18 mo DD, not so much into food, Nurses constantly

[Lucia's mama]

Hey
My lovely 18 mo.DD has seemed to wean herself from solids, slowly. When she was 12 mo.old,she was down to 2-3 nurses a day, and a good deal of food . Now she will nibble here and there, but is back up to nursing every couple hours. If I am not around, she eats really good with DH. Its like she knows that's it.

Background:

We are doing gentle night weaning, where I latch her off before she falls to sleep, but still gets a good nurse in. She wakes to nurse 3-4 times a night.

We have already addressed allergies,and have eliminated milk and wheat from both of our diets.

She is a good height and weight, and healthy.

She is not teething, or not as it appears as it has before.

She is overall really into mom, in arms often.

So, from the other momma's out there: Have you experienced this before, did they "grow" out of it, or did you become more directed around introducing solids again? Do you think it was developmental, or is there something else that I could be more sensitive to?

I am ok with it, but would love some perspective.

Thanks

[Rico'sAlice]

DS was like that at 18mo, and honestly still is at 32mo- although he is eating greater quantities when he does eat. If I'm gone or we're out all day (I stopped nursing at activities at ~18mo) he'll eat plenty, but if we are stuck in the house alone together he nurses every hour or two and just picks at what I eat.
I don't have any advice, exactly. It's not something that I think is bad. I just make sure that the food he does eat is nutritionally dense. On days that I feel like nursing less he will eat more if I'm more proactive about offering food before he's *really* hungry and before he's tired or grumpy.

[sparrowheart]

I don't have much advice to offer but can tell you I am having the same issues with my DS. He eats a lot less than he used to and nurses very often, especially when we are home alone.

It is not necessarily problematic, although it can be exhausting at times. I am glad to know I am not alone and that others have the same issue at this age.

[mston]

We're in the same boat here!
LOTS of nursing, increased pickiness in food, healthy kid.
I've been glad that she's getting bm, because her food intake has dropped a fair bit from what it was a few months ago.
basically saying the same as sparrowheart: "I am glad to know I am not alone and that others have the same issue at this age."

[BunniMummi]

DS2 didn't really get interested in "real food" until after 2. Then there was a period where he would occasionally eat pretty well but then nothing but nursing for days. It just slowly picked up and he stopped nursing by about 2.5. Both my kids were late teethers (as was I) so I would say don't worry so long as things seem on track in other areas and it's obvious that she can physically eat when she wants to.

[almadianna]

They sounds pretty normal to me honestly, kids get into food at different ages... and that is ok.

[claddaghmom]

Sounds normal, and hey, it could be worse!

DD grazes on solids all day, eats tons of solids with us at each meal, and nurses constantly.

Seriously, take a look at yesterday:

sliced apple
banana
orange

pizza
cheesy noodles
lettuce
tomato

2 teething biscuits
half a bean burrito
rice
green and red peppers
onions (she's weird in that she loves onions, even raw!)

handful of kashi cereal


And then just insert nursing before, during and after....

You lucked out!

[Lucia's mama]

I figure it is all in the range of normal. I am trying to find nutritious foods that she likes, and leaving them out on snack trays.

Otherwise, I think the season is likely influencing this, less outdoor play .

When it was warmer we would often be outside during most of the day, and I would just pop food into her mouth here and there.

I wonder how things will change once it warms up again.

[claddaghmom]

Originally Posted by Lucia's mama

I figure it is all in the range of normal. I am trying to find nutritious foods that she likes, and leaving them out on snack trays.

Otherwise, I think the season is likely influencing this, less outdoor play .

When it was warmer we would often be outside during most of the day, and I would just pop food into her mouth here and there.

I wonder how things will change once it warms up again.

Oh I figure then that this is b/c DD is a couch potato...so when it gets warm outside she'll run around and forget to eat.

When you say pop food into her mouth I imagine her running around and you tossing bits here and there at the park.

[Aufilia]

DD had a phase like that, though it was earlier for her. She was down to like 5 or 6 sessions per day at 12 months, then from about 14-16mo or so she nursed like a newborn again, every 2 hours when I was around. She was also fine eating food if I wasn't. By 18 months she was down to 5 or 6 sessions a day, again and eating 3 solids meals a day.

For her, I think it was a separation anxiety thing, but she was really, really "into" me in general at that age. She'd also just learned to sign "nurse" and then, a few weeks later, to say "nurse". I called it her 'baby communication power trip'.

[Geist]

Same thing here. My almost 18 month old seems to through cycles of refusing to eat. These last about a week and then he slowly starts eating again, then he stops. I think it's related to teething. I counted that I nurse him at least 12 times a day, not counting nights since he's nightweened. A friend loaned me a book called "My Child Won't Eat" that helped relieve a lot of my fears regarding his solid strikes and I highly recommend it.

[tmwmommy]

My almost 18 month old is just now getting to the point where she eats a lot of solids. She is still probably getting more breast milk than solids or maybe 50-50.