Turning 1 this week and holds out for bottles

[MommyN]

Hi,

DS2 turns one Thursday !

Our problem is that he absolutely loves his bottles and consequently does not eat enough solids. He eats a little and then throws his food on the floor and says "noooo" if I try to feed him more. An hour later he will cry inconsolably for a bottle. I tried to give him less formula per bottle feed so that he should eat more, but he would not eat more and then was a crying, hungry mess. I am nervous to switch him to cows milk if he does not get enough nutrition from food.

He is used to a small bottle when he wakes, two 6 oz bottles during the day and a 6 oz bottle before bed.
Ideally for now I'd like him to have a 4 oz when he wakes and after nap and a 6 oz before bed.

Please advise! Thanks!!

[Shiv52]

I think you know the answer lovely. You just have to cut back the milk. Having over 20oz of milk at this age is definitely going to be stopping him from being hungry enough to eat. I think to be honest you'll just need to presevere. Set a limit of 2 weeks with cutting back then Re evaluate. I let the morning bottle continue and cut those day bottles down to a few oz. 

I'm assuming formula is more calorific than cows milk so switching during the day may actually help a bit?  I'm not totally sure on that though.

Hugs xx

[Buntybear]

Hi, we breast fed but by 12 months old he was just down to morning and evening milk feeds (we dropped the last day feed at 12 months).

I agree with Shiv that you need to be strong! Make fun food for him and get him interested. try lots of different tastes and textures, he is sure to like some of them!

[creations]

Agree with pps, be strong.  Perhaps remind yourself of the benefits of solid foods and self feeding, not just the variety of nutrients and vitamins in solid meals but also hand eye coordination, fine motor skill, language development, social development (happy family meals together, I am totally into coming together as a family for meal times to be together, share our news etc)...

Other things which may help - finger foods and family meals, stop trying to feed him and let him self feed, look at E times, if he is too hungry he will really want milk because he can chug it down quickly to fill his tummy a change of timings may help or beginning the meal with a small milk drink may help so he can start off with something in his tummy and then work on the solids, starting the meal with something sweet may also help to get his appetite going a piece of sweet fresh fruit or a few sultanas as an appetizer perhaps?

[MommyN]

Thanks all! Sorry for the late response, we've all been unwell.

Okay, so I think I wasn't so clear. I know that I need to cut down on the bottles. I tried for a few days and he practically starved himself. He was a hungry crying mess. My question was more on how I can do this gradually without all the hunger and crying. Or is that just not possible??
He likes to eat and he self feeds (The only thing I feed him is yogurt). He just stops himself too early when he is obviously still hungry and then cries for a bottle a little later.

While he was ill he was basically all bottles. Today I started to limit again.

[creations]

Been thinking about this on and off all day.
Do you serve water with the solids meal to make sure he is not thirsty?
Have you tried offering dairy solids rather than the bottle?  So when he cries for the bottle of milk an hour after a meal how about offering a snack of cheese?

Did you try a small milk drink just before the solids meal?

What's his routine now?

[MommyN]

Thanks Creations! Sorry again about the late response. I've got a sinus infection and have bee avoiding screens...

He gets water in a sippy cup with meals.

The past few days I've given him some cheese when he starts to whine about an hour after breakfast. He ate some but still wasn't happy. Since Sunday I've given him a 4 oz when he wakes up, a 4 oz before nap (he doesn't fall asleep on it, but it relaxes him) and a 6 oz before bed. He ate a little more breakfast than usual this morning, so I'm hoping that's a sign we're getting somewhere.

I didn't try giving him a small milk drink before meals, but I did notice that if he misses his morning bottle he's too hungry to eat breakfast properly. How would I give that to him? He hasn't gotten the hang of using a straw yet and I wouldn't want milk in a sippy.

His routine is a bit messy because we are in the 2-1. He absolutely refuses a second nap and we've been in an OT/UT cycle. We're getting closer to:
6/6:30 wake up - 4 oz bottle
7:30/8 breakfast- Usually yogurt, fruit and some cereal
9:30 snack of cheese (sometimes some pita or ww crackers as well)
10:45 4 oz bottle
11-1 nap (sometimes longer, we're working on it...)
1:30 lunch (generally avocado, bread with pb/cream cheese or pasta, more furit)
4:30/5 dinner (chicken or eggs, some form of carb, veggies if he will eat)
6 6 oz bottle and BT (sometimes earlier or later depending on nap)

He'll sometimes have a small snack somewhere between lunch and dinner. If he's hungry and we're home I'll just give him his dinner earlier.
We get lots of NWs and some EWs.

[creations]

Since Sunday I've given him a 4 oz when he wakes up, a 4 oz before nap (he doesn't fall asleep on it, but it relaxes him) and a 6 oz before bed.

Well this sounds like the goal you wanted to reach so perhaps you're happy with it??

I wonder if you'd have more success with giving a higher protein/fat breakfast?  Egg for instance?  It could help him feel more satisfied and possibly less eager to get to the next bottle of milk.  Often LOs will take on more calories in the morning and early afternoon hours and less in the later afternoon and evening so a big breakfast of egg and perhaps lunch of meat/beans in addition or as a change for the nut butter lunch might help his overall intake of calories.  When mine took barely any protein I had advice to introduce it at breakfast instead of his cereal, worked a charm!  He wasn't the slightest bit bothered that I had suddenly changed his (very routine) cereal to omelet and just ate the whole thing, I knew then he was set up well for the day having had a good portion of fat/protein and I could continue to offer others at lunch and dinner but it didn't matter so much if he took some of not.

I would probably always offer a snack between lunch and dinner. I know there isn't a lot of time in there but he may well be more willing to eat earlier, some LOs take very little at dinner.

How would I give that to him? He hasn't gotten the hang of using a straw yet and I wouldn't want milk in a sippy.

Why do you not want to give milk in a sippy cup?
It wouldn't take very long to teach him to drink from a straw.  If you dip one end of the straw into the milk/water and cover the other end with your finger a little will be trapped in the straw, keep your finger over the end and put the other end to LO's mouth, when it's in release your finger. It just gives the idea that the straw delivers drink.  You can also encourage him to have a go and demonstrate how you use it. For a couple of days I drank my tea with a straw so DS could see what I was doing, LOs so love to copy Mummy
FWIW I used the fat bendy disposable straws popped into a drinks bottle, I did try a proper straw cup but felt the straw never cleaned fully, the disposable straws I rinsed out and saved for the crafts cupboard, we still use them for crafts now.

[MommyN]

Hi. I know I've been quiet, but I have been trying your suggestions.

I know it sounds as if I've reached my goal in terms of bottles, but he's practically starving himself and cries all day!! This is my angel baby... Very unlike him to be so unhappy. He is not unwell- I had him checked on Monday. I do suspect teething, and I medicate when I feel it's necessary. He had a 1/2 hr NW at 3 last night and I am 99% certain that it was from hunger. He ate very little dinner and didn't even finished his BT bottle, only drank around 2 oz.

Is it okay to give an egg every day? Do I not need to be concerned about too much cholesterol?

I don't like to put anything other than water in a sippy cup because they are hard to clean properly.

I think he understands that drink comes from the straw. He watches DS1 drink and always wants his cup, but gets very very frustrated that he can't do it. I know he'll get it eventually... I did not yet try your tip about dipping one end in etc., but plan on it.

I am near losing it. He literally cries ALL DAY and screams "Nooo" when I give him food! Between that and DS1's daily tantrums (sometimes up to 5!!), we are not doing well at all.

[creations]

Really sorry to hear things are not happy there.

I really wouldn't expect a 1yo to wake from hunger, there are a dozen or more other reasons their sleep may be disturbed but hunger is not one I would bet on (not unless a LO had been very ill and was still in a phase of recuperation and needing to make up for lost calories from their period of illness).
We always have sleep disturbance around the birthday which lasts several weeks, do you think it could be this?  His mood in the day too could be down to developmental leaps at this birthday mile stone.  We get the behaviour/mood every birthday and half birthday.

Is it okay to give an egg every day? Do I not need to be concerned about too much cholesterol?

Unless there is an egg allergy/intolerance in the family or for LO then it's fine. Eggs are 'good fat' or 'good cholesterol' and are no longer considered to be something which needs to be limited to one or two per week.
LOs also need more fats than most adults which is why they have full fat milk and cheese etc and lower/reduced fat foods are not recommended for 1yos.

I've never had a problem cleaning the sippy cups myself, I get them into hot hot water and use a small bottle brush but I know what you mean, my mum once 'washed' some sippy cups and I saw the sippy holes clogged with stale milk where they had just had a quick dunk rather than a scrub.  It's ok to put them in the steriliser you know, along with the bottles.

Have you tried some different foods at breakfast (even if not eggs)?  Have you tried bringing meal times earlier?
Do you feel you have a good grasp of portion size for toddlers, I'm just wondering if he's just not hungry and you trying to get him to eat is frustrating him??  There was a marked drop in appetite when mine turned 1yo, I probably had a thread about it too!  It's quite common.

I'll  keep having a think xx

[Katet]

He had a 1/2 hr NW at 3 last night and I am 99% certain that it was from hunger. He ate very little dinner and didn't even finished his BT bottle, only drank around 2 oz.

 As the PP said by 1yo you really are looking at the food intake over a few days, so the night waking may be from thirst, but hunger is less likely, it is normal at that age to have more hungry days than others & really it is about calorie intake over a week rather than a day.

Also as the PP said Eggs aren't considered a problem anymore & TBH lots of the information on Cholesterol is actually slowly being proven wrong - sugar is a much bigger evil & it's more the combination of sugar with cholesterol that needs to be looked at rather than just cholesterol & an egg a day is a great way to actually reduce sugars in the diet (milk has sugars in it, which can be why toddlers hang out for it)

The other thing is when you say he calms before his nap with a bottle, is it a bit of a comfort thing? he enjoys the sucking, because maybe putting some water in a bottle might help reduce his milk intake but give him some of the comfort