12 Month Eating Schedule

I had the same concern when my daughter (now 17 months) was 12 months. This is her schedule now which I began at 12 months and has worked out fine. And by the way, kids at this age now do need to eat something every two hours because they are more active and need more energy enriched foods from keeping them cranky.

8:00 Cheerios with/without milk, or oatmeal or scrambled egg
She always has a cut up fruit with breakfast either banana, orange, strawberry, blueberries.
2 0z apple juice mixed with 2 oz water. Brush her teeth
10:00 Snack Either yogurt, fruit, string cheese
Park time, gymboree, etc.
12:00 lunch with a little fruit for dessert
2:00 bottle of milk or milk in sippy cup then nap time
(When she wakes up from her nap I give her water to drink. I also give her water throughout the day to drink if she is thirsty. Apple juice is just after breakfast.)
5:00 dinner
Play time outside or inside
6:30 oatmeal or rice crispies or some of mommy and daddy's dinner if she is interested and asking for it.
Bath time, dancing with daddy, then reading time to wind down
8:30 Milk bottle with cereal or milk in sippy cup with cereal
(I know it is recommended not to put cereal in the bottle but if it is age appropriate you will notice babies like it and keep their tummies full and will sleep through the night. You decide. I started this after 8 months and worked great!
Brush teeth immediately after
Bedtime
As you can see, she eats something about every two-three hours. Good Luck! As your child gets older, he may want to finger food snack here and there which is normal.

Totally normal. :)
Amount served = to size of his fist. Try and serve a protein with a whole grain or fruit. He'll feel fuller longer and not bug you every 5 minutes for something to eat.
My first DD ate exactly the way your son eats. They grow so fast-they need to keep fueled up!

E.

Hi Alison, I am a mother of 3, now 24, years, 21, years and 19 years. when they were at a year old, I had my them on breakfast, morning snack between breakfast and lunch, they had lunch and then they had a snack between lunch and dinner, then they had dinner, if they ate good they got some kind of a desert or treat, maybe an hour after dinner and that was it, you want to develope good eating habits, so you don't end up with an over weight child or any kind of eating dissorders, every bad habit and good habits start from somewhere, start early, and be consistant, J.

By the time my babies were 12 months, I was able to have them on the same meal schedule as the rest of the family. Liquid + solids at the 3 regular mealtimes, my babies didn't seem to need snacks because meals were only about 4-5 hours apart but some babies do need them, then a liquid feeding at bedtime. I don't know if you are breastfeeding or bottle feeding, I bottle fed mine unfortunately, but either way my plan was to wean at 12 months and it went very smoothly. My first actually weaned himself 2 weeks before I planned to start, then my second was fully weaned by 12 1/2 months (that's when I stopped the bedtime feeding, and I gradually replaced the bottle with a cup at mealtimes for the preceding month or so).
I think your baby's schedule sounds pretty normal, but if you are nursing or giving a bottle at every single meal and snacktime, I can see how that would get to be a bit much! Limit the liquid feedings to mealtime and bedtime, so that is only 4 times a day (I usually gave 6-7 ounces per feeding), and be sure he always has a sippy cup with water available if he is thirsty (my boys like the water cold, just like I do). As for solids, they always say to feed them as much as they want. That's what I did and both of my boys have always been very healthy, including weight and growth, and they are incredibly active. If the snack time becomes more like a meal time, you could limit how much he has for a snack and he will probably be hungrier and eat more at the next meal. Though there is some controversy on that. I think the prevailing wisdom today is to eat several small snack/meals throughout the day rather than 3 large meals. I prefer 3 meals a day (I find that needing to snack is an irritant) so I have done the same with my kids. Whatever the reason, they eat plenty at mealtime and rarely need a snack.

A., It's totally normal. My daughter is almost 13 months and eats breakfast then a snack then lunch then snack w/juice then dinner. After that there's bath time then nursing then to sleep. You know what your little guy needs, don't feel like there is any "normal" way to feed. There isn't and no child is the same. He will change throught his growing time and eat lots then not so much. I have a 4 year old son and an 13 month old daughter and they both were so different as eaters throught the first year. He will have lots of growth spurts and maybe need a little more during those times. Just go with what he needs from you and before you know it he will be feeding himself!

yes that is normal. what i do with my 14mo daughter is she gets a cup of milk (when she first wakes up 10oz) then gets breakfast at 9am and a cup of juice. lunch at 12-12:30 then she goes down for a nap with a cup of v8 (low salt). gets a snack when she wakes and a cup of water. then at 5p she gets dinner and some water or milk. then lastly she gets 10oz of milk at 7 then after she drinks that she goes to bed. i know it feels like you are constantly feeding again but its totally normal!

Do you mean with solid foods or breastfeeding?

For breastfeeding I was an "on demand" mom, and my sons were different. DS1 went further between meals, tanked up, then didn't need me for a while. DS2 had lots of smaller "snack" meals.

For both sons we used this wonderful book: "Super Baby Food" -- it was GREAT giving us EASY and convenient ways to make our own baby food (never bought a jar), what new foods to introduce at each month, basic nutrition, and recipes for healthy snacks when they got older. I recommend it highly!

As for how often we fed our then-12-month-olds: breakfast, healthy snack, lunch, healthy snack, dinner, supplemented by breastfeeding on demand. So your schedule sounds great to me!

Good luck.

Hi there A.. Yes I think this is pretty normal. I am a mom and a daycare provider. My kids generally eat breakfast at 7:30 am, then snack at about 10 am, then lunch at 12 noon then after nap a snack at 3:30 pm and then dinner at 5:30 pm. Then with your little one being only 12 months a bottle or snack before bed is normal. They are starting to be so active at this age they burn a lot of energy and need the fuel. :)
Jess

Sounds normal to me. I think some time after 1.5 their eating slows down. But since they are still growing at a rapid rate, they need the calories. Two great books on baby and family nutrition are:

The Super Baby Food Book, by Ruth Yaron
The Family Nutrition Book, by Dr. Sears

They both can give you an idea of what and how much your child should be eating.

I did more at the 3 meals so we didn't need the snacks. Depends on the baby, you know what he needs. Yeah, it seems like we eat & nap...

That sounds about right. My kids all got breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, bottle at bedtime.

your schedule sounds normal...My 12mo old is on the same.

A.,

That sounds pretty typical to me. A 12 month old's stomach isn't very large so they eat pretty frequently. My kids are in daycare. My 18 month old will normally eat breakfast at home around 7 (sometimes he doesn't eat at home, sometimes he does), again at daycare at 8:30, a snack around 10:30, lunch at noon, another snack mid afternoon, dinner at home around 6, and then sometimes a snack before bed (around 7:30). Some days I feel like all he does is eat but he's healthy, growing and not fat at all.

As for amounts, I don't worry too much about that. I give him a good variety of healthy foods and let him eat however much he wants. Sometimes he just picks and sometime he eats a huge amount. If he doesn't eat much, I just try again later.

:-)T.

My daughter just turned three. About 4 months ago she started only napping about every other day. I only let her sleep till 4, if she goes later than that, she won't sleep till too late for us. I instituted "resting our bodies" at about 1:30 or 2. She picks a few books to take into bed with her, I read her a story and I turn on the music. I pick a CD that is about 45 minutes long. If the music stops and she is awake, then she can get up. So far, so good. If she doesn't nap we put her to bed at 7 (a little early).
We put her to bed at 7:30, so she can read for a bit, then go to sleep. She gets up at around 7:30 am. She doesn't go to school, so we do not have to be up for any reason, if she sleeps in a little, no big deal.
It will be a sad day for me when she is totally over the naps, I am pregnant and will have a newborn around here soon.