Eating Schedule for 10 Mo Old

HI T.,
I have a 9 1/2 mo old who eats 3 meals/day (plus a snack) and takes about 3-4 bottles. It didn't start out that way though....he really didn't like to eat either and only wanted a bottle. My experience was I started him out on cereal with bananas 1st for a week or so then I added a lunch of Gerber or Beech nut stages (I stuck to one veggie at a time for a week to watch for allergic reactions) Then I added a "dinner"-(another veggie). I followed each meal with a bottle because he would barely eat but I just kept up the same schedule every day and he finally started eating and now he seems to really like it. I evenutally added fruit to his diet and now some meat but at first only veggies...Anyway, it seemed to work by being consistant, but it took a few weeks before he would stop making an awful face when I tried to feed him.:)

I am a 38 yr old 1st time mom. I hope this helps. Hang in there!

J.

Don't sweat it. My son was on breast milk for 13 months. He would not take a bottle. Between the babysitter (I also worked full time) and I, we weaned him to a cup, some cereal, and other food gradually but don't take the comfort of his bottle away. (You also gain peace and comfort from the process of holding the child while feeding.)

Hi T.,

My son is about the same age & this was very helpful for me to read all of the advice you got. I have a somewhat opposite problem than you have, my son loves to eat the food (baby & finger foods both) but has been fighting me on eating his formula. I have been concerned about this, but after reading some of these responses, I think he's just fine. Thanks for asking the question!

My 9 1/2 month old daughter doesn't like too many foods with texture yet either although she has starting eating puffs within the last two weeks. So, we still mainly feed her baby food. Here is an example of a day for her.

8:30 - wake up, nurse, yogurt, then puffs if she is still hungry
1:00 - baby cereal and a stage 2 fruit then nurse before nap
4:30 - nurse then some puffs
6:30 - jar of stage 2 veggies and fruit and a sippy cup with water
8:30 - nurse before bed

Here's the eating schedule my son, who just turned 11 mo., has been on:

Nurses when he gets up, then right after he has cereal and some fruit.

For lunch he has vegetables and toast, and just a little fruit if he's still hungry.

He nurses in the afternoon after his nap. Then for a snack after that he has yogurt and fruit.

For dinner he has cereal, vegetables, and meat.

Then he nurses right before he goes to bed.

I hope this helps!

I have a 10 month year old son who eats about three times a day. He naps in the morning and afternoon still so that helps me figure out feeding times. So a typical feeding day for us is he wakes up and has a bottle and then maybe about 30 minutes he has breakfast which normally consists of yo baby yogurt and maybe a fruit. Then before his morning nap he has another bottle. When he wakes up I feed him lunch which I have been experimenting with various foods like soups, bread and cheeses. Then maybe 30 minutes later he will take a bottle. Then before his afternoon nap he has another bottle and when he wakes up he has dinner. A little while later he will take a bottle and then one more bottle before bedtime. So he still drinks about 20 oz or so of formula a day. Throughout the day he snacks on puffs and cheerios etc. which seems to keep him full. Coming up with meals for him have been a challenge but I have learned trial and error is the best method.
Another suggestion you might try giving her rice krispies or cheerios in formula as a meal since she likes her formula so much. Hope this helps Good Luck.

She should be eating like you at this point (schedule wise). My younger one gets up perhaps and hour or more before big brother so I give him a bottle first thing. If I just had one we would go strait for breakfast. I just don't want to do breakfast twice. So, my 11 mo old (which hasn't really changed for months):

6:15 - 6oz bottle
8:00 - breakfast (banana, dry cereal, veggie sausages)
9:30 - 6 oz bottle and nap
11:30 - lunch (mac&cheese, nuggets, grilled cheese, thin cucumbers, peas&carrots, fishsticks, crackers...)
1:00 to 2:00 - usually has a 6oz bottle in there
nap is somewhere in here
3:00 to 4:00 - snack sometime in that time frame (cut up fruit, cheese & crackers...)
6:00 - dinner (whatever we are all having)
8:00 - 6oz bottle then bed

I remember being concerned as you are. Nolan is 2 years and still loves getting milk - as he did formula. He would not want a breakfast - just the bottle. I let him choose what he wanted. He got his bottle at about 7am. Daycare would give him dry cereal puffs if he wanted them around 8-8:30 and lunch at Noon. Again it was usually something simple - he mostly like mashed potatoes or mac&cheese. I would give him dinner at about 6pm and let him eat from various types of babyfood and offer adult food as I knew he could eat it such as fish. Even if he wouldn't eat them I would keep trying to let him explore different tastes and textures. I would continue to offer the bottle in between as he seemed to want it. I know that doesn't help provide you a solid routine.

The babyfood maker's sites always had good recommendations for what they should be eating and a schedule. I also followed advice from my 1st year baby book.

Quite honestly however I think Nolan's main source of diet continued to be formula till about 14 mos. He would try new food but seemed to prefer the bottle. We switched to whole milk after formula and he just gave up his bottles at 23 months. He is strong and health - like an ox actually. He is very solid and active. Quite smart and curious.

Good luck. I do understand your worry. I worried he'd never eat other foods. The last month however he suddenly likes eating all kinds of foods. Give it time.

K.

right now I would say your baby should be eating 3 meals a day. Ali is 10 months and here is what she eats.

7am 3rd stage oatmeal (whole jar)
I give her some of the puffs as a morn snack with bottle of yogurt around 9
11:30 She gets a jar of a dinner (chicken noodle or somthing like that) and a dessert
When she wakes up from her afternoon nap she gets a container of yobaby yogurt
and she eats supper around 5 5:30. If we are eating something she can eat (ex mac and cheese) I will give her this ( cut up really tiny and she feeds herself) if no then she gets a jar of a meat, veggie, and dessert
then a cup of 2 parts formula and 1 part milk.

When my daughter was 10 months old (she is 14 months now) her eating routine went something like this...
Breakfast (around 8:30 for my little one - she would wake up earlier, but doesn't like to eat right away) - scrambled egg yolk (made using formula or bm if nursing), rice or oatmeal cereal (again made with formula), smashed banana. Sometimes I would make french toast with egg yolk, formula, a hint of cinnamon, and vanilla with cut up banana so she could feed herself. I would offer her a transitional sippy cup (with formula) at all meals, but she rarely drank much. I would still give her more formula before her morning nap (around 11).
Lunch (about 1:00) and Dinner (6:30)- I made most of her baby food so at 10 months I was trying to use it up. I would usually giver her a main course (turkey and gravy, chicken pot pie, lasagna), a vegetable and some fruit (usually fresh). I would also incorporate whatever we were eating so she would get used to new tastes and textures (she especially loved soft steamed veggies). She would get more formula before her afternoon nap (around 3:30). I would also give her some before bedtime (around 8ish), but would brush her teeth before putting her to bed at 8:30.

Some other tips that worked for me...I started using a warming dish (I learned that she didn't eat her food once it got too cool). She preferred a certain spoon over the others (strange). She would eat MUCH LESS when teething. I would offer her puffs or cheerios after her meals so she could practice feeding herself more. She transitioned quickly into solid foods...by 11 1/2 - 12 months she was eating whatever we were eating. Good luck. I hope this helps!

Here is what I do with my 10 month old girls:

BREAKFAST (around 7:30/8):
1/4 cup Quaker Oatmeal with 1/2 c. water
1 jar of stage 3 fruits or regular sugar-free applesauce
1 8 oz bottle OR

1 piece of toast
1 jar of stage 3 fruit
1 8 oz bottle of formula OR

1 waffle (no syrup)
1 jar of stage 3 fruit
1 8 oz bottle

LUNCH (around 12:00):
1 jar of stage 2 veggies or cut up veggies from a can
1 jar of stage 2 fruits or cut up banana/other fresh fruit OR
1 container of YoBaby yogurt
sometimes cut up turkey or cheese or little pasta or meat sticks (they hate these - actually they hate most meat)
1 4 oz sippie cup of formula

SNACK (around 2:00):
1 4 oz sippie cup of formula
puffs or cheerios

SUPPER (around 4:30/5):
1 jar of stage 3 "dinners"
cut up veggies or fruit or little tiny cooked pasta or cheese
1 jar of stage 3 fruit OR YoBaby yogurt (whatever they didn't have at lunch time)

7:00 - 1 9 oz bottle

I feed them at the same time alternating bites, so everything is cut in half. For instance the jar of veggies is actually 1/2 a jar per baby. Make sense?? :) We did not do this overnight. We were doing 5 bottles a day not too long ago. We took baby steps to get here. First we cut out one bottle taking lead from the girls. They always let us know when they are ready. Then we started with baby oatmeal/rice mixed with fruit in the AM. Then, we added a veggie and fruit in the evening, then we took it down to 3 8 oz bottles. We just in the last 3 weeks have added lunch and turned the afternoon bottle into 2 sippie cups. I hope this helps you out. I desperately wanted someone to tell me what to do for meals, but you know what?? We figured it out and so will you - no worries! Good luck!!

A.

i have 3 boys and when i had them on a schedule...first wake up feed them the baby cereal with baby food fruit...in between a bottle then 11 one fruit and veggie and a couple bottles before supper...try to have her eat supper with you and your husband i had a hard time with my second one eating baby food....i had to just use real veggies cooked and mashed and he had to eat with us at the table...make it fun .....

I have a ten month old son who loves eating. I'm originally from Richmond, Indiana, but currently live in Japan. I have followed the advice given to me by other mothers at my church here in Japan. I had some baby food sent to me from the States, but now I am making my own with what is availabe in the Japanese supermarkets. I'm not sure if he is eating what is considered normal for his age, but here is a sample of what he eats.

8:30 am Breakfast: 3 Tbsp gerber oatmeal cereal mixed with 40 ml of formula, 30 grams (about 1/3 of a gerber baby 2 stage pack) of green peas, 100 ml of formula

12:30 pm Lunch: one ice cube of pumpkin (one ice cube = 15ml, not sure how many grams that is) mixed with 20 grams of tofu, 2 Tbsp gerber rice cereal mixed with 40 ml of formula, 100 ml of formula (My son loves eating tofu! It doesn't matter what is mixed with the tofu, he'll eat it happily.)

4:00 pm snack time: 1/2 of a wafer cookie and 200 ml of formula

7:30 pm dinner: one ice cube of carrots + one ice cube of spinach + 15 ml of white sauce (I use a Japanese baby food mix for the white sauce.) + 8 macaroni noodles cooked until very tender and smashed a little + 2Tbsp gerber barley cereal mixed with 40 ml of formula (I make the cereal with the formula first and than add everything else to the cereal.) This is a big hit with him!! and 100 ml formula

10:30 pm good night bottle: 200 ml formula

The doctors here think that my son looks like a stick, but he is at the top of the weight scale for Japanese babies. He just isn't round like all the Japanese babies his age are. He currently weighs about 9 kilos(around 19 pounds). He is much more advanced than the Japanese babies are as well. He was rolling over at one month, crawling at four months, and now he can walk holding onto the furniture. When I took him for his 7 month check up the doctor asked me if he could sit up by himself. When I sat him on the table, he tried to crawl away. It was very funny, because the doctor looked at me and said "How can this be? He isn't supposed to be able to do that yet?" Anway, my son sticks to this schedule most of the time, but to be flexible I may feed him a half an hour early or late depending on the day and my schedule. Hope that was helpful.

A little about me:

I'm a 36 year old, first time mom. I used to work full time, but now stay at home with my very energetic 10 month old son. I've been married for almost three years and we live in Japan.

Hi!

My daughter is having the same trouble...she's 11 months. What I'm doing is giving her food right before each bottle...hoping she'll fill up on food and drink less and less of the formula. This is with the exception of the first morning bottle because she will scream her head off if she doesn't get the bottle quickly. She's a horribly picky eater and hates baby food...so I keep trying different things. Good luck!
L.

You need to feed her food as soon after she gets up as she will eat. Most kids would rather have a bottle & quite frankly it's easier for you at the time, but not in the long run. I would suggest a bottle sometime in the morning even if it follows pretty close to breakfast. Then make her wait until lunch to eat. Lunch does not have to be at noon. I babysit & we eat lunch at 11am. Follow lunch with a bottle. After nap, a snack & another bottle. Wait until after supper to give her another bottle. At bedtime again a bottle & maybe a snack. This is enough liquid for the day.If it's summer or very warm where you live you may need to give her a bottle of water in between. Good luck. I raised 5 kids on this routine & have babysat MANY kids with this routine also. Make sure your meals are well balanced. Meat, fruit & veg. Bread is not so important at this age.

Hello- I am a mom of two daughters ages 8 and 5 and two sons who are about to turn one year old. I have been having problems getting them to eat more food than formula. They were 9 weeks premature and I know that that had a lot to do with it, but I have been consistantly giving them food for breakfast and after their naps. Which they take two a day- so they have been getting food three times a day. I know that if I feed them the food right after their naps that they will get used to the routine of what to expect. It is very time consuming (especially with two) but I know that we really need to wean the formula. The boys gag on gerber puffs and cheerios. I'm hoping that they will be able to eat things that are a little more solid soon. I just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone in this and it was nice to know that I wasn't either.

A. N

try regular food maybe she does not like baby food she wants to eat with her fingers which is fine when you eat offer her your food and alot of finger type food my grand daughter one of 7 went from all formula to table food and slice bananas she wanted to eat what everyone else did and if you still want to feed baby food sneak it in between the bites of finger and table food hope it works

hi i would not sweat it. my daughter started eating baby food at 6 months while my son who is a year now didnt like it at all and just takes more bottle than regular food...i think they will let you know when they are ready for regular food.....now i just make sure he has bottles since he isnt eating enough regular food to give him all the nutrients he needs. he eats finger stuff and noodles too....make it easier on yourself and dont worry. she wont go to preschool with a bottle. have a good day.

Dear T.,

Does your daughter eat the stage 1 or 2 pureed baby foods? If so, I used to sneak a little vegetable( like carrot or squash) into my son's fruit. It seemed to go best with the applesauce and mixed fruit combos. Since it is sweet, I feel he took it in. When he got older (now he's 2) I cooked only fresh vegetables (organic if possible) and would spray it with butter spray. He loves it and I don't have to sorry ( at least alot) about him eating a more balanced diet. Oh, I also used to mix the banana puree into his baby oatmeal and that used to work well too. Good luck.

N.

I would try offering her a small amount of food before the 'breakfast' time bottle. Like 10 Cheerios for example or some tiny cut up bits of banana. Then again at the lunch time bottle. You don't want it to fill her up, but to add to her diet. Her main nurishment at this age is still the formula. It's more to get them used to solids and trying a variety of foods and to check for allergies, round out the diet, etc.

Do the same thing at dinner. At that age I think we did baby food with two of our kids and solids with one. I think at that age they were all down to 4 bottles a day. Each meal time and one at dinner. There would sometimes be the early morning bottle/nursing (depending on the kid) to make five bottles that day.

Do you do jarred baby foods? Try no more than a tablespoon or two of food before the bottle. If you do the bottle first they often don't feel hungry enough for the hassle of solid food.

My middle child started table foods at 8 months and began refusing baby food after that. We would do things like torn up bits of toast, quartered grapes, bits of banana, etc. Mostly softer foods cut into tiny pieces. I would often do a fruit/cereal at breakfast, a veggie at lunch and a meat at dinner to round things out. Baby food meats that is. They have those little 'baby hot dogs' in a baby food jar. They are really mushy and easy to smash or cut up. Hope this helps.

Dear T.,
I realize that you are working full time and will probably not have time to make your own baby food but... I used the book called The Super Baby Food Book by Ruth Yaron. In it she lists several (and I do mean several) ideas for introduction of foods and when, as well as how much to serve. I was able to make most of it myself because I work out of my home but there were several times I also bought the organic jar and box versions of things too. I had fantastic results with the introductions of foods and the eating schedules so it might be worth a look. She may also have a web site too. I do want to warn you though, she is extremely pro environment/vegetarian lifestyle and has recipes for making everything yourself (including household cleaners, yogurt, playdough etc), so don't be too overwhelmed with the amount of information. I found this book chock full of great info and ideas and made it work for me quite well. My son is almost 3 and eats a large variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, rice, pastas, and meats of all kinds. (Avacado, mango, sweet potatos, pork chops,chicken and some fish to name a few.) Hope you find this book as helpful as I did!

I work for Healthy Families and from what I see this is normal for babies. Try introducing new foods and give her them before the bottle. Try some juce in a cup.. Some babies are just picky as we are as adults. Be persistant and you will get there...Congrates on being first time mom. Hope this helps you out some.

Hi T.. I also have a daughter the same age, 10 1/2 months so here is the schedule we have day to day:

small amount of formula (2-4oz) between 7-7.30am

breakfast at 8am - cereal (she has weetabix but you could try anything really) and milk (formula) mixed with fruit

lunch around 11.15am - usually meat and vegetables that I have cooked and pureed and some yoghurt and/or fruit and cup of water

at around 3.30pm she was having another small bottle of formula but this week she has decided she doesn't want this anymore so i have been giving her some fruit and bread and snacks like cheereos or similar with a cup of water

dinner at 5pm - again, meat and vegetables and then fruit. when i am cleaning up I give her and my son some of the gerber puff snacks so keep them occupied!!

bottle of formula at 6.30pm before bed. she will usually drink a full 8oz here.

my little one is not a big milk drinker so I make sure that I still offer her plenty of water and sometimes diluted juice so she is getting enough fluids and when I can, I mix in any left over formula into her meals.

each day i try to give her something new to feed herself like left over peas and corn from my sons dinner or chopped up fruit like pears, banana, blueberries etc. this is the time to try all different foods before they get old enough to start turning their nose up at everything!!

happy feeding :)

2 of my 3 girls hated babyfood. I let them eat finger foods as soon as they could get them into their mouths. They like things like noodles and small pieces of cheese or meat sticks. Steamed veggies and canned fruits in juice, not syrup are also good. At 10 months your baby should be eating with you. Put her in a high chair and let her have her meals with you, give her a few things that she can do herself and spoon feed her something also. You will know which she prefers. Babies that age like to do what they see us doing, if you are eating she will also. Formula or Breastmilk are still important at that age. She should still be drinking plenty of it. I usually did breastmilk first thing in the morning, then after lunch and again after her nap and before bed. I also gave them a sippy cup with milk in it during their meals, so that they could drink with their food, just like we do. I have found that by watching what my girls liked and disliked and letting them lead the way with some general guidance from me, we all did fine. Good luck to you. Relax, it's natural to eat!

My son eats breakfast when he wakes up which consists of a bottle, cereal, and cheerios. He eats lunch around 11:30, which is a bottle, veggie, fruit, and finger snacks. He takes a bottle at 4:30 and then eats people food for dinner around 5:15 and then another bottle at 7:15 before bed. Hope that helps!!