DS still hasn't bought in to eating solids yet. We offer him food often, but his intake is very, very small. Our Pediatrician suggested that we switch to Toddler formula instead of WCM. He was on the Toddler formula for a few days and got really, really constipated, I think due to the iron. DH took him back to the doctor for the shots he wasn't able to get at his previous appointment and the nurse just said "Just switch him to WCM." When DH asked about the nutrition issue the doctor had mentioned, all the nurse said was "I don't know then." We've since been switching back and forth between the WCM and the Toddler formula.
Anyone else have experience with Toddler formula? Any ideas to get DS to buy into eating real food?
Re: Anyone's Pedi suggest using Toddler formula?
The amount of iron in formulas is generally not enough to cause constipation. I would probably think it had more to do with a sudden switch of his major sourceo f nutrition than the iron content.
But anyways, can you get a referral to a pediatric dietitian?
Thanks for your response. She said that it just takes some kids longer to pick up on it, so keep trying.
We started with purees at six months. He is a year old now.
DS will eat yogurt, fruit cut into pieces, turkey and shredded cheese, but he hates most everything else we've given him and sometimes he won't even eat from that list. We offer him "real" food 3-5 times per day -- whatever we're eating, but he just throws it off his tray. He hates veggies and most meats, even in pureed form. He'll turn his head and clamp his mouth shut if we try to get him to taste anything. Even if we do get him to put something in his mouth, he spits it back out, sometimes after chewing on it for a while. I'd appreciate any suggestions for getting him to eat.
We switched DS (who is now 16 months) to toddler formula instead of WCM at 12 months because he was still only doing purees and some table food but not enough that I, nor his pedi, was confident he was getting all the nutrition. Maybe do half and half for awhile instead of a total switch. We did that with DS last month to get him off of formula because he started eating better finally.
As far as getting him to buy into eating table food...for awhile DS just wasn't into it and I think the teething had a lot to do with it. He also gagged really easily. We just kept trying things. One thing with DS that we tried is giving him things that are "stick" shaped so he could picked it up and give it a bite. We found that if we gave him something too small he wasn't interested in it. But gave him some more control over taking a bit and he did better. Spaghetti is a huge favorite and the amount of vegi's you can pack into sauce is amazing! Again we leave the noodles pretty long so he can play away with it. We've also found if we are eating something and make a big deal of how yummy it is he is more willing to at least let it touch his tongue and sometimes takes a bite.
Just be patient with him, it's hard but it felt like in a matter of a week or two DS completely turned around on his eating and it was after we stopped stressing over it.
For reference, my kiddo did not start eating much at all until she was almost 18 months.
She would eat some random things every day, but never a full "meal" of anything. Some fruit, a few brocoli spears, maybe some cheerios and that was it. (she did eat a lot of variety, but not any quantity)
I talked to the pedi about it, and he was not concerned about food aversions or sensory issues because she would eat a variety of textures. He said some LO's just don't like food until later.
But, if I were you I'd get a referral to a nutritionist to help with the WCM/formula issue. (Pedi was not concerned about nutrition in our case because LO was still getting breastmilk)
We did with dd and stayed on until her milk strike (of any kind) around 18 months old and lasted 6 months. We went to occupational therapy to get her to eat Solid food and drink milk.
She lost a ton of weight and at her 2 year they had me start pediasure. It has almost 300 calories and 7g of fat. My DH calls it "miracle grow" for kids. She eats and drinks like a "normal" 2.5 year old but it has been a long road.
My BFP Chart