Two months to Wean. Help Needed

[Abe99]

I started weaning my DD at 24 weeks but she refused to open her mouth for anything on a spoon. At six months I tried BLW (just placed a little of what i was eating on his tray for each of my three meals) in addition to occasional attempts to soon feed.

DD is now eights months and one week and still barely eats anything.

Breakfast - rarely gets touched but i think she isn't hungry in the mornings
Lunch - occasionally some gets gummed
Supper - normally the most sucessful meal of the day. A little gets gummed and sucked.

On the BLW side steak strips, cheese and pasta are the most popular. In the past she has sucked on bread and brocoli well but no longer touches them. Most other things get ignored.

On the spoon feeding side the only thing she will open her mouth for more than once is yogurt.

I do believe she will eat properly one day however the probelem I have is that I go back to work four days a week in two months time. My parents are looking after her and although they are kind and patient and wants what is best for her I don't think they can cope with full on BLW ( and that is the main reason why I have persevered on the spoon feeding side).

Any advice on how best to proceed from here would be very gratefully received as I am so stressed about what will happen when I go back to work I can barely sleep. Many thanks

[CMOTdibbler]

I'm sure your parents will cope with BLW - my parents were sceptical at first (and ils extremely so), but loved showing off to all their friends when ds ate real food by himself. And much less frustrating than trying to spoon feed a refuser.

Have you tried having her on your lap as you are eating and letting her 'steal' off your plate as you eat ? Sometimes thats attractive to children

[reallytired]

Please don't worry two months is a long time in a baby's life. Your baby will probably eat better once you are back at work. Also your parents may have other approaches on getting your lo to eat that will work.

My two year old was the same and when I went back to work with her being nine months she started eating more very quickly. Hungry babies are less fussy about food. Unfortunately she also breastfed four times a night at 10 months.

At two years old she is fully weaned and eats a good diet. Please don't worry, eating solid food will come.

[Abe99]

Thanks for the responses.

Unfortunatly I can't feed her on my lap as she will throw the plate on the floor and if i eat without a plate she will just throw all the food on the floor.

When I first started BLW I knew it would be slow to strart with but I thought that after a couple of months progress would be made. Now after two months only very slow progress has been made which is why I am worried as to what will happen in another two months time.

I know if DD doesn't eat then my parents will get stressed and they are being so kind and helpful in looking after her that I want to avoid any undue stress.

[Jojay]

I would continue offering her a mix of finger food and spoon feeding, but as you are finding out, at the end of the day you cannot force her to eat, frustrating though it is.

There is no magic answer. All you can do is keep offering a variety of food. one of these day she'll decide to eat. in the meantime, milk is providing virtually all the nutrients she needs.

As Reallytired says, 2 months is a long time and the problem may well have sorted itself out by then.

If, in say, 6 weeks time, the situation hasn't improved, why not make an appt with your HV to discuss it, and take your Mum along too, so you are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

I bet though, the situation will resolve itself, these things usually do

[LoopyLoopsPussInBoots]

Give her food before her milk?

[cantmakecarrotcake]

It's hard to hear, but she will get there. My DD (now 9 months) only really 'got' food about 4 weeks ago. I agree though, that 2 months is a long time to be trying with limited success - well done for being patient.

Keep trying a mix of finger foods and spoons. DD was a spoon refuser to begin with so we attempted BLW for a while, but at the moment we're in a spoon phase, and although we're only on stage 1 purees from jars (don't shoot me, it's food and a step up from nothing) she's eating reasonable meals now. She has a few mini shredded wheat and the odd peanut butter sandwich as finger food as well.

How much milk does she have in the day? By the time DD 'got' food, I'd dropped down to 3 BF a day (+1 or 2 at night) I'm pretty sure that helped as she was filling up on milk and wasn't hungry for food.

2 months is a long time in baby world as previously said. I'm sure by the time your parents have her during the day she'll be eating much better. I don't think there's a magic answer though, I only wish there were, it's a matter of perseverance and trying a bit of everything until it clicks. Good luck.

[Abe99]

Thanks for all the responses.

The seeing a HV in six weeks time with my mum if we are still in the same situation is an excellent idea (my mum is very trusting of medical proffesionals).

I do try and offer food before milk and when she is hurgry where possible. I can't seem to limit milk through as if she doesn't have much milk during the day she will make up for it in the evening/night. Also she is very very active (literally spend the whole day crawling, pulling herself up on anything and standing) so as she is not eating she needs to get calories from her milk.