Feeding FAQ: 9-12 months

My baby is 10 1/2 months old and still wakes up at 10.30pm/11.00pm for a feed and we can't get past that. Plus he also wakes at approx 2.00am but my husband cuddles him back to sleep for that one and he then sleeps till 5.00 when he wakes for a feed.
How can I stop him waking up for the 10.30/11.00 feed?

He is fully breast fed and takes both sides at each feeds. The feeds are about 15-20 minutes in length at 5.30am, 2.30pm, 6.30pm and 10.30pm. He takes 1 weetabix with cow’s milk, a rich tea biscuit and 1oz of milk from a cup at 8.30am. Lunch is a 190gr jar of food or homemade followed by chopped fruit or raisins. He takes water from a cup. At 5pm he takes a 190gr jar of food, ½ yoghurt and some finger food.

My son naps at 9-10am and 12-2pm.
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My son has never really slept through the night. He is still waking once or twice a night, being breastfed once, some time between 3.30am and 6am.
About a month ago we gave up trying to get him to sleep through from a feed at 11pm, as 2 night feeds is obviously excessive at his age!! We decided that the earlier feed would be easier to drop, but he had begun to wake at this time due to habit. We have now dropped this feed, by giving him water and a cuddle, but he was taking a long time to settle.
I am now (for the past 4 days) leaving him to settle himself (checking after 20-30mins) if he wakes before 3am (it's usually around 12-1am), as I know he definitely isn't hungry then. He settles after 20-40 mins crying and grizzling and usually sleeps until after 5am, when I give him his morning milk early.
An added problem is that he sometimes wakes between 3.30 and 5am, particularly if he hasn't woken earlier in the night. At this time I have been feeding him (he feeds from both sides and settles until about 6.30) but surely he shouldn't be hungry this early at his age? Is he just having me on?
I'm also concerned about giving him mixed messages, as I'm leaving him at the earlier waking (if there is one) but feeding him at the next. How can I eliminate hunger as a cause of waking later as it gets towards morning when I can't give him a diluted feed? If I'm absolutely sure that he isn't hungry, I can do controlled crying properly and finally sort out his sleeping.

I'm a little confused about what he should have for tea, as a couple of health visitors have told me that he should eat protein at teatime as well as at lunchtime, whereas Gina says that a carbohydrate tea is best. Currently, I'm giving him vegetable protein such as lentils or baked beans at least every other day and making sure that there is plenty of potato or sweet potato in any recipes I use.
He sleeps in a grobag, tucked in with a light sheet. At naptimes, he settles himself to sleep in his cot, except for once a week, when he begins his lunchtime sleep in the car (I transfer him to the cot at home). At his bedtime, he usually goes into a very deep sleep after his breastfeed. I try to rouse him when I put him in his cot, usually with little success. On the odd occasion that he goes into his cot awake, he is able settle himself quickly, with only a brief protest (about a minute), when I leave the room.
At present my son weighs 20lbs. He feeds from both sides if he wakes before 5.30am. If after this time I give him one side and only 5 minutes on the second as he won’t eat enough breakfast. If he feeds before 5am I give him another 5mins at 7am. He takes 2/3rds of a Weetabix or the equivalent amount of Ready-break with some fruit and a fromage frais if still hungry. I offer the breast but usually only takes 5mins, if any at all. He is offered water and a rice cake around 10am, depending how much breakfast he has eaten. Lunch: he eats about 6 cubes [equivalent to over a tablespoon each-25mls] chicken, lamb or beef recipes from Gina, Annabel Karmel or Planet Organix. Finger food given as well. Offered water in the afternoon. Tea: 4-5 cubes [as above] of a vegetarian savoury such as corn chowder, red lentil savoury, baked beans. I offer him baby rice and fruit or a fromage frais if he still seems hungry. 6.40pm breast feed, both sides but gets very sleepy whilst feeding.
He naps at 9.20-9.45am and 12.45-2.45pm. He settles around 7.15pm.
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My little boy currently drinks 210 mls milk at 7:00, 180 mls at 2:30 and 240 mls at 18:30. His weight gain has been okay (although only on 30th percentile) and it dropped over the last few weeks as he was ill with a nasty rotavirus which knocked him back off the weaning process considerably (refused to eat anything for a week!). He is now completely better and making up for it by eating and drinking large amounts which is great. I am conscious that he should be using a beaker for his milk feeds however when we try he rejects it when he tastes the milk. He is happy to take water in the beaker (Avent Magic cup) however not milk. I have tasted it myself and it does taste odd through the plastic. I am not sure whether he is ready to reduce his milk consumption, with him catching up after his illness. Please could you suggest what he should be drinking at this stage and how we get him onto the beaker for his milk?
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My daughter is 10 months old and has very little interest in drinking fluids. However I have tried everything to increase her intake, but can't get her to drink more than 10-11 oz a day. I have tried different teats, bottles and cups but nothing makes a difference. I offer her water from a beaker but she doesn't have as much as half an ounce a day. She eats well and enjoys her solids. She was weaned at five and a half months and is now on the 9-12 month feeding plan. Her meals are all home cooked and recipes are from either Gina's weaning book or Annabel Karmel's. The amount of solids she eats are consistent with the recipe advice.

My daughter rarely has any interest in breakfast and will only take a couple of mouthfulls of weetabix or porridge (though she'll happily eat a Organix fruit puree - is she just being fussy?). It makes no difference whether I offer her milk before or after her tiny breakfast, in fact I'll offer her milk pretty much on and off throughout the day (before and after breakfast, before and after her mid morning nap and after her lunchtime nap). However she'll only take a max of 3 oz over the day. She has her protein meal at lunchtime at noon followed by yoghurt or fruit puree (she tends to suffer from constipation, so I tend to give her at least one Organix fruit puree a day). She has her tea at 5, something like lentil soup or corn chowder followed by a yoghurt or fruit puree. At 6.45pm she starts her bedtime milk but I will have to keep going back into her nursery and offering her a little more. Most of the time she will drink the remaining milk when she's asleep anytime from 7.00- 7.30pm. Doing it like this, she will always have 7oz. I've tried giving her a top up at 10 or 11pm but she doesn't usually want it and I'm always conscious that it may put her off her breakfast - but in fact it makes no difference either way. She is gaining weight regularly but it worries me that her fluid intake is so low. Sometimes she'll only have 1 oz of fluid all day until her 7 oz bedtime drink. My daughter is probably making up the difference with her 1 yoghurt and milk in her food but her resistance to drinking does make her prone to constipation. When she drinks from a bottle with a teat she will have a couple of sucks and then pull away . I have to repeat the process constantly, often putting her down and trying again a few minutes later. I've been to the doctors about it but he doesn't seem concerned. Can you please give me any advice that might help. Her drinking has become rather a preoccupation and I don't want it to get any worse. She does have approx 3-4 wet nappies a day, though they are very, very light except first thing in the morning.
7.30am 1oz formula, 7pm 7ozs formula. 10pm 3ozs formula[ not always taken]. She weighs 20lbs 6ozs.
My daughter naps at 9.30- 10.15am and 12.45-2.30pm
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We want to know whether it is appropriate and safe to now give our nearly year old son ordinary un-boiled water in his drinks. He is now using beaker cups and bottles which are well washed without strict sterilization. Our tap drinking water is filtered with a Brita filter.
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I am wondering about changing our son's tea time since he has begun refusing bedtime milk.
He is now almost 10 months old and is on target for trebling his weight by 1 yr [he is presently 24lbs 10ozs]. He has followed the routines well (other than the lunchtime sleep which we seem to have resolved with a catnap later in afternoon if this goes wrong).
Then, at 9 months he got a cold, cut 6 teeth all at once and had a sore- but not infected ear. Everything went wrong: we had disturbed nights and days, he was fussy with solids and milk intake and he was lethargic.
Slowly as his sleep and his solids intake came back to normal, he began refusing his bedtime milk.
I tried all the recommendations to encourage bedtime milk to no avail. I then found that he would take a drink of 2.5-3.5oz milk with his tea. Together with cheese, yoghurt etc he reaches his milk quota for the day.
However now that 6.30-7.00pm no longer involves the wind down of drinking milk I wondered if I should try pushing tea closer to 5.30pm resulting in less of a gap before bedtime after bathing and dressing for bed. Should I offer him water or a drink of baby fennel tea before bed?
At present he takes 6-8.5ozs of milk divided between cup and cereal at breakfast. He will eat fresh fruit with porridge, baby muesli, or weetabix and a small piece of toast. Lunch is protein based: i.e. chicken casserole or fish, potatoes and veg. He takes 3ozs of juice with this. 2.30pm 4ozs or a fromage frais if milk is refused. Tea is thick soup with mini sandwiches. I add cheese or fromage frais if his milk intake for the day is not high. 2.5-3.5ozs milk with tea.
He naps at 9-9.30am, 12-1.40pm and 3.45-4-15pm. He is settled at 7pm.
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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.
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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?
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I need your advice on a subject that I am really confused about.
I am sure most of the mothers have this dilemma that I have.
With my 9.5 month old twins, feeding is usually a battle.

I have followed Gina's weaning guide to the letter, and it has been quite a success until the second stage.
Breakfast at 7.30am: I mix Weetabix or Readybrek with 75mlsformula and different types of fruits such as pears and apples which are pureed, or peaches, bananas and kiwis which I slice into pieces. As the girls have 2 bottom teeth and two lateral incisors so I presume they cannot chew much yet. After a short break I offer them 150mls formula. They usually drink around 120mls.
Lunch time at 11.30am: 50gr protein mixed with different type of vegetables, cheese, tomato sauce + 1 fruit pot of ready made fruit puree.

I prepare lunch by using a Baby Cook to steam and then puree their food. I will steam 50gr of meat/chicken/fish/recently liver and 100-150gr vegetable, then add herbs, tomato sauce and grated cheese and puree until smooth. This makes around 6-8 tablespoons.

3.30pm I offer 150mls formula, 120mls is usually taken, but they have started to lose interest in this if they finish their lunch.
Tea is at 5.15pm. I alternate home made lentil/vegetable soup [Gina’s recipe] and organic commercial baby food of different flavours.

With a lot of distraction like finger foods, toys, spoons, funny faces, sounds, cartoon on TV (unfortunately), and at the end of a 45 minute battle, they finish their plate but I am very worried that if I continue like that they will hate eating food as they grow up.

A lot of my friends tell me not to push them and if they refuse to eat, leave them until they are really hungry, ok, maybe it makes sense but if I do that then the routine will be disturbed so as their sleeping pattern.

SO....I can't decide which one is worse...

Pushing them to finish their meal (they finish it eventually) and they will see feeding times as a battle and hate it.

OR

I will not push them and wait until they scream for food and the feeding / sleeping times will be all mixed up...
There must be solution in between, I desperately need your advice.

Following the advice I got from the message boards I have stated to limit the meal times to 30minutes and not use the TV or toys as distractions. Sometimes they eat, sometimes they don’t. I find that they eat the ready made meals more easily, even though they are for over 10mths but as they are only 20-30% of their meal plan I don’t understand why they like it more.

I am trying to prepare more lumpy foods [we are very far away from giving chopped or diced] but it is very difficult to feed them that.

I have been offering them water from a beaker for the last three months after their meal but they will just push it away. Recently they have started to play more with the spout [Avent soft spout, no valve] and will scratch at it with their teeth and put it into their mouth. As yet I have not tried with milk in a beaker. I am also working on giving water in a beaker with no lid on.

The twins were born 10 weeks early at 1.2kg and 1.3kgs. Their full maximum feed is 180mls but by 8mths they weighed 8kg and were still gaining 200-250gr each week. I don’t expect them to eat or drink the same amount as other babies but they are still constantly gaining weight.
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Oliver, 11mths and weighing 24lbs never seems to be full. He is waking in the night starving, demanding a full milk feed before he will settle again.
At night he sleeps in a room blackened with blinds and curtains. He wears a sleeping bag. He is in a good routine by day, settling himself for each nap and going down with a couple of minutes protest at 7pm.
At night I am trying to use controlled crying, waiting 40 minutes before going in. Both my husband and I are sleep deprived which affects our work and his crying is beginning to disturb my other children.
At night he wakes between midnight and 4am and once he has fed, settles well again until 6-6.30am when he is absolutely starving again. I know it is hunger waking him, as he is desperate for food in the morning and not going off his meals at all, despite feeding in the night. This has been going on for about a month.
I cook all his meals, following the recipes exactly in the weaning book. I have read in one of the books about a carbohydrate/protein imbalance but as I follow your recipes exactly, this surely isn’t his problem. He was weaned at 5mths. I breast fed until 6 months and then gave him soya formula as he is lactose intolerant.
He needs as many as 6 mini rusks/ rice cakes before or during his meal as well as eating a savoury and yoghurt.
At 6.30am he takes 6oz soya milk in a cup followed by breakfast at 7.30 which is 1 weetabix with one mashed banana, soya yoghurt, rusk/rice cake with soya butter. He drinks water form a cup.
To get him to lunch Oliver has 2-3 rice cakes/ rusks and 1-2 ozs water. At 12 noon he has a 9-12 month meat recipe. If it states 4-6 portions, I divide it into 4 portions and he always finishes one. Then he has a banana and raisins.
Oliver sleeps well at lunchtime but wakes ravenous for his milk at 2.30pm. He takes 6oz soya from a cup. He starts screaming from hunger by 4pm when I give him rusks and rice cakes to get him to a 5pm tea.
Tea will be a 9-12 month vegetarian recipe, again Oliver eats one full portion. He has 2 slices of bread with soya butter and the crusts removed. This is followed by a yoghurt. He has water to drink at tea, followed by an 8oz soya bottle before bed.
When he wakes in the night he takes a 8oz soya bottle. He will take this in about 6mins, and takes even less time to drink from a cup. When he has finished he protests loudly.
Apart from this hunger he is a happy, contented boy.
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I feel I'm in a real mess at the moment. Callum is eleven months and for the last few days has refused most of meals only taking 3-4 teaspoons of food and refusing all milk feeds. He has a runny nappy and it is bright yellow, sometimes it is very watery. During the days he is well in himself: happy, running about, no temperature and taking his normal daytime sleeps, but come to mealtimes he just changes and becomes fussy, crying and wingeing etc.
My dilemma is that he waking 2.30am-3.00am, very upset and will not resettle without feeding where he takes 7-9 oz very well and goes straight back to sleep and wakes at 7.00am.
I have taken to adding at vitamin syrup to his water and he does seem to be thirsty more than usual. I make a point of not giving any fluids after tea (5.00pm) to encourage his bedtime milk but this has failed of late.
To give you idea of what he had eaten over the last 2 days:

Tuesday
No milk drink
1tsp of weetabix
No snack
3 tsp of lamb casserole
No snack
3tsp veg lasagne
1 oz of bedtime milk
3.00am - 7 oz milk

Wednesday
No milk drink
3 tsp of peachy porridge
No snack
3 tsp of cottage pie
No snack
2 tsp of veg lasagne then tried baked beans and sausage (2 tsp) then tried rice pudding (refused)
2 oz bedtime milk

Can you shed any light on the possible causes of his loss of appetite.
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My 11.5 month daughter has always enjoyed a wide range of home cooked food, finger food and the occasional jar of dessert. For the past two weeks she has started to refuse almost all food, both cooked and finger food. I find it to hard to let her eat nothing so end up giving her the things I know she will take. She is breastfeeding as normal.

The only food she seems to eat is cheese, fruit and some puddings such as jelly and yogurt. I have tried letting her feed herself but she is not interested unless it is jelly or something she loves. I have tried introducing new foods such as cheese on toast and eggy bread but she refuses these. She seems happy and content otherwise and is sleeping as usual. She is definitely hungry and asking to be fed before it is time but we try to wait until her mealtime. Even if she has not eaten for several hours and is asking for food, she still refuses the food that we put in front of her. I am finding this very stressful as I had feeding issues with her 2.5yr old brother, but he now eats well if a somewhat limited diet.

At first I thought it may be due to teething but now feel it must be something more.

Her breast feeding pattern has remained unchanged. The length of feed seems to depend on how much she has eaten at the meal preceding it.

Feeding details

7.30am: a few cheerios, 1-2 mouthfuls of toast, 1 strawberry, 5 grapes, and 3 tsps yoghurt
9.30am: breast feeds from one side 10-15minutes
12.00: 1-2 strawberries, 5 grapes, 1 packet Dairylea cheese strips or grated cheddar, jelly or yoghurt, 1-2ozs water towards end of meal
1.00pm: breast feeds from one side 5-10minutes
5.00pm: 1-2 strawberries, 5 grapes, 1 packet Dairylea cheese strips or grated cheese, 1 yoghurt or similar pudding 1-2ozs water towards end of meal
7.00pm: Breast feeds from both breasts for 10-15minutes
3.30am: Breast feeds from one breast 5-10minutes

Daily milk intake:4 breastfeeds over 24 hours

My daughter naps at 9.30-10am, 1-3pm and is settled by 7.15pm
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I have been following the Contented Baby routines with my daughter Eva since she was 6 weeks old. She is now eleven months. At the end of December 2004 Evie became ill. She stopped eating solids completely for two weeks, was put on antibiotics and suffered from teething and colds until recently. During this time she has become extremely clingy and whingey - enough so that Dad now wants her to go to nursery!! I believe she is suffering greatly from separation anxiety - she screams and cries when I refuse to pick her up (even if I am right there making food, sitting on a chair or on the ground next to her). I have been trying to go through ‘controlled crying’ during the day - pick her up only for very good reasons, then praise her for playing on her own, etc. I am trying to walk slowly so she can crawl after me instead of insisting on being picked up all the time. I tend to get down to her level so she can come to me for comfort, instead of running over and picking her up. This is a very slow process - some days okay, some days terrible, crying non-stop.
She has just started accepting food again in the last two days - she drank enough milk to get her through the night in the past six weeks though. She has always slept from 7.30pm to 9.00am every night (one nap at 1.00 pm for 1 ½ hrs), but now she wakes frequently at night crying. When I don’t go in she stops after 10-15 minutes. When I go in to console her (or if I need to check she is okay), she goes ballistic when I leave. I now wake her at 8 am every morning, so she sleeps a total of about 13-14 hours daily.
For at least 6 weeks she refused most foods altogether, whether it was finger foods or food I tried to feed her. When visitors come over she becomes inconsolable and clingy, crying non-stop, even after a long period of settling in quietly.
I think the main problem occurred during her illness and lack of food - she is content when she gets enough to eat. Her refusal to eat after months of loving her food was very strange. I tried every fun finger food and different combination possible.
When I put her down at night she sometimes cries for 5-10 minutes before falling asleep, and I do not go in to comfort her. I wonder whether this crying down then and late at night when I don’t go in is having a negative effect on the separation anxiety, ie. her thinking that I don’t come when she cries. My older daughter never had any problems in respect of eating/drinking, however, Evie has never really liked her bottles. She has always insisted on drinking her milk whilst lying down (even as a newborn!) and only will drink from the bottle when I hold it when she is sitting in her highchair (even though it has handles). She will often attempt to hold it for a while then throw it away, so if I don’t hold the bottle she won’t drink it. She is a bit of a wilful little thing.
I am sure this is just a phase, but it is worrying and I Iook forward to your reply.
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My daughter was very good sleeper (7pm-8am) and enjoyed the routine until she had a very bad cold last month. She stopped eating solids during the day, waking up at night and taking up to 3 full 8 oz bottles. I don't know how to turn it around. I tried everything, cuddling, boiled water - nothing helps. She falls asleep only if she has had milk. If she does not have enough she will not settle or wakes up after an hour. My daughter used to love solids, it all has changed now. We are trying to encourage her to feed herself and she enjoys finger food. I am afraid it is not enough to make her sleep during the night. We do prepare fresh food following Gina’s recipes and she used to love all of them.

My daughter feeds at 8.30am 6ozs, porridge, which she sometimes refuses after her 8oz bottle at 5am. 12.30pm Protein based meal which she now refuses to eat. Finger food, cheese and bread. 4-6ozs water. 2.30pm 8ozs formula. 5pm Vegetables and pudding, she refuses to eat both. 5.30pm 6ozs, 10.30pm 8ozs, 1.30am 7ozs, 5.30am 7ozs. She weighs 10kg [22lbs]

My daughter naps at 1-2pm and settles at 7pm.
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My son is now 10 months old and has always been a very happy boy. We have followed the routines laid out by Gina since birth and this has resulted in him sleeping through the night from about 4 months and he has continued to sleep well, not waking until 7. 30 am. The slight concern I now have is that he only seems to want to eat one thing! I have always prepared his meals myself, introducing a wide variety of vegetables and fruit and then chicken, red meat and fish. In the last couple of weeks he only seems to be interested in meals made from fish and vegetables in a white or cheese sauce and has totally lost interest in any other meals I prepare! He wakes at 7.30 having slept all night and has a good breakfast of one Weetabix or Ready Brek with mashed banana and apricot followed by toast fingers and sometimes with a drink of water. He no longer wants any milk to drink in the morning so about 5ozs goes on his cereal. He then has a short nap at 0915 until 1000 and then lunch normally starts at about 1130. He normally has a bit of a rage when I first try and feed him but then eats well as long as it's fish! He will then be given some rice pudding or fruit fool or yoghurt and some fruit pieces to eat, followed by his longer nap, which is usually about one and a half hours. My son no longer wants any milk at 2.30pm so he may have breadstick or some fruit in the afternoon if he seems to want a snack. Tea is at 5pm which again starts with rage and then he eats well, he has about 6 cubes of fish followed by a milk pudding and then some fruit and cheese pieces. His last bottle at 6.15pm has reduced now; he is only having about 4ozs at this time. He then settles well and sleeps all night, never waking. I continually try and offer my son other meals at mealtimes but it is very clear that he is not interested so there seems little point sitting there for ages when it is apparent that he is not going to eat it. He used to enjoy all the meals I prepared for him, is the fact that he is now becoming more resistant something to worry about and how can I re-introduce him to different foods again?

My son takes 2ozs of water at breakfast, 2-4ozs with his lunch and 2-4ozs at tea.

He naps at 9.15-10am, 12.30-2.00pm and is settled by 7pm.
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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.
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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.
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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 ten-month-old baby daughter has developed lactose intolerance after a bout of severe gastro. She has been given a lactose-free formula and I have been advised to keep her off dairy products for a few weeks. Is there anything I can give her yoghurt-wise that would be ok? A friend of mine mentioned fromage frais but I am not sure if that is all right. What about soy yoghurt?

Fiona Hinton Response

My nine month old baby boy will be starting nursery next month and tea is served very early at about 3.30pm. He has a really healthy appetite and I am concerned that such an early tea, with nothing other than a milk feed at bedtime, might cause him to wake up earlier in the morning. Can you please advise whether I should give him another meal when he gets home at 5.30pm, or just a snack?

Team Response

My question is about how much water should a baby of 10 months drink? Thanks to your guidelines I am aware that a baby between 9-12 months should drink a minimum of 350 ml milk a day and my twins, drink around 300-350 ml everyday plus 2 cups of yogurt and some cheese, so I'm not worried about the calcium intake but I\m worried that they must be dehydrated. I offer them water after every meal and in the afternoon in a trainer bottle but they are not very interested. So my question is other than the milk they drink, is there a quota for water that I should meet everyday such as 50 ml or 100 ml, or etc?
Team Response

My son is waking most evenings and will not settle without a milk feed around 12.30 am most nights. I try to feed him more during the day but he refuses to be spoon fed after about 8 baby spoonfuls. He tends to throw any finger foods on to the floor. Lunch time is not much of an issue but tea time is. Breakfast is also a struggle to get him to eat. He is an extremely active boy which has also been noted by the Health Visitor and was walking at 9 months. I started to give him milk when he woke as I was afraid he was not eating much in the day but I'm feeling that by doing this we are getting into a vicious circle. I give him a spoon to feed himself but the food ends up in his eyes etc and he finds it fun. The list below is an approximate day. I have to wake him at all his sleeps to keep the routine on track, I have to feed him lunch at 11.00 am so I am able to pick up my toddler on time from playgroup. My son is ready for his lunch sleep at 12.15 and I have no problems getting him to sleep at all he just goes straight down in his cot without any fuss the majority of the time.

He takes 4-6ozs formula at 7.30am. Yoghurt is eaten, toast offered and played with and he sometimes takes about 5 teaspoons of cereal. He takes a drink of water at 10am. At 11am he will eat 8 baby spoons of home made spaghetti bolognaise, some yoghurt and a bread stick He has 4ozs of formula at 2.30pm and his tea at 4.30pm is a mixture of finger foods and scrambled egg on toast. He takes water wit h this meal and 7ozs of formula before his bedtime at 7pm.

He naps at 9.30-10am and 12.15-2.15pm.
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