Archive Feeding FAQ: 9-12 months

My son is now approaching 9 months and has seriously reduced his milk intake. As he has never been very good with his milk intake, I have been making sure he takes between 16 and 18oz per day since the age of 6 months (previously he was on about 24-27oz per day).
Recently this is beginning to reduce even more than the minimum 16oz I want him to have. He takes 7oz in the morning: 4oz on his cereal and 3oz to drink. He has been having 4oz at 2.30pm but this is now causing him to refuse his evening meal at 5pm and he is often vomiting after only a few mouthfuls. In addition, the 2.30pm is very difficult to give him and the only person who can manage it is me! At 5pm he has tea and at 6.30pm he is having 5oz. So all in all he stands at 16oz currently but more often than not, it can end up being only 12oz.
Is this a problem? He does have fromage frais and yoghurts by way of puddings, as I figure he needs more dairy if he is going to refuse milk. In addition, a lot of the food I make him contains cows milk, cheese and butter. He is also doing very well on his solids and follows a well-balanced and varied meal plan. Do you think bearing all this in mind that a milk intake of 12oz is too little? I would really appreciate some advice as I am quite anxious about it.
Team Response

Tom is one of twins born at 31 weeks gestation. They both had quite severe reflux in the early days, hence a slow weight gain. (Current weight: 6.3kg) They now receive medication and are much improved, but they have never really enjoyed milk.
Tom absolutely refuses to take his 6.30pm bottle. He now screams and turns his head away just at the sight of it. He has three meals a day and is taking solids well. He drinks water well with meals. In the morning he takes his milk happily (6oz). Since bringing tea forward to 5pm about two months ago, he has become upset and starts crying as soon as he is out of the bath. He goes down screaming every night, which is no fun for any of us. He then generally sleeps through to 7am.
He naps well for 15mins at 9.30am and usually sleeps for 2 hours at lunchtime. I have tried dropping his 2.30pm milk but this made no difference to the evenings. I make sure he begins tea at 5pm and has nothing too indigestible at this time.
I feel his problem is more to do with the anticipation of bedtime, rather than hating his milk. His twin, who is the same weight and in the same routine accepts his milk. As bedtime is pretty unpleasant at present, do you have any ideas?
Team Response

As a family we are seriously feeling sleep deprived including my toddler. My son was a contented baby up until six months of age following the routines to the latter. However he has now been waking in the night since and no matter how many times we try and settle with water he will only settle with a milk feed. Controlled crying has been difficult at night because of waking my toddler. His naps during the day are following the Contented Baby routines. I have to adjust the lunchtime eating to coincide with picking up my son from preschool. I have to feed at 11am and he sleeps at 12.15 to 2.15pm. I try to offer more food but he refuses to fill up in the day. My son likes finger food which does end up on the floor! As he feeds in the night he does not want breakfast, my eldest is not a breakfast lover neither are we as parents. My son flatly refuses his milk most days and we can only get a yogurt or two into him.
My son is a very active boy He is walking and likes lots of activity but he does become very demanding and clingy to mum when it is just the two of us at home. He wants holding the whole time even when I’m on the loo! This is just to give you an idea of his character. He weighs 21lbs.

7am: 4ozs formula. He is tried with yoghurt or takes 2tsps of rice and fruit pudding.
10am: small drink of water.
11am: small drink of juice, 4 cubes of homemade spaghetti bolognaise yoghurt and biscuit.
2.30pm: 2ozs or some times more of formula
4pm small drink of water
5pm: small drink of water, diced fishcake and diced potato [went onto the floor], 4 cubes of homemade custard and fruit.
6.30pm: 7ozs formula

When he wakes in the night my son takes on average 6ozs formula.
My son naps from 9.30-10am and 12.15-2.15pm. He settles from 7pm to 3.15am, 4-7am.
Team Response

My daughter is a perfect model of the routine until last week when she picked up a viral infection causing her to have ear infection and her throat was sore. She had a high fever and diarrhea and was not sleeping well nor eating. The doctor advised giving her Calpol and making sure she had enough fluid intake and not to worry too much if she did not eat. That was 5 days ago. The temp and diarrhea has subsided and for the first time since she has been ill she slept through the night from 7pm. My problem now is that she refuses to eat. As soon as I put food near her mouth she cries and pushes my hand away. I have tried to leave food on her tray so she can pick at it herself but she just throws it on the floor. She is still taking a 7oz bottle in the morning and a few oz's at 2.30pm and occasionally has taken a few ozs at 6.30pm. I have also tried to split the 6.30pm feed so she has some milk at around 5.45pm before her bath and some after. This has worked before but not at the moment.
She is at home with me at the moment as I want to ensure she is 100% before going back to Nursery as she does not sleep as well there at lunchtimes. I am worried about how long I should leave this go before I seek help as I do not want her to become a fussy feeder as she has done so well up to now.
She has been taking 7oz at 7am followed by porridge being offered which is mixed with formula. Lunch is her main protein meal and water is offered with it. 2.30pm 1-2ozs, 4.45pm sandwiches and fruit or yoghurt offered with water. 7ozs offered at 6.30pm but not taken well.
She naps at 9-9.45am and 12.30-2.30pm.
Team Response

My daughter, who is almost a year old, started nursery approximately 4 weeks ago. Unfortunately in her first week she picked up a virus which I don't think has helped in her settling in. Since having the virus my daughter refuses to eat any lunch. She wakes around 7am has 4oz of milk from a cup followed by cereal and maybe some toast. She has a drink of water at around 10am and nothing else until lunchtime at around 11.45-12 noon. However, despite various attempts, she refuses everything that is put in front of her. I have tried her favourites and even foods she has not eaten before, just in case she was getting sick of the foods I was giving her, but unfortunately nothing seems to have worked. She then goes through the day with nothing else until tea at 5pm where she may or may not eat. She has milk at bedtime and is always in bed by 7pm. Unfortunately however she has now started to wake in the night, some nights she has cried off and on for half an hour or more and then gone back to sleep but some nights I am finding I am having to go to her to comfort her before she will go back to sleep.
The nursery she attends is very good and they do follow my routine, although she is so used to being with only me or my husband she is finding it extremely difficult to settle. Could the eating and sleeping problems all be connected to nursery?
Team Response

I am becoming very worried about my son and his refusal to eat at meal times. I offer cooked vegetables as finger food, and some of his meals are fine, but many are not. Things such as beans on toast are great, but with meat he is inclined to chew it for ages then spit it out. I try offering him a spoon with food on it, but he gets frustrated and it goes from bad to worse. He has now started to wake around 4am hungry. I am back at full-time work, so my son attends nursery three days a week. They report that he eats well there. My mother cares for him two days a week, but like me she struggles with his eating. At nursery he only sleeps for 30-45 minutes all day. At my mother's he sleeps better, but still not as much as at home during the weekend. I try to keep weekends as calm as possible so he is able to catch up, but this means we are not getting out with him as much as we would like.
Some days are better than others, but I don't want him to become a fussy eater. I have read books about what to do and I do persevere, but the constant crying at the table is wearing me down. Sometimes I take his food away and pop him on the floor, but this also seems to upset him. At the moment I feel as though I cannot do anything right. Today he had soup with my mother at 1pm, but would take nothing tonight. She too is getting tense about meals and has taken to singing and clapping just to get him to take some more food. I thought maybe he was teething, but this has been going on for a month and is getting progressively worse. He is never offered snacks and I have also stopped puddings, but still I cannot tempt him. I cook homemade food and the nursery prepares food on the premises.
At 7am my son takes 5 tbsp apple puree with 1-1.5 weetabix, ready brek, or cheerios. He is offered a beaker of milk, which sometimes he will take. He is given juice at 8.30am. He has a proper meal at 11.30am and tea is tagliatelle, beans on toast or a soup snack on arrival home. Again, this is sometimes taken, sometimes not. He takes an 8oz bottle at 6.30pm before bed. At home he naps from 9.30-10.15am and 1-3pm. He goes down by 7pm, and often earlier as he is shattered.
The whole issue has got me down and I feel my baby hates me. Can you help please?
Team Response

My 11 month daughter has been full time at nursery since the age of six and a half months old.
The nursery have always fed her depending on the stage of weaning e.g. mashed, diced etc. When she was about eight months she was happily eating finger food. My husband came home and informed me she had eaten a jammy dodger! He was astounded and didn't know what to say so I went and discussed the matter with her key worker. She informed me that they do stick to a Healthy Eating plan and the manager actually liaised with OFSTED over Healthy Eating. I told her that I just wanted my daughter to have fruit and yogurt etc in the afternoon, not anything remotely similar to Jammy Dodgers! I felt extremely awkward and have become to feel even worse over the months as I've also been in to discuss the fact that they weren't sticking to her sleep times.

She eats extremely well and, touch wood; we haven't had a problem with food. At nursery I'm aware of the brands of food they eat and they are not what I would choose as we've always followed CLB Weaning guide. At 3.15pm all the children have a high-tea. We asked that my daughter just has fruit and a yogurt as we like to give her a tea at 5pm. That way she's having our food. The problem with that is that we feel quite guilty as when my husband has collected her at that time all the other children are tucking into sausage and beans while she has a yogurt. She tries to eat their food (I can't blame her!). We feel bad enough that the other children regularly have treats such as chocolate crispie buns and we won’t allow her to have those and I'm not changing my mind on that issue. Should we let her have a high-tea and then give her something when she gets home, if so what would we give her?

At present my daughter eats a protein dinner at nursery such as spaghetti bolognaise followed by fruit, yoghurt or custard. She then has a vegetarian tea from the Contented Baby Weaning Guide.
Team Response

As a family we are seriously feeling sleep deprived including my toddler. My son was a contented baby up until six months of age following the routines to the latter. However he has now been waking in the night since and no matter how many times we try and settle with water he will only settle with a milk feed. Controlled crying has been difficult at night because of waking my toddler. His naps during the day are following the Contented Baby routines. I have to adjust the lunchtime eating to coincide with picking up my son from preschool.  I have to feed at 11am and he sleeps at 12.15 to 2.15pm. I try to offer more food but he refuses to fill up in the day. My son likes finger food which does end up on the floor! As he feeds in the night he does not want breakfast, my eldest is not a breakfast lover neither are we as parents. My son flatly refuses his milk most days and we can only get a yogurt or two into him.
My son is a very active boy He is walking and likes lots of activity but he does become very demanding and clingy to mum when it is just the two of us at home. He wants holding the whole time even when I’m on the loo! This is just to give you an idea of his character. He weighs 21lbs.

7am:  4ozs formula. He is tried with yoghurt or takes 2tsps of rice and fruit pudding.
10am: small drink of water.
11am: small drink of juice, 4 cubes of homemade spaghetti bolognaise yoghurt and biscuit.
2.30pm: 2ozs or some times more of formula
4pm small drink of water
5pm: small drink of water, diced fishcake and diced potato [went onto the floor], 4 cubes of homemade custard and fruit.
6.30pm: 7ozs formula

When he wakes in the night my son takes on average 6ozs formula.
My son naps from 9.30-10am and 12.15-2.15pm. He settles from 7pm to 3.15am, 4-7am.
Team Response

My son of 10-months-old wakes up at night 3 to 4 times, and cries for his dummy, as he is unable to sleep without it. I can't seem to wean him off it. His sleeping pattern is from 9 till 9, but he is always up a few times at night then every morning at 8. He has breakfast at that time, as he is hungry, but he doesn’t want to sleep after that. Then he wants to go to sleep at 11, as he cries and cries all morning. He sleeps for two hours, wakes up, plays till 4 and then has another nap for 1 hour, as he can't manage without one.
Then he plays, eats etc, and starts getting tired around 8.30pm and I put him to bed at 9.
He is also refusing milk feeds and solids and I often have to force him to eat.
At 8am he has 3ozs of milk, followed with a weetabix mixed with the left over milk and 3 ozs of water at 9am. At 11am I give him a tin of fruit which he does not really want and after his two hour sleep he has bread, vegetables and 2ozs of milk. At 3pm he has a yoghurt and tea is given at 5.30pm which is usually pizza and chips or pasta with juice. At 7pm he has another fruit tin and then takes 5ozs of milk at 8.30pm before settling to sleep. He weighs 25lbs.
Team Response