Hellobee Boards

B started daycare at 12 months. In the 6 weeks leading up to that I weaned him down to just nursing in the morning and before bed - during the day he was on all solids, 3 meals and 2 snacks, plus whole milk. I think it's really up to you, though. Personally, I wouldn't bother with all the stress/hassle of pumping and getting her to take a bottle. That's also a long time ago, she may wean herself by then - by 15 months B had given up the morning and night sessions on his own.

My LO isn't quite there yet, but from what I've heard I will be sending 2 bottles or straw cups of breastmilk (or cows) and then a meal and a snack. LO has breakfast at home, then will get milk and snack around 930, lunch at 11, milk at 2, and is home for a snack at 4.

A snack is fruit and a car (like blueberries and cheerios). A meal is 2 purees (daycare requires purees only until he has 4 teeth). At home he has half a peanut butter sandwich, peas, fruit, and a veggie pouch.

Our day care does not allow bottles after their first birthday. At that age, DD was nursing in the morning, then getting two straw cups (about 5oz each) of breastmilk and one straw cup of water at school. She rarely finished both cups of milk at school, so she'd have the rest on the way home or with dinner and then nurse at bed. And she was eating 3 meals and 2 snacks -- same food as her 4 year old brother.

Also really curious about meals at this age! At this point (11 mos) my baby is devouring purees and we've given him some simple foods to gnaw on (bananas, eggs, etc.), but he still doesn't have teeth and I don't have tons of great ideas for meals that are a little more advanced than purees but aren't quite toddler food either.

@erinbaderin these are great ideas, thanks! pasta, duh!

@atoz: Bottle and formula gone on first bday. Now at 14 months he eats pretty normal meals that adults would eat, just smaller pieces and smaller portions!

DS is 14.5 months and eats what we eat. He nurses in the morning and before bed. We slowly started dropping sessions from the 4-5x/day he was nursing at 12 months. He doesn't like other milk (we've tried a ton!) so now he just has water in either a 360 cup or a Kleen kanteen. He has 12 teeth so he can eat pretty much anything. Breakfast is usually scrambled eggs, a few small pieces of toast with butter, whole fat yogurt and fruit. Lunch is leftovers - today he's eating meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas. And then dinner - tonight is mushroom risotto (one of his faves!) he has 2 snacks - usually more fruit, applesauce, a fruit bar, cottage cheese or maybe some goldfish crackers if we are feeling generous.
ETA: he goes to full time daycare at a center

@nellywm: yeah - my LO only has his two bottom and eats pretty much everything, those gums are tough!

My kiddo is 17 months. I weaned her from most daytime nursing around 15 months. Now she nurses at bedtime, overnight, and sometimes at wake up. She's been eating 3 meals and at least 2 snacks since 8 months. I aim for a fruit, a carb, and a protein (cheese, yogurt, egg, etc) for breakfast, a fruit, a veggie, and a protein (at minimum) for lunch, and a veggie, a protein, and a starch or carb (at minimum) for dinner. She eats what we eat for dinner, and lunch when possible. Snacks are simple, usually fruit or cheese.

That is really weird that they asked you about bottles. I thought it was pretty universal to get off of bottles ASAP after 12 months.

At 15 months, DD was nursing 2x/day (morning and night), and in between eating 100% table food, with WCM and water to drink. Her daycare provides her food (made from scratch by an in-house cook) and she gets a really great variety in their 6-week rotating menu. At home, I was (and continue to) giving her some of whatever DH and I were eating, plus some staples if she didn't like our food that day (whole grain bread with PB, string cheese and cheddar cheese, steamed frozen or fresh vegetables, oranges/pineapple/blueberries/banana, tofu, crackers).

At 12 months she doesn't get bottles but has a sippy cup with meals. She still nurses once during the day and at wakeup and bedtime, maybe once again in the afternoon is she wants.
She eats whatever the rest of us are eating.
Today it was Annie's, raspberries, steamed broccoli, and some leftover chicken.

None of my kids have done purées past eight months and none have used bottles.

We stopped breastfeeding at 6 months, so she was totally on formula after that. We started gradually switching over to cow's milk a few days before her 1st birthday and had her completely switched within a couple of weeks. Luckily, she never cared about the difference in milk.

She moved into the toddler room at daycare around 13 months old. They prefer not to do bottles, but they do sippy cups. We started breaking her in with sippy cups gradually around 6 months, so by then she was fine taking one.

The best part about being off formula (as far as daycare goes) is now that she drinks cow's milk, daycare provides all her milk. We take an empty cup in the morning. They provide her milk and water in the cup and wash it out between each use. It's so much easier in the mornings just grabbing a clean empty cup, rather than having to make a bunch of bottles! (At our daycare, if you wanted her to have breast milk instead, they would be fine with that as long as you brought in a cup of milk for each serving.)

She eats a solid breakfast, lunch, and snack each day at daycare. She switched from purees to solids around 10 months, and her daycare teachers were actually the ones encouraging me to make the switch. She ate solid food for them better than she did for me because she saw the other kids around her age eating it. They have meals like taquitos, spaghetti, fish, cereal or oatmeal with fruit in the mornings, graham crackers for snacks.

@youboots: the yumbox is a good idea!!