Should I move breakfast eariler?

[scucci1979]

My lo is 13 months old and I believe she will be on one nap by next month.  At the moment she has her milk upon waking around 7:15am and breakfast around 9am.  I can't make anything quickly for breakfast as she wants to eat right away.
It seems to be working for her at the moment, as she eats quite a bit for this meal.  This is the only meal where she seems interested.
Her first nap is around 11:20am and I would normally give her a light snack before this nap if she didn't have a large breakfast.  Since this nap is gradually moving later, I am not sure if I should try to move breakfast earlier and give her a full lunch or split lunch before this nap.

Advice/Suggestions please?

[~ Vik ~]

Hi again

this is D's feeding routine on one nap, FWIW, but he's not a big breakfast eater:
7am wake and bf
8am snack on the way to daycare (cheerios/puffs)
9am breakfast at daycare (fruit/toast/cereal)
1130am lunch (full hot meal with fruit for dessert)
12-2/3 nap
bottle of ebm and snack (fruit/crackers/rice cake/bread) upon waking
430pm arrowroot cookie or puffs on the way home from daycare (just to tide him over)
530pm supper (light meal, but I try to include protein/starch/veg and fruit for dessert)
bf before bed
 
Wow, when I write that out it looks like he's eating all the time!!
hth!

[KathrynK]

I split Alex's lunch so he kind of has 2 big snacks, one either side of his nap (11.45 till 2pm usually)
I did this with Sophie when she first went to 1 nap too and it works well for us.

[scucci1979]

That is very helpful! I am going to try a full lunch first but if she doesn't eat it then i will try 2 big snacks.  I am a little confused on what to serve when splitting lunch.  At the moment, i offer her sandwiches, veggies, pasta, bread, cheese and crackers, potatoes, squash, soups for lunch. TBH, she really only eats bread, fish crackers, pasta, corn, carrots, green beans or the occasional pizza.
Any suggestions?

[~ Vik ~]

I'm lucky in that the daycare makes full hot meals at lunch time - things like spaghetti, stews, meatloaf, quiche, etc. and always with veggies and fruit or applesauce for dessert.  They even make allocations for D's milk allergy whenever possible!

I try my best to do the same when he's at home so his routine stays consistent.  When I make things I try to do a few portions at once (like stew or shepherd's pie) and freeze them for future lunches.  One thing that I have found that ds LOVES are meals from Beechnut.  I buy them at Loblaws, and there are several different varieties.  They all have protein/starch/veggies and heat up in about 30 seconds, and they are quite nutritious!  No fillers or artificial anything.  Gerber makes them too, but they all have milk in them so we haven't tried them.  When I was on mat leave I tried to make everything from scratch (especially when avoiding dairy, it's just easier that way), but now that I'm back to work those have saved my bacon a few times

Another thing that ds really likes is deli meat - chicken, turkey, and ham.  I slices up into manageable pieces and he just goes to town!  Another idea I got from Martina was to make vegetable soup then strain off the broth - the veggies are nice and soft and perfect sizes to pick up!  (then you can have the broth lol!)  If she likes pasta you can also experiment with different sauces.  I use jarred baby food sometimes - squash and applesauce mixed together with a little bit of nutmeg makes a nice sauce, and so does sweet potato!  I also do different types of pasta (spaghetti, penne, elbow, and bows) so even though D has pasta pretty much every day it's different each time.

hth!