18 mllonths old bf - can it interfer with food/ solids intake?

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DD is 18 months and still bf ( morning, nap and nights) about 2 months ago he stopped eating soups...just bits and pieces and maybe 1 proper meal a day. could the bf be an answer why he has reduced his food intake?

Unless he has increased his milk intake while reducing his food intake, then I would guess that it isn't related to the milk. I think it's very common for DC to have phases of eating more/less, with no obvious reason.

I was a bit worried about my DD at a similar age and decided to limit the cow's milk she had, just in case it was having an impact - thought it was better to limit that than to limit BM. No idea if it made any difference though! She's now 2 and still sometimes eats loads, othe times hardly anything.

How many feeds is he having roughly at night? Could be that he is loading up with calories at night because he is too busy to eat in the day.

However some children just eat very little some days, keeping a food diary for a couple of weeks? It might help you to stop focusing on the odd missed meal. I'd also look for the book, My Child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez, your library might have a copy if you are lucky

How do you want to go on from here? What he is doing sounds pretty normal but I can understand if you want to cut down on the night feeds. Have you read 12 alternatives for the all night nurser?

Oh and almost forgot to ask, what do you do when he refuses food and what does a typical day look like?

if he refuses, I offer something else which he might or might not take OR just leave him. Typical day
8.00 am - I offer breakfast ( porridge) - he usually refuses, so I give dry cereal ( does not eat a lot)

9.30 - b2nd reakfast - banana + oat buscuit or sth he can eat wih hand - baked apple + buscuit / a bit of bread

12.00 - Bf and nap

14.00 - I offer him soup but usually will not take...then give him grated apple+carrot

15.00 cheese+ some bread sticks or more fruit

18.00 dinner ( Pasta or rice with meet) - he refuses meat ( need to do minced bolognese or someing to hide meet in...)

how is this diary?

That's an awful lot of times you are offering solids, and some close together - how did you end up with two breakfasts and two lunches an hour or so apart?

Does he need to bf before his nap? That's probably messing up his lunch. I'd aim to feed just morning and evening. It's a shame his nap is at lunchtime!

Instead of soup, what would he do if you offered sandwiches, toast, breadsticks and houmous, or an omelette? If he ate something more substantial for lunch, you could probably cut out the 3pm offering, or switch the less substantial grated apple for then, making him hungrier come dinner time.

Oh, and why dry cereal and not with milk?

the dry cereal becuase he does not like soggy staff...he prefer hand pick food ( I did a bit of baby led weaning) and now I can see his tendency to trust to put in his mouth food which he can handle himself. he cannot handle cereal with milk, so he will not eat it...Yes, he woudl love sandwiches, but I was just not sure about giving he too much bread ( morning, lunch, pasta in the evening). the second breakfast is there because he hardly eat anything on 1st breakfast - just nibbleing really. he normally eats well for 2nd breakfast. what would you suggest in temrs of spreading the time? thank you. will try it out today to stread the time a bit

My 15mo is bf morning/eve/naps/nighttime wakings. His day/meals are like this:

8am breakfast - bit of toast/dry cereal (same issues as you), some fruit, followed by bf if he wants it

10am snack - breadsticks/fruit/rice cakes sort of thing

12noon - lunch - sandwiches and salad bits or soup and bread

12.30/1 - bf and nap

3pm - snack - similar to am

5pm - dinner - bolognaise/fish pie/meat & veg/fish etc, sometimes eats all sometimes none , yoghurt for pudding.

6.30pm - bf & bed.

The one thing from your routine that I would say is can you give him lunch at 12 before his nap? That would be a more usual time for a toddler than 2/3pm.

I don't know if it helps but DS is 20 months old and not bf and he usually has

7am breakfast - up to 2 bowls of cereal or 2 weetabix on a hungry day!
9.30am snack - a banana or 3 oatcakes or dried fruit, or rice cakes (I limit these to maximum of 6 to avoid constipation).
11.30/12 lunch - usually a hot meal up to 2 bowls. Current favourites are homemade chilli and rice, tuna and tomato pasta, spaghetti bolognese.
12.30-2.30 nap time
2.30/3 snack time - as per morning snack.
4.30/5 tea time - sandwiches, cheese and crackers, toast, etc and a pudding e.g yoghurt, rice pudding or custard.
7 bed time

DS doesn't like drinking milk much since discovering solid food, but my HV is happy and just said to offer him the choice of water or milk at meal times.

I have not checked his weight...will do on my home scales to get a rough idea. In terms of lunch before nap, it is weher I struggle as well. as each time I offer it - even at 11.30 am, he is rather tired or full ( because he want to eat more at 10.00 snack)?

Your DD sounds very much like DS. He is 22 months old and pretty much lives off of breast milk.

I try not to worry about the amount of solid food he eats. He is obviously healthy and happy. I never refuse DS breast milk and offer him three main meals and lot's of snacks throughout the day. He breastfeeds during his nap, at night and throughout the day.

He might have a couple of mouthfulls of solid food in a day, if I'm lucky! Sometimes more sometimes less.

The only thing I would change about your feeding schedule is to offer your DD lunch before she takes her midday nap.

You cannot force a person to eat, the only thing you can do is offer food. Toddlers will take what they need and they really do not need very much.

Good luck and try not to worry.

Dr sears

kellymom toddler foods

Forgot to add that toddlers that are breastfeed frequently will almost always eat less solid food then toddlers who are not. This is not a bad thing. It's the calories and the nutritional value of the food they eat that matters and breast milk really is the perfect food for them. (This is not a dig at people who don't BF toddlers!!)

My daughter definitely only started eating properly when i stopped breastfeeding her completely, and she still only has a small appetite, so the milk was clearly filling her up and satisfying her.

Also, my nephew, who was a 'good' eater ate loads more once he stopped breastfeeding too.

So if you want him to eat more food then cut down on the breastfeeds, if this reassures you that he's getting enough then keep going as you are. Personally i would not worry.