How long is it safe (nutritionally) to EBF? (DS2 is 13 mos)

[vanessab23]

I have been searching and searching but not finding much in the way of answers for EBF after one year.

I have read what kellymom said and did an MDC search, but really can't find much.

Any BTDT stories?

Starting at about 9 or 10 mos I would offer DS2 a bit of whatever we were having, but it always ended with him gagging like he had a whole thanksgiving feast in there! (And I even authorized MIL to try with cooked carrots--knowing it would be a waste of time! Poor lady slaved over the boiling pot because I think she was honestly PANICKED that he hadn't had any food at age 9 mos) but he hasn't really wanted anything to do with any of it. Even water, up until 12 mos, and he would gag, sputter and sometimes even lose whatever BM he had in his tummy. Now he asks to drink some from my Nalgene.

Everything I put in front of him at the table gets IMMEDIATELY thrown on the floor. Occasionally (starting at about 12 mos) he will allow me to put a (VERY) small piece of soft bread, fruit, etc. in there or he will hold a cracker/chip and take a little nibble but he makes the most offended face I've ever seen, and usually whines until I take it out. Or gags and cries.

It seems like he *is* SLOWLY progressing towards foods, but I worry. Any chance there is a problem in there? Any chance there is a correlation to the horrific pregnancy I had with him-- couldn't eat more club soda and crackers...vomited for the first 7 mos?

DS1 started trying foods at about 10mos (without much encouragement) and EBF until he quit abruptly at 13 mos.

[alegna]

Remember my kid? Nothing really went in her mouth of her own choice until around 11 months. 13 months was the first time she consumed as much as 2 tablespoons of food total in a day. Her diapers didn't look like those of a toddler until 18 months. She was 2 before they'd shake out in the toilet- if that gives you any indication of how much was and wasn't going in.

She's fine. Finicky eater (just her, my second, parented and nursed the same way, eats like a linebacker) but fine.

She's super muscular but thin still <shrug>

My instinct in general is to follow the kid. The old- it's mom's job to *offer* the food, kid's job to decide what and how much and when to actually eat it.

Fwiw she's 5.5 now and ds is 21 months and there are meals and days where ds eats more than dd

Even more amusing? Despite his hugely increased interest in food compared to his sister, they're growing at a nearly identical rate

-Angela

[scottishmommy]

My pediatrician told me to offer my dd (15 mos) whatever we eat, and if she throws it on the floor it's no big deal. Just keep offering him food and don't make a big fuss about it. As long as he's nursing he's getting enough nutrients and fluids. That's the beauty of extended breastfeeding!

[seashells]

If I could go back and do it again with my DD, I would:

- Relax about the food. I started really worrying around 11 months. At 13 months, DD just started little bites, not anything resembling a "meal," just experimenting. I am sure that in rare, rare instances, something go really go wrong. But if you are eating in front of your kid and sometimes offer a bite (but no pressure or big deal), and they don't want it, the chances that they are starving themselves is probably pretty thin. But, yeah, a mama still worries.

- The other thing is that I wish I had not resorted to offering crap food. We were so worried about her eating we tried all kinds of stuff like boxed macaroni and cheese and breakfast cereal and stuff. Which are fine in moderation, imho, but I never intended those to be the staple of her diet. I wish I had just kept offering (but not pushing) real food, the stuff we eat. Now she's picky and demands pretty much only junk. I just wish I had never even gone down that path. I wish I could tell myself that as long as she's gaining and hitting milestones and happy and so on, then let it be. It wasn't worth pushing the junk food on her in desperation to get her to eat. Not worth it at all, and backfired in terms of her health.

[vanessab23]

Hi angela! yes I totally forgot about savannah! that helps. kisses to the fam!

thanks for all the advice mamas-- we will just keep doing what we're doing.

oh and when i searched in the MDC archives one mama said that "since her son's cord wasn't cut until done pulsing he got enough iron for at least a year"-- i had never heard that so I am off to research. anyone heard of that, even anecdotally?

oh and seashells-- we were similar with DS1...and KRAFT mac and cheese became a favorite! yikes! when did I become that mother?
especially since I had a friend around that time that said "well, even if all she eats is ice cream, at least she's eating"-- i nearly fell off my chair but i was feeding him kraft!!!!!

anyway my point is we have finally turned him around.....i have bought a few books on sneaking veggies into foods and making healthy mac n cheese from scratch...my freezer is now full of butternut squash and cauliflower that I mix with a cheese sauce (also homemade-- when did I become THAT mother?!?!? )

and best of all seashells, my son has become a popsicle addict by my encouragement-- and it has yogurt, fruit AND butternut squash and cauliflower! so my point is it's not too late to make her a fan of healthy "junk food"
check out jessica seinfeld's book deceptively delicious

[Dmitrizmom]

saw this on new posts and thought I'd chime in... ds and dd1 didn't really eat solids until they were pushing a year old. Both are good eaters now and not finicky (mostly).

[seashells]

I do have some good junk for DD We make "banana ice cream" which is basically a smoothie, banana and other fruit, sometimes I sneak a spinach leaf in (only one, the taste doesn't change but boy does she get suspicious about the color!), coconut oil, whatever. Good idea on the winter squash, that's something I still have some left in my freezer from last fall's harvest, some good beta carotene and such.

I also have a rice and bean dish that sometimes I make with beets - makes such pretty pink rice. I make my own pizza from complete scratch but she hates it (Too bad, because that is some GOURMET stuff!). Anyway, I forgot it all but the junk is still her favorite.

DD is also hypotonic, so that added to my worry. As in, she was NOT hitting milestones at age 13 miles. Not walking or even crawling at that point. But, still, she's ok. She's 4 and takes swimming lessons at the Y and this last week started swimming on her own without props, a big deal. She can jog a mile if she's holding my hand. She's fine.