Question

Hi moms!  My baby just turned ONE this week.Hi moms! My baby just turned ONE this week. We dont see the pediatrician until the end of the month, but just curious of how many feedings you are doing in a day. He is a formula fed baby. And gets baby food and whatever I introduce to him! He does great with it all, but feeling I might be a little behind  and that he is ready for more. Do I try whole milk before seeing his Dr? Also, any 1st Moms have a fear of baby choking with certain foods? I'm one of those that is unsure of what he can handle. BTW, he has 6 teeth up top and 2 on the bottom. Thank you so much for any advice! I hope I'm not getting laughed at too much, go easy on me!  

Answer 1

My son is 5 years old and I still worry about choking! You’re worries are normal mama. With 6 teeth, he could handle real, steamed veggies, fruit, scrambled eggs, chopped up noodles, chopped up cheese, little pieces of bread.  

Answer 2

My kids were both formula (with typical growth). I waited to switch to whole milk until the doctor okayed it at their one year. I was so nervous about choking! It’s ok to wait on some foods if it makes you anxious. Baby does everything on their own schedule.  

Answer 3

Typically by around one, babies should only be having about 3 bottles of milk, and their diet compromised of easy-to-chew table food:) But you're going to start, so no worries! You can totally introduce whole milk, unless there's an allergy concern. Tender meats, cut into small pieces, cut up fresh fruit and veggies, crackers, bread, small pasta, Cheerios, etc are all good things for once he's got the hang of chewing  I would try a few puffs to help him learn how to chew.  

Answer 4

I’m a ftm too and i’m so afraid of the choking! I cut everything up really tiny. Literally everything. I’m not sure i will ever get over that fear. My son had a milk protein intolerance and actually turned one a month ago and the doc said even with the intolerance to try whole milk, and he did great! Didnt like the taste at first so i mixed it 50/50 formula and whole milk for a week or so. So maybe if he doesnt have a milk allergy or anything to dairy then you can definitely try it before seeing the doc but theres no rush on when they “should” start having milk. I do a bottle of milk when he wakes up in the morning, then another one after first nap, and before bed. So 3 bottles and normal food in between during the day

Answer 5

If you haven't already, you could try the stage 2 and 3 foods that have multiple ingredients/some are chunky, so he can get used to maneuvering his tongue

Answer 6

Not at all. We all went through this! ❤ We used Baby Led Weaning to introduce solids and skipped traditional weaning (purees) all together. It helped ease our comfort with them eating solids and also taught them how to take proper bites/ handle solids etc. Highly recommend! I followed the FB group for a few months to get myself comfortable with it. But as a mom, you'll always be worried about them! Let me know if you have any questions!  

Comments

We did this as well. I started when my babe was 5 months and had no teeth. We just made sure the food is easy to pick up and soft for him to bite- I watch him like a hawk while eating. Also, we don’t hold back. He eats everything we do.  

Answer 7

I wouldn’t introduce whole milk without weaning first. add some whole milk in place of formula in the bottle. say an ounce of whole milk mixed with his formula and slowly work up from an ounce or however you feel comfortable doing it. Give his belly time to adjust to the change.  

Answer 8

I switched mine a few weeks before 1 to whole milk but he is my third. My son also eats whatever the rest of us eat for dinner. He had weaned down a little bit but we just switched right to whole milk.  

Answer 9

Here’s a great visual chart to reference for cutting up foods. Credit goes to a dietitian I follow. I would suggest taking a CPR/First Aid class after we get back to some normalcy. (Not to freak you out or anything, just so you are prepared. ) I 100% understand your choking fear. It’s Normal!  

Comments

@moldavia thank you!  

Answer 10

MY second just turned one and according to our ped he can eat anything at this point that’s cut small and is soft. He eats 3 meals a day and has 4 bottles one in the am and at every nap and before bed. You can start milk I always mixed formula and milk at first. He loves lasagna or pasta. Also ppl don’t realize babies need a higher fat diet it’s helps build myelin. So I even put plain organic chicken thighs in the insta pot and blend them to a purée and toss his noodles in them.  

Answer 11

Our babe turned one today! Happy Birthday to yours! Ours has two teeth on the bottom and 5 more coming in. She eats whatever we eat (literally, she is not picky), and has three whole milk bottles a day - 8am (8oz), 1:30pm (6oz), and 7pm (8oz). She drinks water all day out of a sippie so working on transitioning to a sippie for milk soon too. We just transitioned her from formula to milk over this past week and it went really well so let me know if you need any information on that! I’m not too worried about the choking, bt we cut everything very very small watch her 24/7 when eating. You’ve got this, and just trust your instincts!  

Comments

@lyons thank you!  

Answer 12

At that age both kids were on regular table food and 3 bottles a day. We did baby led weaning which is basically just dump whatever you eat (cut into small pieces, soft-ish good) into their tray and let them go to town. They'll munch stuff with their gums just fine. Soft cooked veggies, chicken, small cut fruit etc is totally fine for them to eat at this age

Answer 13

The number of bottles doesn’t matter much, it’s the total daily amount of milk that makes the difference. I think it’s around 16 or 20oz you should aim for. You don’t actually have to give whole milk anymore, 2% is just fine. The calories should be made up with the normal food. Yes be concerned about the size of food as they can easily choke. Bite size where if they did swallow it, it would not get stuck. Hotdogs, grapes, etc should be cut length wise so it is much less likely to get stuck.  

Answer 14

I’m not a FTM but I’m right here with you! My twins turn 1 on Thursday and we don’t have an appt set up yet with ped but I’m stuck at like 24oz (they should have been taking 32oz of formula) and both don’t eat much of anything solid sooo I’m really worried about the transition too. I honestly might hold onto formula a bit longer so they don’t loose all the weight I worked so hard to put on.  

Answer 15

Every kid is different. My little turns 1 tomorrow, she eats 3 meals and 2 snacks daily, and has what we are having cut into bite size pieces. She has two bottom teeth only, so she has been able to handle taking bits out of some larger items. We did ATW after starting with purees at 4 months. She probably only drinks about 24 oz of formula daily, but asks for water in addition with meals. We go for her 1 year checkup next week, but I'm guessing the doc will agree that she's a pretty healthy eater.  

Answer 16

My almost 22 month old is still strictly infant formula fed and he averages about 32 ounces a day. He's unable to chew or swallow solids so he's only allowed formula and meltable puffs. All of his therapies have been canceled so he's not able to get his weekly feeding therapy. Even if he could transition to milk I personally would not give him cow's milk

Comments

@twiggy how did you get evaluated for eating therapy? I think I need this

Answer 17

My nugget turned ONE this past month as well! I waited until we saw pediatrician before switching to organic whole milk. To ease the transition into milk from formula - I started mixing bottles 50/50 milk to formula and it took like 3 days to be fully milk. I give her a bottle of milk with morning and afternoon naps and then a final bottle at bedtime. In regards to food - Nora has even less teeth than your babe and she’s eating things like scrambled eggs, chopped up fruit, cooked veggies (sweet potato is a fave), and shredded chicken/salmon.  

Answer 18

I was purposely slow with my third, your little one will be ok. As far as introducing milk goes, you should be able to do so unless your little once is on special allergy formula. If you use milk based already, it should be ok. Just start slow, like add a little to the formula or just offer a little milk once a day. As far as food goes, you could look up “baby led weaning” and follow that. I just used my gut. My kids got lots of purée and soft foods, tiny food they could pick up (helps their fine motor skills) and even food they could gnaw on a bit. I was crazy nervous about choking, and more so with my third baby than any of my others. Gagging is not the same as choking. You have to kinda let your little one figure out how to maneuver food in their mouth, they might gag here and there. Gagging helps them clear the food out of their throat. it is a very short event, should last like 2-3 seconds. More than that I don’t mess around and will help baby. I have had to give my kids the baby Heimlich once each. So, that said, you might consider taking a CPR class as soon as you can, or research via the RedCross website how to help baby, child, big kid of choking. I was trained due to my profession so I already knew. A Godsend. Hope this all help. You could ask your MD for a tele-visit if you don’t want to go into the office. Or even a phone conference might help with more questions. Good luck - this is a really fun time in baby’s development!