Need help with feeding bottle & solids for 12 month old.

[Tortie]

Hello

My son turns 1 next week and I need some help with feedings. He was still taking a 9oz bottle every 4 hours up until a few weeks ago. He is on Elecare (a prescription formula) for severe eczema as Dr thinks he is allergic to milk proteins.

Is it possible for someone to post a feeding routine for a 12 month old? My son woke through the night last night twice and took full bottles (2am and 5am). He usually wakes for a bottle every night though.

He is good with his solids usually eating weetbix/toast/fruit for breakfast, fruit for lunch and then whatever we have for dinner. Keeping in mind he also has bottles throughout the day. These are diminishing slowly though. Sometime he wont take his lunch or bedtime bottle.

I am really interested in how to start to feed him properly now though because I am not sure if night wakings for food should still be occurring? He is above average in weight, being 12.5kgs. Can a feeding and nap routine for a 12 month old be posted to give me a clue on timings etc?  I would really be appreciative.

[Buntybear]

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67569.0

I don't know about formula but that does sound A LOT! We breast fed and at 12 months we were down to just the first and last feeds. I had replaced the 2 days time feeds with food/snacks. I dropped the mornign feed at 13 months and the BT feed at 14 months. He had sippy cup of oat mik instead.

Not sure if there is a growth spurt at 12 months? They can do funny things at birthdays and half birthdays so there could well be.

Could you may post your feeding routine now?

[Tortie]

Hi Liz

thanks for your reply. Today was a weird one because my son had a bottle at 5.30am and then slept until 8.30am so his feeding routine was a bit out.

It went like this.

1.00am 9oz bottle
5.30am 9oz bottle
sleep

8.30am wake
9.30am 9oz bottle
10.30am toast with avocado

1.30pm sleep (I kept him up without a morning nap because he slept late)
3.00pm wake
3.30pm 9oz bottle
5.00pm dinner (spaghetti bolognaise with carrots and iron fortified rice cereal)
6.00pm bath
7.00pm 9oz bottle
sleep

11.00pm 9oz bottle
So that 6 bottles in 22 hours plus solids!!!

[Tortie]

I forgot to mention, he usually has lunch (fruits) but today was a not the norm due to his sleep pattern last night.

[Buntybear]

That is 54ozs!!

I think Olly was on 3 meals and 2 snacks by that age. I would def be looking at reducing bottles and upping solids now. Maybe a bottle on waking and breakfast an hour later, then a small snack before lunch? Lunch should be a carb, protein, veg mix by now.

Guess he isn't normally having night feeds now?

[Buntybear]

Here is an idea of what your LO should be eating, just to give you ideas, not that you should be cooking all that every day!!

http://www.annabelkarmel.com/nutrition/meal-planners/babies-12-months

They need a lot as they are busy little things and need the energy!

Fairly sure they should be on 3 carb and 2 protein portions a day.

[Shiv52]

I agree with pp.  I would be looking at cutting down that formula intake.  At 8-12 months 20-24oz is the recommended maximum and drops after 1 again.  

Mine were both on 3 meals plus 2 snacks  at that age.  Her food intake would have been something like:

Wake up and BF
Breakfast:  Cereal and fruit puree, toast, fruit pieces
Snack:  Breadsticks/crackers and cheese dip, raisins
Lunch:  Beef casserole, bread, yogurt, fruit
Snack:  Pancake, biscuit
Dinner:  Spag bol, brocolli, garlic bread

And then sometimes porridge before bed.

So if your LO only had toast with avocado and then spag bol and rice cereal yesterday, it really isn't a lot of solids for his age so I think upping the solids gradually and reducing the milk will help.  I also think you should cut that 1am bottle.  If he took 9oz at 11pm he should be able to go at least 5-6 hours, probably to morning.  

How does he fall asleep for naps and bedtime?  

[Tortie]

Thanks for all of your advice ladies.

His naps are great. He goes down without fuss twice a day for 2 hour and half sleeps. Bedtime is usually 7-7.30pm.

I went to a dermatologist pediatrician yesterday due to his eczema and was advised to continue with his prescription formula as the primary source of food until we can eradicate his eczema completely. I am then to introduce solids, keeping a food diary and will have him patch tested again so as to determine the source. The Elecare he is on is a 3 course meal in a bottle so he is not being deprived of nutrition. The Ped actually said he is most likely waking from being itchy and is probably not hungry but most bubs will take a bottle if they are offered it in the night so lets hope with the decrease in his eczema, there will be a decrease in his night wakings.

Once he is cleared I will go back to feeding solids. That should be in the next 7 days. Its a hard one when you have a baby that has allergies and you dont know what is causing it. Trying to start a solids regime can be heartbreaking when you see their skin blistering and bubbling away :-(

[Buntybear]

Oh yes, I understand that xx

If you want any support come over to the food allergies board. There aren't many mums at the same stage as you now but there will always be support and there are lots of threads from mums who have BTDT when introducing new foods xx

[Jimbob]

I can totally understand your situation as my ds has severe eczema and food allergies. My son was put on neocate at 10 months due to testing positive to dairy ( I had already suspected a dairy allergy) amongst other foods. We were told to carry on weaning though which was extremely difficult as most foods seemed to flare his eczema. My ds developed a severe food aversion and survived on neocate and raisins at around 2 years of age. James became frightened of food, his consultant at the time said this was due to the amount of allergic reactions he had experienced. This was a long process and it is only the last year or so that James has started enjoying food and he is 7.

I really hope that going elecare only helps your ds's skin to improve. It could take more than severe days though as it can take a while for all other foods to be out of your lo's system completely. It is also possible that there is things in the environment that are also causing your ds's skin to flare. To be honest whilst your ds's skin is bad if the formula helps settle him during the night then I would not worry about it too much. I was told when my ds was little that a lot of calories get used up by the body trying to constantly repair the skin and to let him have extra formula if he wanted it.

Kelly x

[Tortie]

Thanks Ladies, I really appreciate your support. Since this thread was started James is now only 2-3 bottle of formula in a 24 hour period. Thats a huge step considering he was taking in 6!! Our Dermatologist has been working with us in terms of managing his eczema so I am just giving him whatever he wants and he is eating like a little trooper :-). When he breaks out, I know what to do at this stage until we find out the cause. I will pop over to the food allergies board later.

Thanks again for your support. It really helps.