Turned ONE today - have some questions!

My boys turn one today so I'm officially onto this board... hard to believe! I'm guessing this year will be even busier than the last???!??

I have a few questions for you seasoned experts ....

- When did you cut out bottles and just use sippy cups?
- How many ounces of milk should they get a day?
- Did you cut out separate milk feedings and just have it with meals etc.? When?
- When/how did you introduce peanut butter, if you have?
- When were you LOs just on finger/table foods? My guys still don't have many teeth and weight has always been an issue so I still give them cereal and vegetable purees before they get their finger foods. Not sure when to cute this out.

Thanks!

 

1. We cut out all bottles but two at a year old. We cut out all bottles but one a month or so later. We didn't cut out the final bottle until they were almost 18 months old (the bedtime bottle). We tried many, many types of sippy cups until we found ones that our girls (really just one of our girls, who was picky) would drink milk out of. It's really a trial and error process, and, although some people seem to be able to drop all bottles over night, many kids seem to take a while to transition away from bottles.

2. 16 ounces a day is ideal. 24 ounces max. 8 ounces min. That's the advice our pedi gave us at the 1-year well child visit. Our girls were not small, though. They were both around the 50th percentile at that time. If your kids have growth issues, talk to your pedi about this.

3. We cut out the separate milk feedings as we cut out bottles. The final two bottles were the first-thing-in-the-morning bottle and the bedtime bottle. For about a month after the first birthday,we continued to give those two plus a sippy of milk with each meal. Then we cut out the morning bottle and only gave sippies of milk with meals and at bedtime. We finally cut out all bottles and now just give sippies of milk with meals. They get sippies with water or diluted juice at all other times.

4. No food allergies in my family. So we tried peanut butter just after the first birthday. Neither of our girls liked it. We keep trying it now and then. The latest research indicates that holding off on introducing high-allergy foods may, at least for kids with no family history of food allergies, be contributing to the food allergy problem. In other words, the advice pedis have been giving for the past 10 years or so may be causing the problem, not preventing it. You should talk to your pedi about the recent research and especially if you have a history of food allergies in your family.

5. My girls are almost 2 and I still use pureed veggies when we travel. It's just easier. Again, as with the milk and bottles, it's a process, not an overnight thing for most folks. Just slowly phase out the purees and phase in lumpier foods. There's no right or wrong way to do it. They will go through phases where they don't seem to eat anything. Don't freak out. Just keep putting the food in front of them and their diets will gradually expand. For underweight kids, I'd try to push high-calorie and high-protein foods to get the most bang for your buck, such as cheese, avocado, full-fat yogurt, and shredded chicken.

 

:bday: to your boys!
1. I cut out bottles at 15 months. I dropped a bottle a week. The kids did a good job with the transition, it was not as bad as I thought it would be.
2. Our pedi told us 16-24oz
3. Once they dropped bottles, they got milk with breakfast and an hour after dinner
4. I introduced peanut butter after they turned 1. We do not have nut allergies in the family. I did a little peanut butter on my finger and then eventually sandwiches. Ironically, my kids did not like it at first!
5. I think it was around 15 months when they were done with the baby cereal and purees. I used the purees to supplement the vegetables as well. I also added carnation instant breakfast to their milk for extra calories.

 

:welcome: to SY!!

- When did you cut out bottles and just use sippy cups?

We had pretty much switched entirely before the girls' birthday. They'd been playing with sippy cups from 6 months on & were pretty proficient with them.

- How many ounces of milk should they get a day?

I never worried about getting a specific number of ounces into them. I filled an 8oz sippy with milk in the morning & offered it with every meal/snack. They rarely, if ever, finished it. They also usually had some yogurt or cheese every day. My girls were also still nursing 3 - 4x a day as well.

- Did you cut out separate milk feedings and just have it with meals etc.? When?

See above

- When/how did you introduce peanut butter, if you have?

We introduced it pretty shortly after their 1st birthday. We have no family history of allergies & I lean towards the theory that introducing possible allergens early actually helps prevent allergies so felt comfortable introducing it. We just gave it on toast, spread very thinly. They also liked a little bit on their bananas.

- When were you LOs just on finger/table foods? My guys still don't have many teeth and weight has always been an issue so I still give them cereal and vegetable purees before they get their finger foods. Not sure when to cute this out.

My girls refused to let me spoon feed them anything from about 10 months on (and this was before they had cut any teeth). At first, I was really worried & frustrated that they wouldn't get enough to eat, but then I realized it was actually a blessing in disguise. One less thing I had to do for them! So I decided to just go with it. I used to put veggie & fruit purees on toast & cut the toast into strips until they were better at picking up foods themselves. Then I just let them cue me as to how much/how little they wanted. They did really well with that.

 

Our boys had their last bottle on their first birthday. But I started the transition process when they were 11 months old. First I had them down to three bottles. Then I took the mid-day bottle and split it into sippies of milk with each meal. Next, I switched the morning milk to a sippy, and finally I switched the bedtime milk to a sippy. Once I was sure they would drink enough with just meals, I dropped first the morning sippy and then the bedtime sippy. They still get a small snack of crackers or something like that at bed and first thing in the morning to tide them over until I get breakfast ready.

Our pedi told us no more than 16 oz. a day, but our boys are big for their age (75th and 95th percentile). You will want to ask your pedi how much based on your LO's weights. If they need to put on weight, you may want to do more.

See my answer to #1 above.

I haven't yet for two main reasons. First, my boys are still soy intolerant, and the vast majority of peanut butter has soybean oil in it. Also, my boys are adopted and we do not know if they have a family history of nut allergies. We know one side of their history, but not the other. However, tomorrow I plan to give them a teeny, tiny bit of peanut butter and see if they do okay with it.

My boys have been on mostly finger foods since around 12 months. One of ours was terrible for gagging and couldn't handle pieces of much of anything before that (and believe me, I tried!). I still give them cereal with vegetable puree 1-2 times a day because we have one very picky eater who spits out most vegetables now or just cries and won't eat them, so I use it as a way to get him to eat some veggies (other than the 2-3 things I know he will almost always eat). Plus I am using it for spoon training (which they are getting better any finally, so that use of it is almost over, but sneaking in veggies may continue for awhile).

 

When did you cut out bottles and just use sippy cups?
We stopped nursing and bottles at 1yr old.

How many ounces of milk should they get a day?
my girls get 12-18oz. depends on them

Did you cut out separate milk feedings and just have it with meals etc.? When?
We do milk at meals and snack time

When/how did you introduce peanut butter, if you have?
We did peanut butter early, 9 months or so. I have 5 other kids with no allergies so I felt comfortable giving them p-nut butter and other high allergy foods.

When were you LOs just on finger/table foods?
By their birthday they were on mostly finger foods. It was just easier for me. They still only have 2 teeth but can eat anything and everything.

 

We cut out bottles cold turkey the same week as their birthday. I nursed twice a day till they were 15 and 19 months so I have no experience with dropping the night time bottle, but when my DD weaned herself we didn't replace the nursing with milk and she did just fine.

16-20 oz milk is the suggested amt. We do what pp's have mentioned and fill the sippy, give it at meals, and when done put it back in the fridge for the next meal or snack.
We offer milk every time they are at the table and the rest of the day they drink water.

I actually introduced peanut butter about 9 months. We have no food allergies and I am a believer in introducing
early! PB spread thinly on bread and folded in half was an
early staple of our self feeding diet.

My DD never really liked purees and by 1 year the only thing she would allow me to spoon feed was yogurt. We switched to as much table food as possible at this point. They got lots of soft fruits, cooked veggies, small pieces of string cheese, cooked chicken in small pieces, etc. It doesn't really matter how many teeth because toddlers tend to use their gums or smash it around with their tongue rather than use their teeth, even I'd they do have them.

This next phase is a lot of trial and error. Have fun with it and Congrats!

 

:birthday: to your boys and :welcome: to you!

1. We cut out bottles cold turkey on their first birthday. We had been practicing with sippies for a few months prior, but they weren't very adept at it. When we got rid of the bottles, we had to help them tip back the sippies for a few days, but they caught on really quickly. I found that the smaller sippies with handles and a soft spout really helped the transition.

2. I think most peds say 16-24 oz.; we never really kept track, but I can say that once they ramped up on solids, their milk intake went way down.

3. We had already been nursing/giving bottles around mealtimes and snacktimes, so it was an easy transition just to give them a sippy of milk with meals/snacks. We also did this on their first birthday.

4. We don't have any food allergies in the family, so we introduced peanut butter pretty soon after they turned 1. We spread it on some toasted thin-cut bread with jam on top, then chopped the bread into pieces so they could pick them up and eat them easily.

5. Moving from purees/spoon-feeding to finger foods was a gradual process. We started them on finger foods at about 9 months, and gradually added more and more to their trays. Eventually we were just "topping them up" with purees if we felt like they didn't get enough of a particular food group, and then at about 15 months, they wouldn't let us spoonfeed them any more so they were 100% self-fed. Don't worry about the lack of teeth; kids are really good at masticating foods with their gums! Nate could eat steak before he had any molars whatsoever. My guys were super skinny so I gave them a lot of full-fat yogurt with things like banana and avocado mixed in. I also sometimes mixed a bit of melted butter into their pureed veggies, both for taste and for the calories. :good:

Hope this helps!

 

- We went to sippies fulltime at about 14 months. I did cold turkey because my girls were refusing the sippy for the bottle so I had to get tough. Took some adjustment and their fluids decreased a lot for about a month but I was told not to worry it would get better and it did

- 16 oz of milk and then water whenever they want it.

- I might do things a bit backwards to others. I give water with meals and have my girls do 4-6 oz of milk 3x day. Morning, when they first get up, post nap, and before bed.

- My hubby was freaked out about nuts (no allergies in our family) but I was more relaxed. I eat peanut butter almost every morning in front of them, so I just gave them a bite one day. They were a year and something old. I've let them try other nuts since then as well. I was told by a nutritionist that you can develope an allergy to anything at anytime so it doesn't matter the age.

- I gave my girls baby cereal until about 1 1/2 because they never ate a lot of meat and I was worried about the iron. One day they just started refusing it. I think as long as you are introducing finger foods as well as the baby foods, they will eventually let you know when they don't want the "mush". We went through a period where meals were difficult, they refused a lot of foods and I found I just needed to keep introducing it. When they were getting molars in, they were really fussy.

 

- When did you cut out bottles and just use sippy cups?
I went to all sippies at 11 months.
- How many ounces of milk should they get a day?
I've heard a variety of things, but most often 16-24oz. We do 18oz
- Did you cut out separate milk feedings and just have it with meals etc.? When?
I still offer separate milk feedings. They get a sippy of milk as soon as they wake up and then before bed (they brush their teeth after milk and then go to bed)
- When/how did you introduce peanut butter, if you have?
I did at 15 months. My husband gave them a piece of peanut butter fudge. I flipped out and then waited for a reaction
- When were you LOs just on finger/table foods? My guys still don't have many teeth and weight has always been an issue so I still give them cereal and vegetable purees before they get their finger foods. Not sure when to cute this out
As long as you are introducing finger foods in addition to purees, I don't think there is a definitive time when you need to cut out purees. I eat applesauce all the time and that's just apple puree