What should DD's feeding schedule look like at 12-18 months?

Mireille LeBlanc · March 2014

What is the goal for a growing 12 month old when it comes to eating? Now that DD is 1, I wonder what to do because I'm not certain of what I'm trying to achieve. Here is our current schedule: 6:45am : 6oz bottle of formula when she wakes 7:30 : 2 fruit cups, cheese or yogurt, and a handful of whole grain Cheerios 10:45 : 6oz wm sippy 11:30 : lunch (ex:whole wheat waffle, peanut butter, banana), water (maybe 1oz, it's not her favorite) 2:30 : 6oz sippy of formula 3:45 : cut up fruit, yogurt or cheese 6:00 : Supper (whatever we're having) and maybe 1 oz of water 6:30 : 6oz bottle of formula 6:45 = Bedtime routine I am replacing all bottles with sippies this week, and am slowly replacing formula with wm. That said, is my goal to get her to only drink 6 oz of wm three times a day (at each meal)? Should I only offer the wm sippy after she eats her solids? Approximately by what age should this be done? I usually do pretty good at transitionning her fromstep to step, but I am having trouble with this transition because I don't know where I'm going. It's hard to draw a map when the destination is a mystery.

Thanks!

dunlapbriggs · March 2014

I had a really hard time grasping this transition as well. That being said, DS does WCM (5oz or so) with each meal and snacks (before and after lunch - nothing after dinner) with water.

SLGILL1978 · March 2014

I agree you should follow your pedi's recommendation. Right now we only do 2-3 bottle of formula. I do one 4 oz formula bottle n the morning then she goes to daycare and eats. Sometimes she will eat and other times she'll just take bites. My babysitter may give her a little bit of formula if she feels she not eating a lot. At night, before bed she gets a bottle combo with milk and formula. Per my pedi's recommendation we are to do this until I run out of formula. Every baby and family is different. There is nothing wrong with your baby still on formula at 12 months. But I would definitely seek your pedi's advice.

Mireille LeBlanc · March 2014

We are transitionning off of formula, so no worries there. We're going slowly because DD had trouble adjusting to the lactose at first. And as far as our doctor, he's proven to be no help when it comes to her feeding schedule. He has never offered guidance, even when prompted. Up to now, it was easy to figure out. He's retiring and the new doctor starts in a couple of months. In the meantime, I need your support. Thanks for the recommendations/sharing your experiences. Please keep them coming!

jnnfrrose6 · March 2014

As others have said, we do 3 meals and 2 snacks. We offer milk with the meals and water throughout the day.

AimeeL85 · March 2014

We do 3 meals and 2 snacks. My DD doesn't like cow's milk yet; she is still BFing but our pedi said even when she stops, it's not biggie if she never takes cow's milk because she is a very good eater. I still offer it and hope she'll at least drink some, eventually. She loves water though and gets that throughout the day.

My son had cow's milk starting at 14 months and I gave it with meals, and water the rest of the time. However, some kids eat/drink better if you offer water with meals and milk at other times; you just have to experiment and find what works for your child. I wouldn't worry about how many oz. to give how many times per day. I know you're used to thinking in those terms when they're a baby and drinking bottles, but I think once they're on cow's milk it's fine to just fill up a sippy, let them drink at their pace, and refill when it's gone.

fusionbride · March 2014

we do 4 meals, and probably by 13 months (when we finally dropped the bottles), we did all milk in cups with meals except for one cup (6oz) right when she wakes up

g8trkim · March 2014

By a year our kids pretty much ate what/when we did so 3 meals a day usually with milk. Also a snack in the morning and afternoon (just something small like yogurt, fruit, crackers, etc.) and a sippy of either water or milk. The daycare sometimes gives watered down juice with the afternoon snack which I don't really mind. It sounds like you're on the right track!

twinkletoes3126 · March 2014

This is our feeding schedule:

6:30 or whenever wakes up: Breakfast usually a frozen waffle and fresh fruit or something like this

10:00 - Snack: Granola bar, string cheese, yogurt, crackers, etc.

1:00 - Lunch: Whatever I'm having. I try to have a protein and a vegetable includes.

3:30 - Snack

6:30 - Dinner: Whatever we have

I offer milk in a straw cup at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I offer water and occasionally juice at snacks and in between meals.

The transition to this was slow for us. In addition to this we offered 5 oz bottles of milk until he got the hang of straw cups Our pedi said it's totally fine to give bottles until 15 months. Starting at 12 months we dropped a bottle every few weeks. Good luck!

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