weaning from bottle

MrsStanger · January 2014

So my daughter is 10 mo. At her last appointment we were advised to introduce a cup and start the weaning process. What cup is recommended? what do i put in it? how do we fill the gap for the nutrients that she isnt getting from the formula? do we add more foods through the day and if so what do you rocommend? when should i start with the evening bottle? she has been on second foods for a few months and eats them well enough. The doc advised us that the 3rd foods would probably make her gag and she wouldnt take to them. What type of foods to we start for solids? ive tried beans and fruit but she will just sit there and mash them without so much as a thought to eat any. I am at a complete loss here. She is our first and she is already skinny so i dont want to feel like we are starving her! Thank you in advance for all of your mommy and daddy wisdom!!

dkny155 · January 2014

At our 9mth check up our dr had said to introduce a sippy cup with a little water in it. At no time during that visit did he say to start weaning off the bottle. He had said that she should be getting less formula 18-24 ounces a day total now but continue with bottle. We introduced a sippy cup with a soft top similar to a bottle nipple and she is doing great with it! She uses it at every meal with about 2-3 ounces of water in it. My daughter loves fruit cut up such as pears, bananas, cantalope,grapes (cut very small). She also loves mini muffins that i make from scratch, banana, bluberry and apple. Lunch she has yougurt and fruit, and dinner she has her regular pureed food but now a little chunky, but we have been introducing cut up carrotts, broccoli, etc. She loves rice as well. I'm open to let her try most things but she hasn't had meat yet she will be 10mths in a week and i will start that then.

MrsStanger · January 2014

Sid HATES meat! Whenever we eat. she usually mooches a few bites off of us and we've tried a small bit of a chicken tender...she gagged. As far a weaning her off we have done the sippy cup at each meal, but now that she is 10mo i am wondering when we should "crack down" on it and how. Im just stressed out thinking about her not getting nutrients she needs for development!

MrsStanger · January 2014

so you give her dairy? we tried cottage cheese with the same gagging effect. (i had to share your "raging case of farts" comment! ) everyone has a different idea on how/what is ok to give and i just dont know enough even after reading books to know for sure...How do you feed her any of those items? do you spoon or fork them to her or do you set it on the highchair tray and just let her have at it? what kinds of messes do you incur?

LisaLisa1980 · January 2014

You put in the cup the same thing that's in her bottle. She still needs formula as her main source of food

MrsStanger · January 2014

pavlovcat

amyelew · January 2014

I know. I am feeling behind now. Ben is eating stage 2 baby food twice a day. I have also given him bananas and mashed potatoes. I guess I need to step it up. I just have a fear of him chocking. He is just now getting a tooth.

MrsStanger · January 2014

we do twice a day as well and she only has 2 front bottom teeth. The chocking doesnt scare me so much as the gagging. i dont know if its a consistance issue or allergy or how often i should "retry" the food with her so i know if she is going to get used to it. i never thought food would be the issue with my child but apparently there is so much to learn just yet.

MrsStanger · January 2014

and i make sure she takes it immediatly? what if she just plays around with it and only drinks a little bit? do i stick it in the fridge and try again or say i tried today and put it in a bottle?

tig594 · January 2014

DD is 10 months and has been on stage 3 foods for awhile now. Did the doctor say why your LO might be gagging? Like a PP said, maybe she just isn't used to the textures or flavors of the new foods you're trying.

I still give DD stage 2 fruits sometimes but feel like I should just give her a straw to eat them through. She loves everything she's tried so far. I've given her a lot of the things PPs mentioned and have had no problem. With bananas, though, I usually coat them in cheerio dust so they are easier for her to grab. She had some pasta last night and was very intent on shoving it in her face as fast as possible. :@)

MrsStanger · January 2014

ok i am struggling with everyones abreviations! BLW? DD? PP? im sure they are common sense but for the life of me i cant fill in the blanks lol

minervacullen · January 2014

MrsStanger said:

ok i am struggling with everyones abreviations! BLW? DD? PP? im sure they are common sense but for the life of me i cant fill in the blanks lol

Baby led weaning, darling/dear daughter, previous poster.

Kaitie910 · January 2014

MrsStanger - You are not alone in feeling behind when it comes to feeding solids! I say to my husband almost daily that I'm worried we're not giving little girl enough 'grown-up food.' He ensures me that we're doing fine and there are some parents that exclusively breastfeed for a year, and we make sure that what she gets is healthy, and that's what's important!

Our pediatrician said at our 9 month appointment that we should try to have her off the bottle by a year. He recommended that to get there, give her a bottle when she'll let us hold it. If she's gonna want to hold it, she gets a sippy cup. Eventually she'll always want to hold it, and bottles will be done for. (The thought of that makes me SO sad! She's growing WAY too fast!) We give her sippys sometimes, but she's still struggling with tipping them up, so she gets mad and screams until we tilt it for her and then we just end up holding her and the cup and I just can't turn down snuggles. Also, we always only give her formula in the bottles or cups. We have a bottle of Gerber fruit & veggie juice but haven't tried it yet. That way she's still getting the nutrients that the formula provides.

As for food... She mostly eats purees, but we're giving her table stuff gradually. Dr told us that at this point, she can eat anything that she can't choke on (but of course, I'm paranoid that if it's the right size, she can choke on anything!). She's great with any 2nd stage puree, and 3rd stage fruits, veggies, and cereals/oatmeals. We've basically given up on the 3rd stage meals (like lasagna, orzo, etc) - it seemed like she was ALWAYS choking on them. I don't know if she just didn't like the textures or if she was expecting puree and was confused by the 'stuff' in it, but we tried a bunch of different ones for multiple nights and she just never got the hang of it. We also give her fruit and veggie puffs, which she likes. But MOST of her food is still baby purees.

Have you ever seen the little mesh food feeders? You can put fresh fruits or veggies in the little mesh pouch and it has a handle for her to hold, and she kind of chews on the mesh and gets the food that way. So if you're concerned about choking or gagging that might be a way to introduce more solid-type foods. They usually sell them near cups/bowls/spoons!

Good luck! And don't worry, you're not alone!

mhickey426 · January 2014

She isn't really a fan of the sippy cup but we have tried a couple of times. She does eat "real" food. We usually give her whatever we are eating or fruit for a snack. She loves puffs and crackers. We haven't found anything that she does not like as of yet. The only thing is that she doesn't eat enough "real" food to be a meal. We still give her the purees. Mostly stage 2 but are doing stage 3 also. My dr said at the 9mo check up that most of her nutrients should still be coming from the formula. Just keep trying and offering her things.

pinottoparenthood · February 2014

I just wanted to add... it's okay if she's just playing with/mashing the food at first. WIth a little time, she will learn to eat it! It's a process. Our guy has been playing with solids with very ltitle making it into his mouth for a long time, but the other night I just noticed that he had eaten most of the food on his tray! Playing with the food is just part of learning to eat it, so don't stress about how much is actually going into her mouth. Just keep giving her different foods to try and let her do her thing!

VPGIRL06 · February 2014

What cup is recommended?

It depends. my DD loves to chew on straws but will spit out a lot of whatever liquid is in it-so we give her a soft top sippy. She will drink 2-3 oz of water from it. Some kids will drink out of any zippy cup, some like only certain ones. and it takes time. Ours still throws it on the side.

what do i put in it?

Water or formula or breast milk. We just do water right now at meal time or if we're out and about. This week I'm going to start giving her her lunch time bottle in a sippy to see how she does.

how do we fill the gap for the nutrients that she isnt getting from the formula?

She should still be getting formula. It really depends on your pediatrician-our pediatrician has said at this point we can start doing food before formula

do we add more foods through the day and if so what do you recommend?

my rule of thumb is to just give her food until she stops eating. She hasn't eating purees since she was 6 months,so we've done "real" food for awhile. Her meals are usual..

Breakfast: egg yolks (she has reactions to egg whites), pancakes, bananas rolled in wheat germ, oatmeal, yogurt, french toast...nything. Yesterday she ate 2 scrambled egg yolks and 2 oatmeal pancakes

Lunch: just a little of whatever I'm eating. I cook 90% of our meals, and we eat "Paleo" so whatever she's getting is fairly clean. I supplement her with some cheese, yogurt, and cooked rice to make sure she's getting all nutrients.

Dinner:same as above.

MrsStanger · February 2014

i cant thank you enough for answering every question! Ive never thought to keep it paleo clean so she isnt getting all the bad stuff! We are making progress but having HUGE issues with the highchair.

When we put food on the tray she quickly clears it and looks to make sure its on the floor. i dont want to start "yelling/punishing" for throwing food but im at my wits end with food everywhere!

MrsStanger · February 2014

pavlovcat said:

MrsStanger said:

i cant thank you enough for answering every question! Ive never thought to keep it paleo clean so she isnt getting all the bad stuff! We are making progress but having HUGE issues with the highchair.

When we put food on the tray she quickly clears it and looks to make sure its on the floor. i dont want to start "yelling/punishing" for throwing food but im at my wits end with food everywhere!
Just get a floor mat. They even make disposable ones so you don't have to spend time washing one after every meal. Or get a dog. That works for us.

My daughter clears her tray very systematically to tell us she's done eating. If the toys go over too that means she wants out.

Don't yell or punish. She is learning. You don't want her to associate meal time with anxiety and anger. If you were strapped into a chair with nothing to do and no interest in the food, what would you do? Play with it, of course!

Put a couple bites down. If she tosses them on the floor, give her a toy and set another bite of food down as well. If she tosses that and plays with the toy she may be telling you, "I'm not interested in food right now." If she tosses them both she may be telling you, "I'm not interested in being in this chair right now." She may also be telling you, "I'm having fun watching things fall and learning about cause and effect!"

Thats fantastic! I have yet to yell or punish im just at a loss for what to do! Ive never thought to switch our places and see how mad i would be if i couldnt communicate. We have to LARGE dogs but they will swipe food off of her highchair so they are outside and the floor mat seems way easier to clean than the floor after each meal. You are Jam packed full of great mommy ideas and should probably write a book!

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