13 month old eats few solids, need advice how to get off the

MY son is almost 13 months old and still won't eat many solids. He loves his crackers and any kind of meat, he'll chow on those, but everything else he just picks at, has a few bites and loses interest. I give him plenty of variety, plenty. He still has 4-5 bottles of formula a day (which includes one at midnight), we continue to give him formula because we are concerned that he is not getting the nutrients he needs from the few things he eats. Should I just start refusing the bottle? Will he start eating more solids if I do this? Do you think I should just encourage him to eat solids by letting him have his crackers so he's not so hungry for his bottle? OR, should I take away his bottle and his crackers and make him eat something else? The last suggestion seems a little brutal? I don't know though though, I need some advice, what /wouldyou do with your little ones?

My pedi told me if shes hungry she will eat it !!

I seem to notice Deanna would rather eat what &or when I am eating .

Try that . =)

A lot of babies tend to snack all day without getting set meals. My 13 month old is on the next stage formula, he likes to drink more than eat, but he's getting way better.

How many ounces are you giving him? Maybe cut it little by little and give him his milk and some solids.

i would limit the bottle to two a day, and start replacing the formula with milk. At 13 months he really only needs 16 oz of milk a day, and with as many bottles as he is getting, it is most likely filling him up. Start replacing the formula in the bottle with milk 1 oz at a time (EX: For a 6 oz bottle, mix 1 oz milk with 5 oz formula). Each day increase the amount of milk in the bottle until it's all milk. It's also important to remember that a portion size for a toddlermay only be a few bites. Continue to offer him a variety of foods, and he will eat when he is hungry. Cutting back the bottles should help him start to eat more solids, but don't be surprised if he only starts eating a few more bites at a time. Worrying that your child isn't getting enough to eat (or enough vits) is a right of passage as you enter toddlerhood, and he will go through stages where he won't eat and others where he can't get enough. If he is still gaininggrowing and developing normally, then there isn't anything to worry about.

Oh yeah, and offer his some water when he eats, too.

Thanks for the advice, cutting down on a couple bottles would probably be good. Does anyone really break their 12 month old from the bottle? I just don't htink he's ready to give it up all together, maybe in a few months or so. What about the night feeding? Do/did you guys have to feed your13 mo old in the middle of the night? I thought that they really didn't need this feeding it's just habbit or something. Do you think it's time I start putting water in his bottle at night instead of formula or milk?

Quoting KadensMommmy:“ Thanks for the advice, cutting down on a couple bottles would probably be good. Does anyone really break ... [snip!] ... it's just habbit or something. Do you think it's time I start putting water in his bottle at night instead of formula or milk?”

I still give my son a bottle 1-2 times a day. The night feeding probably is out of habit, I don't know about the water thing, though.

Quoting KadensMommmy:“ Thanks for the advice, cutting down on a couple bottles would probably be good. Does anyone really break ... [snip!] ... it's just habbit or something. Do you think it's time I start putting water in his bottle at night instead of formula or milk?”

The middle of the night bottle is most likely habit. Babies lose the need to feed in the middle of the night months before their first birthday. I would cut out as many daytime bottle as you can. Just start with 1, and slowly decrease by 1 each week. I would save the before-bed bottle for last, that is usually the hardest for kids to give up. It may take some crying, but offer juice or water or whole milk in a sippy instead. If you give him the option of the bottle, he will obviously take it, so just don't make it an option. Offer him foods over and over. I find that Em eats the best when I just giver her some food and leave it at that, if I push it on her to take a bite of this or a bite of that, she gets frustrated. If I just give her her plate and fork, she will clear the plate no problem. Its likely that he is just too full of formula to be honest.

Quoting KadensMommmy:“ Thanks for the advice, cutting down on a couple bottles would probably be good. Does anyone really break ... [snip!] ... it's just habbit or something. Do you think it's time I start putting water in his bottle at night instead of formula or milk?”

Well, with Will, when we switched him to a sippy cup, he became much, much more interested in solids. Personally, as soon as he got a hang of the sippy we threw out the bottles and he went cold turkey.

In the middle of the night, I would go in and comfort him and offer him a sippy of water. Once I started doing that he dropped his early morning feeding all together. Now when he wakes in the middle of the night, he normally talks to himself, fusses and falls back to sleep within 10 mins or so without me having to go in or anything. But we sleep trained him about 7-8 months ago (he's 14 months old now) so he's pretty used to putting himself back to sleep.

He won't starve himself. I kind of had the same problem but it wasn't with the bottle it was just that I fealt like he wasn't eating enough period but sometimes kids eat more at times then other times. If you cut out a bottle or 2 they will probably start eating more solids to make up for it. Sense he is getting so much formula its just filling him up so he doesn't even bother with the solids because he is used to the bottle and your offering it to him.