Wondering If My 14 Month Old Child Is Getting the Right Amount of Nutrition.

I know nothing about bottles, so I won't comment there. I am strongly opinionated about feeding babies and children, though! I strongly feel they need whole foods and LOTS of good, quality fats at this age for optimal brain development. Read the ingredients on the bread you are giving him and see what's in there. Bread can be good or bad, depending on what they put in it. I would add fat and protein to his breakfast. Bread and fruit won't last him long; he'll burn through that quickly.

Since he's allergic to milk, have you looked into coconut milk? It's a whole, real food alternative for him. Read the ingredients on milk alternatives as you consider them. Many have much added sugar and other additives.

Since I don't know about his allergies, I won't recommend much more. Good luck!

Hello A.,
It sounds like you are doing the right thing with nutrition. My son is 15 months old and he drinks a ton of milk, so don't worry about that, it's good for them! If he's not allergic to milk try cheese and yogurt too. they do make non dairy for both of these if he is alergic. About the sippy cup, my son uses one during the day, but at night he still takes a bottle to go to sleep. you can also try pure juice from fruits and vegetables and give that in his sippy cup. you can do that with a juicer or you can find it premade at whole food stores. good luck with your little man!
J. :)

Hello,
My daughter has a milk allergy that I am hoping won't be forever. I give her soy milk. How bad is his milk allergy? My daughter can have cheese, ice cream and yogurt with no problems. The enzymes in those products are different than actual milk. Every doctor is different, but I have never heard of one telling the mom to keep her kid on formula after age 1. He can be getting much better calcium from the foods he eats mainly veggies, and you can supplement the amount of fat, which is what they really get from milk, by giving him cheese etc. My daughter is two and does not want her soy milk out of a sippy cup so I comprimised and got her a transitional cup for Walmart. It is shaped like a tall sippy cup but comes with 3 tops......a bottle nipple, a sport nipple and a sippy nipple. She had grown out of the bottle nipple and is in the sports nipple. So I would try that. The longer you keep him on the bottle the worse the habit becomes. Good Luck

I think every situtation is different especially with your son having allergies. My daughter didn't have allergies so it was a different situation. But I will tell you that my daughter was off of formula completely the same month that she turned one. I think the amount of food you feed him is enough. If you are really concerned, then give him a multi-vitamin to supplement.

A., I know how it is to worry about a child with allergies, and my heart goes out to you! My 3-year old daughter also has major allergies and mentally it is much harder then people understand. You always have to be two steps ahead of the child and other people who suddenly wants to feed them something without asking you first! People dont know that something like gold-fish actually can send some kids to the emergancy room!
When it comes to your son's nutrition, it sounds to me like you are doing an excellent job getting him to eat from all the food groups. My recommendation to you would be to talk to a nutritionist. Your allergist probably has one on his staff, or can recommend one.
I would like to hear what allergies your son has. He might not be as limited when it comes to food as you think. Take a night when your husband has time to watch your son (I know how that is too, my hubby is also in grad-school...) and goA to your grocery store. Read labels of all kind of products that "normal" children eat, and you might find some food to add to his diet. One of the best things you can do is to visit a grocery store that is specializing in selling healthy food and organic food, such as "Vitamin Cottage" (not sure if it is a national store). They sometimes will have a nutrionist on staff who can show you items in the store your son can eat.
When it comes to the amount of formula your son is drinking, as your doctor. He can also provide you with inromation about how much your son needs to eat from each food group every day. If you have not introduced soy milk or ric milk to your son, you probably want to do so (but talk to your dr first). Rice milk and soy milk is excellent to use when you cook or bake as well!
I probably would start using the sippy-cup for his formula as well as everything else he drinks, but don't stress about it too much. I promise, he won't bring his bottle to college!
I also recommend that you search on-line for any resourches you can find to help you son with the allergies. Visit www.foodallergy.org for some helful info for example.
I have recepies for a variety of food, and please email me if you need any ideas or advide: ____@____.com

Good luck!
S.

You can always put his formula is a sippy instead of the bottle. he has been working very hard on those teeth and you don't want to ruin them. It is suggested that at 1 year your child have 16 oz of milk ( formula ) a day. A good starting point and water or juice the rest of the day.Good luck and have a great holiday!!

I don't have any great advice on the nutrition question or about the sippy cup. My daughter also has some food allergies and I wondered if you had heard of the cookbook What's to Eat?. It is a great cookbook for allergy kids because it has recipes that are free of the 8 most common food allergens. There is also a great web site where you can find all kinds of links to recipes and products for kids like ours. Check out Allergykids.com Anyway we found a great chocolate cake recipe that was dairy free for my little girl's 2nd birthday from that web site. It actually tasted ok and used ingredients that I already had at home. Just thought this might help you find a variety of foods to make for meals that are allergy free. My daughter is two and still has to drink Neocate jr instead of milk, they say that drinking that 3 times a day is enough to replace the milk.

how big are the bottles and does he dirnk all of it in one feeding? it all depends on the amount that he is dirnking. as for the bottle it is best to wean off the bottle as soon as you can. bottles are not good for the teeht, they can make the teeth move so that he will need braces later on. also causes rot. that is unless you are brushing his teeth. dentists recoomend that you start as an infant by wiping the gums sith a cloth after feeding and continue with the first teeth then start brushing. it would be a good idea to consult with a dentist and also with the pediatrician but i can almost guarantee that they are going to tell you to wean.

My daughter is almost 15 months and she still drinks milk from a bottle (she also won't hold the bottle). If I try to give it to her in a sippy cup she won't drink it unless I water it down. But everything else she drinks from a sippy or a cup and straw. She drinks about 4-5 bottles of milk a day and I always make sure she can get to her water cup. The important thing about bottles and why everyone says to ween by now is because a lot of parents put their child to bed with a bottle which is bad for baby's teeth. Plus they do get to be inconvenient, especially if they have to be warmed when you are out and about. So...I think that Vance drinking 3 bottles a day is just fine. As far as the food goes, you are doing a great job, though I would add some snacks, nothing that really requires a high chair, a cracker here and nibble there type of thing. It must be really tough with the food allergies, hopefully he will outgrow them. Don't worry, you are doing a great job!

I would suggest weaning your son off of his bottle within the next few months. Between the ages of 9 months to 15 months a child should still be consuming 21oz of milk or formula. This is what our pediatrician told us. I have an in-home daycare and all of the children drink out of sippy cups at one year. However, my son had a bottle until 15 months. It really depends on the child.

As for his diet, it sounds like you are feeding him a well-balanced diet except for it didn't sound like you were feeding him snacks. A snack consisting of crackers or fruit would probably suffice. I am not sure what he is allergic to, but what you are feeding him sounds great! Good luck on weaning off of the bottle, just do it gradually and he will be fine. Happy Holidays!