1 Year Old - Eating Habits/Schedule

I remember that by that age (now 6 and 3) my kids had sippy cups of water or watered down juice and a bottle morning and night before we stopped aroudn that age... WHen I saw that my kid could handle a regular cup with a small amount of liquid without spiing it at meal times at the table. Also at that age my kids eat three meals a day and snacks between them just like us and it was all table foods too. I know people at used to add baby food into like mac and cheese to add extra nutrience.... there is a book that came out about how to add things to everyday foods for kids... I used to do that...

Hope this helps and yes the books are a guide but thats it... I followed my child... my youngest never realy ate baby food she wanted table foods at like 7 months and I used a baby grinder for stuff and she just ate what we ate just mashed up or grinded up....

M. mom of 2 girls

My son just turned 18 months old. I took the bottle away at 15 months and began introducing table food. He immediately drank his milk from a sippy cup in the morning and at night. During the day he has mostly water with a touch of juice. The difficult transition was into table food. I think the longer I had him eating baby food, the more difficult it was to get him to try new foods. He has been quite a finicky eater but he does much better now.

For breakfast: always a banana, then I make a tray of food for him to graze on throughout the morning. This was a good way to introduce new foods and not force it. Raisins, apples, nutrigrain bar, cheerios

***yogurt & applesauce are always good staples and the same consistency as the baby food so obviously, they love that!
Sneak in some baby veggies with the yogurt!

Lunch: turkey or chicken dogs
or grilled cheese
fruit
Yogurt with veggies

Snacks: whole wheat fish, vanilla wafers, animal crackers, the occassional pop tart

Dinner: chicken tenders with tater tots or french fries
or pizza bagel bites
Yogurt with veggies

THis may not sound like the healthiest meal plan but my pediatrician encouraged me to go for the fun food at first. Every day he gets a little bit better and I continue to introduce new food.

He recently tried bacon and loved it! Good luck.

Both of my kids were completely on table food by a year old basically because once we started introducing it they refused baby food. I also took the bottles away at the same age. My son was easy he never loved his bottles, and my daughter had a really bad cold and couldn't drink due to a stuffy nose so I seized the moment and took the bottle away. Both of my kids really did well with their cup, however what I did was make sure to up the dairy intake, with extra cheese, yogurt, etc. Most babies will not drink as much milk as they do from the bottle at first. This is just personal experience but I think the older the get the more attached and difficult it is to get them off the bottle. Just remember books are there to guide us that does not mean we have to do everything they recommend. All babies are different and you need to do what is right for your family. Since you have not started anything yet I would go slowly so the transition will be easier. Just a few suggestions for breakfast I would give french toast, pancakes, cinnamon toast, and lots of fresh fruits. Lunch can be leftovers from dinner, pastina, soups, grilled cheese, etc. As long as you start off with small pieces your child will learn to chew and will also discover his likes and dislikes. Good luck!!

I am doing all the same things you are with my daughter who just turned one. She is my second child and I am definitely more relaxed about stuff this time around (as everyone said I would be-lol). But she is doing fine. And like you, we are working on transitioning her, but no rush, and no stress. She enjoys her bottles, and it is part of her routine. So we are doing all the changes slowly. And it is hard to feel comfortable that they are getting all the nutrition they need when you take them completely off the baby food. But they do, and you will feel comfortable with it in time. That is what I believe. And I have to share that the second time around has taught me (in hindsight) how much harder I was making it on me and my first daughter by trying so hard to follow all the books and advice of others and do everything "just right" or what I thought was just right at that time anyway. But I guess that was how I needed to learn. Everyone is different, but these are my experiences. And right now, she does us a sippy cup also, and she does eat with us at every meal and will eat what we eat most of the time. But I still give her baby food once in awhile and like you said, it is in the house still so I am going to use it. She also eats a ton of fruit and right now she still enjoys veggies. Oh, and I sneak ground up flax seed in their pancakes (which we eat often) and that makes me feel better about their nutrition too.

My daughter HATED stage 3 foods and skipped them all together. She's been eating what we eat since 9 mos. She still gets 1 bottle a day (she's 18 mos now) first thing in the morning. But the rest of the time she gets everything from a sippy cup or strawed cup. As long as your eating well balanced meals then so is he. My daughter eats ever 3 hrs or so. This is her schedule:
morning milk bottle about 6, breakfast 1 hr after she wakes, morning snack (if she's not napping)about 2 hrs after breakfast and not to close to lunch, lunch about 12, afternoon snack after her afternoon nap, dinner about 6:30, milk cup (before bed). I offer her milk with each meal and she gets juice (cut 50/50) or water the rest of the day. My daughter has a very high metabolism and eats about every 3 hrs. My son, almost never snacks and if he has a morning snack at preschool, he most likely doesn't eat his lunch. Basically, he should eat whatever you are. Offer him everything. Just follow his clues, he will tell you when he's hungry, and as he gets older he will be able to tell you verbally. My daughter says juice and some (if she wants to try what we're eating) and eat or sit when she wants to get in her highchair. My daughter ate everything at 1, with the exception of peanut butter (which she got at about 15 mos), fish (which she tried at 17 mos) and honey (which I don't think she's tried yet except for honey nut cheerios). So you name it...she ate it.

Get the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. This tells you how to make all your kids food and what is appropriate for them at every age. She is a vegetarian so it's up to you how much you listen to her, but I found the book to be really useful (we eat meat). I would try to switch to sippy cups- The Nuby sippy cups work well for my son- they are similar to a bottle shape and might be a good transition from bottles. We give him a sippy cup of water with his 3 meals and his afternoon snack. My son is still breastfed 4 times a day and has a problem digesting milk products, so I'm not sure when or if we will switch to milk. My son turns 1 on Jan 29 and his 1 year appointment is Feb 2, so I'm waiting for my pediatrician's advice. I don't think you have to be in a big hurry, but you can slowly work on it over the next month or so.

Don't listen to the books. My son had a really strong gag reflex & didn't eat any table food until 16 months & then he TOOK OFF & eats EVERYTHING we eat. He just wasn't ready at 12 months. He also drinks water out of a sippy cup since 12 months, BUT he still at 21 months drinks his milk from a bottle. To me it is more important that he gets his milk than what he is drinking it out of. He is not going to enter high school drinking from a bottle so I don't worry about it. They didn't have sippy cups when I was little & somehow I survived.

Hi there!

I am a stay at home mom in Westwood, NJ. I have a 13 month old boy myself. Now he is my 3rd so concerning feeding him I felt much at ease the third time around! lol

First of all is he drinking formula from a bottle? If so, you can obviously start by slowly adding cows milk in parts. ie: 1oz milk to 5oz of formula.
That is the easiest. Every 7-10 days add another oz of milk instead of formula.

If you get the Born free training cups they might be the easiest to transition him from a bottle. They have soft spouts for the beginners and you can change them out to harder ones as he begins to grasp drinking from a cup.
Don't stress if he is still drinking from a bottle. It will come with patience and time. All of my children were different. My oldest had a really hard time giving up the bottle. It was 15 months before she did. As long as he has the opportunity often to try the cup he will get it..

Also, when you have a drink, just let him drink from your cup occasionally. That is a great way to get him used to drinking from a cup!! Messy, but great!

I have a Holistic Pediatrician that I see who indicated that at my sons age, even if he was getting 9-12 oz of milk a day, as long as he was drinking water as well that that amount of milk was just fine for him.
So don't worry about getting a certain amount in him. As long as he is eating and has access to water then he is fine!

As I said, my son is 13 months. At 6 months we started giving him our food and by the time he was 9 months he was off baby food.
He was breast fed so he went right to a cup.
He pretty much eats anything we do. He still drinks milk with a small amount of formula in it. He has about 2-4 oz in the morning with breakfast, 4-6 oz later in the day with snack and 4-6 oz before bedtime. The rest of the time he has water and occasionally I give him watered down orange juice.
I would be happy to give you some ideas of foods you can introduce to him that are simple to prepare and easy to chew and swallow for this age.

Good luck and I hope this helps a bit!

Hi L.,
I know its all so confusing... My daughter is almsot 15 mos. I am breastfeeding, but at one year I started giving her whole milk at meals.. (I still breastfeed at bedtime and sometimes naps/am) As for the meals, I've been slowly transitioning and giving a combo of baby food and grown up food... My daughter has been picky with the textures and still is, but its getting better.. So I would give her some things to pick up and eat and shovel some baby food in while she was eating (cheese, pancakes, yogurt, pasta are her favorites)... At this point we are mostly off the baby food, but since she is still really picky about what she will eat I do occasionally give it to her.. I give her the graduates meals too...
My pedi said to give three meals and two snacks (optional) and offer the milk at those times.. I give her water in between...
They are all so different and you have to just go by what your gut says and how your baby acts..
Good luck!

Every baby is different, and you should take these books as advice- not fact!

Our son is totally off baby food- because he REFUSED baby food from 7 months on. So that was easy! If you're transitioning now, and your little guy is eating a lot of finger foods, then you're fine. Kids need to practice feeding themselves and make lots of messes... :)

Our son is also totally off the bottle- because he weaned himself to a sippy cup at 8 months! So again, easy. (Now anyways! He was such a pain- literally inverting nipples by sucking too hard and refusing bottles.) Many moms don't just switch at 1 year. Now is the time to slowly transition- just as you're doing! When you're ready to really drop the bottles- just go for it. (It may be a frustrating couple of days, so pick a good time!)

As your son eats more table food, you may notice a drop in his milk consumption too. I was surprised to see my son become picky about when he drank. Sometimes he'll still chug 6-8 oz of milk, and other times a few sips will do. I don't even really measure anymore. As long as they're eating and drinking, and you offer water and milk (and we add in kefir and veggie juice), then your kiddo will do great!

Don't stress. This is a fun time!

PS My son (and husband) have big brown eyes and long lashes too. They could do a mascara commercial together!

My daughter just turned one and nurses at night still. During the day she gets bottles. She will drink a little juice, water or milk from a sippy cup. However, if I really want her to drink it it needs to be in a bottle. I guess she is not quite comfortable with the cup yet.

As far as food. She won't eat anything mushy. SO she eats the healthiest toddler cookies and snacks I can find. She also will eat some of what we eat (the crunchier the better)and really likes gemelli pasta because it is easy for her to hold.

As far as schedule - I am sort of bad with that. During the week we are up 7:30 - 8:00am and she has Cheerios and water. At around 9:30 - 10:00 she has a 5 oz bottle of pumped mama's milk (or sometimes formula). Then she will snack on cookies etc. and nap from around 10:00 -10:30 if I am lucky for about 1 hour. THen lunch is typically Yo Baby (with fruit and cereal) or Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal (the only mushy foods she wil eat). Afternoon is more cookies / veggie chips etc and she alwasys has a sippy with juice or water handy. She gets pasta at around 3:00 and another bottle around any between 4 and 5:00 after which see takes another nap. Dinner is around 7:00 and she gets whatever my husband and I are having. THen bedtime is somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30. SOmetimes she gets another bottle and sometimes she nurse right before bed.

Hope this helps. If there is only one thing I figured out from being a mom it is that the baby that all the experts write it about isn't mine. She is unique and perfect just being herself - to heck with "normal" she is just fine.

I am a stay at home mom of 2 boys, ages 21/2 and 6. I also watch another 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. My boys were down to drinking one 8 oz bottle a day by the time they were a year old. They were eating mainly regular food. They would have the rare baby oatmeal for breakfast. Waffles in little pieces were their favorites.
The one year old that I watch eats everything. She has no desire for baby food, she was never full enough on it. She eats one bottle a day 8oz, and drinks 2-4oz cups of either juice or water from a sippy cup. Is your son sleeping through the night? If not, maybe he isnt full enough before he goes to sleep. Try mashed potatoes, or noodles (wagon wheels) or something and see if he will eat that. Try more sippies. That is the main key. If he is getting big REALLY quick. He probably is getting too much formula. Again, this is just from experience and my day to day life.
If you want to talk more, email me at ____@____.com or ____@____.com
Thanks
K.
Albany, NY

Hi L....I agree with the first mom who responded. Weaning is always good, with bottles as well as feeding habits. It can be frustrating at first, but allow yourself some space and breathing room because it can be a bit of a challenge...children don't like adapting to changes, just like adults don't like it. As long as you're sort of tracking your child's intake of what he's eating in a day, then you and him should be fine. Kids let you know when they've had enough to eat. I have four kids, ages 20, 15, 10 and 9 mos. Take care!

Don't worry about what the books say. Every child has different needs and every parent does as well. You should not feel bad about the decisions you make for your son, he is yours. For mine, I decided to try to take away his bottle when he yurned 12 months. I first introduced a sippy cup very early (3 months) just as practice and he finally got the hang of it at about 6 months. I only gave him water in the cup. On his first birthday, I only gave him the sippy cup with milk and he did not complain so we were so lucky. I still hold him when he has his milk though. I think that's why he is ok without the bottle. Like I said every kid is different though, my cousin's kid is still on a bottle at 20 months. I heard that the doctors like them to be off by 17 months. Whatever. My issue now is with the binky (pacifier) but I figured that if I got the bottle away that would be more important since the binky is just a sucky and not giving sustanance. As far as food, my son loves to eat - anything I will allow him. I have tried making my own food for him all along instead of giving him jars. Now, his diet looks like this:
Wake up: 8 ounce milk sippy cup
Cheerios (pre breakfast snack to keep him happy until I wake up enough to make him something)
Breakfast is always a fruit (applesauce, banana, berries, melon, raisins) AND either Barley Cereal, Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Cereal Bar, egg, waffle, grilled cheese sandwich
Snack (sometimes before nap or lunch): animal crackers, cheese, raisins, baby goldfish or other crackers, rice cake
Lunch: Yogurt AND veggie (carrots, peas, green beans, avocado), Pasta, or some of what I eat.
Dinner: Usually what we have, protein, starch and veg.
Water all day
8 ounce milk in sippy after dinner
Hope that helps.

Hi L.,
My daughter wasn't completely bottle free til 18-21 months, don't remember exactly, and my son was about 15 months - but they are 13 and 9, bottles were considered okay til age 2 back then.
At a year old, babies should be eating 3 regular meals a day, with a beverage in a cup. Food becomes their primary source of nutrition at a year, as opposed to a supplement which it was previously. My last child ate whatever we ate, just in extremely small pieces since he didn't have many teeth - at 10 months, he would point at our plates and shriek for what we had if we tried to serve "baby food." Separate bottle feeds from meals aren't needed. I would put his milk in a cup with his meals - he doesn't need full meals with water and then 4 bottle feedings. If he still likes his bottle before bed, I don't really think it's a terrible thing, as long as you clean his teeth after.
Good luck with making this transition.

Hi, I have a son who turned a year on the 10th of January. He is not a big eater all the time so we have him on Nestle Good Start2 Which is for infants 9-24 months. I wasn't big on putting him on milk unless its organic. He gets a 8oz bottle when he wakes and goes to sleep and in the middle of the day he gets 5 oz of formula in between all of his meals in a sippy cup. All of his juice and water goes in a sippy cup as well. His eating habits really depend on if he is cutting a tooth.

My son's schedule is awake at 8am .. 8oz bottle or what ever he wants to drink. 9:30am Breakfast 3tbs of Cereal with 1/8 cup of fresh fruit. 1/4 cup of yo baby yogurt and some whole wheat cereal like Kashi Heart to heart. Nap at 11am. He wakes usually 12:30 and eats his lunch at 1:00pm. He will eat 1/2 a grilled cheese or a jar of baby food 3rd stage. He gets juice through out the day or water and around 3:30 he gets some formula in a sippy cup then off to nap at 4:00. He's up at 5:30... juice dinner at 7 and then 8 is bath 8:30 bottle (8oz) then bed.

Hope this helps. I think you are doing fine. Each child transitions differently.

Elizabeth

Hi L.,
My son who just turned 1 is completely on table food and still does a night bottle for comfort. Everything else during the day is sippy cup or with a straw. We started with these things early on to slowly transition him. Using the sippy cup took the longest. At first he only took a few sips then would through it because it wasn't as easy as the bottle. And forget trying to give him milk.formula in the cup in the beginning. That was the wrong cup for that drink!! It took him a while but he got used to the cup and now can and will drink anything from it. So you will just have to transistion your son to it as well. My advise is when switching to whole milk put that in the cup and not a bottle so he doesn't get the taste for it in the bottle. Might be an eaiser way to transition. Also as far as the food thing goes. Slowly introduce finger foods to him. Based on his number of teeth and abilitly to chew. We started with bannanas and other mushy things that didn't really require much chewing/teeth. And then he just took off and only wanted the feed himself food. He did it all himself. Now he's getting picky about what he eats, tells me what he wants and pushes away what he doesn't!!! I'm surprised you little one has lasted so long. Just take your time, transition slow. Like others have said the books are there for advice, they ARE NOT a how to guide. It is your son and your son alone who knows what he is ready for. I stopped looking at my books months ago!! As long as he is developing and growing properly there is no need to read some guide for where "your son should be". Mine is a year old 27 lb. 32" tall has 8 teeth with 2 more coming in and not completely walking on his own yet. Just let them develop on their own!!

We started my older son on a sippy cup around 7 or 8 months with the stopper out (I was nursing, so we never had to do the bottle to cup switch), and by the time I weaned him (at 14 months) he was proficient with a cup.

As for food, he didn't start eating table food (our food) until he was 16 or 17 months old. He still ate baby food - showed no interest in our food at all. Now my younger son was eating table food at around 9 months adjusted (he was 7 weeks early), because he was interested in it. Each kid is different, and if he's interested in table food, he'll eat it. With BOTH boys, they sat at the table with us from day one - first in the infant carrier on the table while we ate, then in the high chair, and as soon as they could handle finger foods they got them on their tray while we ate dinner (even after eating baby food about an hour before). It got them used to being at the table for 30+ minutes every day, and they still do it (now they are 3 1/2 and 6).

HTH