If the last 8 1/2 months have been any indication of how fast time flies, Cheech's first birthday is right around the corner. My goal has always been to have her completely off formula by the time she hits 12 months, and I've started realizing that I can't just all of a sudden take it away; I'm going to have to ween her. Although her solid food diet has, so far, consisted of pureed foods and finger foods that she can hold and eat herself, I'm thinking that after the New Year I'm going to phase out her pureed foods in hopes that she will get used to the idea of eating like a *regular* person. At first I was reluctant to do this because I was SO SCARED that she would choke on some of the bigger kid foods. For the most part, if I gave her finger foods, they were soft enough for her mash up in her mouth easily. But when she bit off a huge chunk of an apple slice last week, gummed it and swallowed it without a problem, I let go of a lot of that fear. So we'll see how it goes. I would say she's really great at eating solids; She's still a huge fan of her bottles though, so I know I have my work cut out for me. If any of you have any tips for weening babies off of formula, that would be rad.
Photo, alex@faraway
Just a thought on the purees... my son (17 months) LOVES to feed himself purees with his little spoon. Some days it is the only way to get a veggie in him, so I say don't feel like you have to rush to move up to big foods. My son has always been a couple months slower to transition than the guidelines and I've come to realize that you do what works, and if Cheech loves herself some purees there is nothing wrong with them remaining a part of her diet. Plus the spoon is good (messy) practice for her.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is that my daughter LOVED her cow's milk bottles from 12-20 months, so getting rid of the formula isn't the only issue. That was cake. It was a lot harder to let go of the bottle completely, and I should have done it WAY sooner. So good luck with that and with #2 who's 4 months old now, I'm aiming to cut them out after a year but before a year and a half. The choking stuff is always scary, but like you said, it gets easier and they do it less. We tried lots of soft foods like cottage cheese, rice pudding, fruits, and boiled veggies that seemed to bridge that gap from pureed to big people food. It wasn't too bad. Have fun with it and keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteMy son had no trouble switching from formula to cow's milk (we were doing a formula/nursing combo), but I've heard of people doing a gradual mix of formula and milk, slowly ending up with all milk. I agree with Shannon's comment above--the purees have been great for teaching our guy to feed himself with a spoon, and while he does eat table food most of the time, he only has teeth up front so there are still some limitations on what he can handle. As with everything baby-related, keep trying and stay flexible. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteMy son had no trouble switching from formula to cow's milk (we were doing a formula/nursing combo), but I've heard of people doing a gradual mix of formula and milk, slowly ending up with all milk. I agree with Shannon's comment above--the purees have been great for teaching our guy to feed himself with a spoon, and while he does eat table food most of the time, he only has teeth up front so there are still some limitations on what he can handle. As with everything baby-related, keep trying and stay flexible. Good luck!
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