8 Mo Old Day Time BF

Always nurse on-demand.

Always nurse first, BEFORE solids. Otherwise, baby will be too full to nurse, and then, they will wean from breast. And if giving solids before nursing, your milk supply, will drop.

For the 1st year of life, breastmilk or Formula, is a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition and calories and intake. NOT solids and NOT other liquids.

Nurse on-demand, 24/7, day AND night.

At growth-spurts, they will need more intake and nurse more and more often. Your milk production, is supposed to keep up, with baby.

9 months old will be a growth-spurt time. And every 3 months after that.

When/if a baby is teething, they will also sometimes nurse less.

As they get older, they also nurse more efficiently.

For my kids, even if they were on solids, they really nursed a lot still, on-demand, every 3 hours at least. They had ginormous appetites. My milk was ample.

As your baby gets bigger so does their stomach. It's able to hold more at each feeding so they can go longer between feeds. They get better at draining the breast of everything they need per feeding and can finish faster so it appears that they are nursing less. Also, they eat more during a growth spurt and eat less when they aren't.
So, yes, they do change their nursing habits but it doesn't mean they're getting less just that they're getting better at it :) Just keep feeding your little one when it's hungry and you're doing perfect!

I remember my DD kind of "fighting" me at about this age when I went to nurse her before solids. My mom told me that often this is read as a "ready to wean" sign, and that if I wanted to keep nursing, I'd have to power through. It was great advice - I think my DD was just becoming SO aware of everything that stopping to nurse was hard for her. I made sure we sat in a quiet place that was dimly lit, and that helped a lot. When she was 8 months, she was usually nursing 4 times per day and sleeping all night. We kept this routine up until she turned one and then I gradually replaced nursing times with other milk/snacks...and I do mean gradually...it was like a 4 month process. :)
I like what the other moms mentioned too...they get so efficient that we think they're getting less, but they'll still get enough. Don't you sometimes wish there was a "measuring line" on the breast?!? ;)
Keep it up!

It ebbs back and forth... don't associate a dropped feeding that is temporary as weaning. Some days you will wonder how your body can have so much milk (or think you are lacking due to cluster feeding) other days you wonder if the baby's dropped feeding session will cause issues.

Don't worry!! Your body can produce and reduce what is needed very easily and will customize to your infant's suckling needs.

She is probably too busy to stop what she is doing and nurse. My baby did this and completely weaned herself by 10 months old. Broke my heart. Once she started crawling and walking, she just did not want to stay in one place. Walking around holding a bottle is more fun.

Hello, I noticed the same thing with my two breastfed babies. They ended up weaning themselves at about 10 months. Go and figure.
Good luck with your precious little baby.
K. K.

Daytime feedings are the first to go. They're just so busy and distracted during the day!

Well they can actually drink MORE per feeding... but they become VERY efficient eaters... (and you become a more efficient producer) - so you may not feel "full" as often as you used to! (that doesn't mean that you aren't making as much... you just make it AS the baby nurses instead of in anticipation.

If you ever take a night out you'll probably get surprisingly engorged if you forget to pump and miss a feeding!

That said... the more your baby gets nutrition from solid foods... naturally the less the baby will NEED to nurse. so your supply will go down gradually... but also as the baby gets bigger and more active she'll need more nutrients and calories over all so your supply will increase at times too... just keep in mind that that "full" feeling you may have had before in your breasts may not happen very often anymore- but that doesn't necessarily mean your supply is "dwindling" For MOST moms who are successfully breastfeeding... if there is a demand (even just a few regular feedings per day- there WILL be a supply- the exception being if you are taking in too few calories to support breastfeeding... or if you are supplementing with formula a lot, or pumping all of the time rather than nursing).

Good Luck!
-M.

By the way, I really like http://www.kellymom.com/ - they have awesome information about breastfeeding and were my go-to source when I was in the "thick" of it!

Yes, they do. As they get older their needs change and so will their feeding habits. If your nursing, your baby may be eating more during each feeding making it possible for her to eat less often. Things will change again as she gets older and she may need to eat more often again.