Random I don't know what the heck I'm doing questions

MickeyM04 · February 2013

OK so DS is 10 months old. I feel like I'm losing my window of knowing what the F I'm doing these days.

I know that he starts milk at 1 and stops formula at 1, right? Do I start weaning him off before then? Wait til 12 month appointment for doctor to green light me?

What about bottles? He still gets 5 a day and takes usually between 25-28 oz. Am I just supposed to stop all bottles when he's 1? Should I start cutting them out now one at a time like I did when I was weaning from BFing and we cut one feeding a week until he was 100% on bottles? But as you may recall, he does a straw cup, and I can't picture giving him a straw cup of formula, especially when he still takes 4-5 oz per feeding.

What about food? I feel like I have no idea how much to give him. We started table food about a month ago and I just have no concept of how much to give him. And since I work FT, I usually am only around for dinner, at which point he's tired and slack jawed and just lets me put the food in his mouth and chews it slowly and then goes back to being slack jawed. Like he doesn't give any hunger/fullness cues at all. So I just stop feeding him when we run out of food on the plate, but then I'm like, really, is 1 chicken meatball, 4 sweet potato cubes and a bowl of applesauce enough? I just feel like I'm in for a rude awakening when he turns 1 and he's supposed to be getting all of his nourishment from food and not formula, since he's still pretty into the bottles and taking lots of formula. Help?

Junebug060609 · February 2013

Deep Breaths, lol

Like most everything else with babies, when and how to do all of the things you mentioned varies by baby. If there are specific concerns, like food sensitivities, talk to your pedi...otherwise I'll address your concerns one by one. Keep in mind though that you are totally allowed to wing it and should personalize this to suit your DS.

I know that he starts milk at 1 and stops formula at 1, right? Do I start weaning him off before then? Wait til 12 month appointment for doctor to green light me?

You can talk to your pedi regarding exactly when they want you to start. Ours said no WCM until 12 months and to switch after that...but truth be told I was at the tail end of the formula I had a week before and I did the switch then. He was fine. Some ladies do it cold turkey, I did it gradually. I'm not advising going against pedi's recs, just saying that I didn't go with them to a T with this and he didn't turn to stone.

D&D4Ever7 · February 2013

I consider this a transition and it might take some time. 1 year is a guideline in my mind, so if you keep giving formula past the 1 year mark, you are ok (it will be expensive, but ok). Formula is better for brain development at the young age as compared to WCM. Also, lot of babies are allergic to WCM, so you should slowly transition to WCM. We started mixing WCM in sippy cups with formula around 12months (decrease amount of formula and increase amount of WCM in the cup over 1 month period). At 13 months, my DS was transitioned to WCM and Almond milk. My DS was not a fan of WCM in the beginning, so we gave him almond milk also (which he loved).

I don't have a whole lot of advice on bottles since I BFed and my DS didn't like taking bottles. I would think that you probably want to do this slowly as well. Are you giving water in a sippy cup? I would start giving milk in the sippy cup and cut out the bottles during the day. I know a lot of mom who give morning and night time bottles for well over a year as part of the routine. There is nothing wrong with that. At this age, hydration is important, so if your LO doesn't like the sippy cup, keep giving some bottles during the day, but continue to offer milk in sippy cup. You will end up wasting milk in the process, but it will change. My DS is 16 months and drinks milk twice or sometimes 3 times a day with meals.

I believe at 10 months old, he ate 3 meals: something for breakfast: eggs or cereal mixed with fruit, lunch: veggie puree and cereal mixed with veggie and fruit for dinner. I also gave him finger food. I always fed him until he refuses, so keep giving until your LO is done. Some days, they will eat a lot and others not so much. Let them decide and GL

Junebug060609 · February 2013

Sorry, my computer got screwy...I might have to go paragraph by paragraph.

What about bottles? He still gets 5 a day and takes usually between 25-28 oz. Am I just supposed to stop all bottles when he's 1? Should I start cutting them out now one at a time like I did when I was weaning from BFing and we cut one feeding a week until he was 100% on bottles? But as you may recall, he does a straw cup, and I can't picture giving him a straw cup of formula, especially when he still takes 4-5 oz per feeding.

The volume of cow milk needs to come down some from where he's at now for formula. I didn't know that when I switched (and the pedi didn't tell me at the 1 yr appt), but it's not good for them to get too much cow milk. My son got too much WCM at first and his 'output' got a little whitish, so I asked his pedi. She said ~20oz per day, I've heard other ladies say their pedi's said 15 or 18 oz. The balance of fluids can be water. My pedi recommended stopping bottles at 12m...but to be honest we did it really gradually...he's 17m this week and I *just* dropped his last bottle a few days ago. Some ladies do it cold turkey, I did it gradually. Do what works for your family. My DS also was a straw sippy kid. I gradually got him used to the other kind during the day, then at naps, then in the morning...and lastly at night (I was hesitant to give up the soothing the sucking for that last bottle gave him). You can do things however you feel is right for your family and your kid, there is no hard & fast rule.

Izabella22 · February 2013

Def check w/ your pedi's rec's on WCM, but really there is no real rule. We had DS try it before he was 1 just to see if he'd like it. Then I did some mixed bottles w/ BM but honestly it really doesn't matter. If your LO takes a cup already, try some WCM in the cup, if he doesn't take to it, try half formula/half WCM. DS went to the cup cold turkey from bottles and we've never looked back. Some kids take their time. Just go with your gut.

As far as solids, unless your Pedi is concerned about low weight they kind of pick up the eating thing when they are ready. DS never gave real cues for food, he'd eat everything I put in his mouth and didn't seem to care until about a month ago, and now he's signing "More" for everything. Just relax, its new territory but just kind of feel it out. For me remembering to bring a snack for DS whenever we go somewhere in case he gets hungry has been our biggest challenge - cereal bars are a good thing to have in the diaper bag just in case!

Ladiebug710 · February 2013

Here, I found this the other day. It is through the American academy of pediatrics and they have some sample menus for an 8-12 month old. I was surprised how much food it really is.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/pages/Sample-One-Day-Menu-for-an-8-to-12-Month-Old.aspx

Gerber is going to be a little more biased, but they also have a menu planner of their website.

Junebug060609 · February 2013

Stupid computer...

What about food? I feel like I have no idea how much to give him. We started table food about a month ago and I just have no concept of how much to give him. And since I work FT, I usually am only around for dinner, at which point he's tired and slack jawed and just lets me put the food in his mouth and chews it slowly and then goes back to being slack jawed. Like he doesn't give any hunger/fullness cues at all. So I just stop feeding him when we run out of food on the plate, but then I'm like, really, is 1 chicken meatball, 4 sweet potato cubes and a bowl of applesauce enough? I just feel like I'm in for a rude awakening when he turns 1 and he's supposed to be getting all of his nourishment from food and not formula, since he's still pretty into the bottles and taking lots of formula. Help?

Keep offering and follow his cues. Each kid is different, but when mine is done he windshild wipers his food off the tray and starts banging himself backwards in the chair...kind of a 'get me outta here' feeling to it. Your DS losing interest in food might be his cue he's done. What you listed for a feeding sounds adequate for a single meal for a 10 month old (or my 17m old for that matter, depending on the meal). They'll have some meals/days where they'll eat you out of house and home and others where they'll pick at the food. Just keep offering a varied diet.

I remember being overwhelmed at the prospect of having to actually think about him getting all his nutrition vs having it happen automatically (we bf for 11m and then did ff for the last month of his first year). Sometimes you'll have to get creative if you feel like he's missing something (slipping spinach in a quesadilla is a trick D&D taught me), but you'll get it.

I'm not sure if you're giving your LO finger foods or not (most of what you mentioned for that one meal was spoon food), but around that age my DS started liking to do it himself and giving him diced food he could self feed led to him eating more than if I did purees. Just a thought...

Do things how they work for your family is the main thing to take out of my long winded responses. There are no hard & fast rules (aside from not giving too much WCM...and know if you do that you aren't the first...)

JulyMomma2U2 · February 2013

OP! Thanks for posting these questions!! This thread has been full of "good to know" points

MickeyM04 · February 2013

Thanks everyone for the input! I'll try to just go with the flow more and not worry about what the "rules" say, as much as following DS's cues. He seems happy as a clam so I must be doing something right. Thanks again!!

Sonadora · February 2013

We started transitioning to milk around 11 months. We cut her formula with it and by the end of the month she was totally on milk.

The bottles we totally ditched by 14 months. She was down to 4 a day naturally by 11 months since she'd upped her food intake. I cut them one at a time, starting again around 11 months. I swapped the middle of the day ones first for sippies of the formula/milk mixture. Next to go was the first bottle of the day. Last to go was the right before bed bottle. I got rid of that one by disasociating it from the bedtime routine and moving it to before we went upstairs for bed, then I switched it to a sippy of milk, then cut it down ounce by ounce until it was gone.

Milk will replace a lot of the calories from formula. I offer her milk sippies with her 3 main meals of the day, she gets water with snacks and the rest of the day. As far as how much food, I feed her a balanced meal. So breakfast might be a scrambled egg, a half cup or so of fresh fruit, and a small piece of cheese or a yogurt, fresh fruit, and toast. Lunch I might give her two slices of deli meat, a veggie and a fruit and some cheese or a serving of whatever leftovers we have with some fruit and veg. Toddlers are pretty decent at self-regulating, and as long as you are offering healthy choices it's fine to gauge by how much he wants. Some meals/days B eats like a bird. Other days she eats way more than I do in a day!

Oatoa · February 2013

I felt the exact same way a couple of months ago. Everyone has an opinion and then you speak with your doctor to confirm what you thought was the right thing, and you end up being more confused,

I EP'd until 12 months and then slowly transitioned to WCM. At 13.5 months, we are almost done with BM. We still use bottles three times a day and once it is totally WCM, I will begin to transition the bottles to sippy cups starting with the lunch bottle , then morning and then evening. I didn't want to change everything too fast.

I still don't know how much to feed her. She isn't a huge fan of me spooning food into her mouth anymore so when she stops eating, we're done regardless of how much she has had. Periodically ask whoever takes care of him during the day if you are sending enough/too much food. They see him everyday and will have a good idea what he needs.

I hope this helps. If nothing else, know your kid isn't starving and nothing you will do during this transition period will scar him for life. You're doing a great job!

erinlovesdavid · February 2013

I highly recommend the book "Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense." It is a conclusive book, but you really only need to read the relevant parts as needed, so you can easily pick it up and put it down as your feeding stages advance. Great info.

MickeyM04 · February 2013

I'm glad I'm not the only confused one around here. Thanks for all the helpful links/book suggestions etc. as well. Much appreciated all around!

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