picky eater

[legend_018]

My 11 1/2 month old LO has either gone on strike or is very picky. It is still frustrating sometimes especially since lately it seems worse. Some say it's because she gets a bottle in the middle of the night. She isn't doing this every night now. Although I know not consistent. For example she slept from 7:30pm until 6am this morning. Was starved for  a bottle so I gave her an 8 oz bottle at around 6:15am. Now I do the food(s) before bottles except the first one usually. So I tried feeding her at 8am and than again at 9/9:15am. She's going to be going down for a nap around 10am and I'll have to give her the 2nd bottle. She will hopefully sleep for a good hr 1/2 to 2 hours and won't be able to wait from 6:15am until 12 for her 2nd bottle. Plus it will probably turn into her not going to sleep and eventually crying in her crib for that 2nd bottle. It's like a viscous cycle. Although I have had some luck with scrambled eggs this week, this morning I tried pineapple, mandarin orange pieces, and cheerios. I have to admit, some of it was new as I was out of some stuff I regularly give her. She had some cheerios. I also tried some baby cereal/cinnamon mixture she had "some" last week MANY times today. I wasn't forcing it, but let's just say I had to coax a little just to get a measly few spoonsfuls in. I sat her on my lap, tried while she was sitting on the floor as well as her booster seat. I gave her a banana to try. Finally I gave her some pieces of some pita bread, which she finally actually looked like she was eating and enjoying. Stuck a bunch of pieces in her mouth "lol". Even when she is eating well and we are having our "good" days, her grandparents don't think she eats like she should be. It makes it seem like it will be IMPOSSIBLE to get her off bottles. She loves her bottles. She has 4 a day. Sometimes 5 if she has a bottle in the middle of the night. Anywhere from 5-8 oz each bottle. When she's not eating and than eventually cries and whines for a bottle I eventually have to give in. I can't just sit her in her chair and try to force her to eat all day. I actually had a list of foods goign that she seems ok with. Lately, the list has gone wayyyy down. Some of you might know...she took a total absense of any kind of foods except bottles from 7 months of age until 9 1/2 months of age. It's just so frustrating sometimes. I really try all different things, different times, before bottles, after bottles ect. ect.

[legend_018]

Just wanted to mention that at 9:50am I gave her the 2nd bottle. I put 7 oz in it. she pulled my arm to her mouth before I even had a chance to and after she drank an oz..I pulled it away because I had to reach for something and she wasn't too happy. She than guzzled the entire 7 oz bottle. OF COURSE. but between 9 and 9:30am I had her sitting down and was desparately trying to get her to eat something. She did eat some pita bread pieces as I mentioned.

[andibig]

Mary
i going to have to say it but those btls are affecting her appetite for solids.i appreciate that you can't force her to eat but i think she doesn't need to bother with solids if shes going to get a bottle.

[legend_018]

She's on 4 bottles a day and there are lots of babies on 4 bottles a day at her age or close to it also on 4 bottles  a day and they still eat. She didn't do that great at lunch time but I lucked out and she had a bunch of spoonfuls of little tiny pasta pieces from a pregresso soup I opened and she has liked before. she used to love peas, but lately she wont eat them.

She has bottle when she wakes up say 6am, than another average 10am. than 3rd bottle is average 2pm and than last bottle close to bed time. thats every 4 hours. she's suppose to eat breakfast, lunch, and supper inbetween. it's very hard to just not give her the first bottle of the day and definetely hard not to give her the 2nd bottle of the day as that will interrupt and prolong her going down for a nap. but I guess I could try to work on weening the 3rd bottle of the day perhaps. the 4th bottle is the one before bed. she has had all these 4 bottles and still has eating OK enuf. just this week, she's being really extra picky

[andibig]

i know some babies her age may still be on 4 btls.sasha was still on 3 btls until she was 13-14 months-but she ate plenty of solids.what i'm trying to say is they can get to a certain point when the amt of milk they get seriously affects their appetites for solids.
anyways saying that LOs will go through very picky stages.sasha does this too.loves mac cheese 1 day next day big no no.
is it possible shes got some teeth on the move at all?
is it pos to see her routine as it stands now??

[legend_018]

Last night, was sleeping by 7:30pm. slept until 6am. I have to admit, 1/2 the week she does wake up anywhere between 1am and 4am begging for a bottle. than:

6:15am bottle
tried breakfast at 8am and 9:15am
10am bottle

nap from 10:15am until 12:45pm. Usually naps are about 2 hours and can be 10-12, 11-1, 9:30-11:30. Sometimes it only ends up being an hour and half. Sometimes I get her to take a cat nap in the afternoon, but she rarely takes a 2nd nap now.

lunch at 1pm. she had a few turkey dices. i think that was about it.
bottle at 2:30/2:45pm.

supper at 4:45am. didn't do tooo bad
will give bottle probably 6:00/6:30ish.

She's pretty much been doing pretty good at night. Since the time change, her nap has moved up a little while is good because now she's not up from 11am until 6:30/7:30 at night.

I want to say that is the average. Not that long ago, i had a problem with her wanting bottles every 2 1/2 hours. I couldn't believe it.  I try snacks sometimes too.

She wakes anywhere from 5am to 7am and goes to bed usually between 6:30 and 7:30.
she is pretty much an independent sleeper meaning I put her to bed and she plays, whines, crys a little until she falls asleep. sometimes I do have to go in and help her.

I try to give her breakfast, lunch and supper Every day.

is that what you were looking for?

[legend_018]

I forgot to mention, i did finally get her to eat some small pieces of some tyson chicken strips that i cooked up for lunch. I was also out of american cheese but she always has at least 1/2 of a slice to close to slice of american cheese everyday. sometimes that's ALL she has for lunch. the chicken was my last attempt at getting her to eat something at lunch time.

[andibig]

yep-just wanted see how near the btls were to mealtimes!!

i would try and cut down either the 10am or the 2.30 btl since lnchtime and dinner seems to be quite good times for her to eat solids.sasha was never a big breakfast eater until she got older.even now she may only have yoghurt and fruit for brekkie.

something you could try is offering a selection at each meal.by that i mean put a selection of things in front of her.maybe she'd like a bit more choice.

i'd also try and move that nap a bit later now since shes only on one.sometimes if sasha is too tired she just won't eat.

[andibig]

Mary
not sure if this will help you but this was sashas routine at 11.5 months onwards.its b4 she dropped down to 1 nap.



6-6.30 wake-milk 5oz
8am-breakfast
9.30 until 10.30-nap
12.00-lunch (maybe snack b4 then) with juice
1.00-btl-3-4oz
2-3.30-nap
5.00 dinner (again maybe snack b4) with juice
6.30-bath
7.00 btl usually about 6oz
7.15-sleep

she dropped the 1pm btl at around 13 months and would have a snack and a later lunch time until she dropped to 1 nap.

[taygensmom]

It sounds like her milk intake is really affecting her solids. I know you had mentioned that many LO are still on 4 bottles per day at her age, and that is fine if it is not affecting their solid intake, but in this case it seems like it is...Your LO is almost 12 months, as which point she should only really need 16 to 18 oz. milk per day.

I agree with the pp to slowly phase out some of the milk. I know it's hard with the naps, etc... because you don't want it to affect her sleep...

I would also suggest "consolidating" some of her milk/solid feeds so that they are closer together, so that there is at least 3 hours between each "meal" where she is not getting solids or milk. This should boost her appetite and make her more likely to eat the solids. If she is getting solids or milk to frequently (i.e. every 2-2 1/2 hrs) instead of every 3-4 hours, she may not be that motivated to eat solids. Also, perhaps introducing breakfast before the bottle in the morning will help (or giving only a portion of the bottle, then breakfast, then the rest of the bottle). I would personally offer her the solids and keep at it for about 30 minutes before offering the bottle (if she refused respect that but wait for that 30 min to offer the bottle. Just keep re-offering the food if she appears hungry). If you want to keep the 4 bottles a day maybe you could decrease the amounts in each bottle. This may be less likely to affect her naps/sleep. Here is a sample "routine" that may work for you:
6:15 - 6:30 - Breakfast
7:00 - Bottle (4 oz)
10:00 - Bottle (5 oz)
1:00 - Lunch
1:30 - Bottle (4 oz)
5:30 - Supper
6:00 - Bottle (6 oz)

HTH and let us know how it goes!

[legend_018]

Great, I will give these tips a try and let you know how it goes.

[Mom to M&M]

I agree 4 big bottles at her age is way too much. At her age my doctor highly recommends only 18-20 ounces milk/day. Maybe cut them to 4 5 ounce bottles and see if that helps?

[legend_018]

It's hard to start a new schedule in the middle of the day so I might have to start tomorrow. I might also have to stick with the four 5 oz bottles to start. She's used to between 6 and 8oz and sometimes the last bottle of the day can be as much as 10/11 oz before bed.  today so far:

6:40am - I think it was an 8 oz bottle. She did also have a bottle at 2am. She doesn't do this everynight
8:15am ish. did have some scrambled eggs. The only thing i can get her to eat lately in the morning
9:30 ish - 6 1/2 oz bottle
nap
between 12:30 and 1pm I tried some lunch. No go.
I plan on trying lunch again at around 1:20/1:30 and see what happens. than bottle.

she is a little clingy today and has been whining a little over the course of the last 15 minutes or so...might mean she wants her bottle. But I'm going to try lunch one more time.  She's playing right now or I should say she's practicing her new walking skills "lol".

we also had a woops during nap time. I dropped something that made a BIG bang and i cut her nap in 1/2. I might have to try to get a 2nd nap or a cat nap in later on. darn it.

[legend_018]

yikes here's a little example of her just DYING for a bottle. I tried lunch again at 1:30 and she was practically crying in her seat. Woudn't budge at all. than I let her down for a 2nd time. than she was very whiny and had this consistent whine that was sort of a cry and i knew it was going to get worse. She was really acting unhappy. It was time to give a bottle if she wanted one anyways. she sucked back a 6oz bottle. when I had it in my hands and was about to put it to her mouth, she practically pulled my hands near her mouth in desparation for it. mannn!!!!!!!

[taygensmom]

The first 3-4 days will probably be rough...for both of you! But it's kind of like introducing a baby to a bottle when she's used to brestfeeding...if you persevere it will get better, and soon she will be looking at food to fill her up instead of milk!!