13 month baby appetite

[nadine6301]

This may sound ridiculous to the experienced parent but my nearly 13 month daughter doesn't eat much solids but likes her milk. She is petite little thing! I'm aware milk now comes secondary to solid but how on earth do you cut down the milk without it turning into a nightmare?! She has milk on waking in the morning and after waking from both naps then another bottle before bed so four in total but they are only 5 Oz feeds and sometimes she doesn't always drink it all. She's offered three meals a day and will eat fruit, veg till it comes out her ears but picks at carbs and protein. Plus I offer two healthy snacks in between.
I guess I'm worried if I cut down her milk intake (how??) and she still doesn't eat more solids she'll be hungry...
Any advice on how to cut back her milk (personally don't think it's lots...) Thank you!

[nadine6301]

Forgot to add I'm doing a mix of formula and cows milk at the moment which appears to be going ok

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Have you tried giving her breakfast straightaway in the morning instead of milk?

When we started this, DH took them downstairs and gave them breakfast whilst I stayed upstairs.

[nadine6301]

@JiltedJohnsJulie
No I haven't but now you say it, it's an obvious thing to try, thank you. Think I'm anxious she'll be upset if I don't give her a bottle but there's only one way of finding out. Thank you for answering my dim question!

[skkyelark]

I was going to suggest something similar, when she wakes up from her nap, try a snack before milk.

My daughter was also slow to eat very much solid food and favoured fruit/veg. Are there any carbs or protein your daughter does (sometimes) eat more of? I'd offer them often, to try to build the habit of eating a larger volume of solids. What about dishes that mix fruit/veg with other elements? Yoghurt with fruit or fruit purée, veg dipped in hummus or soft cheese, frittata, small pasta shapes in a veg sauce? I also made savoury muffins and fritters with lots of veg in, basically recipes designed to encourage children to eat veg, but I used the veg flavour to encourage more carbs/protein.

[nadine6301]

@skkyelark
Thank you for your helpful suggestions, I definitely need her to eat more of these food types. She does but in bird like portions! By all accounts she should be on less formula now so I think that's what I need to start..
Can I ask did you just drop bottles and then replace with solids or was it giving less milk until it was none?
Sounds like obvious questions when I read it back but it's honestly stressing me out. Think if she were a bigger baby I'd probably be less worried.
Thank you for your advice and help

[skkyelark]

We're all missing the chance to chat about these things with other mums, see the range of 'normal' and pick up tips, and then once you've been worrying about something, it can feel like nothing is obvious.

She sounds a lot like my daughter was, happy to have 2-3 bites of most things, but that was it for carbs/protein. No problems getting through a whole satsuma though.

My daughter was breastfed, so I couldn't really control how much she had at a feed. We just offered solids before milk so she'd be hungrier for the solids and tried very hard not to push her to eat or show any stress – you don't want her to associate eating with stress. Things just slowly improved (with good days and bad days), and at 17 months, it's not something we really think about any more.

Some random other things that helped us: Try both eating with her and leaving her to get on with it. I always sat down with her, but if she hadn't eaten much, I'd keep her in her highchair whilst I pottered about the kitchen, and a fair bit of the time she'd decide to eat a bit more.

If you don't already, let her try whatever you're eating (except health risks, obviously). Food on from my plate is always better than food from her plate, and wee ones have some surprising favourites. My daughter loves curry flavours and, very randomly, kidney beans.

Notice the little wins. I remember telling my husband the wee one had really liked lunch, as she'd had 6 bites! (First sign of the taste for curry spices, as it happens.)

[nadine6301]

@skkyelark
Thank you for your kind words and support, yes it's so difficult when we don't have the contact with other mum's.
It's going to be baby steps as such and today as suggested we gave a snack of solids after waking from her morning nap and thankfully she ate with gusto! I offered cows milk a little later and she wasn't overly fussed! Definitely a step in the right direction!
I'm an anxious overthinker and have been pulling my hair out over this so honestly thank you for some wise words and making me see it a little clearer.
My daughter also can polish off a satsuma no problem!

[skkyelark]

Sorry, been a busy few days. That's great that she ate well after her nap. Hopefully with a few gradual changes and just a bit more time, you'll soon find that she eats a reasonable amount of solid food most days.

At least our two will genuinely be thrilled when they find the traditional satsuma in the toe of their Christmas stocking!