at FOUR YEARS because he was just so used to sitting in a dirty diaper, that he almost liked it. he would tell me he liked it even. gross. so i totally believe in starting earlier.

as far as wet diapers, i think its probably around 4 a day. and it doesnt have to be HEAVY as her tummy is getting bigger and stuff, so she can hold more at a time or something... so she wont be peeing anywhere near as often. as long as there arent other signs of dehydration, she is probably fine.

being small on the percentage charts is a GOOD THING!!! think about it this way; if most of the kids in the country are "overweight", even starting at a young age... and those percentage charts are only comparing kids to each other at the same age... then being small on the % is GREAT! my son is STILL 'small for his age' however, he is tall, so average on that, but underweight for his age. LOL. nothing to complain about, nothing to worry about, just be happy you have a baby who is on her way to having a healthy weight! :D

good that shes drinking from a sippy. i started my son at 7 months and that way i never had to deal with a bottle of milk or anything. i HATE that whole 2-3 year old who hangs on a bottle and sleeps with it and stuff. aweful. rots teeth and all that. so sippy cups are GREAT, good job for letting her start!

but again, i want to reinforce to you that your milk is probably not going ... as long as she is still nursing (can you hear her swallowing?) she will cause you to only produce what she needs or wants to drink. dont worry about it. www.llli.org - check out your local le leche league. they should be able to help and support you to continue nursing. my son is 18 months and im still nursing. i wouldnt trade it for the world.

GOOD LUCK!

ps heres a link to an interesting article i found showing you can RElactate even if there has been a problem
http://www.mothering.com/sections/experts/hormann-archive...

Do not worry about your milk supply especially not at this age! Your body is making the perfect amount for what she eats! Like you said she is happy & content. Nature knows what it is doing it is certainly not going to be making the amount it was at 2 weeks old. This is also a highly distractable age you may find in a month or 2 she will pick up & start nursing more.
Brekka