1yr old starting to refuse food...help

[worldgonemad72]

Hi all

Until recently my 1 yr old ds has been eating a varied diet really well. Now he starts playing up when its time for som
ething eat, he keeps batting my hand away if i try to feed him and he just crushes food in his hands before throwing it! he will eat weetabix but now refuses porridge, he just throws sandwiches and is gettiing really fussy at tea time. What can i do? i sing and tell stories to try an distract him into eating but that only works for a couple of mouthfuls, i just dont know what i can do to get him eat more.
thanks

[azazello]

Do you eat with him? That helped with my DD. Also are you mostly spoon feeding or is he mostly self-feeding now because more self-feeding might make a difference.

Otherwise, if he is eating reasonably healthily I would try not to worry - he won't starve himself.

[Olihan]

Things that worked for me are

Taking off the pressure. Don't worry about set mealtimes, leave a variety of food around - stuff he can feed himself, some of which are familiar, some of which are new. He may be happier to just graze through the day.

Move dinner away from the table. Try picnics on the floor, eating on the move, offering him bits and pieces in the garden. Again, it's about taking the focus away from having to sit and eat.

He's just starting to realise that he is autonomous and has a will of his own so he's exercising it . Try not to give him any inkling that you are bothered by his refusal. If he won't eat it the first time let him go off and do what he wants and just put the food nearby so he can get to it when he wants too.

Try cereals like shreddies that can be picked up and don't make as much mess as weetabix or porridge when he's self feeding. Go with rice cakes/oat cakes/cheese biscuits/toast fingers/chunks of cheese/ham/veg sticks/fruit pieces/ for lunch so he can wander around and eat while he's playing without too much mess.

He's only 1, he's still a baby and you're not going to give him awful table manners if he's not sat at the table for every meal. IMO food at this age is about discovering taste and texture and enjoyment, not about manners - there's plenty of time for that later.