Feeding Schedule - West Palm Beach, FL

I don't remember my daughter's feeding schedule at 1 yr, but I do remember the pediatrician telling me that with all of the changes going on at a year that I should wait until 15 months to wean her from a bottle. We changed from formula to milk at 1 yr, but just fed the milk to her in a bottle. I gave her 3 bottles a day that I think totaled 17 oz. She switched from a bottle to a sippy cup with no problems at 15 months. I had been giving her water and juice in a sippy the whole time so that she would be used to the way it worked.

My daughter is 10.5 months old and just popped her first tooth...you can't really see it, only feel it. Here is what I have done so far.

At lunch and dinner she gets a sippy cup with a little juice in it and seems to do fine with it. I am planning on giving her formula and bottle until 1 yr. and then going to milk in a sippy. I think our transition will be okay. Sometimes she drinks out of the sippy, sometimes just chews on it, but if she is thirsty then she def. drinks it.

As far as table foods....For months now my daughter has eaten anything and everything put in front of her. She really prefers to feed herself, so recently for lunch I have been giving her cubes of cheese and lunch meat. I personally don't think that it matters how many teeth they have becuase even if they have their front teeth they don't use it to chew. My daughter will even eat chips if we give them to her (we learned this giving her salsa off of one at a resturant).

I just don't give her food and walk away because if she does choke I want to be there, but there is nothing that has choked her up yet. Cut up tomatoes are really good too!

Hope this helps!

You do not have to stop the formula, but I do suggest giving him some whole milk in place of the formula or with his meals as well as juice. If he is eating food during meal times, he is getting the nutrients he needs. You just need to be sure you are giving him a good variety. Keep trying with the sippy cup. He may chew on it (all my kids did), but he will learn that it is for drinking and big boys use sippy cups. I don't know what you are feeding him at his meals, but you can give him plenty of fruits and veggies that are soft enough for him to eat & you can blend up meats and just about any dinner you eat as a family and feed that to him. I did that with my children as it saved a ton of money on baby food.

HTH

S.

Hi, Stacy. There are no exact rules on what to feed your child or when. Since he's got his first tooth rather late, he's probably not ready to eat much table food. That's OK! You can keep on grinding up his food as long as he needs it that way. You don't have to rush into food that might not be safe for him to put into his mouth.

You don't have to worry about choking as long as you keep giving him foods that are good for a baby who has only one tooth. You can grind up a variety of things, or you can even cook vegetables until they are soft enough for your son to gum them down. Peas are an excellent choice, which you've already made. If he likes peas, he might like green beans, too, as long as they are cooked until they are soft and almost falling apart. Bread is good, even breadsticks as long as they are not too crunchy; cheese such as chedder or white cheeses are good finger food, too. Cooked apple slices without the skin can be nice (steamed or blanched until soft). Potatoes that are sliced in wedges and baked soft, not crispy, are good, too. You can bake hamburger patties and cut them into small wedges if you're not a vegetarian. I recommend leaving out the bread because that's a lot for his little mouth to process at the same time.

I've never been much into schedules. A general routine is good, though. It sounds like he's not ready to follow a routine of just breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks just yet. Remember that baby will get hungry more often than an old child or adult, and keep giving him good food every 4-5 hours or as he needs it. When he starts talking, he will start asking for it instead of grunting, crying, etc., so you will have more clues about what he needs.

Don't worry about the sippy cup yet. Offer it to him a couple of times each week; he'll show you when he's ready. You might have to get one for yourself and show him that you like drinking out of it; he might start to like the idea of gradually leaving the bottle behind. He still needs to suckle; remember that in other cultures, children breastfeed part of the time up to three years and even beyond! So don't be surprised if he still wants his bottle for several more months.

Enjoy him, and keep discovering the wonder that is your growing baby boy!

Peace,
Syl

He's really young to be eating so many different foods. Have you consulted with your pediatrician?
A clean wash cloth, dampened and frozen, is soothing for the teething. It's a painful phase, and one you will have to calm yourself through. (an ice pack on your neck, perhaps)
Blessings

I agree. Both my sons stopped formula when they were ready (which is evidenced by how much table food they're eating), not according to their age. They were both somewhere between 13 and 14 months old and I weaned them from formula by slowly adding whole milk to their bottles (i.e., to start 2 oz of a 8 oz bottle, and the next day 4 oz of an 8 oz bottle, etc.). I did this just to make sure they weren't going to have any allergy or intolerance, most babies are totally thrilled at the taste of whole milk and never want formula again.

I remember being really nervous about letting my oldest son try table foods because he got his first teeth so late, but they really are incredible adept at eating with no teeth. My youngest is 14 months and he eats everything we do (cut up smaller, of course) with only 6 1/2 teeth! So, if your son is handling cheerios and stuff okay, he's probably fine to start other foods. Bananas can be tough to pick up, so I used to cut them into chunks and then roll the chunks in crushed up cheerios. Both my sons loved this. You can also buy frozen (organic, if you want) veggies and fruit. I defrost a little cup in the microwave. It only takes about 30 seconds and they have something healthy to munch on. As for protein, they will eat virtually any kind of bean (mine both love homemade baked beans) and you can poach some turkey or chicken. I found that poaching it helps them because there's no "crust" on the outside of the meat from cooking it in a pan or oven. Not so appetizing to us, but it works for babies. I then shredded it up into small pieces and found this was a great way to start them on non-pulverized meat.

Both my sons used their sippy cup as a teether at first. It's messy if you have a really soft silicone spout, but they learn within a month or so. For my oldest, who didn't have a sibling as an example, it took a little longer for him to figure out and I had to buy about 10 different sippy cups to find one he liked, but he eventually got it. Just stick with it. I have had people suggest to never put anything but formula in a bottle so that they associate milk/juice/water (which they generally prefer to formula) with a cup. Neither of my sons needed this to entice them to use a cup. My youngest just turned 14 months, and he is still in the transition and is using both a cup and a bottle. I put whole milk in a bottle for him, but I do reserve watered down juice and water for the cup. I hope this helps!!

Stacy,

I wouldn't eliminate the bottle at 12 mnths of age unless your daycare requires that...otherwise, I would be a bit lenient. It is okay to let them have a bottle until 18 months or so...heck, when I was a child, it was perfectly okay to have a bottle until you were close to 3. Your concerns with the bottle are that he not use it as a pacifier and that he not go to bed with it. If he is just drinking, it won't hurt him (my sister is a pediatric dentist). You've already introduced the sippy, maybe give him some juice (mostly water, with juice for a bit of taste and color) to interest him in it.

It sounds like your son is a bit behind in the grown up food because he just got his first tooth (mine got theirs between 6-8 months)...some other ideas: apple sauce, small bits of peach, small bits of plum, grapes cut into quarters, refried beans, mushy pasta with tomato sauce, tiny pieces of beef roast or pork roast, tiny pieces of well-baked chicken, lima beans (mushy), macaroni and cheese (small pastas).

I'm sure that you will get some additional ideas based on what I've given you above. You don't want to miss out on the window of opportunity when they try anything, because soon enough they won't touch anything that is new!!

Good luck! Oh, and ask your doctor as you transition to milk whether your son should be getting a multi-vitamin also. The multi-vitamin serves as my "insurance policy".

C.

Stacy, the only child of my 3 that I had to formula feed (due to breastfeeding problems) is my third child. He is currently 2 1/2 years old. He was on formula until his first birthday at which time my pediatrician said that I could switch to whole cow's milk. I buy organic, but whatever you choose to use, as long as it's whole milk is fine. As far a "schedules" are concerned, I'm a stay at home mom, so whenever I ate, so did my baby. Breakfast consisted of oatmeal, cream of wheat, or some other cereal that is smooth. Cut up tiny pieces of pancakes is fine, as long as they are cut small. I use a pizza cutter to cut my son's food. Or, scissors work fine but I find that the pizza cutter cuts smooth and quick. As for lunch, I'd give him yogurt, applesauce, mashed banana (or cut into very small pieces), or Cheerios or even baby gold fish. Of course, these same foods can easily be used as "snack" foods too so whatever your baby likes, go with it. As for dinner, well, I bought myself an inexpensive food mill when my first daughter was born and I used it for all my children. Whatever I made for dinner is what my baby ate. Of course, you may have to add water (or broth) to thin the food if it's too thick. I don't believe in feeding a baby a separate meal because I believe it opens up the doors for picky eaters. My children eat everything I make with little to no complaints. With my son, he still doesn't like meats (the textures are still bothersome) so I often run meats through the food mill and "hide" it in his veggies or I will mix a little ranch dressing to add a different flavor. For bedtime, because I do believe a baby needs something to eat before bedtime, I always have made a small bowl of cereal (oatmeal or farina or cream of wheat). After 12 months, the bottles should go bye-bye and the sooner you make that transition, the better. Let you baby use the spout as a teether...it makes him feel better and he's getting an extra bonus by actually getting something to drink with it. My son was off the bottle by 12 months. I used the AVENT bottles so I simply switched out the nipples for the sippy spouts. He got the hang of it pretty quick. As long as you cut his food into small pieces and you make sure that you are always within a reasonable distance from where he is eating, I wouldn't worry so much about choking. Every new mom has been where you are. This is a very exciting time so enjoy it without worrying too much. And, his nutrition will now come primarily from foods so don't fret over how much he'll miss out from formula. Save your money and switch to whole cow's milk.

i took my daughter off the bottle at 9 or 10 months (when she went on whole milk per dr) and she treated the sip cup as her bottle. it was difficult to find one that she would use and she would only use the ones that had a soft top. my son was on the bottle until he was just about 18mths (he wouldn't take a sippy cup for anything) and he was actually on the bottle long than that at night time and naps. i say that as long as it's not an allergen food, if the table food is soft enough for him then that should be fine. they don't need teeth to eat mac&cheese or ravioli and such things. i wouldn't feed corn. to hard and doesn't digest anyways. but anyway, i cut up really small pieces of chicken for my kids (about the size of the tip of their fingers) and different fruits cantaloupe, honey dew. i quartered or made smaller grapes and things like that. and the spaghettios with meatballs (rarely, but i did give to my daughter some) i cut up the meatballs but they are really soft. also they sell french toast sticks and they can gum them also. you have to think about all of the old people out there who don't have teeth that eat wonderfully. just remember to cut it up small. yogurt is good, too. and oatmeal. it's sort of lumpy so they can feel the texture. and i didn't follow a schedule for my kids. when they woke up, i would feed them and give them a bottle with their food. then i would give them a snack about 3hrs later with a little bit of milk, and then about 3 hours after that lunch and milk, and then nap and after that snack and milk and then dinner and milk. (my kids don't drink juice, don't like it) and they are HUGE drinkers. they would rather drink milk than eat food, but i would go by what time they woke up and still do. they are early risers, but if yours wakes up late you can skip out on morning or afternoon snack. it's up to you and your boy

oh, by the way i didn't give them porkchops or steak because of how tuff it is.

I give my almost 1 year old son (feb 12) cottage cheese - small curd, yo baby with fruit and cereal (he much prefers this to regular yo baby) - he LOVES tofu but only from miso soup - also i make chicken noodle soup with vegetables. the veggies and chicken are REALLY soft and i mash them a little or give him little pieces.

As for the choking - I learned early on from my doctor (Thank Dr. G!!) that babies know what they can handle... to some extent. don't overstuff his mouth and make sure he isn't hording the food in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

you can also try ground turkey - (brown it in a fry pan)crumble it up and feed him that.

my son also loves shredded mozzarella cheese.

I supplement most meals with watermelon, canatloupe, and honeydew that i cut REALLY small - he likes it.

Good luck!