Hello Hetal,

I am new to this board, just joined and frankly speaking just b'coz of u :-)
I used to read all ur posting for babies/toddlers. They are really helpful!!
Thanks a lot for contributing your time for moms like us :)

I am in US, middle east area and have 15 months old girl.
I am working so she has to stay in private day care for 8-9 hrs.

She just started getting teeth, has 1 1/2 now..
I am worried abour her diet... 1 week she will eat fine but 2nd week she skips her dinner :(
doctor said reduce her milk so now i give her,

5-6 oz in morning
4 oz before noon nap
4 oz snacks time
4-5 oz at night

I thought she will eat more solids ..but she is not :(
her schedule is:

Brealfast: 6 oz milk and 1/2 cup cereal mixed in some fruit in morning

Lunch: 1 cup of rice/daliya/roti mixed in daal/sabji
and 4 oz of milk

Snacks: sometimes banana( 3/4th ) or cake or chicken nuggets or toast

dinner: if she eats well then 3/4 th cup or nothing!!
plus 4-5 of milk( she drinks this always)

she is 20 pounds right now. Can you tell me what should I give her?
she likes american food most like mac cheese, noodles , pasta ..
I give her that twice/thrice a week ..but my priority is Indian Food!!
If she is not eating anything I try giving her fav food but still she wont eat!!
many times I leave her thinking that she is not hungry but now its like her routine..
1 week eat and 1 week not!!

how to make sure that she is really not hungry ?
also guide me about her diet. she hates ROTI!! and loves rice !
is there any way to feed her wheat? I try daliya/aloo paratha ..and she eats well sometimes

last thing is about her sleep, sometimes she will sleep through out the night!!
but many times she will wake up 3-4 times :-(
she wants to be held and roam around...and this is for 30-40mins!!
she sleeps in crib ...
I dont know what I did or wht should i do so that she will have a sound sleep!!
my friends say kids over 1 yr should sleep for 7-8 hrs in night!!
she usually takes 9-10 hrs sleep in night ( ofcoarse with 3/4 breaks)
and 1-2 hr nap .. is this sufficient for her age??


I hope i didn;t bored u with a long message..
I am not in hurry ..please take ur time to reply ...

thanks once again Hetal!!

shilpa.
shilpa replied. Hi Hetal,

I am so happy to find most of my questions answered here....

In breakfast(9AM), I am giving her iron fortified MIX GRAIN cereal by Gerber.
But I give her with some fruit paste.. should I give with milk??

Also, she takes her lunch by 11.30-12 so no brunch :-( I mean she eats her roti/rice at this time.

Actually, b'coz of day care her routine gets mixed up.. like there she eats lunch at 11.30 so at home also she will feel hungry by that time.
is it ok to skip brunch??
She also got that milk after lunch habbit from day care ...
But i will try to skip it atleast when she is at home :)

I totally agree with u about her sleep points. Yeah, she is overtiered and wants to sleep at eve ..I give her bath ..no massage:( she doesn;t stay at one place once she started walking..but I will massage her legs now ..thanks for this tip!!

yeah, and one more reason is her unusal BM ...he usually passes one in morning after her milk ..but at eve she is too tiered to pass it..
during the day she is in day care and they dont offer her water/milk anytime (she needs that for pressure)..thay have their routine ...so I have to give her lots of liquids once she comes home...but this may reduce her dinner intake sometimes...
wht do u think?


I liked all the food options u gave ...I will read all those recipies now :-)
Thanks for that!!

Hey, I got to know this by reading all replies, that u r carrying with 2nd one :-)
Congratulations and Good Luck for the delivery!! when is it?
and did u know its a boy or girl :-)

Give lots of luv to Nirija :) I hope I am not talking too much personal :)

Take Care,
Shilpa.
Hetal replied. hi there,

15month old should be taking 20-24oz of cows milk,,more than this range might make your baby feel less interested in foods..

eating more or less solids depends alot on baby apetite and also her interest with foods,textures, flavours, and yes alot on environment she is into..

now about schedule :

breakfast : 1/2cup (which cereal ???? ) try giving her iron fortified cereal,,some 1/2-3/4th cup..nevermind if she takes milk feed abit less..the cereal is given with milk,,,so count that milk !!!

brunch : give chopped fruits/ ne snacks,,may be 50% of meal,,in case your baby is not able to take the wholelunch all together ! offer soups like chicken noddle,,mic vegetables,spinachs or tomato soups,,you can also offer toast or roasted whole grain bread with these,,they are yummy,esp if roasted with a lil cheese on it..

lunch : thats fine...milk ??? after lunch ?? she should be eating good enough at lunch that will not make her hungry for milk !! at 15months she should be eating around 1/4th of each adult serving..

snacks : your snacks are good,,include fruit juice or yogurt serving here,,,,also include whole grains toasts, with cheese spread, sour creme spreads,,or unsalted butter,,,also cheese toast goes well,,kids love them when offered with tomato soup...


Dinner : if your baby is eating snack well, nevermind if she has light dinner,,like you mentioned cake piece,,cake is heavy thing,,you cant expect your baby to eat something like cake and then eat well in dinner too !! so let the dinner be the meal of the things she didnt eat well...


20lbs, is ok at 15month,,baby weight depends alot on parents and family history of fats than just her own contributions...

if she is fond of pastas,,give her that during her dinners,,give mac n cheese,,,there are so many recipes of pastas in my prev posts,,give multigrains, give tofu, whole grains,,all these come in form of pastas,,noodles and egg nooddless too...give egg omelletes, offer your baby egg curries,boiled eggs,,and multigrain/whole grain panckes with lots of fruits in it !! they are yummy,,

about her sleep,,,it dpends on her total number of naps and her activity level..babies from 1 year onwards are expected to take EITHER 2 small naps or 1 big naps during their whole day,,,lets say if your baby sleeps well in morning after a good brunch,,lets say 1 hour, and then i will expect her to sleep for another 1-1.5hours in late noon,,or if she sleeps in the noon, after lunch,,that nap is expected to be a big one which will of 2-3hours,,,
for all these ensure that being a 15month toddler, her activity levels are high,esp after meals,,so that her apetite and her health remains fit !! you dont want your baby to just gather the calories of the foods she is taking !!!!! right...
and yes try to make her awake after 4 noon,,no sleeping after noon,,and in case she looks tired even after your trials to play with her,,,let her nap for 30mins or so,,kids above 1 year get refreshed after 30-40mins naps...
also overtired kids dont sleep wel,,,there are chances that your baby is at daycare whole day and if so, environment there is always lively and noisy and in such places kids tend to play more than their capacity,,which makes them tired,,,
so a good thing to do is,,relax them,,after he comes home from such busy places,,give him a good bath, massage if she likes it,,esp the legs,,,they get tired,,they are still new to walking,,,until 2 years of age..they feel the soreness in legs when overplayed..
also giving bath before a good night sleep works pretty wel,,,
so try that,,,
the other reasons of waking at night, is too light dinner,,if she is not able to complete her dinner,,try after a while or offer other alternatives,,how about family foods,,try offering that,,
try to give her food in her hand and let eat herself,,,most of the times,,15months is just the right age for \" do it myself\" mentally to come in force,,,
so try that,,,
considering that its winter in most places of US,,there is possibility that your baby is not drinking enough water(other than meals and milk), in his whole day,,making him thirsty at night...so every 2 hours, offer him water some couple sips of around 1ox or so...let him play with the sippy cup and let it always before him !!
also, offering juices also works,,start offering your baby strawcups,,

try offer diff flavours and check on your baby preferneces,,also note that once if he doesnt eat one particular food, try offering the same after couple days,,,because babies dont know \" likes\" and dislikes at this age,,its just that sometimes they are moody,,just like something we are in mood of eating something else..so when you make your baby foods,,make in a way that the base of the food(like saucess,,pastas) can be offered seperatly as wel,,sometimes they like to eat only the pasta part or in one dish you make varieties,,like once my baby was interested in eating pastas sauce(that i made for pastas,) and wanted to eat rice with it !! crazy though it sounds but yes offer them alternatives,,along with their actual meal...
self feeding, is the key though,,,try that...
and some babies are like sparrows and bats,,they eat in bits and sleep in naps thru out the day,,no matter how hard we try...so if your baby is like that,,keep trying for the tips you gather from diff sources,,,because down the line, by 2 years, things tend to get in schedule,,when she is a complete toddler with full set of teeth and her total development will be that of kid and no more a toddler !! kids often get into schedule than toddlers do,,,
just ensure that she is not looking overtired even after those lil naps during the night,,
and after all that, expect change in her shedule, diet, preferences,flavours, textures,,,irregular bowels and sometimes yes lack of apetite during the maturing month,,,at 15month is just the one !! and until she is 2 years all this will go on,,,now the next stage will be 18month !! and then finally at 2 years onwards to 5years its pretty much noticeable...

hope this helps !! good luck to you and thank you very much for all the good words...,,m glad that my posts/writings suffices the need.

a good luck to you !