As in I Q, you A, please?
- I need help with the formula to milk transition: Bennett usually has 6oz formula right when he wakes up, then with lunch (either before or after he ate), then around 2:30-3:30 pm before his afternoon nap, then right before we put him to bed. Now, in this "transition time," he is getting 6oz of the 9-24month special formula when he wakes up in the morning, then he eats breakfast, then he has around 6 oz whole milk with lunch, then 6oz formula before naptime, then a few ounces (maybe 4 or so) whole milk with dinner, then 6oz formula before he goes to sleep. So, by one year old, should he be having 6 oz whole milk at every instance I just typed "formula?" As in just give him some whole milk before he goes down for a nap? or maybe a snack and some whole milk at some point in the afternoon? And just end the bottle and give him whole milk with his breakfast? Oh gosh and I have NO idea how I am going to stop doing the bottle before bedtime - should I change that to whole milk too just to help with the transition?? So confusing.
- Right now Bennett is super duper clingy to me. If I am sitting in the den folding laundry, he may play for a little while, but then comes up to me and hangs on my legs and fusses (fake of course) wanting me to sit on the floor or pick him up. And he HATES it when I am busily running from room to room getting things done around the house - bc he crawls as fast as his little body can push in order to come with me and this frustrates him to no end. He does NOT have a problem going to anyone else though, he just prefers me and it is especially hard to get anything done during the day!! Advice?? Is this just a phase? is there anyway to help him outgrow this? I don't pick him up every time, I try to let him play on his own or just not think that I have to carry him everywhere all the time (I would never get anything done that way!!!).
- Actually that may be it! :)
Thanks for helpin a mama out!!
A #1 - I breastfed so it was a tad different but not too much... when he woke up in the morning I gave him a sippy of Milk. Usually he would work on that until it was nearly empty (just like my morning breastfeeding) and then I would offer a breakfast food like cereal or fruit. From there I would just replace all breastfeedings with a sippy of milk. We used Nuby sippy cups at first b/c the spouts are soft like bottle nipples. I also held him sometimes b/c he was used to being held while he was being fed.
ReplyDeleteA #2 - Moseley did that same thing when he was just able to be independent. All of a sudden, being mobile meant he could wedge himself between me and the counter while I was doing dishes or making food. I did just what you do, sometimes I just let him play at my feet. Sometimes I would redirect him to a toy and tell him I'd be there in a bit and sometimes I'd drop what I was doing and play with him. Now, he will go and play in his playroom all by himself while I fold laundry, etc.
I have always done that same thing. I am even worse as a parent. I second guess myself constantly. I always run things by Kevin five times and he just looks at me like "stop trying so hard" He is def the ying to my yang in that department, thank goodness. I would make any decisions if he wasn't here to help me :)
ReplyDeleteHey Nat!
ReplyDeleteI remember the switch to whole milk thing being really confusing too. I pretty much did what Jessica did, I just started giving him a sippy cup of whole milk instead of a bottle at all the times he would have had a bottle. He seemed to enjoy the independence of doing it himself but remember he never cared that much for bottles or even breastfeeding. At night I rocked him with a soft spout sippy cup (munchkin from target) because he pretty much could latch on just like a bottle. Once that whole transition was behind us we switched to playtex sippies for all drinks. Now he has milk with breakfast and dinner, watered down juice with lunch, and water at bedtime. With Brooke (the ped. dentist) as one of my best friends I have to be sure he doesn't get milk after we brush his teeth at night...too many horror stories of 2 year olds with rotten teeth! It's early for that for ya'll though so milk before bed is fine I'm sure, we did it!
As far as the clingy stuff goes, I think it is just developmental. I've read lots about their separation anxiety (for lack of a better phrase) increasing as they get mobile and learn they can move away from you. It is both exciting and scary for them so they do strange things like wanting to be up and then immediately wanting to be down or just wanting to be in your arms all the time. I'd just meet the need as best you can and let him outgrow the phase. When Jack is in places like this I try to just set aside more time to hold him and do Jack focused things before and after I want to get things done. He seems to fuss less when I'm trying to get thing done if I've already charged his battery with some focused mama time (i'm talking like 10 minutes here and there.) Plus if he does fuss after I've spent some qt with him I don't feel guilty! So great that B still likes to go to all of his loved ones, I bet this won't last long but it will come and go over the next year.
Great advice....this blogging is such a great thing! XOXOXO
ReplyDeleteHey! LOTS of transitioning at this point ! It's so hard to figure it out... I kinda of think doing just what you're doing (asking what other's did) and then just doing some trial and error is how you work through it. No one knows bennett like you do... so just take what you think might work and then tweek it!
ReplyDeleteWith Liza, she was on a pretty routine bottle/formula schedule like it sounds bennett is. The good thing for her is that she loved cow's milk as much as she loved formula so we pretty much just changed from formula to whole milk overnight when she was old enough. Then, I started replacing bottles with sippy cups. I started with the bottle I thought would be the easiest to take away and then every couple of days, switched another. Liza always had a bottle right before she went to bed at night too, and i thought it would be really hard to take it away but I was pleasantly surprised. I did wait a little longer after dinner, and gave her a sippy cup of milk then. So she was pretty full and she actually never fussed for it at bedtime.
As for the clinginess... Liza comes and goes with that. She is fine leaving me to go to school and with babysitters... but she is always wanting me to be right with her playing. (sometimes she isn't even playing WITH me... just wants me NOT doing something else). When I really need to get something done, I just let her fuss a little and try to tell her that I'm doing xyz and will play with her in a minute. She is starting to learn to find something to do on her own now, which is good. But I try to follow through and go back to play with her when I say I would.
Hope that helps!