Rubbish Eater!

[Bean74]

Hi there,

My dd will be 1 next week (eek!) but I am having real problems getting her to eat properly. She hasn't put any weight on in the last 2.5 months & is a tiddly 16lb 13oz.

This is a typical day:
7ish BF
7.30 Breakfast 1/2 Oatibix or similar
12.00 Few spoonfuls of savoury. Then eats whole yogurt pot.
2.30 6 oz formula
5 Few spoonfuls of savoury. Then whole fruit pot or similar.
6.30 BF

I have tried giving her finger food e.g. tonight she had cherry tomatoes cut in to bits & mozzarella - but she just plays with it (did suck out the tomato seeds though). She has never really done finger food properly (apart from eggy toast weirdly) despite me eating along side her to show ger what to do.
Also I thought she might want to use the spoon herself but she just bangs it on the table & won't put it near her mouth.

It is so frustrating!! Sometimes she will eat but it's about 1 out of 3 weeks. She has only got 1 1/2 teeth - could this be the problem (or prolonged teething??!).

Any suggestions - should I cut out the afternoon milk? Sometimes I don't give her the yogurt or pudding as I don't want her to think she can refuse savoury in order to get the sweet. But then I worry she's not eating enough..

She has seen the GP & we have to get her weighed every 6 weeks to check progress - I really want her to have gained weight by next time. In herself she is a happy little girl & developing normally & (generally) a good sleeper - so I am very lucky.

Thanks for reading this essay!!

Bean

[DizzyBinterWonderland]

what sort of purees are you giving? what other finger foods have you tried? how long do you let her play with her food for? does she have chance to eat it IYSWIM?

[harpsichordcarrier]

honestly, seriously, listen carefully - STOP WORRYING! if she is happy and healthy and sleeps well then I wuld stop worrying. It may be that 17lbs is "her" correct weight. my dd1 was 16lbs 9oz at one year.
I think - sorry to say this - tht your anxiety is almost certainly making the situation worse. worrying about things like "thinking she can refuse the savoury to get the sweet" - I really think you should stop thinking like this and just try to relax completely.
this looks like a perfectly normal amount to me tbh. certainly more than my dd2 eats (she is 13 months but I have been doing BLW so I am prob less conscious of the amount she eats).
personally I would persist with the finger food - say put a variety on her high chair tray and just let her get on with it without giving it your attention (just get on with the cooking or something) for about twenty minutes then if you want to try feeding her. or give her the puree and let her try and feed herself for a bit.
just take all the pressure off as much as you possibly can. imo

[Bean74]

Hi

I try give her a variety - cauliflower cheese, courgette & pea, chicken casserole, cottage pie, bolognese etc. She will love one thing one day & then turn her nose up the next. In terms of letting her play with her food - about 10 -15 minutes roughly, which should be plenty of time?

Thanks for replying.

Bean

[DizzyBinterWonderland]

i'm doing blw too. i leave dd with her food for as long as she wants, until she's bored really. can be up to an hour. that may be easier said that done, i don't know your situation.

like harpsi says, it's just trying to take the pressure off. letting her play with the food, squish it, make a mess, maybe eat a bit.. seeing it more as extra play time than just about filling her tummy.

[Bean74]

Thanks Harpsichordcarrier & DBW. Perhaps I need to take a chill pill! How do you get your babies to eat meat if you do BLW? I work part time so like purees as I can whizz up a load at weekends & freeze them - how does it work for BLW?

Bean

[DizzyBinterWonderland]

well say you were going to whizz up some carrot, you just don't whizz it up, you just give them sticks of carrot.

or if you were eating lasagne for tea and you'd whizz it up, well you don't whizz it up, just give it like that.

they can eat meat fine, they suck it, nibble it, get bits off. it's quite surprising what they can manage. my dd had ravioli for tea tonight.

babyledweaning.com is very good, it's a blog by a mumsnetter.

[Mum2FunkyDude]

Bean don't take away the milk, it adds some important vitamins and minerals that she would otherwise get with a varied diet. Try cutting fresh fruit into cubes (soft fruits, i.e. cooked apple, peach etc.) it worked for my ds. Also try to mix natural yogurt with your fruit purees, instead of sugary ones, at least with the natural full fat yogurt you'll know she is getting protein, calcium and fat (essential calories), by mixing it with fruit puree you do not need to worry about added sugar (empty calorie) etc. I got my ds to start on finger foods by offering a few dry cheerios (although full of sugar) they do dissolve easily, but entice them to chew on something that doesn't taste bad!

I notice that she only feeds after 4.5 hours after breakfast, try and offer her some nice soft chewable cheese like Gouda, my ds used to gum tiny little pieces until it was all gooey. Make sure you cut it very small so that she can swallow it if she can't handle the biting thing.

If you don't mind me asking, are you small, that might also just be an indication that she doesn't need as much as i.e. my ds who weighs a tonne needs.

Incidentally I recently found a website with information on how much they should eat according to body weight. After 1 years old they should eat 45 calories per one lb of body weight. so your dd would need to eat about 760 Calories per day, and that includes calories from milk. A 6 oz bottle of formula for instance is about 120Calories, that already takes care of a sixth of her total calorie need for one day.

I hope this helps a bit, pleas I'm by no means an expert, I just read a lot!

[harpsichordcarrier]

hi there, I agree about not giving up the milk too.
re the meat - dd2 eats quite a bit of meat, she is quite good at it. I just give her chunkc of ham, chicken, beef, lumps of cooked mince, even slices of good quality sausage and she pick them up and gnaws on them just fine. in fact it is the first thing she always reaches for in her tray