Why can't I remember this?!

My girls are 25 months and DS is 9 months... man did I have the girls down to a science with the sleeping and eating compared to DS!!! The girls were sleeping all night long and were eating more and more solids by 9 months... their last bottle was the day of their 1st birthday...

Now DS... he is a WAY different story! He fights and fights the eating thing.. the ped says that we should be reducing the number of ounces he gets and slowly getting him going on more and more solids.. the problem is that whenever I try to reduce the amount of formula he starts waking at night thinking he wants to be fed.. he is still not wild about solids.. I have racked my brain trying to figure out what process I used to get the girls to eat more solids (I do remember it being a bit scary to back off of formula ounces, esp since we killed ourselves to get them the calories they needed early on!). So, my question for you... does anyone else have a LO like my DS? What are your eating schedules like for your 9ish month olds??? BTW he is still taking like 36 ounces/day plus a small amount during breakfast and afternoon meals...

Thanks a million!

 

The formula is more important until the first birthday so I wouldn't stress the solids. Start offering some finger foods, more for practice than nutrition at this point. He may want to do it himself! My twin ds was still taking anywhere from 32 to 40 oz even after we added 3 solid meals. He was just a hungry baby! I would NOT mess with the formula amount if it causes him to wake at night. NO WAY!

 

And every baby is different. They can easily have different nutritional needs. Unless he's drastically high or low on the charts, I'd keep doing what works and keep working to introduce foods to him. But I don't think you need to worry at all.

 

Mine were not very keen on solids either. For us solids were still more practice and tasting at 9 months, most of their nutrition came from nursing. They started taking significant amounts of solids once they were self-feeding (with help of course), trying to use a spoon and eating finger foods shortly before the first birthday. Although mine were both low on the growth charts their pedi was fine with it, they just followed thier own curve. I would not worry about this too much unless medical concerns mean he has to have more solids now (and not in 3 months).

 

My girls are on 5x 8oz bottles per day.. Of that maybe one or two, they will not finish yet some days they guzzle it down... The same with solids, some days they will eat a lot others not so much... The only constant is breakfast, which they will devour, fruit puree with yoghurt and cereal then half a piece of toast each, but that might also because its been 2hours since their bottle - lunch and dinner is 1hour after bottle. Nap is straight after braekfast and lunch.

I would suggest as previous post said, try giving him finger foods cheerios, small pieces of banana rolled in cereal dust, as one of my girls prefers to feed herself sometimes I give them a spoon to hold while I'm feeding. I make all their food as I find it's a lot more interesting and tastier than bought food... This is the best site for some great yummy baby recipe and a wealth of info also... Wholesome Baby Food

And yes although babies get their most nutrition from milk at this age and it is just a practice, they do also get a lot of additional vitamins and minerals (specifically vitamin D) from solids which is essential for their growth and development. Ideally they should be consuming at least four of the food groups by the time they're 12months and ready for cow's milk.