How much does your 9-12 month old eat (and drink)?

[WhatTheHeckShrek]

At his last weighing the HV said that ds (10 months) is gaining weight too quickly. He was on the 95th centile, up from the 80th, which he'd been following fairly consistently from birth till 6 months.

She said I should feed him milk only twice a day, stick to either breastfeeding or formula (am currently combi feeding) and reduce his portion sizes.

I'm just not sure how to feed him less. He always seems hungry. He never closes his mouth or turns his face away when feeding solids and for the last couple of days he's actually been drinking more formula (maybe my breastmilk has just reduced massively). I've been trying to reduce his portions of solid food but then he just gets cranky or doesn't sleep well.

I am worried though. I don't want to set him up for a lifetime of obesity or health issues. And he definitely looks massive with lots of rolls.

He eats probably more than double of what DD ateat that age but then she's always had weight gain issues and is still underweight

So I'm curious how much other babies of this age eat or drink.

DD eats

6.30: bf (breastfeeding)

8.00: breakfast: 2.5b table spoons of baby muesli or porridge mixed with formula and usually a grated apple.

10.0: (nap time): bf + formula (on average height anything between 30-120ml of formula)

13.00: lunch (rice with yogurt or vegetables or pasta or some concoction made from mashed vegetables and beans. I usually start with some sort of finger foods before every meal like a couple of strawberries or cheese strips. It's difficult to explain how large his portions are. H never seems to reject food though after the first few spoons he starts looking for other entertainment while eating but will still happily open his mouth to be fed. I usually stop after about an IKEA children's bowl full. If he has ready made baby food it's about a pouch (190g)

15.00 bf (no formula)

18.00: dinner (similar to lunch)

20.00 bedtime bf + formula

In the night he wakes up 2 or 3 times and I usually I bf him back to sleep but I don't think I've much milk left and he only feeds from one side.

Does this sound ok ish?

Hmm that sounds extremely similar to what my DD (11mo) usually eats on a good day and she's only the 9th percentile. I wouldn't say that's too much at all, sounds pretty normal. Maybe your portion sizes are bigger than you think? Do you also give snacks?

Sounds about right, though that is a lot of milk (my 10mo is on 2 feeds a day, none overnight). Honestly with all that food I wouldn't bother with formula.

What centile is he on for height? If he's taller than average then I wouldn't worry about his weight right now.

Is he crawling/walking yet? He'll probably shed some when he starts moving.

My 8 month old eats around the same plus around 28oz of formula a day. He's 98th percentile for weight and height.

Why is he having bf and formula for his morning milk and why aren’t you using regular cow milk in his breakfast?

I wouldn’t be feeding him while he is being entertained/distracted. Maybe move to more feeding himself.

11 months.
We do 3 meals and occasionally a snack.
6oz at bedtime and 4oz dreamfeed. All daytime milk feeds were dropped about 2 months ago.

You are bfing in the morning, then giving breakfast with formula in it so I would drop that formula. Plus is it the baby cereal made with formula in it too?
For breakfast just do something like wheetabix with whole milk. A serving would be 1.

No snacks. I see the breastfeeds during the day as snacks.

Yes his length centile is somewhere in the 90ies as well. But I think weight drives height at this age to an extent. So if he is feeding too much he will grow tall quickly (and then plateau sooner than others). However, both dh and me are (slightly) above average height so I'd expect him to be tall.

Yes, he started crawling a few weeks ago. Hopefully that will slow down his weight gain a bit.

Should I be using cow's milk for his breakfast? He just has Müsli (with no mill pre added so I need to add milk).

So when he was born he struggled with his weight gain initially so the midwife said we need to top his feeds up with formula. Now it's kind of become part of his bedtime routine. Unless I both bf and give him a bottle he won't settle down to sleep or nap. That's why I give him formula only at those times, ie before his morning nap and before going to sleep in the night (rarely before his afternoon naps, which are much more ad hoc). Till a few days ago he wasn't having much formula. Maybe an ounce after breastfeeding but if I didn't offer the bottle he'd look for it and then wouldn't sleep. This week he's been having more formula, maybe because I'm trying to give him slightly smaller portions for his meal.

I need to sort out his bedtime routine anyway. It won't be really feasible to feed him to sleep for much longer. I just don't know how to settle him otherwise.

I think two meals a day is fine for a baby that age with a snack and a breastfeed or two in the middle of the day. Breast or bottle. You don’t need both. Use regular cows milk for cereal and not formula milk.

At this age, you can feed him the same meals that you’re having with salt and seasoning adjusted for baby levels. Compare the portion size to yours and try to make a judgement about whether it’s right for a small baby that size.

You can use fresh blue top cows milk in cereals or as ingredients at his age. Just not to drink until he's 1

(We started giving DD cows milk in her bottles at 11 months and she's fine)

No need to add formula to baby cereal or porridge etc. just has cows milk. He'll be on cows milk in a couple of months anyway and it's heaps cheaper.

It really doesn't sound like you're over feeding him. Is he very mobile? My DD was a chunk but as soon as she was crawling and toddling it dropped on her and she's 19 months now and is a skinny bean

My DD has just turned 12 months, and has cow milk at 6am (7oz offered but doesn't always drink all of it), breakfast around 8.30am which is 1 weetabix and some strawberries or banana, or 1 egg scrambled with wholemeal toast (eats 1/2 to 3/4 of the toast).
Lunch at 12ish which could be a 1 egg omelette with chopped cooked veg if not had egg for breakfast, some fruit, and a little pot of yoghurt, offer of cow milk at 3pm, does not usually drink much, perhaps 4oz.
Then dinner 5.30-6pm which yesterday was 3 baby sweetcorn, a large floret of brocoli, small floret of cauliflower, and some egg noodles.
We have bedtime cow milk at 8pm and offer 7oz but amount drunk varies.

She was around 90th percentile for weight and a bit less for height at 11 months HV check, but she had only been crawling for 3 weeks so I think she will go down a bit now she is on the go all the time! HV was not at all bothered about having 3 milk feeds, and she dropped night feeds entirely around 6 months old.

I’ve found if our boy loves the taste of something he won’t stop eating it and cries when there’s no more, even though he must be full! I’ve found at the moment I can distract him by moving on to water as he likes drinking from the cup, then we go on to play time. Would that help? My boy is only 8 months though x

People suggesting you give cows milk instead of breastfeeding 🤯 why on earth would you stop giving your child your own milk to give them another mammals instead?! And I say that as someone who doesn’t breastfeed

Ignore all advice from the HV op.. as long as your child is happy and healthy then continue doing what you’re doing

I think they were saying cow's milk instead of formula. He's started pawing at me when he wants to breastfeed. This is a new thing that he never did before and I feel like a cow if I refuse (or an actual cow if I relent 😁). Maybe he's thirsty because it's so hot though I've been giving him tons of water.

I'm more confused than ever over his portion sizes and when to stop feeding him. He keeps opening his mouth whenever a spoon goes close to it but after about half the amount he tries to grab the spoon and play with it. Does this actually mean he's full? If I give him.a different spoon to hold he'll happily continue eating.

He's happy but I'm worried for his health. I don't want to set him up for problems later.

I'm no medical professional so feel free to ignore me BUT if he's happy and healthy, just carry on. My now 5yo was the chunkiest baby. Born on the 75th centile, went up to the 98th. HV threatened to refer me to the GP so I just stopped getting him weighed as there was clearly nothing wrong with him. He was breastfed and heartily ate a varied diet, only drank water, no sweets or junk food and he had plenty of veg. He started crawling at 10mo and walking at 13 mo and he soon slimmed down. Now he's 5yo he's not overweight at all - he's growing like a beanpole and really slimmed down. Continue offering a healthy diet, let him eat and bf when he wants to (breastfeeding reduced the risk of childhood obesity apparently) and when he is mobile encourage lots of activity. I honestly don't think you need to panic about a chubby 10 month old! As long as you aren't feeding him takeaway curries or big Macs for breakfast, just relax.

I would not reduce food but at that age I think he probably needs less milk.

It's as if he's logged into Mumsnet with his baby account and read my post. For the last two days he's just been wanting to eat non stop. If we don't feed him he's cranky and upset. He's not sleeping or napping well. I wonder if that's making him more hungry or does that only work in adults?

My 9.5 month old is mostly on food now. She'll basically follow the nursery routine of breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and tea

Then she might have a yoghurt before bed then a 9oz bottle of formula to sleep.

So my worry is that because he's combination fed he's used to having large amounts of milk in his stomach (though his rate of weight gain only increased after starting solids). Also the bigger you are the more calories you need, don't you?
D