Argh! 14 mo only wants BM

[Penny4Them]

Ds is now 14 months and hardly eats any table food anymore. A couple months ago he ate way more food than now. At our family dinner table, he cries unless I hold and nurse him. I often try to hide behind DH who tries to give him table food w/o him seeing me. It's pathetic.

Right now all he eats each day is 1/16 of a blueberry bagel with butter. Maybe 3 tbsp homemade yogurt (sometimes I can sneak smooshed fruit in), maybe a tbsp of hummus, and maybe a few Cheerios, and nurses like 7 times a day. He cried today when he saw me eating potato chips and I didn't share. (I felt so mean.)

I am trying to trust my baby, but I'm concerned. We've mostly done BLW with big chunks of food, but he did enjoy pureed baby foods ... but now, no more. I keep offering fruit pieces but he's not interested. Is there something else I should be doing? Should I not nurse him at dinner? Is it better to feed baby before the rest of family sits down? Thanks for any assurance or advice you can offer.

[alegna]

That's probably more than dd ate at that age. A good chunk of their nutrition should still be breastmilk at that age. I'd say at least half (since really most of their nutrition should be breastmilk until a year...)

It's frustrating when they want to nurse all the time, but it's still the good stuff!

-Angela

[crunchy_mommy]

My 18mo probably eats about the same amount in a day. It's not really something I worry about, since he nurses plenty. If he wasn't nursing OR eating table food, then I'd be concerned.

Also if you did 'mostly BLW' (though I'm not sure how pureed food works in with that), then you can't really compare what he eats to what non-BLW toddlers eat... which IME will almost always be significantly more.

[Penny4Them]

Thanks for the posts. This is the first time I've nursed past 1 year, so I'm not quite sure what to expect. My Dds were BF til 10 mos then we went on formula (I shudder!) and then cow's milk. This is really new territory for me.

DS did BLW plus some purees b/c we are benefactors from WIC baby foods, so I guess I should say we mostly BLW.

Do you mamas nurse first at family dinnertime, or try to offer table food first. I'm just trying to make EVERYONE happy at dinner, incl'ing DH who would prefer I wean. I want my baby to determine when it's time to wean, not me or my hubby.

When does it become crucial for babies to eat more table food than BM? Will it just naturally happen?

[crunchy_mommy]

I believe it will just happen naturally. In the absence of any medical issues, I think you are safe to just keep doing what you're doing. We view nursing & table-eating as completely distinct things -- so sometimes DS nurses at the table. Sometimes he eats at the table. Sometimes he nurses before or after dinner. There's really no relation for us -- if he asks to nurse, he nurses (though now at 18mos sometimes I ask DH to give him food/drink because he was nursing 20 times a day and I sometimes just need a break for my sanity!)

I don't think there's any age at which table food becomes more important than BM. They take what they need & can regulate their own appetite & somehow they know what foods they need. Now if you had nursing issues, or extremely low weight, or other medical problems, BM may be more important than food or vice versa.

[spmamma]

DD suddenly got very picky at that age... molars, perhaps? I suppose I'll never know. But at the time she was mostly subsisting on BM and I figured she was getting all she needed.

[Peony]

DS is 15m, I nurse him before we sit down to eat. That way he is happy and he will play with the food I put on his tray, some might even make it into his mouth.

[Cuau]

My 14 mo is exactly the same, and I also hide behind DH.

She loves one thing one day and the next day wants nothing to do with it. Some days she has not much interest in nursing, other day she is only nursing.

I'm still making milk, so if my body is making milk and dd is hungry for it, go for it. I don't want to be engorged. Somehow when I refuse (by refuse I mean hide ) to nurse I get engorged prety easily, maybe dd knows better than me.

[batsister]

You've gotten some good replies. My son is almost 13 months, and while generally has a healthy appetite for solids (he still nurses quite a bit, too), this seems to vary day-to-day. Also, he has started to get a lot more picky than he had been, so things he previously loved he will now eat only some days or barely eat now. Given that, it might help to offer different/additional foods to your son and to keep offering what he has refuses as well, in case his preferences have changed. Good luck!