Can't tell if I'm overfeeding my 14 month old

[Tao]

Hello =)

Since she was 6 months old my DD was allergy tested and we were told that she was allergic to all nuts, wheat, milk, shellfish, apples, peaches, and eggs. As a result, we were really slow in introducing her solid foods until we met with a nutritionist when she turned one and we started becoming more aggressive with giving her new foods. I think since she was eating the same foods all the time when she was younger, now that she has more of a variety...she LOVES food.

I cook all her food and have been giving her a variety of veggies, grapes, bananas, watermelon, cherries, turkey, chicken, and rice. I try to give her three main meals with 2-3 snacks in between AND she's still nursing 4 times a day. She was deemed underweight by our pediatrician which is why we started introducing more variety but now she won't stop eating =).

She fusses all the time and tries to either nurse off me or fusses until I go give her some fruit or some veggies. In fact, she can't even swallow the previous piece before asking for the next one! (which I am SURE she got from her daddy, lol). I try to cut the fruit in little pieces so she thinks she is getting more but in actuality it's smaller portions but I'm wondering if this is abnormal for her to be eating so much and all the time. I also don't want to start the trend where we give her food just to stop her from fussing.

The pediatrician says she's still under the weight/growth curve a bit, but she's definitely been gaining weight. I don't want to start bad habits but also don't know if maybe I'm not feeding enough which is why she seems hungry all the time?

Thanks for looking over this!

[~ Vik ~]

I have found with Dylan that he is really good at regulating his own food intake.  Some days he is like you describe your dd:  it just seems like I can't fill him up!  He eats all of the time!  He is 20mo, and has 3 meals, 3 snacks (morning, after nap, before bed), soy milk first thing in the morning and before nap, and bf before bed.  He can pack back the food!  Dylan signs "all done" when he is finished eating and then we clean up.

As long as she is eating nutritious food (and it sounds like she is by what you are describing!) then I really wouldn't worry about it TBH.  Sounds like she is a great eater and she'll be back on the growth curve in no time!

(And as an aside, hats off to you for dealing with all those food allergies!  I get frustrated with the few that we have, and it's nothing compared to you! )

[alohahellokitty]

The nursing more is maybe comfort? Or do you think its hunger? I don't see anything wrong with 4 bfing a day unless you are looking to decrease that. She's at the age where food is her mainstay and bfing is supplemental, and that sounds exactly like what your doing.

TBH my dd was under weight for a long time, then she plumped up, now she's leaning out again. They go through phases, and tbh I think its probably a phase. It sounds like she's hungry right now and you are feeding her very nutritious foods so I would feed her on demand (with in reason). I think her body knows what it needs. If you start to see her really chub out and start to get rather too big for her size, then I would worry.

Now my DD has times when she's starving and times when I just can't get her to eat. These LO's really throw us for a loop sometimes.

[Tao]

Thanks for the two sense. It does make sense that they know what they need. My DD hates to drink any kind of water/juice too so she may think that bfing is her liquid intake. She hates all liquids other than my milk and I've tried a million different sippy cups and she just doesn't like them. I DO only feed her veggies and fruits when she demands, a lot of squash, yams, carrots, spinach and zucchinis. I will just keep giving her these when she asks for food. Thanks for your thoughts!

[alohahellokitty]

Oh Christine, I forgot to tell you DD did this every time she shot up. Right before a growth spurt it would seem as she was packing on the lbs. Then all the sudden she'd shoot up and lean back out. Sometimes it takes a couple months to even out, but it does.

Yes it sounds like bm is what she prefers. Which as long as you are okay with it is more than fine. She's taking in plenty of solids so that's her mainstay and bm is just her liquid. Seems good to me. Whenever you want to wean (which doesn't have to be now or anytime soon, unless that's what you or her are wanting) you could try pumping and giving it in a sippy to get her used to the cup first, then gradually and VERY slowly (as she's a touchy one like my dd) start mixing in milk. But I would put bm in a sippy and get her used to that before you fully wean, that will be more tempting to her and get her used to using her cup.

I can see why she's wanting to bf a lot if she's not getting any liquids anywhere else. That totally makes sense. When she wants to bf you could try offering a sippy of bm and tell her mommy put her bm in here for you. I guess try to make it fun and such. You could try to not offer the sippy for a bit then after a break make it really fun and exciting. I've even resorted to showing dd (when she was younger) how cool sippy cups are by dh and I drinking out of them when we were around her. YES I KNOW THIS WAS INSANE! But it worked and we were desperate. We would laugh and show her how much fun they are. LOL!!!! I know its crazy! But she would NOT take one! I also got one that she could sort of still 'latch' to (ie curl her tongue around the sippy nipple). Its the avent magic soft spout sippy cup. And she drank out of that until she was 2yrs old at which we were successful to change her into a real sippy cup. She just needed the feeling of suckling and not drinking, which is totally fine.

I'm all for bfing as long as possible too. So if a sippy cup is really not even a problem as she's bfing enough to get her hydration, then just forget everything I wrote above and work on it later when you need her to use one.

[brenda2]

make sure you are feeding her enough fat rich foods, not just fruits and veg.  add in avocado, fish (if you can), chicken and meat, cheese, full fat yougurt etc.  fruit and veg don't have many calories and at this age they do eat all the time and need calorie rich foods as well as good fats like in salmon and avocado, olive oil etc.  both my dds ate constantly at this age, i couldn't keep them full.  right now my 12 mo eats more than my almost 3 year old.  it's a phase, you can't really overfeed them.  i do try to keep it to 3 meals and 2 snacks and not a constant grazing thing all day.  but maybe if you increase her calorie intake per meal and snack then she won 't be hungry in between.

for example my 12 mo ate today:
breakfast: 1/2 piece of raisin toast with cream cheese, 1/2 cup of blueberries, 1/2 cup cottage cheese
snack: 1/2 cup strawberries and 2 crackers
lunch: rice, 1 egg yolk, 1 yogurt, 2 baby carrots, blueberries
snack: cheese string, 2 crackers
dinner: 2 pieces of chicken (bite sized), 1/2 an avocado, 1/4 cup orzo, 1/2 nectarine, blueberries

2 cups of milk

she has baby chub but is not overweight - she's on the 50th percentile and she eats a ton.  they go through phases and this toddler phase is an eating one!!

[Tao]

Brenda,

Thanks for sharing your meal schedule. The fat intake is such a good point as they need it for proper brain development. In all honesty, I'm having a hard time picking foods that are rich in good fats that she isn't allergic too. We do do chicken thighs and avacado, although she developed a rash from it the other day. I cook with olive oil but she's allergic to all dairy which cuts out the cheeses. I will try salmon. She is allergic to shellfish but salmon is not shellfish..

Thanks for sharing!

[alohahellokitty]

Once she gets teeth if she's not allergic nuts are a excellent source of healthy fats! But she's quite a way away from having enough teeth for that.

It makes it very hard with her being allergic to dairy. I do a lot of whole fat yogurt, cheese exc... Also when she's a little older all natural peanut butter is a great source of protein and fats. I mix it with local honey and that's great. The local honey helps with any allergies if she suffers. Its also like a antidote to help prevent them as well. But it has to be local from your area or it won't work for the allergies. When its harvested near where you live the bees eat all the pollen and such that's in your local area. Then by eating the local honey it helps build your immunity to those allergens. My sister in law told me about it. DD has terrible allergies and the allergy meds were making her asthma terrible. So I tried it and it works rather well.

[brenda2]

tofu?  i used to mix soft tofu in with veg or fruit for baby food and spoon it in and she didn't even notice.  dd2 won't pick it up and feed it to herself now but she will still take it from me on a spoon.

beans are a favorite here, baked beans from a can or just plain kidney beans.

have you tried the different vegetarian options?  veggie cheese and meats?