Do I give in and just feed my 13 month old yoghurt all the time?

[louloubelle]

My DD is refusing all food except yoghurt, banana and maybe a little toasted crumpet. She may be teething (won't let me look), and usually feeds okay, but she is quite skinny and can't really afford to lose any weight (still under 20lb) I have cut down her morning milk, and cut out her 3pm milk in an effort to make her eat more. But she cries the minute a spoon with food is near her, unless it contains yoghurt, refuses to feed herself (have tried many finger food, most ends up on floor, especially vegetables). The thing is, I realise she probably can't reason she won't get yoghurt unless she eats savoury food, but do I assume this is a very long phase, and let her live on yoghurt and fruit, or should I persist with savoury food and exclude yoghurt, hoping she will forget about it? Very much at the end of my tether, but know I must not make meal times a battlefield, which they are at the moment.
All help gratefully received!

[suzywong]

keep her milk the same and feed her what she wants

they do it to keep you on your toes, and let her have a sniff and a look at what the rest of you are eating and she'll get interested in something else sooner or later

You are right in not wanting to let mealtimes become battlefields, that is counter productive all round

[morningpaper]

Personally I would let her eat yoghurt and fruit and keep giving her the milk too.

As long as you keep offering her other things, I wouldn't fight over it.

I'm sure that there might be better advice!

[WideWebWitch]

Persist with everything I would. Yoghurt's ok as long as it's not a very sugary one but even then there's probably some nutritional value in it. My dd is v independent too now and really doesn't want to be fed so we're on finger food with whatever I can shove in in between. She has just had a cut up pear, a yoghurt, a few cut up grapes, a dried apricot (probably, bet I find it mushed under the sofa in a week) peanut butter toast (no allergies), an apple and some milk today and she picked at a lot of it but some of it must have gone down or she'd be starving. I think Yeo Valley organic yogs are great.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Are you giving her sweetened yogurt? I'd try to stick to less-sweet ones, or mix it with plain yogurt. (Sugar's not that great for them, and sweet foods sometimes make them like savoury foods less.) And if you want her to gain weight, I'd try for high-fat yogurt - Rachel's make a lovely high-fat one.

Could she be tempted by similar non-yogurt foods? Veg dipped in cream cheese? Creamy sauces?

[Fran1]

My dd did this a lot when she was between 8 - 12 mths, she was too independent to let me feed her, but not v capable of feeding herself, so if often ended up on the floor.

I don't say anything, don't try and feed her if she is refusing, and just let her get on with it. They say children will not starve themselves. And as you say i think it is most important not to let food become too much of an issue for children.

BTW dd is now 2 and has an excellent appetite, and likes nearly all foods. I'm sure its a phase which will pass.

[louloubelle]

She only has plain, full fat yoghurt, normal or greek style, so no added sugar or even fruit purees in it! The only sweet food she has ever had is fruit, so it isn't as if she's secretly hankering after sweet puddings (well she may be, but she isn't getting any!)

[MarsLady]

The DTs are doing a bit of this too. Not sure how much is phase, teeth or cold. If I remember rightly the others all did this too. In fact at least 2 of them went without food for about 5 days and suddenly started again as though there had never been a problem. I'd do what the other posters have suggested. Just keep feeding her what she wants because it's healthy and it means that food is going in. Keep offering other bits as well but make no fuss. It seems to be working for us. I'm pretty sure that things will change soon.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, goodness louloubelle, I wouldn't worry about it at all then! Yogurt is just solid milk, but is a very nutritious food.

Of course, keep offering other foods, ideally stuff you're already eating.

The only thing she's really going to miss if she just eats this is iron. Will she take hummous or anything in that line?

We eat pureed chickpeas with garlic and yogurt quite a bit ... you could try adding a tiny bit of chickpea puree to yogurt and see how she feels about it?

[lunavix]

DS (10 months) LOVES yogurt and frequently refuses all food bar it.

I put a bit of savoury food (not too lumpy else he notices!) on a spoon, then dunk it in the yogurt and cover it, and then give it to him, and he tends to eat it all! He lets me know if he notices I've tricked him though (and he can tell by watching too!) but I can usually get the equiv of two yogurt pots of savoury down him, with the aid of two small yogurts!

[KathH]

i used to do the hiding food under a spoonful of yoghurt too! ds is now 6 and i cannot believe its the same child that was so difficult with food wheN he was a baby!

[Fastasleep]

Twig's kid made yoghurt today.... all over her boobs! Thought I'd beat her to it ...do not ask. Crazy.

[Twiglett]

she's right you know .. my boobs smell of puke .. delightful