Breastfeeding - feeds per day @ 9mths

At the moment Hayden is having 4 BF's a day (7am, 11am, 3/4pm and 7pm) plus his 3 solid meals (8am, 12pm and 5.30pm) but I find the middle two BF's are hit and miss as to whether he spends any amount of time drinking.

I have left the afternoon feed til 5pm a couple of times but that usually means a good feed at 5pm but nothing at bed time 7pm.

I was wondering if I should drop one of the middle feeds altogether and not even offer boob at 11am say and then maybe he'll feed better at 3/4pm and again at 7pm.

Or should I keep offering the 2 middle feeds and just accept he'll drink when he needs to and not be bothered by it. Any advice on how many feeds your little one was having at 9mths?

Ha! I'm in the exact same situation too.

What I'm considering trialling is reducing (then dropping) the 11am feed, and giving her a BF or bottle after lunch - maybe 12.30-1pm (might have to move lunch earlier too), and seeing how she goes in the afternoon...although it seems a long time between lunch and her bedtime feed.

This also takes into account that I want to start giving her a bottle instead of BF during the day occasionally to free me up etc.

I do offer water quite frequently during the day, so I guess if she's thirsty, she'll have that.

DS2 was having, on average, between 6-8 bf's a day at 9 months...sometimes more if ill, teething, etc. There isn't a they must have x number of feeds a day, it's a how long is a piece of string type thing; some may only be having 3, others, like mine many more.

I am a big believer in doing what works for them and letting them set the pace. Having said that, you have to do what feels right for you; if you think he won't miss them then try and cut them out. At 12 months we were still averaging 4-6 feeds a day, but 7 months later and I am lucky to get one feed a day, if any.