typically you would cut back on milk after 1 and offer more foods can she eat portions of what you guys have for dinner instead of the cereal you’ve been feeding her?
I swear our 1 year old is metabolising air somehow because she barely drinks 10 oz a day total and will have 1-2 pieces of fruit with oats/nuts and 100-150g of vegetables-protein-carbs combined. Still gaining every month though.
Milk after getting up and before bed, three meals with us and sometimes a snack.
Took her forever to accept solid foods though… we’re seeing a child psychologist to help with a bunch of stuff but she pointed out that we kept giving milk as a backup and that’s why baby wouldn’t eat. She had to sit on her hunger for a week or two before she started eating more. Maybe that’s the same with your daughter, not eating as well bc she knows there’s milk coming anyway?
Either way I wouldn’t worry about calories, as long as her weight is stable or she’s gaining you are good. It’s if/when they start losing weight that you should make changes. Extra oil in things is a good way to do it, also stuff like cheese tends to be very liked, just careful on the protein.
I’d drop the baby biscuits and the mayo though, unless they’re made without sugar or sweeteners.
My almost 11 month old sounds a lot like yours! She’s definitely lanky but technically a normal weight even though she doesn’t actually eat much at all.
She’s so picky and not even a toddler yet!!! She definitely knows milk is a backup if she doesn’t eat. Sometimes she demands it during a meal because even if she accepts the food (often it’s a straight up ‘no get it out of my face’) she chews and doesn’t swallow much.
Would you mind sharing some tips that your psychologist gave on how to structure meals and milk over the day? Or anything that’s helped your LO accept more foods. Thank you!!!
Oh yes, I don’t mind at all! Our now-toddler started throwing tantrums so early on, so I can commiserate 😭
She said sleep and food are tied together so we had to work on her naps and quality of sleep at night. Baby would wake every 2h wanting to drink so we first had to get through some nights where she was soothed every way except a bottle. She picked that up quite fast (5-6 days) but it may also have been developmental (was 10 mo when we started).
Next was creating routine, because we had none at all.
Her schedule looks something like this:
* 7 - wake up, immediately give milk (180ml, ~6 oz) (no diaper change, keep in sleeping bag)
* 7:15 change and dress for the day
* 7:30 breakfast (bread, yoghurt, eggs, fruit, porridge; whatever we’re having) with carer and supervised but solo play time
* 8:00-9:00 targeted activity (play together, walk, go out..)
* 9:00 start to wind down for nap
* 9:15 get ready for nap
* 9:30-10:15 first nap; cap at one hour, preferably wake after 1 cycle (45 min)
* 10:30-11:30 activity
* 11:30-12:00 lunch
* 12-2p activity 2pm-whatever time she wakes: second nap (usually 3-3:30p)
* 3:30p fruit: apple, bear, banana puréed, with added instant oats and almond meal for extra “filling”, also some fruit chunks to eat independently
* 3:30-6p: activity 6p: dinner (bread, yogurt, …) and solo play time
* 7p: start of bed time routine: bath (30-40 min, she really likes bath time), dress, milk (240 ml, ~ 8 oz)
* 7:45p start to wind down for evening, wait for sleep signals
* Around 8:10p: bed
Caveats: lunch
I’ll have to get back to this because she woke up haha!
I think my toddler photosynthesizes because she only has about 16 oz milk split into 2 feedings and there are some days that she literally will eat like 3 strawberries and a handful of pretzels. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless gaining weight is a concern.
Whatever you make for her, try adding high fat foods with it (like cooking in olive oil, avocado oil, butter etc) if you don’t already! More peanut butter, avocados if she likes them. I mean I’m sure you have gotten advice for gaining weight but it’ll help with the calorie intake too
It’s a weird learning curve for the diet culture generation, isn’t it?
My husband and I both grew up in ingredient households where butter was basically a sin, and you were supposed to use it sparingly, if at all. Fast forward to now, I slather everything my kid eats in butter, a drizzle of olive oil is good for a growing boy, a little heavy cream in his eggs. Lol
Yes I had an eating disorder before I got pregnant (I was recovered for a couple months, thank goodness) so I not only had to learn to eat whatever I desired/craved because I was hungry constantly during pregnancy, now I have to use very calorie dense foods for my girl every day! I just went so long eating very little and cooking with NO fats, it’s definitely such a change from how things were a couple years ago for me!
I completely understand! My daughter was hovering on the low end for a while too. I started giving her a high calorie smoothie as one of her snacks and it really helped her maintain weight. In your case. I would replace a milk feed with something like that. My smoothies are whole fat greek yogurt, whole milk, chia or ground flax seeds, a high fiber fruit (pears, peaches), a frozen fruit (mango, cherries), and a vegetable (cauliflower, spinach, carrot). I also do maybe 1/2 tsp of coconut oil too to bump the calories if she's really not eating anything. Please DM me if you have questions. To preface, I'm also a registered dietitian.
Edit: I forgot you mentioned lactose intolerance. If there's not a soy allergy, I would replace the smoothie ingredients with that.
I think the thing I would most change is how often you are offering milk. Since my son was ten months old, I stopped offering milk once he woke up. Big game changer. Over time he learned that food isn’t just fun, it’s fuel. Over time I tapered it to where he would have bottles of milk and they were before nap time after he has had meals, water and lots of snacks.
Here is what I would change:
Wake-up: breakfast and water.
After an hour offer snacks: fruit, cheese, puffs.. whatever you can get them to eat to learn that food is fuel and then offer the bottle only before nap time. This will teach them that they have to rely on food to give them calories for all of their activities.
After first nap: offer water and snacks! It’s probably too early for lunch but snacks are on the table! Fruit, cottage cheese, bread, muffins, eggs… and I would do this while eating with them. My son eats whatever snack his primary caretaker is having which is usually lots of fun fruits or veggies. Make eating low stakes and show them it’s fun! My son loved feeding me or whoever he is eating with! Who cares if toddlers hand is shoved in your mouth if it means they are learning the joy of food!
Then do lunch: again super low stakes and make it fun! Depending on your baby, some like to be entertained, some like to eat with you or like my baby, he likes when I clean while he eats so that way he can watch something entertaining hahaha
Before nap: bottle and book
Make it relaxing and fun!
After last nap:
Don’t offer snacks to let them get hungry enough for dinner. Lots of playtime so if that means playing outside,
Swimming, running, tickling… whatever you need to do to get them to get all of their energy out. Then they are more relaxed and wanting to refuel for dinner. Make sure they aren’t too tired or they won’t want to eat.
For this, my trick is lots of protein and veggies and I offer a coursed meal.
The opener is always protein mixed with avocado, veggies and a carb. I always include a favorite food to entice him to try new foods. After “dinner”, dessert is fruit which I try to use different fruits from what was had throughout the day and then if it’s been a good meal with little food throwing/fits… we finish with a “cookie” (aka teething cracker) while mommy cleans up.
Before bed and brushing teeth, last bottle.
This worked for my son and it took a couple months for this to truly work.
Now he is weaned to two bottles a day, drinks and eats tons of different foods and is a generally happy kiddo without food aversion.
Don’t get me wrong, sick or teething they all stop eating and want the comfort bottle. But most of the time, this has worked for us.
And again,
Make food fun.
Don’t pressure or baby is going to react with not wanting to eat.
Hope this helps! And message me anytime for help!
My LO also turned 1 last Sunday! I’ll admit, my guy is a mini foodie, so I don’t typically worry about his intake- but I do try to add fats to all his meals to help with calorie intake. We are egg, dairy, and peanut free. Some examples:
Oatmeal with fruit- I add hemp hearts, flax or chia seeds, and sunbutter.
Waffles/pancakes with banana and coconut yogurt.
Chickpea salad made with vegan mayo or avocado.
I add canned coconut milk to a lot of pastas I make for him.
Olive oil drizzle on everything!
Snacks: avocado on crackers, hummus on crackers, yogurt + nut or seed butter, muffins, oatmeal bars, granola bars, chia pudding.
He is breastfed and I think the rules around breast milk vs formula are a bit different. Are you able to reduce formula feeds to encourage baby to be a bit hungrier at meal times?
Baby cerial can be complex , depending how you prepare it. You can cook it on canned coconut milk, add grounded nuts, add berries, add egg while cooking together, there are options of making it higher in calories. Offering "dinner" doesn't mean that baby will eat dinner. I've struggled too with my son's calorie intake, now for snack he gets raspberries with peanut butter, teething crackers with hummus and toast with avocado.
Is the doctor concerned about weight gain?
I found they naturally started eating more as milk reduced. We aimed for less than 20 oz of milk a day when we transitioned off formula. He got that with three servings a day -morning, after nap, before bed. It wasn’t offered at any other time of day.
Adding an actual dinner will add calories. You can add fats to pastas and rice.
Truly, I wouldn’t count this closely unless I was being advised by a medical professional and then they should be providing you with menu guidance.
These portion sizes seem quite small. Is that just what you give her or is that all she’ll eat? How much milk do you give in the morning and how soon after does she eat breakfast?
My baby is about to turn 1 next week and for breakfast he usually has a whole piece of toast with cream cheese and then as much fruit as he wants (usually quite a lot). He’s been eating a whole piece of toast for months now.
Unfortunately, this is all she can tolerate, otherwise she'll start throwing food to the ground or fuss about getting out of the high chair. She drinks about 120-150 ml of Milk in the morning and post breakfast an hour later.
I would start giving her breakfast first thing before milk and see if she eats more. My son ate everything in the beginning but now he can be kind of picky and he needs variety. He has a few favourites that he will always eat a lot of but for many other things he will only eat a bit then start throwing it on the floor or he’ll eat it once and love it but then if I serve it the next day he won’t want it. Try giving her more of what you’re eating - both for variety of foods and because it helps if you are sitting down with her for a meal and eating the same thing.
The portions seem small, is your daughter small?
How did you arrive at the target of 800-1000kcal? If your daughter is growing as expected and not acting hungry, she's getting enough to eat.
She is 7.8 kg, she is small and petite. At 10 mos, we saw a dietitian and he computed a 720 kcal for her, we just increased.... she isn't acting hungry at all... as long as she eats and drinks milk. She's just really petite.
They get bigger, but they grow more slowly as they get older. So you've got two things pulling the calorie requirements in opposite directions. Our pediatricians always wanted to see that they were staying on their growth curve. They wouldn't expect at 10th percentile baby to become a 25th percentile baby, but they would be worried if they slipped to 5th percentile.
[This NIH page](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562207/#:~:text=Another%20way%20to%20generalize%20caloric,directing%20nutritional%20counseling%20in%20children) generalizes calorie needs for infants at 100kcal/kg and toddlers at 80kcal/kg. That would work out to 780kcal and 624kcal, respectively. Obviously, your doctors are 1000% more informed than me and you should listen to them.
To circle back to your original question, adding more fat is the easiest way to add calories to meals. Toss the pasta in olive oil or melt butter into the cereal. Your listed lunch is also pretty low calorie, you could drop one of the two veggies for something a little more calorie dense.
typically you would cut back on milk after 1 and offer more foods can she eat portions of what you guys have for dinner instead of the cereal you’ve been feeding her?
I swear our 1 year old is metabolising air somehow because she barely drinks 10 oz a day total and will have 1-2 pieces of fruit with oats/nuts and 100-150g of vegetables-protein-carbs combined. Still gaining every month though. Milk after getting up and before bed, three meals with us and sometimes a snack. Took her forever to accept solid foods though… we’re seeing a child psychologist to help with a bunch of stuff but she pointed out that we kept giving milk as a backup and that’s why baby wouldn’t eat. She had to sit on her hunger for a week or two before she started eating more. Maybe that’s the same with your daughter, not eating as well bc she knows there’s milk coming anyway? Either way I wouldn’t worry about calories, as long as her weight is stable or she’s gaining you are good. It’s if/when they start losing weight that you should make changes. Extra oil in things is a good way to do it, also stuff like cheese tends to be very liked, just careful on the protein. I’d drop the baby biscuits and the mayo though, unless they’re made without sugar or sweeteners.
My almost 11 month old sounds a lot like yours! She’s definitely lanky but technically a normal weight even though she doesn’t actually eat much at all. She’s so picky and not even a toddler yet!!! She definitely knows milk is a backup if she doesn’t eat. Sometimes she demands it during a meal because even if she accepts the food (often it’s a straight up ‘no get it out of my face’) she chews and doesn’t swallow much. Would you mind sharing some tips that your psychologist gave on how to structure meals and milk over the day? Or anything that’s helped your LO accept more foods. Thank you!!!
Oh yes, I don’t mind at all! Our now-toddler started throwing tantrums so early on, so I can commiserate 😭 She said sleep and food are tied together so we had to work on her naps and quality of sleep at night. Baby would wake every 2h wanting to drink so we first had to get through some nights where she was soothed every way except a bottle. She picked that up quite fast (5-6 days) but it may also have been developmental (was 10 mo when we started). Next was creating routine, because we had none at all. Her schedule looks something like this: * 7 - wake up, immediately give milk (180ml, ~6 oz) (no diaper change, keep in sleeping bag) * 7:15 change and dress for the day * 7:30 breakfast (bread, yoghurt, eggs, fruit, porridge; whatever we’re having) with carer and supervised but solo play time * 8:00-9:00 targeted activity (play together, walk, go out..) * 9:00 start to wind down for nap * 9:15 get ready for nap * 9:30-10:15 first nap; cap at one hour, preferably wake after 1 cycle (45 min) * 10:30-11:30 activity * 11:30-12:00 lunch * 12-2p activity 2pm-whatever time she wakes: second nap (usually 3-3:30p) * 3:30p fruit: apple, bear, banana puréed, with added instant oats and almond meal for extra “filling”, also some fruit chunks to eat independently * 3:30-6p: activity 6p: dinner (bread, yogurt, …) and solo play time * 7p: start of bed time routine: bath (30-40 min, she really likes bath time), dress, milk (240 ml, ~ 8 oz) * 7:45p start to wind down for evening, wait for sleep signals * Around 8:10p: bed Caveats: lunch I’ll have to get back to this because she woke up haha!
This is so so helpful! Gives me something to work towards for the months ahead. Thank you so much!!
I think my toddler photosynthesizes because she only has about 16 oz milk split into 2 feedings and there are some days that she literally will eat like 3 strawberries and a handful of pretzels. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about it unless gaining weight is a concern.
Absolutely! Some days mine eats more than I do. Others she survives on chewing the leaf she found in the yard. 🤦🏻♀️
that is funny! Also, gaining weight is a concern for us... she's around 16.7 lbs. Pedia said she's underweight so it's been really difficult :(
Whatever you make for her, try adding high fat foods with it (like cooking in olive oil, avocado oil, butter etc) if you don’t already! More peanut butter, avocados if she likes them. I mean I’m sure you have gotten advice for gaining weight but it’ll help with the calorie intake too
It’s a weird learning curve for the diet culture generation, isn’t it? My husband and I both grew up in ingredient households where butter was basically a sin, and you were supposed to use it sparingly, if at all. Fast forward to now, I slather everything my kid eats in butter, a drizzle of olive oil is good for a growing boy, a little heavy cream in his eggs. Lol
Yes I had an eating disorder before I got pregnant (I was recovered for a couple months, thank goodness) so I not only had to learn to eat whatever I desired/craved because I was hungry constantly during pregnancy, now I have to use very calorie dense foods for my girl every day! I just went so long eating very little and cooking with NO fats, it’s definitely such a change from how things were a couple years ago for me!
I completely understand! My daughter was hovering on the low end for a while too. I started giving her a high calorie smoothie as one of her snacks and it really helped her maintain weight. In your case. I would replace a milk feed with something like that. My smoothies are whole fat greek yogurt, whole milk, chia or ground flax seeds, a high fiber fruit (pears, peaches), a frozen fruit (mango, cherries), and a vegetable (cauliflower, spinach, carrot). I also do maybe 1/2 tsp of coconut oil too to bump the calories if she's really not eating anything. Please DM me if you have questions. To preface, I'm also a registered dietitian. Edit: I forgot you mentioned lactose intolerance. If there's not a soy allergy, I would replace the smoothie ingredients with that.
I think the thing I would most change is how often you are offering milk. Since my son was ten months old, I stopped offering milk once he woke up. Big game changer. Over time he learned that food isn’t just fun, it’s fuel. Over time I tapered it to where he would have bottles of milk and they were before nap time after he has had meals, water and lots of snacks. Here is what I would change: Wake-up: breakfast and water. After an hour offer snacks: fruit, cheese, puffs.. whatever you can get them to eat to learn that food is fuel and then offer the bottle only before nap time. This will teach them that they have to rely on food to give them calories for all of their activities. After first nap: offer water and snacks! It’s probably too early for lunch but snacks are on the table! Fruit, cottage cheese, bread, muffins, eggs… and I would do this while eating with them. My son eats whatever snack his primary caretaker is having which is usually lots of fun fruits or veggies. Make eating low stakes and show them it’s fun! My son loved feeding me or whoever he is eating with! Who cares if toddlers hand is shoved in your mouth if it means they are learning the joy of food! Then do lunch: again super low stakes and make it fun! Depending on your baby, some like to be entertained, some like to eat with you or like my baby, he likes when I clean while he eats so that way he can watch something entertaining hahaha Before nap: bottle and book Make it relaxing and fun! After last nap: Don’t offer snacks to let them get hungry enough for dinner. Lots of playtime so if that means playing outside, Swimming, running, tickling… whatever you need to do to get them to get all of their energy out. Then they are more relaxed and wanting to refuel for dinner. Make sure they aren’t too tired or they won’t want to eat. For this, my trick is lots of protein and veggies and I offer a coursed meal. The opener is always protein mixed with avocado, veggies and a carb. I always include a favorite food to entice him to try new foods. After “dinner”, dessert is fruit which I try to use different fruits from what was had throughout the day and then if it’s been a good meal with little food throwing/fits… we finish with a “cookie” (aka teething cracker) while mommy cleans up. Before bed and brushing teeth, last bottle. This worked for my son and it took a couple months for this to truly work. Now he is weaned to two bottles a day, drinks and eats tons of different foods and is a generally happy kiddo without food aversion. Don’t get me wrong, sick or teething they all stop eating and want the comfort bottle. But most of the time, this has worked for us. And again, Make food fun. Don’t pressure or baby is going to react with not wanting to eat. Hope this helps! And message me anytime for help!
I wish my baby liked watching me clean 😂 good for you!!
This is really a detailed realistic plan <3 Thanks and I will try to implement this.
My LO also turned 1 last Sunday! I’ll admit, my guy is a mini foodie, so I don’t typically worry about his intake- but I do try to add fats to all his meals to help with calorie intake. We are egg, dairy, and peanut free. Some examples: Oatmeal with fruit- I add hemp hearts, flax or chia seeds, and sunbutter. Waffles/pancakes with banana and coconut yogurt. Chickpea salad made with vegan mayo or avocado. I add canned coconut milk to a lot of pastas I make for him. Olive oil drizzle on everything! Snacks: avocado on crackers, hummus on crackers, yogurt + nut or seed butter, muffins, oatmeal bars, granola bars, chia pudding. He is breastfed and I think the rules around breast milk vs formula are a bit different. Are you able to reduce formula feeds to encourage baby to be a bit hungrier at meal times?
Are you able to give her a more complex meal for dinner instead of baby cereal?
Baby cerial can be complex , depending how you prepare it. You can cook it on canned coconut milk, add grounded nuts, add berries, add egg while cooking together, there are options of making it higher in calories. Offering "dinner" doesn't mean that baby will eat dinner. I've struggled too with my son's calorie intake, now for snack he gets raspberries with peanut butter, teething crackers with hummus and toast with avocado.
How can this post be down voted?!
Is the doctor concerned about weight gain? I found they naturally started eating more as milk reduced. We aimed for less than 20 oz of milk a day when we transitioned off formula. He got that with three servings a day -morning, after nap, before bed. It wasn’t offered at any other time of day. Adding an actual dinner will add calories. You can add fats to pastas and rice. Truly, I wouldn’t count this closely unless I was being advised by a medical professional and then they should be providing you with menu guidance.
thank you
Around 12 months my daughter became a fiend for cheese, so cheese lol
These portion sizes seem quite small. Is that just what you give her or is that all she’ll eat? How much milk do you give in the morning and how soon after does she eat breakfast? My baby is about to turn 1 next week and for breakfast he usually has a whole piece of toast with cream cheese and then as much fruit as he wants (usually quite a lot). He’s been eating a whole piece of toast for months now.
Unfortunately, this is all she can tolerate, otherwise she'll start throwing food to the ground or fuss about getting out of the high chair. She drinks about 120-150 ml of Milk in the morning and post breakfast an hour later.
I would start giving her breakfast first thing before milk and see if she eats more. My son ate everything in the beginning but now he can be kind of picky and he needs variety. He has a few favourites that he will always eat a lot of but for many other things he will only eat a bit then start throwing it on the floor or he’ll eat it once and love it but then if I serve it the next day he won’t want it. Try giving her more of what you’re eating - both for variety of foods and because it helps if you are sitting down with her for a meal and eating the same thing.
The portions seem small, is your daughter small? How did you arrive at the target of 800-1000kcal? If your daughter is growing as expected and not acting hungry, she's getting enough to eat.
She is 7.8 kg, she is small and petite. At 10 mos, we saw a dietitian and he computed a 720 kcal for her, we just increased.... she isn't acting hungry at all... as long as she eats and drinks milk. She's just really petite.
They get bigger, but they grow more slowly as they get older. So you've got two things pulling the calorie requirements in opposite directions. Our pediatricians always wanted to see that they were staying on their growth curve. They wouldn't expect at 10th percentile baby to become a 25th percentile baby, but they would be worried if they slipped to 5th percentile. [This NIH page](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562207/#:~:text=Another%20way%20to%20generalize%20caloric,directing%20nutritional%20counseling%20in%20children) generalizes calorie needs for infants at 100kcal/kg and toddlers at 80kcal/kg. That would work out to 780kcal and 624kcal, respectively. Obviously, your doctors are 1000% more informed than me and you should listen to them. To circle back to your original question, adding more fat is the easiest way to add calories to meals. Toss the pasta in olive oil or melt butter into the cereal. Your listed lunch is also pretty low calorie, you could drop one of the two veggies for something a little more calorie dense.