No solids 12 months old

[Lottie81]

Hello. My daughter is about to turn 12 months old and is still 100% breastfed. She will not take a bottle or eat solid foods. She very rarely puts anything in her mouth, even fingers or toys! She will happily play with food and now and again she licks something.

She is behind her peers physically i.e not crawling but can rock on all fours. She makes sounds like; bababa, dadada and mamama, giggles, plays peek a boo etc....and although I feel she is a little behind the health visitor and language therapist think her development is perfectly fine.

She has been assessed by a facial surgeon and he does not think a tongue tie is an issue. She just isn't interested to the point of being suspicious of anything other that breastfeeding.

We are so, so worried and nobody seems to be able to offer any advice or knows what to do. We let her play with food everyday but do not force spoon feeding because it just makes her upset and we are trying to build trust around the dinner table.

Any advice greatly received. Thank you

What happens if you try and reduce the breastfeeding?

Hello. The more hungry she gets the more she just wants to be breastfed and is even more reluctant around food.....

I’d push for a paeds referral I think. Not crawling at 12 months alone would worry me. No food other than breast milk would also worry me.

Not all babies crawl. Does she get around in another way? Does she sit up, roll over, pull herself up to a standing position?

I would definitely try and push for a paeds referral too for her movement.
I would be a bit concerned to reduce breastfeeds if that is her only actual source of nutrition if she isn't eating, so I would continue with that and just keep offering food every so often but don't try and push it on her, like you have been doing, and hopefully she will start to become more interested in it soon. But I'd still get a doctors referral for that too

You must be producing a lot of milk to be satiating a 1 yo. What does your gp say? I wouldn’t be too concerned if you can crack this at her age but she’s growing. I’d also be pushing to see a paediatrician.

Have you seen your GP?

please see GP if you haven't already. She may need things like iron if she's not taking food

Is she putting on weight ? Sleeping through ? I'd be rattling for a paed referral to talk about concerns

My ndn didn't crawl till 20 months and he's just had an offer from Cambridge.
I think your girl is fine. It sounds like you are doing exactly the right things around food, and I'd be REALLY surprised if she doesn't get round to it in her own sweet time.

hmmm.. the not trying any solids would concern me. The not crawling wouldnt be so much of an issue, my last ds never crawled at all, then at 14 months he stood up and walked.
Try and get a referral about the food issue though, or maybe pay to see a private dietitian that specialises in kids?

Does she see you eat? ‘Eat’ alongside you?

Is she mobile in other ways? Bum shuffle?
Can you get a vitamin drop in her? I think after 6 months the amount of iron in breast milk is not sufficient, so if not having vitamins I would ask gp.

I agree with asking for a paeds referral.
In the meantime, does she drink water from a cup or spoon? To get this to happen would be a good start

I know when I started to wean, DD wasn't keen at all if it was me offering her milk in a beaker, I suppose because she could smell my milk and associated me with the breast. How feasible would it be for you to spend the day away from home and leave your DD with Dad and another? That way you're not around to be a distraction.

I have to say at some point there may have to be tears - her's and your's .

My 11 month DS old doesn't crawl, but he walks. I'm not worrying about the fact he doesn't crawl at all. Some babies don't.

I started BLW at six months. Before then, DS was 100% BF. He didn't have any interest in solids at all at that age. We did introduce some careful spoonfeeding around 8 month, which helped him to get a taste of foods and which probably contributed to his interest at 9 months. He's eating solids, but not a huge amount. Again, I'm not overly worrying about this as he seems to be picking up steam each day.

My 11 month old dd eats minimal solids. She has ready brek in the morning and fruit and vegetables puree in small amounts in afternoon.

Have you tried her with baby rice and breast milk?

I wouldn't worry as long as she's gaining weight and sleeping enough. People worry too much.

My daughter was like this. She just wasn't interested in food. She didn't seem to know what it was for, or why you might eat it - she lacked that instinct that have other babies crawling across tables to get their hands on food. I did stop BF when she was 13 months, and that did help, but she still wasn't a big eater. She was also not crawling, and missed many of her other milestones (she did not walk until she was 2.5). Last summer she was diagnosed with autism (she had just turned 3). Interestingly, now she is a big eater and will try almost anything.

I'd definitely mention it to your GP; it could be a sensory thing, or stubbornness, or being a picky eater, or something else that might require further investigation.

OP is there someone you trust (her dad, your mum) that you could leave her for for half a day/the day? Ds1 was never interested in solids if breastmilk was a possibility. Consequently he wouldn't accept food from me. When dh had him for the day he did eat reasonably well (then topped up w a big feed from me in the evening).
Ds2 was one of those babies that lunged at food at 6 months.

I'd ask for a referral too tbh. Is she having a supplement? She may end up anaemic.

Will she eat junk food? I ask because my son is still breastfed at 15 months and has only just (like in the last week) started to really consider food. But he will literally wrestle chocolate from my hands if I'm eating it and has done so for the last 5 months. He will happily eat any 'junk' he's offered - I presume because my breast milk is very very sweet (yes I tasted it )

Will she try yogurt?

If she's drinking lots and lots of breast milk all day she likely won't want food. Same as if she was drinking lots of formula. I'd just try to reduce the amount of feeds and regularly offer different foods either fed to her by you or food she can eat herself

You need a paediatric referral and developmental assessment. Speak to your GP.

agree on paed referral. Mine refused food until 11/12 months and was EBF, late in crawling at that age. She does have SN.

Not saying this is the case with your DD but obviously, your gut instinct tells you that something is not quite right. I would follow this up.

At 12 months, the range of normal development us pretty wide and I found the HV completely useless (only advice I got was that every baby is different and to give it more time). I'd sideline the hV and push for referral via GP.

How come you saw a SALT? Unusual at such a young age but I guess that was for feeding issues and not the wider communication?

When did you first try and introduce solids?