Do I need to feed my 14 mo baby high fat foods if still BF?

[Napdamnyou]

DS is fed once or twice at night, first thing, before bed and once or twice during day plus consoling sucks when he falls over etc. He is charging around and a tall slim energetic baby. He has been picky at eating recently and favours lower calorie foods like broccoli and cheerios. Also off meat and fish and not nearly as keen on cheese apart from Philly. Do I keep dressing all veg with butter or olive oil and putting soft cheese on all sandwiches etc, or do I relax and let him eat them plain? I read on kellymom that BF past one year has a higher fat content so wonder if he is self regulating? He's also starred only pooing every three days...

personally, so long as you arnt giving low or lower fat products personally i wouldnt worry too much.

Would he like cauliflower / broccolli cheese perhaps? Or (full fat) custard / rice pudding etc etc

(im sure there are plenty of mums who would love their 1 year old to be eating broccoli )

BM moves to around 11% fat past 12m (it's around 4% under 6m - though I have no idea what happens for months 7-11 as that doesn't seem to have been studied) so eating food lower in fat isn't a problem.

just give him normal food and don't worry about the fat content.
I think it's that you're not supposed to give fat substitutes - so give him cream cheese, not reduced fat cream cheese, or give him butter not low-fat spread. that kind of thing.

Thank you. He has full fat Philly, soft cheese, hard cheese, milk yoghurt and butter - I don't give him low fat anything. He seems to prefer his veg plan and steamed and be off oily dressings such as melted butter, which would make sense if he is getting higher fat BM?

He is being very picky at the moment and only wants to eat

Broccoli
Breadsticks
Oatcakes
Dry cheerios
Buttered bagels or toast
Blueberry yogurt (but not blueberries)
Philadelphia or Boursin

Sometimes chunks of hard cheddar.
Sometimes shredded ham if hidden in a sandwich with Philadelphia
Sometimes cantaloupe melon
Very occasionally egg yolk if spread on toast with Philly

He is refusing minced beef, fish, cauliflower, carrots, fruit, and sausages, chicken, pasta, rice, onions...

...sigh. Is now on antibiotics as well for an insect bite so I doubt it will get better this week. Does BF help with avoiding antibiotic side effects, does anyone know?

Hi Nappy,

I disagree with some of the above posts about fats not being important. I recently saw a paediatrician for son's constipation issues (22 months) and she highlighted the importance of fats in a toddler's diet. Amongst other things, they help in intestinal regularity and keeping the stools soft as they move through the bowel (along with plenty of liquids).

His diet seems fine but your mentioning that he is preferring lower calorie foods and only pooping every three days may indicate he actually isn't getting enough -- particularly if he used to be more regular.

I would keep an eye on the pooping -- every three days is a long time between bowel movements.

We aren't saying fat isn't important but if he is having 5-6 bfs a day and assuming he is getting around 500mls of BM a day that's over 50g of fat just from BM.

This means it's not so important to cover all his food in butter as it would be if he was on follow on or toddler milk with 2-3% fat (so 10-15g of fat a day).

I can't answer about the every 3 days as that is normal for me (sorry) so I didn't think anything of it.

Pooing every 3 days is well within the normal range for adults, but I'm not sure about children.

I think you are right about that AD - I just didn't twig!

Have you tried avocado and nut butters? My 18 month old doesn't like anything spread on anything, like butter on toast, just likes plain toast. But she will hoover up avocado and will take some nut butter off a spoon, just not spread on anything. She is still BF, and poos about every 2 days, but even every 3 days is normal though I think.

Truthsweet,

You are assuming he is getting 50g of fat from bm but this may not be the case at all depending on how much he drinks at each feed and the op's actual breastmilk composition (we don't all fit into averages).

I simply highlighted the importance of fats because op stated a 'change' in bowel movements which might indicate a deficiency in his diet.

Toddler bowel regularity varies widely from child to child. It is a change from the norm which could indicate an issue.

I agree with choceyes about avocado and nut butters -- my son loves these. No need to douse everything in butter but offering foods rich in good fats is a great idea.

I do think fats are important. But it seems to me that the has been getting too much and is naturally self regulating a bit...there was anoint hen it seemed all his food was a bit greasy and that's when he started wanting plain veg and crunchy things ( think it helps with molars under the gum to crunch too). My milk being very fatty would explain ( he drinks a LOT of it). He doeshave dilute OJ too, and will poo when give a stronger less dilute mix. Stools, when they come are huge and solid, like adult poo. He seems well in himself (even though on antibiotics for the insect bite) but when has not pooed for three days refuses to nap. So i wonder if by then he feels uncomfortable and wants more plain veg to get things moving.

He won't eat avocado or nut butter anymore. He will eat soaked raisins and prunes in yog sometimes though so could try them.

Thanks v much for your replies.

Anoint hen = -a point when, blood phone

Bloody phone, gah

Babies and young children with normal development are much better than either parents or nutritionists at assessing their own dietary needs.

The key is to offer a wide range of foods, you can be confident that he will select the ones which meet his needs right now.

I think I read somewhere that fats are very important for brain development too?