9 month old suddenly only eats Weetabix - Help!

[artyjoe]

I have cooked my baby organic home made food since the day she was born and, up until Thursday, she's loved it.

She has (had) things like:
Chicken and broccoli and asparagus with potatoes
Spaghetti courgette bolognese
Cottage pie with hidden veg
Pasta and pepperoni and tomato sauce
Tuna neopolitana
Cauliflower cheese...etc

Now she will only eat Weetabix...and petit filous.

It's not about feeding herself because she has no interest in spoons/forks or finger foods. I gave her an organic rusk this morning and she just threw it!

I'm worried that I can't give her weetabix three times a day as surely this level of fibre can't be good for her? I've tried to up her milk but she's not having any extra either.

Any ideas?

She is definitely not ill and I'm prepared to go down any route at this point, sod organic and home made if she's not going to eat!

Please help, all the books cover tips if it is about self eating, but she's not interested in that so don't know what else to do.

Thanks - Joe

[gigglinggoblin]

could she be teething? mine have only eaten mush when they have sore gums. if thats the case then i would see how she is in a week or so, she will probably come out of it herself. what about mashing up banana or stewed apple into the weetabix? another favourite of my kids was pobbies - bread with milk poured over and then warmed a bit in the microwave. i used to spread butter and dairylea on the bread before adding the milk. hth

[TracyK]

Sounds like teeth to me too. ds always goes off food for a week or so when teeth are moving in his gums.

[saadia]

Have you tried porridge or Ready Brek?

[artyjoe]

gigglingoblin: pobbins sounds like an idea, i'll definitely try that one.

Saadia: I have tried ready brek but she actually looked at it and then screamed, didn't manage to get any in her mouth!

TraceyK: Since she's been 3 months we've been thinking she's going to get teeth as she dribbles excessively. But at the moment her dribbling isn't actually that bad and we haven't been putting Dentinox on or using Calpol, which is what we've had to do before when we have thought she's been teething. She's got no teeth yet, so maybe some are due.

Having said this, she demolished her Weetabix and pettit filous tonight, had a mouth of smashedup banana, and that was that. I'm a bit concerned about the amount of fibre she's getting with 2-3 weetabix a day, but don't know what else to do!

She's not grizzly or crying, or pink in the cheeks, which normally gives us an indication of something being wrong...she seems gloriously happy, until I approach with anything but Weetabix! Argh!

[shrub]

just to be aware - a baby died after eating lots of weetabix a few years ago because of the high salt content. Because it made the news I'm sure they would have reduced the salt content or brought out a special one for babies but thought I'd let you know.

[saadia]

artyjoe that's how I would react too if someone gave me a bowl of Ready Brek but I force the dss to eat it

Would she like mashed potato, with cheese melted in? I would also be concerned about too much weetabix. Perhaps you could give weetabix with fruit puree but gradually reduce the proportion of weetabix so it's not too much of a shock.

I would definitely persist with offering other things, and I know it's difficult but try not to stress too much or she might be picking up on the tension.

[shrub]

thought i'll bump it to make sure artyjoe sees the message

[artyjoe]

Thanks for this, am now panicking about the Weetabix...didn't hear about the poor baby who died

I am trying not to panic but nothing is getting through...she only has to look at it, see it's not pettit filous or Weetabix and the mouth is clamped shut and the tears start. Nothing is getting in her mouth and I certainly don't want to force feed her. I have upped her milk as she's getting up more in the night now, obviously from not having enough in her tummy before bed, so at least I know she's getting the vitamins etc, but I will keep going at it.

I think I'll give her exactly a week and if she's not over it then i'll take her to be checked by the health visitor, just to make sure she's okay.

Thanks for your advice...I am so surprised how upset I've been with her rejecting the food, it's like 'I'm her mummy and I can't even nourish my child'. I'll keep going though, am trying banana this afternoon and will try cold pasta in a pettit filous pot and see what happens!

Joe

[saadia]

artyjoe, it's a good idea to get her checked so that hopefully if her weight and general health is OK that gives you some leeway in terms of if she ends up missing meals. I know that sounds horrible but it might be that the only way she'll eat other things is if she's really hungry.

I know about how awful you feel. I was the same with ds1. He hardly ate and was spoonfed milk so I used to spend the whole day counting in my head how many mls of milk he'd had. He's better now though.

Someone once said that it's our responsibility to offer our children healthy food but we can't force them to eat it. Good luck, hope things improve.

[neeps]

Artyjoe,

I know exactly what u are going through, up until a few weeks ago my 10 month old was eating food- pureed. i was told to move her onto bigger jars ( lumpier food). She refused, she cried, and then she refused to eat for two weeks. She then started to not to swollow. I have only got her back onto food last week ( albeit puree)

I cried and cried- as a mother i felt i was letting her down.
I took her to the HV and guess what- she hadntl lost any weight during the last month- she hadnt put any on, but she hadnt lost any either.!
Dont worry, she will come round, dont get stressed babies pick this up very quickly. Have you tried someone else to feed her- my childminder was the one who got her to eat again.