1 year - no end to pumping in sight

[@llli*djs.mom]

My suggestion is to always have at least 5 choices on his plate when he is home with you. So that even if he rejects half of it or more he is till eating at least 2 healthy things at every meal. We did this by breaking things in our meals down to more basic things. So last night we had chicken tacos. But when DJ was a baby he would have had Whole Pinto beans, chicken shreds, shredded cheese shredded lettuce and broken up pieces of Taco shell. See? Spaghetti would be Whole pasta noodles, Ground beeof or ground turkey shreds, Shredded Parm and Carrots or green beans because he needs a veggie and doesn't eat Sauces. But Always always shoot for 5 choices so that meatlime can be a time to explore with the freedom to choose. The less pressure the better. I didn't make my kid special food but as he got older I would respect food choices and we keep back up veggies on hand. By child doesn't like tomatoes or onions or Chard. So we keep raw carrots, celery and cucumber on hand to sub in. We will eat Spinach, Kale (crispy) broccoli and peas. So we eat those. He understands that he has to eat a veggie every night. But being allowed to have control over his intake over the years has made for a good eater. I am wondering if you ever figured out if the blood in the poop and the puking were food or allergy related?

[@llli*ngs215]

The blood and diarrhea appear to have been a milk and soy allergy. The vomiting does not appear to have been a food allergy. I keep pretty detailed food logs for both him and me, and I never saw a pattern. We saw 3 different doctors and never did figure out for certain what it was though.

5 options at a meal will be tough. Last night we at least had 4: meat, starch, 2 veggies. He at least has been interest in solids today. He gobbled down Cheerios at breakfast and apples at both breakfast and lunch. I swear someone told me apples were good for teething, and we think he's working on at least 2 teeth.

I am definitely going to try to find some new recipes. Some new variety might inspire him. Even I am getting sick of the few dairy-free soy-free meals I know how to make. And I will look for meals with a good variety at each meal.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Listen I am a HUGE food advocate and IMO Dairy is NOT hard to stay away from if you eat/feed your child only whole real foods. If you need inspiration have a look in the nutrition section at the WHATS for Threads. There is one for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and a weekly meal plan thread as well. I don't cook. At all. And it still wasn't difficult when he was small because I WANTED his diet to be made up mostly of Fruits and Veggies and for him to eat a lot of raw stuff. And even now at 7 my child CONSISTENTLY eats 5-6fruits/veggies a day. Regardless of what else he takes in. It's a staple. Don't shy way from this or act like Dairy free is a huge handicap. It's not. Yeah life with out cheese can suck. But if you aren't eating stuff out of boxes and packages, you don't get hit with hidden dairy. And YOU can put cheese on your food just not his.
Coconut milk is a Good Substitute. And you can get it at Trader Joes for cheap. They have Coconut yogurt and icecream there as well. But It's really easy to just feed a kid Fruit, Veggies, Brown Rice and beans and meats. Seriously.

[@llli*ngs215]

And YOU can put cheese on your food just not his.

Actually, no. He reacts to my breastmilk when I have eaten milk or soy. My husband does sometimes add cheese and such to his plate. But I agree, milk is not too hard to avoid. I do miss ice cream, but otherwise, it's not a big deal. We use rice milk as a substitute for cooking. It works pretty well. I haven't tried drinking it straight though. Avoiding soy is the real challenge. We mostly eat fruit, veggies, and meat these days, and it is the healthiest I have ever eaten in my life. I was proactive this weekend and planned out a week's worth of meals so that we could buy the right ingredients. So hopefully this week will go smoothly.
-ngs

[@llli*djs.mom]

And try coconut! It's got all the calcium of dairy and it's more absorbable and really good fat in it. And yay for meal planning! And here's to pump weaning soon!