Now I'm sure only a few care about the below information (especially in such detail!), but thinking about it was very thought-consuming for me and I want it down for record and later reference!
I spent a lot of time worrying about Nicole’s food intake this weekend. She’s now a very eager eater and has only turned her nose up at two things recently: my homemade spaghetti squash (which I think is a texture thing) and Gerber peas (which is odd since she eats the peas I prepare for her).
Anyway, Jen in my office suggested that I go to gerber.com to get some menus for Nic. My intention was mostly to see what the recommended quantity of food she should be eating is. Getting this right would be easier if she was a jar-fed baby where the ounces are right on the lable, but I try to make 90% of her food myself. After many calculations of tablespoons to ounces to ice cube treys to half and quarter cups, I think I’ve got it down.
1 tablespoon = ½ oz
1 ice cube tray spot, full to “appropriate ice level” (not overfull)= 1 oz
9 tablespoons = ½ cup
½ cup = 4 full to the brim ice cube tray spots
Can you see how my mind was swirling with how much to give her?! Here was the recommended meal amount according to Gerber.com for my “independent sitter” (this was the lighter of the two suggested menus but I can’t imagine feeding her as much as the other one suggested- her tummy is still little!):
Breakfast: milk + 3 tablespoons cereal
Lunch: milk + 3 tablespoons cereal + 3 tablespoons veggie
Dinner: milk + 3 tablespoons cereal + 3 tablespoons veggie + 3 tablespoons fruit
Snacks: milk
So, I decided that her new eating routine is:
7:00: milk + 1 full cube fruit + 1 dry tbsp. cereal (makes about 2 tbsp. prepared)
10:00: 1 4oz bottle
1:00: milk + 2 full cubes veggie or fruit + 1 dry tbsp. cereal
4:00: 1 4oz bottle
6:00: 1 full cube fruit, 2 full cube veggie, 1 tbsp. cereal + 1 4 oz bottle
8:00: milk to sleep
Milk = me
Really my concern is that she’s not getting enough as she used to gain one oz. per day in weight but that pace has drastically slowed down. Granted she’s moving and playing a lot more than when she was 2 months old and is therefore burning more calories, but still. I know there isn't a "right" but there certainly has to be "wrong". As always, the goal is to not kill her. Being mostly facetious of course! : )
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7 comments:
How much are 1 year olds supposed to weigh? If she gains another oz per day from now until July, she'll weigh another 9 1/2 pounds by then. I really have no idea, but wanted to offer that bit of math in there. :-)
I think you are a great mom, by the way, for making her food!
4 Tbsp = 1/4 cup
8 Tbsp = 1/2 cup=4 fluid oz
wow! she gets more fruits/veggies than you do (per your post a few days back) ;)
An oz per day does sound like a lot in ratio to the starting weight. But then, what the heck would I know about babies growth?!??
I had to laugh really loud at "the goal is not to kill her"! Sorry, that just brings us back down after all the calculations. I have never been happier about the fact that we have the metric system (do you say that for pounds and so?).
I also believe that it is awesome that you prepare the food. So smart on so many different points. :)
Is Nicole still hungry after you feed her? That would be my rationale for her getting enough food. As a baby, she probably only eats when hungry, right? She hasn't learned to overeat? I obviously do not know a lot about this, but I assume when a baby is full, they stop eating.
I'm with Jen on this. As long as she isn't screaming at you when you say "all done" then you know she's got enough. Weight gain does slow down and I think by year one they are suppose to be 3 times their birth weight, but you may want to check your book (you do have the 1st year?). Your schedule seems about right, but I might feed her more in the am (they have been sleeping all night)... just depends on how quickly she gets hungry.
Jealous of you making the food. :-) Homemade food tastes way different than the jar stuff.
"Milk=Me" LOL! I think it's fabulous that you are still breastfeeding. Rest assured babies get all of the nutrition they need from breastmilk the first year of their life (not so with formula), and the human food you give her is more about exploring tastes and textures. If you haven't been there, you should check out the LLL forums (I'm there several times a day) where other breastfeeding moms discuss stuff just like this!
I dunno about measurements or weight or anything like that in seeing nic yesterday, she looked amazing!! Healthy and very happy!! I loved how she was laughing and cooing the whole time she was bouncing on my lap. I'll watch the little sweetheart ANYTIME!
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