Oh, so much changes in just one short year. As my boys approached their first birthday, I grew weepy thinking back on all we had experienced with the joy of life during the exciting first year.
Here are notes from our schedule for 10-12 months.
MONTH 10
Cereal was consistent and we were adding more fruits and vegetables throughout the day. While following the 3-5 day wait rule, I added various fruits for breakfast, green veggies for lunch, and orange veggies for dinner. The boys were taking 2 full naps and a third catnap in the late afternoon. I got them up for the day at 7:00am and they had a bottle and ate breakfast. They had another bottle and ate lunch at 11:00. Then, they would have another bottle and eat their afternoon meal at 3:00pm. The last feeding of the day was just a bottle at 7:00pm right before being laid down for bedtime. This 4 hour schedule worked well for a while.
MONTH 11
This month, we were down to just 2 naps around 9:00am and 1:00pm. The eating schedule stayed about the same while adding more and more quantities as well as mixing flavors. Some favorites were mango, blueberries, pears, avocado, banana, sweet potato, zucchini, squash, and carrots.
MONTH 12
Our sleeping and eating schedules stayed generally the same with lunch and the afternoon meal each moving about 30 minutes later. We kept increasing food amounts, varieties, textures, and mixtures. At this point, the boys were generally eating about 26-32 oz formula, 6-8 oz fruit, 1/2 cup porridge, and 6-8 oz vegetables every day. This was split up as follows:
- 7:00am – bottle, porridge, fruit (sometimes yogurt with berries or banana)
- 11:30am – bottle, green vegetable, fruit, and protein
- 3:30pm – bottle, snack (cheese, graham crackers, cheerios, or fruit)
- 7:00pm – water, yellow vegetable, grain (porridge from rice or millet or whole grain pasta)
RESOURCES
I’ve mentioned these before, but my two favorite resources have been Super Baby Food
by Ruth Yaron and wholesomebabyfood.com. Please share any other interesting or helpful resources. You may also benefit from some of these TIPS.
Be sure to also see these previous posts.
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 10-12 Months (you are here)
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 7-9 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 4-6 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 0-3 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: Introduction
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
As always, be sure to discuss any feeding options, ideas, struggles, or issues along the way with your pediatrician.
Consistency is key. Decide what you want your daily routine to be and stick with it. Babies, children, and adults enjoy routine and knowing what to expect next. You will, of course, need to change with your children as they grow, but getting this established early is something that you will be thankful for in the future.
Keep taking notes and writing what your baby eats, how much, and how often. It will great in knowing where to go next and noting any allergy triggers or sleep issues. Full tummies like their sleep. My boys also definitely eat better when they are well rested.
NOTE: A month references the time from turning that age until the next older month. So, if your baby was born on January 1st, then those first weeks are considered MONTH 1 until he reaches February 1st. From then until March 2nd is considered MONTH 2. Remember that there are 52 weeks in a year, so it’s not an even 4 weeks per month.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
Tags: cereal, formula, fruit, porridge, routine, schedule, schedules, vegetable
Posted by tntmck on Jul 18, 2010 in
Weekly Well, I’ve always felt this way about food, but I think my boys had a fun-filled food week this week. It just seems that we let loose a little and they enjoyed a few things that are just plain fun to eat. Overall, I had a couple of big dinner eaters on my hands this week. These were those meals where you get up from the table to get seconds, thirds, fourths, and have to just “call it” once the food runs out. I couldn’t get food fast enough and definitely watched them out-eat both me and Jonathan at the table for dinner.
Food Description
From the usual roast, salmon, fruit, and broccoli to pasta, smoothies, and a trip for ice cream, everything was a big hit this week and we enjoyed some beautiful messes along the way.
Process
Chicken Sausage Pasta
INGREDIENTS
2 cups tomato sauce
1 tsp oil
1 clove garlic
1 cup spinach
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
4 chicken sausages
8 ounces dry pasta
DIRECTIONS
Prepare pasta.
Slice sausages into bite-size pieces.
Mince garlic.
In a large pan, heat garlic in oil.
Add sausage to heat through.
Add spinach, tomato sauce, and seasonings.
Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add pasta and mix well.
Smoothies
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup dairy ONE (choose one: whole yogurt, kefir, cow’s milk, or goat’s milk)
1/2 cup dairy TWO (choose one: whole yogurt, kefir, cow’s milk, or goat’s milk)
1 TBS flax seed oil
1 TBS raw honey
1/2+ cup fruit ONE (dominant flavor, usually a berry)
1/4+ cup fruit TWO (underlying flavor, usually pineapple, mango, or second berry)
DIRECTIONS
Blend well in blender, adding extra dairy or ice cubes to thin as needed. I like to use frozen fruit with mine so the smoothie is more like a milkshake or ice cream consistency and not runny. The smoothies of choice this week were strawberry-pineapple and strawberry-mango. Each contained half and half of kefir and yogurt along with a splash of cow’s milk. Yum! You can always add kelp or spinach for a green smoothie or include other healthy additions like wheat germ or egg.
What I Learned
Those big messes are what make life fun with little ones. We had pasta on stuck to the table, the highchairs, and the floor. At least nothing hit the wall, was smeared in hair, or went flying across the room. We did go straight upstairs for baths which was a smart move, but upon draining the tub, I had to clean it as well as it looked like a pasta bowl of leftovers as well.
Reaction
As usual, both boys enjoyed food this week. The pasta was a hit as you can see and the smoothies were mesmerizing and delightful through a straw. Our trip to the Nolensville Feed Mill again this weekend offered my boys another taste of the sweet strawberry ice cream which they loved again thanks to Mimi.
Summary
Summer is fun. Eating is fun. 17 month old boys are fun.
Tags: fruit, pasta, recipe, summer, weekly
Posted by tntmck on Jun 24, 2010 in
Fruits & Vegetables,
Tips Do you ever get home from the farmer’s market or the grocery with all of your fresh produce and wonder where to store each item? I’m constantly questioning if I should store things in my fruit bowl, in my pantry, or in the refrigerator.
RIPEN FRUITS AT HOME
Speed up the ripening by placing fruit in a single layer in a large paper bag with several holes, folding over the top of the bag. Leave the bag on the counter while the fruit ripens in 1-2 days. The refrigerator will continue to keep the ripened fruit fresh for several days.
- Avocados
- Bananas (Bananas are always picked green. The will ripen from green to yellow in a few days on their own. The brown speckles on a banana means it is very sweet and ready to eat. They can also be stored in the refrigerator after they ripen. The skin will turn dark, but the fruit inside will be good to eat.)
- Cantaloupe
- Honeydew
- Kiwi
- Mangos
- Nectarines
- Papayas
- Peaches
- Pears
- Plums
- Pineapples (I cut once ripe, and store in a glass container in the refrigerator. They say ripe when you buy them, but I usually let them ripen on the counter another day or two at home.)
- Tomatoes
REFRIGERATE FRUIT
These fruits are picked when ripe and don’t ripen any further. Store them in the refrigerator and enjoy within a few days.
- Apples
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cherries
- Cranberries
- Grapes
- Lemons
- Limes
- Oranges
- Pomegranates
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Tangerines
- Watermelons
Please share any thoughts or ideas.
::
Tags: fruit, storage, tips
This was a very fun time. I felt like we really hit a groove and many things with our routine such as sleeping and eating really fell into place and stayed consistent for a while. Both boys also started crawling and pulling up to stand during this period which is so fun.
Here are notes from our schedule for 7-9 months.
MONTH 7
Cereal was consistent and we were adding more fruits and vegetables throughout the day. While following the 3-5 day wait rule, I added various fruits for breakfast, green veggies for lunch, and orange veggies for dinner. The boys were taking 2 full naps and a third catnap in the late afternoon. I got them up for the day at 7:00am and they had a bottle and ate breakfast. They had another bottle and ate lunch at 11:00. Then, they would have another bottle and eat their afternoon meal at 3:00pm. The last feeding of the day was just a bottle at 7:00pm right before being laid down for bedtime. This 4 hour schedule worked well for a while.
MONTH 8
This month, we were down to just 2 naps around 9:00am and 1:00pm. The eating schedule stayed about the same while adding more and more quantities as well as mixing flavors. Some favorites were mango, blueberries, pears, avocado, banana, sweet potato, zucchini, squash, and carrots.
MONTH 9
Our sleeping and eating schedules stayed generally the same with lunch and the afternoon meal each moving about 30 minutes later. We kept increasing food amounts, varieties, textures, and mixtures. At this point, the boys were generally eating about 26-32 oz formula, 6-8 oz fruit, 1/2 cup porridge, and 6-8 oz vegetables every day. This was split up as follows:
- 7:00am – bottle, porridge, fruit
- 11:00/11:30am – bottle, green vegetable, fruit
- 3:00/3:30pm – bottle, porridge, orange vegetable, fruit
- 7:00pm – bottle
RESOURCES
I’ve mentioned these before, but my two favorite resources have been Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and wholesomebabyfood.com. Please share any other interesting or helpful resources. You may also benefit from some of these TIPS.
Be sure to also see these previous posts.
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 10-12 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 7-9 Months (you are here)
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 4-6 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 0-3 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: Introduction
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
As always, be sure to discuss any feeding options, ideas, struggles, or issues along the way with your pediatrician.
Consistency is key. Decide what you want your daily routine to be and stick with it. Babies, children, and adults enjoy routine and knowing what to expect next. You will, of course, need to change with your children as they grow, but getting this established early is something that you will be thankful for in the future.
Keep taking notes and writing what your baby eats, how much, and how often. It will great in knowing where to go next and noting any allergy triggers or sleep issues. Full tummies like their sleep. My boys also definitely eat better when they are well rested.
NOTE: A month references the time from turning that age until the next older month. So, if your baby was born on January 1st, then those first weeks are considered MONTH 1 until he reaches February 1st. From then until March 2nd is considered MONTH 2. Remember that there are 52 weeks in a year, so it’s not an even 4 weeks per month.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
::
Tags: cereal, formula, fruit, porridge, routine, schedules, vegetable
Posted by tntmck on Mar 24, 2010 in
Purées,
Sample Schedules 4-6 months is a time for lots of change for babies. My boys were much more alert and awake as well as enjoying longer periods of sleep. We also starting doing fewer liquid feedings. This is the recommended time period to begin solids.
I began rice cereal during this period. Here was our basic schedule for 4-6 months.
MONTH 4
We dropped our late night feeding at 12 weeks and both boys began sleeping generally from 7pm-7am. We continued on with our liquid feedings, about 5 per day. At this point my boys were on formula bottles. They have always been such different eaters, but averaged anywhere from 26-36 ounces per day. They were taking bottles about every 3.5 hours as we were moving to a 4 hour feeding schedule. Look at the resources below for ideas on amounts per feeding and per day and always discuss with your pediatrician. I made my first big batch of food for the freezer this month.
MONTH 5
This was an exciting month…full of change. We moved to a 4 hour feeding schedule with 4 feedings per day and started rice cereal. I can tell you that it took a while for them to catch on to being spoon-fed, but once it clicked, it was great. I mentioned this earlier in the blog, but I fed them straight rice cereal without mixing in any fruit or anything else. Discuss with your pediatrician and do some research, but you could also begin with something like avocado. However, if you learn how to and stick to making homemade whole grains, then cereal is an excellent choice. Be consistent with your time of day to begin feeding. I think it helps your baby learn and know what to expect. I started with breakfast at 7:00am and slowly added dinner around 3:00pm.
MONTH 6
Cereal was catching on and we started adding fruits and vegetables. I started with sweet potato at lunch, but kept the cereal for breakfast and afternoon. As we continued, I added a fruit to breakfast and lunch and a vegetable to dinner. Remember the 3-5 day wait rule to watch for any reactions. I vividly remember going to the beach with my family in August before the boys were 6 months old and trying to get them to eat the cereal. It was just a week after we returned that they were really getting the hang of it. It almost just seems to click one day. I say this because, I think it’s important to get that first food established well before you move on to too many options. I never had any food refusal, but had to stick with something new over and over to get it well-established. I had already made my food batches and had a good stash in the freezer to get is started. I think this is important so that you can concentrate on feeding and don’t have to worry about making for the first few weeks or more.
RESOURCES
I’ve mentioned these before, but my two favorite resources have been Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and wholesomebabyfood.com. Please share any other interesting or helpful resources.
Be sure to also see these additional posts.
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 10-12 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 7-9 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 4-6 Months (you are here)
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 0-3 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: Introduction
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
As always, be sure to discuss any feeding options, ideas, struggles, or issues along the way with your pediatrician. Remember that this is a time where liquid feedings are still the primary source of nutrition for baby. You are teaching and your baby is learning about solids. In all reality, this is the first step in the weaning process.
Consistency is key. Decide what you want your daily routine to be and stick with it. Babies, children, and adults enjoy routine and knowing what to expect next. You will, of course, need to change with your children as they grow, but getting this established early is something that you will be thankful for in the future.
Keep taking notes and writing what your baby eats, how much, and how often. It will great in knowing where to go next and noting any allergy triggers or sleep issues. Full tummies like their sleep. Enjoy your growing baby. The food only gets bigger. More fun, more challenging, more variety.
NOTE: A month references the time from turning that age until the next older month. So, if your baby was born on January 1st, then those first weeks are considered MONTH 1 until he reaches February 1st. From then until March 2nd is considered MONTH 2. Remember that there are 52 weeks in a year, so it’s not an even 4 weeks per month.
Please share your thoughts and ideas.
::
Tags: baby, breast feeding, cereal, formula, fruit, routine, schedules, vegetable
Posted by tntmck on Jan 8, 2010 in Uncategorized
Well, I’m beginning to think about my boys getting older and have recently started making their pureed food a little thicker and chunkier. At 10.5 months old, neither of my boys has refused a food. Yes, they have made some faces and yes, they’ve been slow going on a few things. But, after a few bites, it’s always a go. This has been one of my main goals with feeding and making their food. So, with that in mind, I’m ready to add some new items to the menu. Before we do that, though, I’d like to give a summary of what I’ve made and introduced so far.
Listed generally in order of introduction. Keep in mind that I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or a food expert and you should always consult your pediatrician when choosing food for your baby.
brown rice
oatmeal
avocado
sweet potatoes
green beans
winter squash
pears
apples
bananas
tahini
peas
carrots
white potatoes
summer squash
zucchini
asparagus
blueberries
kiwi
plums
peach
apricottofu
egg yolks
cottage cheese
yogurt
With so many foods in just over 4 months, I can truly say that we have been busy. It has also been hard to make sure they are getting a good variety and keep tasting all of these foods. It is very easy to get through an introduction and forget about it for a few weeks or a month. As I’m typing this, I can’t remember the last time I bought a kiwi or plum.
Now, with each weekly post, I plan to describe the food made as well as the process briefly. Then, I will mention anything I learned as well as the reaction from the boys. I will summarize with any notes and how much they’re eating.
FOOD DESCRIPTION
We continued with existing foods this week including rice cereal, oatmeal, tahini, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, apples, yogurt, carrots, avocado, and kiwi.
PROCESS
I have been using the Earth’s Best Rice Cereal
Rice since the boys were 5 months old. I tried making my own by grinding organic brown rice, but it always came out super pasty. Like I mentioned at the opening of this blog, I’m not a super cook. For me, the instant organic from the box works just great! I also use the Earth’s Best Oatmeal Cereal and it is great as well.
WHAT I LEARNED
I didn’t learn anything new about making foods this week as we did not introduce anything new. I have realized that it is time to go to my resources and find some new foods to add to the list.
REACTION
Both boys still love the baby cereals. I know many babies refuse it at this point, but they love it plain, sticky, mushy, mixed with fruits, or any way it’s given to them. One thing to note is that I mixed the avocado and kiwi this week. It sounds like a strange combination, but kiwi is one of the few things that both boys have kind of wrinkled their noses at when fed alone. So, I used what I had and just mixed it with avocado. They ate it all. All of the other foods this week were still a hit and nothing new was introduced.
SUMMARY
I still had plenty of pre-made frozen food this week from my bulk preparation before Christmas. We were having family in town and I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have to worry about preparing any baby foods. I was able to simply defrost anything I wanted overnight in the refrigerator and was good to go the next day. For days that we were out of the house, I took jarred organic foods like Earth’s Best Organic Jars or Gerber Organics. This is what I have typically done, unless I’ve been going somewhere where I knew I could travel with my bowls of food in an insulated bag with ice packs. I just find it easier to travel with the jars. That being said, we typically eat meals at home.
Please share your thoughts or ideas.
::
Tags: cereal, food introduction, fruit, jar, organic, vegetable, weekly
