Almost 7 month old with sweet tooth

[Bella89]

Hi, I saw another thread with the same problem. Didn't know it's such a common thing.
I am trying dinner around noon-with no success since it isn't sweet and fruit with rice in the afternoon.
My DS sometimes does not eat until 11. I always offer breast at WU or later but he wont take it. Formula he would have 2-3 oz.
Do you think I should stop giving him fruit or rather start mixing it with meat or veggies? Carrots with apple he will eat.
The other question is, if I should continue with fruit, should I move it to breakfast ( with water after) if he wonts to skip milk? I know some moms rather give babies fruit before noon.
I know my LO is not even 7 months but I am worried I won't know how to introduce veggies until he is like 10 and I would be like "eat your veggies!"

[anna*]

You don't have to give fruit at all! You could do some sweeter vegetables like peas and carrots and squash.

[Bella89]

I know I don't have to, but it's just what my DS accepts right now:/
Carrots he likes, squash not, peas we've not tried yet. I noticed him staring at my sweet potato so I gave him some, but I read it has coffeeine so I'm not a fan in bigger quantities.
I don't know how to introduce more veggies. We cannot do carrots only all the time. It wont help his poo either:/
Do you think he will have more if we drop fruit overall?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Do you mean caffeine? As far as I know sweet potato has none. It was one of my kids fav foods at this age. I did more BLW with my younger two, so we used pureed sweet potato as a sauce on pasta! They for sure liked fruits more than veg but they developed a taste for veg and meat too.

[creations]

Sweet potato is one of the most nutritious vegetables you can offer.
Sweet corn or baby corn is sweet too.
It's quite natural for babies to have a preference for sweeter foods, I would also try out stronger flavours too though as sometimes the bland flavours are just too bland.
Mine liked asparagus and Brussel sprouts which have quite strong flavours.

If your LO has started skipping the morning WU milk in preference for solids (fruits) I think I'd be tempted to reduce solids or move it later in the day to ensure a good milk is taken first.  At only 6-7 months you don't want the milk feeds to be dropping off.

[Bella89]

Oh darn, it logged me out so I am writting it for the secon time:/
Yes, I meant caffeine. That's weird, I was sure I read sweet potato has it. But thats great news!! First thing tomorrow I am going to the store:) thank you ladies so much:)

Actually what is going on is my DS refuses anything in the morning, milk or formula. That was the reason I stopped solids in the morning:/ so this is what we have:

6:30 BF, but he takes none
7:30 2 oz of formula or none, water he will take few sips in between
11:00 5 oz of formula
12-12:30 solids, veggies with meat (rabbit, turkey or fish), takes 1-2 teaspoons or nothing. If he pukes I stop right away. That happened with spinach
3:30 5-6 oz of formula
5 fruit with rice or millet, he eats a lot. Sometimes I worry he eats too much. He drinks water after
6:30-7 BF empties both breasts without a problem
11, 1am, 4am BF

I am a little worried that he BF that much during the night, but it's such a hot summer that I can't refuse him any liquid he needs. My gut tells me that maybe this is a reason he is not hungry in the morning. We're training him with sippy but he still chokes sometimes so I'm still waiting with water at night.
 
So what do you think? Any suggestions?
Thank you all for help.

[creations]

Are the 3 night feeds all full feeds?

[Katet]

I noticed him staring at my sweet potato so I gave him some, but I read it has coffeeine so I'm not a fan in bigger quantities.

I think you mean Beta- Carotene, which is actually Vitamin A &  good thing

Have you ever tasted a tiny bit of breast milk or formula, they are both sweet because lactose is in milk & it is a "sugar" so they are naturally used to "sweetness"

[Bella89]

I noticed him staring at my sweet potato so I gave him some, but I read it has coffeeine so I'm not a fan in bigger quantities.

I think you mean Beta- Carotene, which is actually Vitamin A &  good thing

So I really was thinking of caffeine- thing that keeps me going every day:)! But I obviously misunderstood something.

Are the 3 night feeds all full feeds?

Full feed between 11 and 1am (I used to DF but now I'm waiting for DS to wake up on his own) and 1 more around 4. Today, when it was colder outside, I BF at 11 and 5 for example. The thing is, I am giving formula during the day, so I have less milk during the night. At 11 its ok. But every next feed I have less and less.
Also, in the morning he would not BF, but formula he can take some. Today I waited till 8 and he drunk 5 oz of formula. I hope it's not because it's easier for me to put a bottle in his mouth rather than make him turn towards the breast:/ I don't want to force anything.

[creations]

Are you wanting to drop BF and move to FF or did you want to continue BF?

So are there two feeds 11 pm and 1am or is that 1 feed some time between those times?

[Bella89]

So basically, when it's hot outside I BF him at 7pm, 11pm, 1am, 4am... sometimes it will be even 11,1,2.30,4, 5.30. Every time he will drink a decent amount. Good enough for me to think that he was thirsty. When he is not thirsty he wakes at 11 and 5. That's also a reason I know it's not AP.

We're trying to get pregnant again, but I didn't get my period yet, so I'm limiting BF to get my cycle back.Complicated In the perfect world I would BF again exclusively when pregnant, but that's probably not going to happen. Live is more complicated than that.I decided to wait at least 6 weeks and BF only at night (fr my convenience and because my DS is still handling breast better that the bottle). If that's not going to help then I would probably move to FF in full.That's the plan, but I know how difficult it can get.

[*Ali*]

Have you tried giving him finger foods like green beans or asparagus to self-feed?

Or puree up some veg and mix it in ever increasing amounts with the fruit and rice.

I think he is definitely not so hungry in the AM because he is eating so much at night. It sounds like he may be reverse cycling to get the BFs in at night because he is still getting used to having the bottles in the day.

[Bella89]

Hmm such a smart kid. He is trying to take me by deceit:)

 I noticed that ready to eat meals for kids in little jars that I'm buying have more flavor and he starts to like them. I don't know what to think of these though. If I have organic veg or fruit I would cook, but I dont know which is better, cooking regular produce or giving him jars.

Anyhow, do you think I should work on limiting BF at night or give him some time to get use to the situation?

Thanks

[*Ali*]

Home cooked foods usually have more nutrients and you CN vary the texture and expose baby to more tastes of family foods. Jars tend to have a lot of sugar and not a lot of nutrients. They are ok for occasional use for convenience but the UK recs are to limit their use.

It's up to you what to do about the breast feeds. If you want to keep breastfeeding at all then you probably don't want to cut them much more. I'd give him time to settle into the new routine.

[Bella89]

Thank you!

You probably are right. I noticed he eats a little more, so that makes me want to cook more too. I need to buy conteiners for the freezer. They have these small ones you can fit really small portions.

Today he woke up 7 times I think. I fed him 3 times out of that 7. He went to bed at 8.30 pm and woke up 5.30. That's pretty rough:/ dont know whats going on, but he started crawling, so maybe that's it.

Also, what finger foods would you suggest? He doesn't sit yet, so I feed him on my lap. He eats well with his plastik book in his hands. Do you think it distracts him too much? I kńow Tracy suggests not to mix play and eating time.