14 month old won’t eat anything but ….

[doneitagain12]

My 14 month old DS has never been a huge foodie, all through weaning he was never guzzling food down, very selective, not overly interested in food. But, he would try most things, both finger food and spoon feeding. Up until he was about 1, he would also eat meat, however, not stand alone meat, it had to be like a cottage pie/stew etc.

However, over the last few months his acceptance of most foods has almost completely gone. He often refuses breakfast recently… and the only foods he’ll actually eat is:

Cheese on toast, Blueberries, Bananas, mango (sometimes) strawberries (sometimes) potato shapes, yoghurts and cheese.

I’ve tried everything, and still at every meal I will put options of different foods. But he ether completely ignores it, or picks it up and drops it on the floor. He doesn’t even contemplate eating it, not even a taste, or feel or sniff.

He won’t eat meat. - At all. Again, will barely acknowledge it let alone try eating it. I’ve even attempted hiding ham under the cheese of his cheese on toast, but he knows and then won’t eat it.
Wont eat fish.
Wont eat veg - the most he’s done in the last few months is pick up some carrots, chew it and spit it out. Any other veg he ignores, throws or flicks around.
wont eat salad.
will occasionally eat scrambled egg (fed to him) but it’s rare. Wont eat a fried, boiled egg.
Wont eat any pasta or rice.
Will eat a chip sometimes or a potato smiley face but won’t eat a boiled, roasted potato
wont eat beans, or spaghetti hoops.
wont eat pancakes

We Limit snacks and make them light when offered.
We have consistent meals times and eat with him most the time.
He has a cup of milk in the morning and a bottle at bedtime (for comfort and also because I worry he’s not full at the end of the day as he eats so little)
Ive tried making many different foods from the baby cook books. He won’t entertain them.
No tounge tie etc.
and he has teeth’d on and off through this but this doesn’t seem like a pain aversion but just a complete lack of interest issue.

I feel like I’m failing him…
Like I’m not providing right for his growth and development by him just eating a very beige and diet lacking in nutrients.
I mentioned it my HV and she didn’t seem bothered.
He is growing and is healthy (although we’ve had back to back colds recently but it’s winter and he started nursery in Jan)

Is this normal?? At what point do I start to get worried?

What is his eating like at nursery?
There is nothing you can do really except keep offering a variety of foods. If his weight is still on the correct centile then he is getting what he needs.
You could drop the cup of milk in a morning to see if that helps with breakfast but it doesn't sound like that's the issue to me with the amount of milk you describe.
Is he maybe a little and often child rather than meals? Instead of limiting snacks you could increase them but make them healthy so he has lots of mini meals.

Honestly though at his age I would not worry 😊

try not to worry @doneitagain12 he seems to be having all his food groups

The main problem here is your stress. Xx

he'll be fine. Just keep doing what you're doing & give him what you know he'll eat & adding bits if other things (fir him ti throw in the floor 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️)

but seriously, say 'no' & put the things he throws on the floor to one side he'll come to understand he doesn't gave to eat them, but throwing food isn't acceptable.

Try to have both some consistency with new things (put some of the same things each day for a few days & something new).

for things like scrambled egg (a sometimes food) serve it with things you know he'll eat & just ignore his refusal without 'replacing' it.

do not keep trying to tempt or cajole. Just give it to him & clear away after a reasonable time. Cajoling just turns it into a power battle.

honestly it seems so stressful at the time & SO important, but he will be fine!! 🤗

you don't need to eat dead animals.

highly processed ham is not a health benefit, so stop trying to trick him into it, you'll only make him suspicious of the cheese on toast he does eat!!

I bought ‘my child won’t eat’ during this period and honestly can’t remember why - don’t remember it being that bad.
It’s a whole book from a hot Italian doctor that basically says ‘yeah, don’t worry about it’. And that’s what I would say. Your child is eating and your stress will be power to them (not in a horrible way).
There was a programme featuring Dr Tanya Byron years ago that I loved even tho I didn’t have children then. It was like the Big Brother house for people with child issues. You might be able to find it on YouTube but it was so interesting. They were always told not to sweat about it. Easier said than done obviously!!

He’s getting protein through the dairy, carbs & fruit. He’ll be fine OP. DS was like this as a toddler, just very disinterested in food. He’s now a strapping 16 year old and still only eats when he’s actually hungry. He runs 60km a week, super fit and healthy and still quite fussy about food. He eats plain food - chicken, veg, fruit and plain potatoes. No sauces, no fancy stuff. But a picture of health.

I had two children like this and it’s so stressful but I can assure you they grew into healthy adults. One of mine never ate meat and still doesn’t in her late twenties.

Weaning can be so stressful.
But he is eating.
Keep offering a variety of foods and don’t make a fuss if he doesn’t eat it.

I read a book recommend on here called

Getting the little blighters to eat by Claire Potter. Gave lots of helpful tips .

Good Luck and keep going.

Same thing's happened with one of my boys. He's a few months older than yours and his appetite has fallen off a cliff since turning one. He's still growing though so I'm assuming he's getting enough nutrients from somewhere. Yogurt is the only guaranteed thing. Oranges and carrots tend to be quite popular but everything else just depends on the day.

Basically the same at nursery. I think they feel at abit of a loss because they’re offering different meals most mealtimes and days so he’s often not eating much of anything while there (which concerns me).

and I could offer little and often but I think it’d still be limited to the foods mentioned above, I still don’t think he’d entertain something new outside of normal meals. I’ve tried it sometimes while cooking dinner with him, abit of tomatoe, abit of pasta, abit of mince meat/chicken etc. he won’t eat it or put it in his mouth he’ll just turn away.

but reassuring to know it’s not a major worry! Because I feel that’s silently all I do. I also feel embarrassed, when with family etc or out with friends and he refuses almost every food or when we went on holiday and I was literally offering him the most basic, un colourful plates of food over and over again.

Thank you - I’ll take at look at this. X

Definitely stop trying to sneak ham in though - it’s super processed and far better for him to just have the cheese on toast!

It can be so stressful can’t it. Hope it picks up for you soon! Can I ask what sort of things offer most days for lunch/dinner/breakfast giving what little he’ll eat/ks interested in.
What do you do if he barely eats but a few things across 3 meals? X

Noted, I won’t try again. It was a last ditch attempt to get him to taste a meaty flavour/product. X

Food neophobia is a normal developmental stage.

Don't hide things in other things/under other things, that's going to make matters worse and likely stop him trusting previously 'safe' foods.

Just keep offering other foods along side safe foods. Make it clear that throwing it isn't acceptable but otherwise don't encourage/cajole/make a big deal out of eating or not eating, just offer it regularly and make sure he sees YOU eating much of the same stuff so you're modelling eating various things.

They need to see, explore, meddle with and try a new food multiple times before its accepted and considered safe or they truly know they don't like it, but don't make the mistake of thinking that as he hasn't tried it, he doesn't know if he doesn't like it - whilst objectively that is true, the neophobia IS real, the aversion to interacting with it or eating it IS real, and so his response is not some sort of power trip to upset you!

Sounds a bit mean, but when mine went through a fussy stage id just make my own lunch and sit with him at the table in his high chair until he asked for some of my food - sometimes he'd eat it, sometimes not.

Not a long term solution in having your kids wanting to eat off your plate, but with mine it at least sparked an interest in what I was eating and he wanted some, rather than me cajoling him to eat another spoonful of whatever id lovingly prepared before it went on the floor!

Just wanted to say my 15 month old is exactly the same. If he was my first I would be worrying myself silly about it, as it is I don’t have the time to prep multiple options or try 1000 things, so I only have a worry about it every few weeks when I realise how limited he’s becoming. But there’s literally nothing I can do about it and he seems to be growing fine, and putting them under pressure is the worst thing you can do. I am planning to be more vigilant on making sure he gets his multivitamin though.

If he's growing and healthy, has energy and is not lethargic, he's probably getting enough nutrition. Just keep offering new foods alongside his usual foods, don't pressure or try and persuade him to try, just act like it's completely normal and sit and eat with him. Clear away what he doesn't eat without comment. Take the pressure off yourself, you're doing exactly the right thing to just keep offering new foods and it's very normal at his age to be picky. Don't offer snacks between meals, you want him to be hungry for mealtimes.

Sending solidarity OP… although my food refuser is now 13… and genuinely will eat pretty much everything…(except yoghurt or cheese) her favourite being steak.. and Duck… and sushi…but between the age of 1&3 she ate… chips… cucumber, sweetcorn, weetabix, custard and fried egg…and if she could get her hands on it… cake… I genuinely am not making this up… at 3 she went to a preschool different to her nursery… and just started eating actual meals… the advice from the health professionals at that time was to just keep eating in front of her… offering her some of what we had… sometimes she took a bit/ bite/ sip… they told us to make nothing ‘not allowed’ (obviously except alcohol)… it wasn’t easy… we had to get friends and family on board as she gradually started asking for bits of peoples meal…and not all were willing to share… and mostly she put it in her mouth then spat it out again… but we had to keep a neutral expression… which was hard… she once took a bite out of every apple in my friends fruit bowl (thankfully she was a good friend) but it was a step forward… we just made sure she had multivitamins, and calcium and vitamin D gummies… thankfully she would eat these… and still does…

My 16 month is the same. The first difference is that he goes to nursery 3x a week and they're absolutely shocked when I told them this because they say he's one of their best eaters in the baby room! And the second difference is that I'm fairly certain the reason for disinterest in food is the fact that I'm still breastfeeding him on demand. When he's with me he just prefers to breastfeed very often instead of eat! He's DC3 but I'd long stopped breastfeeding my older 2 so I don't know how to cut it down as if I try to say no or distract he just screams and he won't eat food in that state then anyway! I just figure he will grow out of it and I do plan to stop breastfeeding or at least just wean to a bed time only feed by the time he's 2.

The book My Child Won't Eat that PP mentioned is good, we read it when DC1 was a toddler as they weren't a good eater although even the ate better than DC3. I do fully understand your worries though but if theyre growing well that's good and you probably just need to ride it out really.

When you say how limiting it’s becoming, how limited are we talking? I think that’s part of my issue, I’m a FTM. I think I’d invisioned in my heads a kid that loved food and couldn’t get enough of it, happy to eat everything. We go on a family holiday soon, a cruise with extended family, and I don’t know why but I feel shame that while we’re there he’ll be eating on repeat the same stuff and if people are judging how I’ve mothered because of it.

I wish that was the case for my DS but my nursery have actually agreed he eats very little and refuses almost everything. I had high hopes that once he started his food interest would peek a little be, seeing other kids eat etc. but I’d actually say it’s got worse. Is your little one having bottles at nursery? I’m wondering if because you breastfeed on demand at home but he doesn’t get that at nursery could it be the reason? I’ll defo look into this book - thank you. X

My now 3 year old did this at 1. He's still got such a restrictive diet but there's nothing I can do. He's on the pathway for assessment so I'm assuming that could very well be the reason. Not that I'm saying your little one is the same. It's shit and causes so much stress. Just wanted you to know that you aren't alone 😊

He’ll consistently eat porridge, toast, Cheerios, toddler yoghurts, sausages and pasta. He had a number of fruits that he’ll sometimes eat.

like pp above, I’m breastfeeding on demand which is a factor. At nursery he has no milk and eats more consistently but still not loads and they’ve commented he’s focused on beige foods. But, he has also been teething or ill since before Christmas and that also seems to impact his appetite and willingness to eat new foods.

I understand about fearing judgement, but it’s important to know that it’s not anything you’ve done and ignore everyone else. My 5yo started out eating everything as a toddler and now has about four meals she’ll eat happily- and hates everything new she tries. It’s really not you.

My middle son was like this. He would only eat boiled eggs and maybe 3/4 crisps. He previously ate everything including veg and then just stopped trying anything. I took him to the doctor because he actually started losing weight and we were advised to just give him the eggs and crisps and he would eventually grow out of it which he did. Very odd and worrying time but he grew up fine.