What to feed my 12 month old?

Question

My 12 month old son has been eating "solid" foods since he was 5-6 months old and all of the sudden he is not interested and wants to nurse or have a bottle. I am just now stopping breastfeeding and was going to start the switch to formula and now I do not know what to do. He eats a tiny bit of food and then wants a bottle to "fill" him up the rest.

I also have almost successfully weined him and don't know a good way to get him back to sleep at night when he wakes up that one time. I normally nurse him back to sleep but need to stop that habit. Any suggestions? Also, what are some good meals for babies. I am getting tired of the same old things over and over.

Answer 1

At a year old he can be switched to whole milk, there is no need to switch from breast milk to formula then to whole milk down the line, just switch to whole milk now. And it will be difficult to stop nursing because he isn't nursing necessarily for the milk but for the comfort of u. I had to give my son a handful of hair to play with when he would get up, and he would play with it and then go back to sleep. As far as different kinds of foods, U could try the little entrees, I'm not sure who makes them. My son is 2 and he has been eating normal food since he was one. I make him his own little plate of what ever we are having. Now he is learning to feed himself so I just make sure it is bite size pieces. U could try things like Mash potatoes, cooked veggies, and tender meats to start him out on "normal" foods. I hope that helps. And good luck to u.

Answer 2

It's apparent that he isn't happy with not breastfeeding anymore. If he just refuses to eat then give him the nutritional supplement at first to make sure he's getting what he needs. Keep weaning him but when he wants to nurse then give him a bottle or sippy cup of WHOLE MILK, not formula and hold him as you would if he nursed, just so he can feel that closeness. Gerber has little entrees that my kids loved, and my 2yr old still eats them sometimes. try feeding him 5-7 smaller meals a day instead of 3 big ones with snacks. He should still be eating the pureed foods though, until he starts eating good on his own. Good meal ideas would be some cheerios on a tray with a sippy of milk, jar of freuit with it, piece of toast cut into 4ths with some diced turkey or ham. Gerber makes so many different kinds of dinners...try them, he may like them.

Answer 3

I work in a day care, and often see this exact phenomenon. They just won't take the formula after you stop breast feeding. Some moms only give juice until they get to drinking well from a cup. Others mix 1/2 and 1/2 - formula and milk and gradually get it down to only milk. That seems to work pretty well. One child will not drink from either a bottle, cup, or anything, if there is formula involved, but she does drink milk. The best solution for your child who wants to drink only the breastmilk, would be to mix it half cows milk or formula and see what happens. DO NOT let the child eat just a little and fill up on that, because he needs to learn to eat foods with different textures at this point, or you will be dealing with an anemic child who will only drink milk or juice before long. There are a lot of wonderful ready-to-heat-and-eat individual cups of foods on the market now. Some of my babies eat those well. Others just simply eat regular table foods from early on and do well. Just don't give up! I think it is all as much 'testing mom' as it is not wanting to eat. As I tell my parents at work, you have to be more stubborn than they are at that age! :-)