Tell Me About Your One Year Old's Eating Schedule and Menus

[LilacMama]

My 1 year old is super picky and only likes to feed herself. Really, what she prefers is to nurse all day every day but for my own sanity, I will be redirecting that desire to solid food and water over the next two weeks.

My idea so far is to nurse her first thing in the AM, Before Nap, and Before Bed. Always in the same spot (love seat in her room), so that she recognizes the pattern of it. I have a feeling there will be a lot of tears (hers...then mine) when I won't nurse her upon request. Hopefully she'll figure out the new schedule and accept quickly.

Here's what I was thinking

7:30 Wake-up/Nurse
8:30 Breakfast
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Nurse and Nap
3:00 Wake-up from Nap/Snack
6:00 Dinner
8:00 Nurse/Bedtime

Does that sound age appropriate? I realize that there is a broad spectrum of "normal" for this age, but I want to be sure that I'm not setting her up for failure.

I would LOVE ideas for foods that you feed regularly to your one year olds. She has enjoyed stewed tomatoes, peppers, pieces of chicken, yogurt, and today she ate some egg yolk (which I am thrilled about). She just eats about 2 teaspoons at a time most meals. Will she starve?

[Baby_Cakes]

What scares me with this "plan" is that it just doesn't account for what she might need. Will you still nurse her if she falls and gets hurt and needs to nurse? What if she's just having a rough day and needs to nurse between her nap and dinnertime? Or even more often than that?

Have you been nursing on demand for a year and now you just want some more structure to it? Or are you trying to wean?

[LilacMama]

I would nurse her more if she was hurt or sick. No more than that. I'm not trying to wean her. I'm trying to get "myself" back a little bit -- not be the human paci/lovey anymore because I really can't stand it. I have been nursing on demand for a year. I've reached my personal limit with it.


I would wean her tomorrow except that I want her to be healthy and weaning her cold-turkey would be traumatic for her. Basically, I'm trying to meet both of our needs, so it requires some compromise from both of us too.

[annekh23]

If she is only eating 2tsps of solid food at each meal, then even over 3 meals and snack, solids are barely contributing anything to her diet, so 3 nursings doesn't sound like enough to me. You don't say how many you are doing now, so I think the transition needs to be more gradual, with an increase in the volume of solids consumed, if you jump right into that schedule I think you are at risk of not giving her enough food.

[LionTigerBear]

I would simply offer her solid food before nearly every nursing. Works really well with most babies and is very gentle. This is what I do with my toddlers when I start to reach my limit.

[LilacMama]

Originally Posted by annekh23

If she is only eating 2tsps of solid food at each meal, then even over 3 meals and snack, solids are barely contributing anything to her diet, so 3 nursings doesn't sound like enough to me. You don't say how many you are doing now, so I think the transition needs to be more gradual, with an increase in the volume of solids consumed, if you jump right into that schedule I think you are at risk of not giving her enough food.

I expect her to eat more solids because she will be more hungry.

I am literally hiding in my bedroom with the door closed right now while my husband watches her because I can't stand to be around her. She's driving me insane. She does nothing but make the "milk" sign and whine all day to nurse. I kept trying to offer her food but she didn't want that. She just wanted to have access to my boobs all day long so she can do little "drive-by" nursing sessions every five minutes. This is REALLY hurting our relationship. I can't just play with her anymore.

[Shanny2032]

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. I don't have any magic bullets but like others have said I think you need to be more gradual in the reduction of nursing and introduction of more solids. DD turned 1 on the first so I thought I would break down her typical day for you to compare. She is a peanut and nurses whenever she wants which is typically every 3-4 hours during the day and I have no idea how much at night since I sleep through most of it, but lets just say she latches every few hours but I am not sure how much she gets since she goes back to sleep pretty fast except once or twice. As far as what to feed her - dd has always self fed and I really can't offer her anything on a spoon etc which is just fine with me. She eats everything and I am hoping it stays this way. I think you need to put food in front of her that is healthy and a good variety and she will eat what she wants. Limiting her choices to the food she "likes" is setting her up to be a picky eater forever IMO. Just some examples - dd eats lunch meat and cooked meats - ham, chicken, pork turkey, fish, all fruits and vegetables. She is not very big into carbs - rice, pasta, potatoes, breads but does eat some. One of her favorite things right now is eating an apple. I just peel the skin and she eats the whole thing. I usually have to take it away as she starts to eat the core. She tried edamame for the first time today and loved it. For the record when she is sick there are always at least a couple of days where she has almost no interest in table food and nurses more (but nothing extreme like your LO likes to). Anyway, here is a "typical" day but nothing is set in stone and I nurse her any time she is hurt, fussy or shows interest in addition to the usual times. Good luck I hope you find a routine that works for both of you.

Her last "night time" nurse is usually 6-7 am and she goes back to sleep for a bit
Breakfast - usually a banana and some cheerios around 9 am
Nurse around 10am before nap
Lunch around noon - fruit, meat and veggie
Nurse around 2 before nap
4 pm snack and/or nurse after nap - apple other fruit or cheese
6pm dinner - fruit, meat veggie
always nurses before bed around 9

Her meals are pretty small but because of the unlimited nursings I don't worry about how much she gets, she just eats until she is full.

OK - I just re read that and felt like I was being vague about foods and I know you are looking for real suggestions so here are some of the things DD eats on a regular basis:
scrambled eggs,
raspberries
blueberries
apple
pear
grapes (cut up of course)
peas
green beans
carrots
apple sauce
sweet potatoes
tomatoes (also cut up small)
pancakes
waffles
melon

[justKate]

Originally Posted by LilacMama

I would LOVE ideas for foods that you feed regularly to your one year olds. She has enjoyed stewed tomatoes, peppers, pieces of chicken, yogurt, and today she ate some egg yolk (which I am thrilled about). She just eats about 2 teaspoons at a time most meals. Will she starve?

How about just giving her what you eat? That way you don't have to make anything special. Scrambled eggs, cereal, and any sort of meat are a big hit with DD.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by LilacMama

She's driving me insane. She does nothing but make the "milk" sign and whine all day to nurse. I kept trying to offer her food but she didn't want that. She just wanted to have access to my boobs all day long so she can do little "drive-by" nursing sessions every five minutes.

This is not normal and it's a sign that their are digestive issues going on-- some kind of deficiency, allergy, leaky gut kind of thing-- all of which go together. Is their any other symptom? Such as . . . spots of dry skin or little bumps on her skin, or trouble falling asleep/light sleeping, increased wakefulness/restlessness, regression of any kind, chapped skin/lips, diaper rash, cradle cap, white spots on her tongue or other yeast issues, lowered immune system, moodiness . . .

What I would do about it-- fix your diet, and hers, cut out all sugar and refined grains for now (or starting right after Christmas maybe ) do a yeast diet and perhaps take supplements to fix a possible yeast problem, look for allergens such as wheat or dairy (isolate these foods and take note of reactions) supplement yourself with a good prenatal if you aren't already, and extra zinc, and read about digestive issues (lots of info out there). (P.S. I recommend starting in our very own MDC Health and Healing forum!)

If it is what I think it is, then she REALLY needs that extra nutritional boost and immune support boost of nursing right now. That's part of why she wants to nurse all the time. The breastmilk is so healing for her. Now YOU need extra boosts of healing for your own system.

Why am I pretty sure that this is what's going on? Because 1.) this kind of yeast/leaky gut/digestive issue/zinc deficiency is SUPER common, and 2.) because the relationship you described with her wanting to do almost nothing but nurse and you feeling icked out by it is not normal and I believe it has a physiological, not emotional basis.

P.P.S. Also cut out any other refined foods such as refined rice (baby) cereal.

[alegna]

I think it's very normal for a 1 yr old to nurse all day. All breastfed toddlers I know at that age make up a good portion of their calories from breastmilk.

My ds is 18 mo old and eats a LOT of food and still nurses quite a bit more than you plan to allow.

-Angela

[LadyCatherine185]

If you are planning to cut back nursing that much, I would supplement with goat's milk or formula of some kind.

[crunchy_mommy]

I won't comment on reducing breastfeeding...

but as far as foods to feed her, my DS (almost 11mos) enjoys:

roasted veggies (carrots, potatoes, onions, turnips, squash, etc... I just chop 'em all up, toss with olive oil & spices, and roast for an hour or 2)

pitas with hummus or very thin layer of peanut butter

chili (when we don't mind the mess he makes lol) or any soup... we mostly scoop out the solids to give him, or give him something to dip in the liquid

raw fruits & veggies (bananas, pears, peaches, super thin slices of apple, oranges with the seeds removed, cucumbers with the peel & seeds removed, avocado slices, tomato slices, etc.)

gingerbread cookies (haha not so healthy but he loves them!)

strips of veggie burgers

Trader Joe's cheerios

spaghetti/pasta (he likes brown rice, whole wheat or rice or corn pasta, quinoa)

baked polenta slices

Really he will eat just about anything I eat... but like your DD he isn't eating TONS of solids yet...

[fruitfulmomma]

If you are planning to cut back nursing that much, I would supplement with goat's milk or formula of some kind.

Obviously you need to change things if they are not working for you, but a one year old usually isn't ready to be getting most of their calories from solids. That is why as babies are being taken off of formula they are transitioned on to whole milk.

My youngest dd turned 1 about two weeks ago and currently she has two longer nursing sessions during the day before naps plus snacks when she wants and nursing to go to bed at night. She also nurses a lot during the night.

For solids she eats anything off my plate that she can chew. She eats maybe 2-3tbsp. per meal depending on what it is.

[mombh]

I agree that if you are cutting back so drastically on the nursing you will probably have to supplement with millk, goats milk, coconut milk or something for the extra calories, she is still very young to be relying soley on solids.

It is not unusual for a one year old to want to nurse a lot. typically they are teething, learning new skills, starting to walk, realize they are seperate from us etc; so nursing is their one grounding comfort. She also may be reacting to feeling rejected by you and therefore all she knows to do to connect is to want to nurse.
I once tried to wean a 2 year old a little faster than she was ready for and she just became more clingy and wanted to nurse more.....till I realized what was happening and slowed down and relaxed a bit and then she eased up too
Remember to give her lots of cuddling and attention to help ease her through this. Maybe getting outside the house more, wearing her for closeness and comfort etc;

[sonrisa8]

i just started offering my dd something i knew she liked to snack on everytime she asked to nurse when we were in that phase. she liked whole organic cow's milk, so sometimes she could get into that idea. she's 21 months, but we've been letting her snack like this since she was just over a year, and i just started offering more actively in place of nursing when i wanted to start slowing things down. (obviously i carefully and incrementally added the potentially allergenic things, and her ability to chew various things has increased over time).

i have hypoglycemia, so i am a grazer, and i let her be, too. we do have regular mealtimes where we sit down together, but i also make lots of quick, easy snack-y things available to her whenever she feels she needs a pit-stop.

i keep most of it in the bottom of the fridge within her eye-line and she lets me know when she wants to open the fridge and pick something out.

here are some of our staples:

grains
quinoa or brown rice
ezekiel tortillas
oat cakes
brown rice or spelt cakes
ak-mak
ezekiel cereal with milk
oatmeal (usually with fruit and a little milk & honey)

(she loves any of these topped with a little almond butter - calcum and protein and fats, yay!)

protein
whole organic milk
plain unsweetened yogurt (mixed with fruit or ezekiel cereal, honey, etc.)
babybel or organic mozza sticks
any kind of canned beans
the above mentioned almond butter
sometimes she'll get down with a boiled or scramby egg
she can chew pecans, yay!
a little organic chicken (i just get thighs, freeze them individually, and periodically boil one up in broth to keep handy for snacks).
occasional org. grass fed beef (if we have leftovers or whatev.)

veggies
i keep bags of frozen, organic veggies on hand, and just defrost them in a bowl with very hot water for a quick, nutritious snack. things like-

broccoli
cauliflower
green peas
lima beans
carrots
green beans
asparagus spears
chunks of butternut squash
sweet potatoes

she also digs these fresh veg-
grape tomatoes
celery every once in a while
fresh or blanched slices of red pepper

and last but not least - her absolute fave ...
fruit!

grapes (pre washed and snipped into bunches she can grab)
blueberries
strawberries
tiny pears
fingerling bananas
mandarin oranges (she just learned how to peel a cutie!)
frozen defrosted mango chunks
pineapple chunks (just a few or her tongue gets raw- ouch!)
kiwi
apples
peaches
plums

all manner of unsulphured dried fruit -
pears
figs
mango
apple rings
raisins
pineapple
flattened or freeze dried 'nanas from trader joe's

and another huuuuuuuuuuuuuge staple: lära bars!!!!
(just fruit and nuts, i only get the ones with almonds since she's not allergic - no preservatives, nothing else - super easy on the go and she loves them).

hope this list is of some help!

[sonrisa8]

also wanted to mention that i found it took a few tries to get her to enjoy cow's milk - she used to just spit it out (it was hilarious!!!).

they say if you just keep offering, sometimes they will eventually start to dig something they didn't previously.

it's also been my experience that my little one will eat more solids if i redirect her from nursing. i have always done baby led feeding, and just like i had faith that she knew what she needed when we were primarily nursing, i try to let her relationship with solids also be intuitive. i have firm faith that if i offer her plenty of healthy choices, and let her direct when and how much, that she most certainly will not starve!

the one thing i do have to do is regularly offer her water, because sometimes she doesn't seem to realize when she is thirsty. if she says no, no biggie, but sometimes i offer and she hasn't asked, and she gulps it down!


hope this helps!

m