Next Step Formula, and Solid Food.

I end up feeding my son out of the house a lot of the time, too (he's almost 1). It was definitely a learning experience (and still is) to make it as easy as possible for me while still allowing him to have the food he needs. I found some things that help. Get foods that you can quickly throw together to take out: dry stuff like crackers, cheerios, and I do cheat and buy ready made snacks to take, too. I keep them in a container that I always take out with me, so he can have a snack whenever he needs.

I add fruit and cheese and stuff in a separate container - just cut it into little lumps ready to pass to him. If I have time I cook vegetables and add them, too, although he doesn't really like eating veges on their own. He gets one 'meal' a day - something I cook and freeze, like vegetables and pasta, risotto etc. I bought a little thermos container so I can heat the food and keep it warm when we go out. That was a really good buy, I wish I'd got it ages ago but I thought it was too expensive.

I got a free sample of the toddler formula and he didn't like it. So even if I didn't think it was a waste of money, I wouldn't be switching. I hope some of the ideas above help

E.

hi A., at 10 months your daughter should be eating mostly solids and not relying on formula for her nutrition. she can eat when you eat, and eat mostly what you eat. i would stick with formula instead of milk (wait until 12 months for milk) but i wouldn't use formula instead of solids. if i know i have a busy day coming up, i prepare my daughter's food the night before. good luck.

Hi there -
We used that too from about 9-12 months.. not sure if what just a big marketing ploy or not :-) Our baby seemed to like it. But you do need to make sure you give solids too - ours LOVED rice cereal and oatmeal - so that was a huge staple in his meal. From probably 7-12 months - this was the feeding schedule:
6:00 wake up, bottle
7:30 breakfast - 3 big scoops of rice cereal and baby fruit
9 nap
11 bottle
12:30 lunch - cereal again, and baby veggies
2 nap
4 bottle
5:30 dinner - cereal again, baby meat or veggies

We did this until about 12-13 months and slowly introduced real foods. It worked for us and when we went out we just grabbed a few jars of food, cherios :-) and some cereal in a tupperware container with bottle water.

Now at 15 months our son still has the milk schedule but now for meals eats "real" food.

Hope that helps!
K.

It's easy to bring jars of food out with you. I don't understand being "too busy" to feed your daughter. Meals should be a priority. And at that age formula isn't a good source of nutrition - whether it's the 0-12 month kind of the next step kind.

You can never be too busy to feed your child. Like other responses, your daughter can be eating some of the food you eat at the time you eat. She really needs some other source of food other than her formula at 10 months.
It can be hectic sometimes. But, really your daughter shouldnt go a day without eating something. I just bought Food for infants and toddler for dummies yesterday. They give some good recipes for under 10 minutes. Good luck and God bless!

I'm really sorry, I don't know anything about formula but there are many ways to take babyfood with you when you are out. They make travel silverware so your diaperbag doesn't get messy and most restaurants will heat up your babyfood for you. I homeade my babyfood and would bring it in a tupperware. The restaurant would just pop it in the microwave and bring it back. Also, when you are ordering your food you can ask for steamed veggies with no butter or salt. Or a side of beans you can smash up or steamed rice. Most fastfood offers yogurt these days. You can get creative without giving fries or something unhealthy. If you choose to use a jar of babyfood your carseat creates a perfect highchair on the go. Good Luck and God Bless!

Hi A.,
When my now 2 yr old was about 10 months I did a bunch of reading about next step formula and asked my doctor, and it seems the general consensus is that next step formula is more or less a big marketing ploy to keep you on formula longer rather than buying milk (cheaper). totally unecessary. regular formula until 1 and then whole milk. If you're concerned about nutrition give her the liquid polysol vitamin, but also by 10 months your doctor would probably tell you you shouldn't be skipping solids entirely.

good luck!

Too busy to feed your child? I am sure you didn't mean that right? At 10 months, formula is not enough. I recommend the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.
Also, I never have a problem bringing a spoon and a jar of Earth's Best Organic baby food. They have jars that are mixtures of grains/vegetables and meals that are healthy and good when on the go. It's really not hard at all-especially if you are a stay at home mom. I work full time and still find time to feed my daughter even when on vacation or on busy days.

A.,

i had asked this question also, months ago, and honestly, the formula is no different. i continued to use the 0-12 month formula until he turned 12 months and then i began integrating the whole milk. No need to swap to the
other formula. Stick with what works.

A.
Go back to the regular formula until 1 year. The next step formulas are only a marketing ploy and offer no more nutrition than regular whole milk. SHe needs the addtional nutrition in the infant formula until 1 year because she in not consistant and is not expected to be consistant in her food intake until 1 year.

I always used the 0-12 months formula. I also fed my daughter 3 meals at that time, she ate when and what we ate. I would use bottles as snacks between meals. Once she went to strictly solids and no formula (12 months) I replaced bottles with snacks. She shouldn't be relying on formula as meals and should be experiencing the texture, tastes and fun of food.
Best of luck,
C.