Whats a Good Feeding Schedule?

Hi

My daughter is 14 mos and my ped said to have 20 oz or less of milk. Starting at 12 mos of age I tried to wean her off the bottle and get her to drink milk from a cup. This made it a lot easier to lower the intake of milk. She could really drink a lot of milk from the bottle. I give her milk with breakfast, lunch and dinner about 6 oz in cup at each meal.

My daughter still takes 2 naps but was thinking about going to one and changing her schedule a bit. her first nap is around 10:00. A friend of mine suggested giving breakfast as soon as she gets up, in your daughter's case 7:00 and then give lunch right before 11:00 and then nap at 11:00 and hope for 3 hr nap. I have not tried this yet. The idea is to slowly push back the nap in 15 minute increments until you get to 12 or even 1:00.

My daughters schedule now is as follows:

6:30-6:45 wake up
7:30 breakfast
6 oz of whole milk
cheerios
cubes of bananas
yogurt (sometimes mixed with cereal)

10:00-10:15 nap
she sleeps for 90minutes-2 hours

12:30 or 1:00 lunch
6 oz milk
i usually try to give her a tablespoon or two from each food group (veggies...peas, green beans, carrots, etc., fruit...watermelon, canelope, melon, applesauce-cheese cubes, wheat toast or chicken, beef from a can or mac n cheese, pasta noodles, etc.) she prefers to feed herself and has been getting better with the spoon for applesauce, yogurt, etc.

3:00-3:30 nap usually for about 1 hour

snack (earths best crackers, pirate booty in snack trap container) and water in between breakfast and lunch and in between lunch and dinner

6:00 dinner she typically eats some of the same things as lunch or what we are eating

7:30-bed time

at her 12 mos visit my ped gave me a list of foods to eat daily-6 servings of bread and cereal, 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, 2 servings of meat or meat alternatives, 3 servings of dairy products. Seving size for 1 year old is pretty small 1-2 tablespoons, 1/4 of a cup

not sure if this helps
hope so

6:00 dinn

1 mom found this helpful

It is possible that she is relying on the milk a bit too much to fill her tummy. Maybe you can just reduce the 8 ounce to 6 and 6 to 4. Also, it is great to puree the food. My baby sitter mixes a bunch of veggies, cooks and purees them. My daughter loves it but I am trying to get the babysitter to not puree as much. Your child might like it if you just puree a little bit (more of a chnukier version of the food)for her age versus what you would feed a younger infant. My d also gets healthy snacks in between meals. Just keep offering her foods and let her watch you eat your own meal. Be patient, she will get it. It sounds like she is copying you right now by feeding you rather than herself.

Hi! I am not sure if your child is over/under weight, but I know at that age, I started my little ones on the 3 meals a day! (My how they grow)!!! And at the three mealtimes is when I would give him his milk. I was very lucky because my litte one loved his sippy. (but they also have the little cups with the straw built in that your daughter might like)? Just keep trying, one day it will happen! And then inbetween you can give a snack with some water. I actually would leave a waterbottle downstairs that my son could grab at anytime to have a drink. He is actually 2-1/2 now, and every morning I put a fresh waterbottle downstairs, and he is still drinking it!

Remember, the Pediatrician will tell you how they think it should be "by the books". I have always listened to the Ped., other Moms, and then I would ultimately do what "I, the Mom" thought was best. Remember, all kids are different. You are not going to do anything drastically wrong for your child, so you will be FINE!!! Kids sure are hard work, aren't they!!!!

Note, my friend had a daughter that would NOT drink milk unless it was out of a bottle. Now she was between 1-1/2 and 2 and still did (only at home-my friend would say she was a closet drinker)!!! She was beside herself cuz' she would try and try to give it to her in the cup and she would refuse----and she was VERY thin, in the 5%-tile, and her daughter needed that milk. And then one day, righter after 2 she just started, and never looked back! Just keep trying!!!!

Best of luck, you are a GREAT MOM!!!!

Just wondering why your pediatrician said you need to make changes? Is your child over or under weight? Careful not to get too obsessed about food and create weird food issues / disorders for your child.

My pediatrician said that by 6 months of age kids should be eating 3 meals a day (just like we do) and then a 4th liquid feeding at night. He also said that you should be giving the solid food first at meal time, then the milk. It sounds like she is eating enough solid food, but only getting water at meal times instead of having milk with her meals. Then only give the water in a sippy cup between meals. At 1, she should be getting 16-24 oz of dairy a day, which includes yogurt and cheese too. At this point, she should also be drinking cold milk out of a cup. My son refused to drink milk out of a sippy cup, but he would drink it out of a regular cup with a straw just fine (with my help of course). I agree with the other mom about teaching her how to put the food in her mouth, don't worry, she will get it eventually. It looks like you are really on the right track, just get rid of the bottle at nap times. I know it's difficult, but it will only take 3-4 days and she will be used to her new routine of no bottle at nap time. Try reading books or quiet music instead. We have a c.d. of soft lullaby music that we play everyday at nap and bed time. Our son knows that it's time to sleep when he hears the music and it calms him down. Good luck!

I think instead of giving her purees you should give her chunks of veggies and fruit. You'll find things that they won't like and things that they wll like. it really is trial and error.

Maybe you should try giving her cold mil instead in the cup. She doesn't need her milk warmed up anymore. You can stop giving them milk before naps and bed but I think thats a decission you can make. My son is almost two and still goes to bed with a cup of milk or water. (I think it is maore of a security thing.)

As far as the refusing to sleep thing try switching the naps around. She might start to be growing out of having two naps and only taking one nap. Its a gradualy process but try putting her down at 11:30 and then feeding lunch and keep moving it back till it gets to around 1:00- 1:30 (after lunch). She might sleep 2-3 hours. She might sleep longer in the beginning too.

Good luck!

A.,
The Pedetrician can best answer "how much milk", as he has records of your child.

If this is her first stab at feeding self. You will have to feed her and show her how it's done.Let her feel, touch food. Make sure she is eating at the table with the rest of the family. She need to see how it's done! Don't just put the food in front of her. Help her, taste it yourself, She will get it, be patient.

Just a small thing that may help the self feeding. We have those munchkin pouches: they look a bit like a toy. They might be good for snack time with apples, frozen mango chunks, frozen banana ( fresh too but that gets messy).

It may help just to reinterest her in food she is in control of.

Does your child have a physical reason for needing this change? I have been a foster parent and daycare provider for over 10 years and have taken care of MANY babies. I have found that they all need something different at this age. Also, after growing so quickly during the first year and eating alot they tend slow done in growth and eating dramatically. My son will be one in two days. He is in the 75 percentile for both height and weight. Here is his typical schedule. Our difference is that he is still breastfeeding.

7:30 wakes and nurses for 5-10 mins

8am - rice or oatmeal cereal, 2-3 ounces pureed fruit, handful of dried cereal like cheerios or wheaties

9:30am - nurses 5-10 mins then naps until about 11:30am

12pm - 3-4 ounces pureed veggies, a few bits of steamed veggies, a few bits of diced fruit (I core/pit all kinds of fruit and steam it in the microwave for 2-3 mins with a bit of water to soften)

1:30pm - nurses for 5 mins then naps til about 3:30pm

3:30pm - snack: a few crackers, 4 ou yogurt, of some cheese

5:30pm - he eats whatever we are having. Most of the time I just cut it in small pieces. Occassionally I have to puree it to get him to eat.

8pm - nurses for 10-15 mins then in bed

The amount of solid food that actually makes it into my son's stomach is small. Most seems to end up on the floor. My ped. says that his schedule is great and that he is growing well. I hope it helps!

My niece is 1 year old and she eats ALL table food cut up into bite sized pieces. 3 Meals a day. Snacks a couple of times a day. I am not sure how much milk she drinks though. I know my sister is trying to get rid of the bottle and move on completely to the sippy cup or cup. No more pureed "baby" food or cereal. My daugheter, at 9 months, is starting to eat dinner with us, small cut up pieces of avovado, canteloupe, banana, mashed potatoes, etc. I personally think that by one year old, they are more than able, and should be, eating table food.

Our ped. reccomends weaning them from the bottle at one year, it seems harsh but it really helps the eating and sleeping. She will be more ready for food if she is not full from milk (to get her off the bottle we simply started cutting the nipple of the bottle and putting water in it instead of milk.). You will have to teach her to self feed, she is still pretty little. Once she gets down to one nap a day it will be easier and then you can keep breakfast the same time, and then have lunch and possibly dinner earlier and tide her over between with a small snack. It might make it easier if she was getting up from her nap at 4:30 instead of taking her nap at that time. You just gradually have to do the nap thing, so she is just taking one after lunch, it really does help the feeding! Good luck, it all works out.