What can I expect with breastfeeding now that we are 8 months in?
Eight months of breastfeeding is amazing! Your baby has received so many benefits and you are no doubt seeing the evidence of that. Baby is likely able to sit up, starting to think about crawling, and “talking” a lot more. Now may be a good time to consider baby-proofing their environment.
Solid foods have likely been added to baby’s diet, but breast milk should still be baby’s main source of nutrition for the first year. Breastfeed before offering solids, to ensure baby is getting most of their calories from breast milk. Your breast milk is constantly changing to meet baby’s needs at any age!
What to Expect:
- Spaced out feedings. Baby may go longer periods of time without nursing, up to 4 hours. Depending on how much solid food baby is getting, they may only breastfeed 4-5 times a day. Continue following baby’s hunger cues, and expect their feeding routines to change.
- 25-30 ounces/day is still the average. Your breast milk doesn’t need to keep increasing in volume because it is becoming more calorie/nutrient dense. The same amount still fills baby up, but with less frequent feedings and growing tummies, they may take more milk at a feeding.
- Babies breastfeed for more than nutritional reasons. It’s normal for older babies to go through stages where they want to breastfeed more often. This doesn’t mean you are losing your milk, but that baby is growing or finding comfort at the breast. Teething, illness, pain, and desiring a connection with mom are reasons baby may want to nurse.
A Little Science: A study from the National Institutes of Health used a test group of 8-month-old infants to show that babies who had been breastfed for more than 5 months seemed to pay more attention to happy facial expressions and less attention to fearful facial expressions. This suggests that longer periods of exclusive breastfeeding are associated with babies paying more attention to positive emotions.
SOURCE:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6096620/