11 month old baby

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11 month old baby

by Ryko
(Memphis)

Hi Annie,
I'm a new dad and my son Elias is eleven months old. I was wondering how much tummy and crawling time should he have a day.

Also what is the normal recommendations on feedings because he gets four, ten ounce bottles a day and about a cup or two of cereal along with 2 jars of baby food, snacks. Last time I took him to the doctor he had lost 2 lbs making him 18 lbs.

I sometimes mash up food for him and I'm wondering if he just had a weird growth spurt or something? He got 2 inches taller as well. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong here? I'm a single dad please help me!!

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11 month old baby

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Recomendations for an 11 Month Old Baby - Part One
by: Annie Desantis

Hi Elias,

It sounds like you are doing an awesome job as a single Dad - being a solo parent is not easy!

It is always really hard to say what is normal, as every child is different. There are ranges that are used as benchmarks to monitor babies, to keep a check that everything is developing normally - but really the range is very wide and
depends on all kinds of things like genetic factors (are the parents big or small people), and things like the mother's nutrition and health during pregnancy. So each child is very individual.

Your little boy is in the lower ranges for his age, his weight is low, and it is not usual for a baby to loose 2 lbs, that is quite a significant amount to loose unless the baby has been ill. Great that you have seen your doctor, and it is important to get support to keep an eye on him to monitor if anything is unusual.

It sounds like he has a healthy appetite, and you are offering him a good range of different food. You could exchange one of the cups of cereal for mashed vegetables with chicken or something to give a bigger variety. He will still be getting the majority of his calories from his milk, and should still be having formula milk, not cows milk. Particularly with his weight being in the low ranges, It might pay to continue with formula for some months yet. Usually you start switching over to cows milk around 12 months.

He is actually having quite a bit of milk, usually 32 ounces per day would be enough, but since he is smallish and hungry, then the extra ounces maybe fine. If he is having cows milk, then definitely switch back to formula and you might find the 32 ounces is enough. It might pay to check with your doctor or health nurse as different formulas may have a different recommendations.

You are right, babies and children do sometimes go through growth spurts and can suddenly grow a lot in a short period of time, or can slow right down for a few weeks.

Part Two Follows . . . .

Recomendations for an 11 Month Old Baby - Part Two
by: Annie Desantis

Now as to floor time - that is really the most important developmental time for his age - You should have him on the floor for a large part of the day, he is at the stage of wanting to explore his world and can get into things very quickly, so you have to be mindful of safety.

He will be wanting to start to pull himself up on furniture soon, so you will have to watch sharp corners. Tumbles and bumps are common! Spend plenty of time with him on the floor, perhaps rolling a ball and encourage him to get to chase it. Let him climb all over you and play roly-poly games, apart from wonderful bonding time, it really helps him to develop muscles and gain more control of arms and legs.

Moving toys are great fun for him to follow or reach for, and toys that do things like buttons to push or things to post are great at this age. Blocks to stack and knock down are also a great toy at this age. You can keep cardboard boxes
and he can stack small ones, or crawl into larger ones.

Lots of encouragement and interaction are really important at any age, but certainly with a baby, the more positive interaction they have with their parents the better. You will also be helping his language development by talking and chatting away to him about anything you are doing. It might feel a bit silly having a one sided conversation with a baby, but the more language he hears and the more you interact with him, the better he will communicate in later years. He will be making lots of interesting noises himself now, and will start to try to say things even though you can't understand!

Of course he still needs plenty of sleep, all the activity will wear him out, and a 11 month old will still be having several good naps during the day - a bit of time out for you!

If you haven't already, establishing bedtime routines now is a good idea too, not that he will necessarily conform at this stage, but having a regular bedtime, and having the same routine each night, helps to prepare the way for easier bedtimes as he gets older. Maybe a bath, a story and his last bottle. Keep the excited play-times for during the day, and in the evenings before bed, start to wind things down and just do quieter chatting type activities, stories, slow music - or sing some songs to him.

Most of all just enjoy and have as much fun with him as you can, those early years are the most important, and they go so quickly.

Keep up the great work, sound like you are a fantastic Dad,

All the best,
Annie Desantis

Good dad
by: Anonymous

Keep up the good work .

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