i had no idea before i became a mom that i would obsess over the types of foods that my child would eat, but now that I AM a mom, and caedmon's diet fully depends on ME, and what I decide she eats, the responsibility that i feel is pretty overwhelming at times... I want her to ENJOY eating, but I also want the foods she is eating to be HEALTHY.
I solely breastfed caedmon until she was just over a year old, and then she pretty much weaned herself when she started whole milk. I had kind of planned on nursing for longer cause I really believe that is a healthy choice, but I am pretty sure she was ready, and my milk supply was slowly dwindling, and I think that her drinking as much whole milk as possible was necessary for her to put on a little more weight cause she was starting to fall off the charts at her 12 month check up.
Anyways, she has been eating homemade baby food REALLY well since she was six months old. Seriously she ate everything that i gave her and TONS of it! I made all kinds of fruit, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, eggplant, turkey, and the list goes on... sometimes she scrunched her nose at peas or carrots, but she would still eat them...
BUT since caedmon turned one and has been drinking milk and eating all kinds of real finger foods by herself, she doesn't eat baby food anymore, and I am seriously struggling with WHAT i should feed her, how MUCH to feed her, and what she will ACTUALLY eat. As of right now, I am pretty sure that she doesn't eat anywhere near the amount of vegetables she needs, (she spits most of them out) but the child can eat her WEIGHT in pretty much any kind of fruit/grain.
I have looked online at several guidelines and menu plans, to help me know what she needs, and how much to feed her... but it was so hard to fit some of the things that I found into our life/budget/schedule and so I just decided to come up with one of my own that is customized to the things that MY one year old will actually eat, plus a few foods that she doesn't enjoy but that I want to keep offering to her, in hopes that she will eventually just eat them...
I really need all the moms I know to tell me their thoughts, opinions, experiences and advice on feeding a one year old and if this menu planner is reasonable/unreasonable? too much/too little?
I just feel really clueless on all this except for the fact that caedmon's pediatrician told me that she needs at LEAST 18 ounces of whole milk a day, and all the other random things i have read/studied online! I am also terrible with math & conversions & measurements so I have no idea if what i have "guessed" is even close to the right amount of food for her... basically I just need everyone to help me fine tune this thing so that I can have a better/easier plan for meal time! Cause right now, i feel like a chicken running around with his head cut off trying to find things that she can/will eat that is GOOD for her!
you have to click on the picture of the chart to make it big enough to read!
(and if you are wondering, i intentionally left out Sunday on my chart, because that is a day where most of our meals are "on-the-go" or prepared by someone else...)
so please tell me what you think, any advice you may have, or any tips or suggestions to change this! caedmon will thank us all later when she is healthy, healthy, healthy!
I solely breastfed caedmon until she was just over a year old, and then she pretty much weaned herself when she started whole milk. I had kind of planned on nursing for longer cause I really believe that is a healthy choice, but I am pretty sure she was ready, and my milk supply was slowly dwindling, and I think that her drinking as much whole milk as possible was necessary for her to put on a little more weight cause she was starting to fall off the charts at her 12 month check up.
Anyways, she has been eating homemade baby food REALLY well since she was six months old. Seriously she ate everything that i gave her and TONS of it! I made all kinds of fruit, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, eggplant, turkey, and the list goes on... sometimes she scrunched her nose at peas or carrots, but she would still eat them...
BUT since caedmon turned one and has been drinking milk and eating all kinds of real finger foods by herself, she doesn't eat baby food anymore, and I am seriously struggling with WHAT i should feed her, how MUCH to feed her, and what she will ACTUALLY eat. As of right now, I am pretty sure that she doesn't eat anywhere near the amount of vegetables she needs, (she spits most of them out) but the child can eat her WEIGHT in pretty much any kind of fruit/grain.
I have looked online at several guidelines and menu plans, to help me know what she needs, and how much to feed her... but it was so hard to fit some of the things that I found into our life/budget/schedule and so I just decided to come up with one of my own that is customized to the things that MY one year old will actually eat, plus a few foods that she doesn't enjoy but that I want to keep offering to her, in hopes that she will eventually just eat them...
I really need all the moms I know to tell me their thoughts, opinions, experiences and advice on feeding a one year old and if this menu planner is reasonable/unreasonable? too much/too little?
I just feel really clueless on all this except for the fact that caedmon's pediatrician told me that she needs at LEAST 18 ounces of whole milk a day, and all the other random things i have read/studied online! I am also terrible with math & conversions & measurements so I have no idea if what i have "guessed" is even close to the right amount of food for her... basically I just need everyone to help me fine tune this thing so that I can have a better/easier plan for meal time! Cause right now, i feel like a chicken running around with his head cut off trying to find things that she can/will eat that is GOOD for her!
you have to click on the picture of the chart to make it big enough to read!
(and if you are wondering, i intentionally left out Sunday on my chart, because that is a day where most of our meals are "on-the-go" or prepared by someone else...)
so please tell me what you think, any advice you may have, or any tips or suggestions to change this! caedmon will thank us all later when she is healthy, healthy, healthy!
5 comments:
this. is. awesome. can i print for my own future use? : ) something i did a lot was cheesy brocolli: boil frozen brocolli til done. melt on low about 2 tbl butter with lemon juice/milk & shredded cheese. pour over brocolli & chop up together to a spooning consistency. i also did this with whole wheat pastas & frozen peas (frozen peas right outta the bag makes a neat snack, too--sorta helps with sore gums, too!). i've done a lot of boiled eggs (protein!), too. and if they haven't eaten veggies all week, a little butter/cinnamon/brown sugar goes a long way in sweet potatoes or carrots. yum! i always rejoiced when they began eating what i'd already fixed for dinner, instead of me thinking of something separate for them. don't be afraid of making 'adult' meals for dinner that she can also eat, to maybe by-pass you making a separate meal just for her (obviously, you'll add fruits & grains that maybe you & russ won't eat, but the main course she could try). lots of casseroles are great, like chicken pot pie--everything's already mushy & chopped up, or soups are awesome, too, like, veggie beef or taco soup (all those beans!), brocolli cheese soup, potato soup, tomato soup. . i think with this next baby of ours i'm going to do less baby food and introduce adult food a bit earlier. instead of him gnawing on a pizza crust while we eat dinner, why not a cooked piece of brocolli or carrot? i'm wondering if it might help with the picky stage later. who knows! was this long enough for you? sheesh!
haha jenny, you can most definitely print this for your own future use, but i have no idea if it is the "right" amount of everything, so don't sue me if your kid starves or becomes obese from using this chart... guess we'll just see how caedmon turns out. lol
and thank you for all the info! and if you have ANY other tips, bring 'em on. I am pretty sure this comment form has unlimited space. :)
I am really open to trying ANYTHING right now... (i already have to put cinnamon/sugar in her sweet potatoes... it is the only way i can get her to eat even a few spoonfuls of that.)
and she is doing "better" about eating what we are eating... i always offer it to her, but she usually doesn't eat a whole lot, like maybe two or three bites EVEN if it tastes GOOD and maybe even "less" healthy than it should be...
i think the thing that i worry about most is that she just isn't getting enough to eat of the right things... geez, how do you know??
Wow!
1. I love the family photos.
2. Love the new blog look.
3. Kudos to you and your efforts!
In my experience as a mom, it's good to have a solid plan, and then just listen to you and your child as it needs tweaking. Being flexible is key or you'll just end up super frustrated. I dunno if it's too much or too little. just listen to her to know. It'll only get more difficult as she enters the terrible twos and thinks she should have a say in what she eats. She may refuse anything but chicken nuggets. Just discipline for rule breaking and keep offering and trying to work in the veggies somehow... try a different texture, mix it in with something else. By the time she's about 4 she should have pretty good eating habits. Relax. You've given her a great start! She's not going to be obese because of two years of pickiness unless you give cookies just to get something in her. Oh and she'll definitely pick up on your habits! If you're sneaking cookies, she will too (when she's old enough.) hope it helps.
1. thanks carla!
2. thanks carla!!
3. thanks carla!!!
haha, no seriously i SO appreciate your input! and i am definitely NOT looking forward to further independence when she turns 2! especially since she has already decided not to eat veggies at 1!
I would love to know though, what works for you and your kids in regards to using "discipline for rule breaking"? cause i definitely want her to know that there are boundaries (such as no cookies before dinner, but she doesn't even know those exist yet... maybe that is why she doesn't weigh enough?) i know that she isn't technically old enough to understand "rules" so i have no clue how to go about that yet, especially when it comes to mealtime "rules."
enlighten me!
can i have another turn? ha ha. have you tried smoothies? i know you said she really digs fruit, but i've heard of veggie smoothies for picky eaters. i've never tried them, but it might be something to look into (passionatehomemaking.com, recently had a post on it; i think she calls them 'green smoothies')
can i comment on the mealtime rules too? am i going to have to start paying a fee here? early on (poor Nat) we wouldn't let her get down or finish until she ate this or that (closer to 2 yrs old), and many meals ended in tears (obviously, the cookie before bedtime turned into a banana or grapes). but, i gave it up. and now, it totally depends on what i know they have or have not eaten so far that day. ate a good lunch & a bigger snack after nap? then you're probably not actually hungry, and yes, you can get down. didn't eat a good lunch & haven't snacked at all after nap? then you have to try everything on your plate before i make you a PB&J. yes, we're firm. but not really. does that make sense? i do a lot of strategy, too. if i know they should be hungry, i only put the meat & veggies on their plate. once done or eaten enough of that, i add the fruit & grain. if nothing else works, then i just let it go before it turns into a battle. never battle about food & look for the next opportunity to slip them something healthy. that's my line of work these days. .obviously caedmon isn't in the reasoning stage yet, but you can still be strategic & sneaky. she will be fine, she IS fine b/c you are trying your dardndest early in the game. good job, mama! don't stress about it. she may be like Nat, hit 3 years old, and eat UH-LOT. for the first time in her life, she cleans her plate & asks for more. it's astounding & i'm super excited. karis on the other hand is definitely picky right now. but if i skip that snack in the afternoon & get her fed before she gets mad hungry, she eats well.
okay, i'm done.
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