10 month old refusing to be fed!

[jenrendo]

My DS is nearly 10 months old and has always had a very healthy appetite, scoffing up all the purees and mashed foods I give him. He also loves finger food and isn't particularly fussy at all. Anyway, yesterday he decided to refuse any food from us whatsoever, unless it was something he could feed himself, which resulted in basically mini sandwiches, breadsticks and fruit slices all day. It is as if a switch has been flipped. We just tried to give him breakfast and again, he didn't want his usual weetabix, so we gave him shreddies to feed himself and he did. Is this just the end of us feeding him? I am worried he won't eat enough. I'm hastily thinking of nutritious things to give him and wondering what to do with the freshly made batch of mashed food in the freezer! I have 2 drawer fulls FGS! He isn't teething or anything which might explain this sudden turn around. Is this normal? Any hints, tips or advice would put our minds at rest :)

Yep sounds line my DS at that age! I made lots of little mini burgers & cheesy broccoli balls. I googled & got loads if good recipes. It passed & we are "allowed" to help occasionally now. However he's 17 months & has been a spoon expert for about 2-3 months so there are plus sides.

Expect things to take longer but in fact it's a positive thing & you'll get used to it.

Sounds fairly normal - I had the same with both of mine! What about giving DS his own spoon to hold/practice with while you feed him the mashed stuff too. It worked fairly well with my two, as when they were concentrating on using their spoon they seemed to forget about protesting when I put my spoonful in front of them to eat. More finger foods - what you're doing sounds fine! We also used chunks of boiled potatoes, (or roast with the skin slightly taken off), boiled carrot sticks, fish fingers, pasta twists, chunky casseroles, egg noodles etc. We often did a mixture, so that they could feed themselves some things, and we could sneak in the mushier stuff on a spoon. Eventually you'll probably just have to bite the bullet and embrace the mess! :o

My DS (11 months) does this sometimes too, it's fun isn't it ?

Like Fluffymonster said, giving him his own spoon to play with sometimes helps. Letting him eat whatever you were trying to spoonfeed him with his fingers also sometimes helps (eg today, DS ate mince, potatoes, and peas with his fingers). As a last resort, I spread his tea on a rice cake, and he usually eats it then.

Good luck.

Thanks so much! We have been doing most of your suggestions already so it's good to know that it's normal. He was so hungry by lunchtime that he let us spoon baby curry and fruit down the hatch but at tea time was back to refusing. I don't worry about the mess as we have a hairy hoover (dog) for afterwards. Will keep on trying!

Ds2 is the same. he's 11 months. I do the same with the spoon. Another trick I do is to put a few bits of food, peas, sweetcorn etc on the tray to keep him occupied and spoon feed as he's trying to pick them up!

Weirdly today he has eaten everything I have offered him, allowing me to feed him and also feeding himself. He must be starving from yesterday!

My DS hasn't let us near him with a spoon since he was weaned three months ago.