How much should an 11 month old eat?

[ImpatientGriselda]

My DD will be 11 months at the end of December. I have been feeding her a combo of commercial food and home-cooked food, based on the portion sizes that you get from Hipp jars, Plum 10 month old food pots etc. For lunch and dinner she has the equivalent of one large jar and one pudding e.g. yoghurt, fruit puree, and a couple of pieces of fruit to practise finger food.

The nursery have said that I should be feeding her more as she's only sleeping for 30 mins after her lunch; they think it must be hunger waking her up, but I'm not sure, and even less sure about the idea of feeding her so much that it knocks her out!

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

I agree with you, food shouldn't be there to make her sleep and every baby sleeps differently. My DS has never been a good day time napper, but has a healthy appetite and eats a lot (sometimes I worry he eats too much!)

Does your DD appear full up? Does she start refusing food towards the end of her meal? I think the only way of telling is by their behaviour. My DS (and I only have one, so on a statistically robust sample of one ) starts his meal with gusto - opens mouth, shoves it in and quite quick with it. Towards the end, he throws it on the floor, squishes it in his hand and turns away from a loaded spoon. I take from that he doesn't want any more.

Not sure if this helps, but I think some babies eat very little, some eat a lot. Does she show any 'full up' behaviour?

Hi,

I'm on my third and L (11m) probably eats the same as yours by the sound of things, so don't worry that you are doing anything wrong. I've found that baby portions differ between brands - she eats about 200-230g jar, not the new 250 ones. However, she eats less of my food as I think it is richer with less water.

I guess she could be thirsty if the food is not v sloppy. But L wakes at about 45mins and then has to resettle herself. Maybe they are just not giving her time to settle or there could be too many distractions.

Having said that, when my 2nd was at nursery, they were feeding her their food by that age.... do yours not offer that?

Finally, L eats a big BIG breakfast (large bannana and weetabix with milk), so that may be setting her up for the day. Although I've just discovered the joys of eggy bread which she can feed herself (with milk later) which might help if you are in a rush in the mornings...

Good luck and don't let anyone scare you: L is a fatty whereas A was scrawny as hell and I treated them both the same: each child is definitely different. Keep smiling. M

Sounds about right to me, that's what DS was eating at 11 months, would sometimes have extra bits and pieces but that was the normal amount.

daftbat thank you for the eggy bread suggestion! DS is now only eating yoghurt and biscuits, so think that may help :-D