Anybody had major eating probs with their one year old? I'm desperate..

[bakeacake]

I would really appreciate anyone's help with this one. I am trying hard to be chilled at mealtimes but still don't if I'm taking the right tack with DS or not...

He is 13 months and hasn't eaten a single meal for 2 weeks now. The best he has done in that time is 5 spoons of main course and a 100g yoghurt. Most meals are 2 tiny spoons worth. He has finished a course of AB's for a thraot and ear infection but is still not eating. He showed no other symptoms of being ill apart from the not eating.

I guess I'm starting to think this is a behaviour thing... Is that possible in a child so young? I say that because he is still happy to eat breadsticks and chases after us if we have a banana or apple. He will still only have a couple of bites I hasten to add. He is defo hungry as he then drinks lots of milk after a refused meal. I have tried giving him no milk in the day- makes no difference...he just refuses his meals and then needs huge volumes of milk to settle at night- 13oz!

Just wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar? Please!

You could try inviting some little friends round for a tea party, don't put any pressure at all on your son to eat, just lay the table (or a mat on the floor) with food and have some fun with him and his friends.

I would really try and be consistent with meal times, make sure that you always sit down with him and always eat the same food.
So for example, if you are having potatoes, peas and fish for dinner, give him the same in small chopped up portions on a plate. Forget about cutlery for him and just let him play with it. If some goes in his mouth praise him, if he doesn't eat any just clear away at the end without giving any signal that he has done anything wrong. Either way offer a dessert - a yogurt, or some chopped up fruit.

You say he took a long while to eat solids, and then really its only been a couple of months that he has eaten hasn't it. My guess would be that he is getting the 'independence' streak now that many children get where they want to do it themselves or not at all.

I urge you to lay off pressurising him, stop spoon feeding and let him make as much mess as he likes at mealtimes.

You could turn food preperation into a bit of fun. Can you sit him on your work surface and give him a bowl with some food to stir whilst you dish up? Anything to get him used to food being fun and not boring old mealtimes.

Oh, yes, that's another thing we did with ds. sometimes he would eat with them and sometimes not, but I think it was good for him to be around other children who were eating with gusto, so to speak

luci33- yes, you have reassured me a lot . DS is the same when he has a cold so now he'll go from bad to diabolical I expect when he gets his next cold .

Jabber, I've done the CD thing when I first intro'd him to purees months ago. I've not tried itfor a while though so I will try that one. I do the singing thing though and make up words etc.

Toys seemed to work again yesterday. Probably as I hadn't had any toys at the table for a few days... no rhyme or reason!

Hattie- yes, the eating with his peers works well when we have the opportunity. He likes to grab his friends' food! You're right- he has only been having non-blended (and I mean NO lumps) since around New Year. He now copes with anything really once it's in his mouth. He is at that stage where he wants to feed himself more finger foods but hasn't got the skill yet (again he showed no interest til recently). With anything, he takes a mini-bite, then hurls it over his shoulder and then swipes the plate onto the floor. He does better when I just leave food on the floor for him to attempt away from the table.

He does get bored at the table- at tea time he normally refuses any pudding. Yesterday he was obviously still hungry after his bath and he managed 2/3 of a banana plus his normal milk. I am a sucker I know but I am a bit of a grazer myself tbh!

Bakeacake,I seem to think my DS had milk 3 times a day at that stage - morning, lunchtime and evening so he had a least a pint - maybe even more. I did keep him on formula for a long time until about 18 months and then swapped to cows milk. At the same time as swapping to cow's milk, I started giving him vitamins (in his juice) incase he wasn't getting enough nutrition from cows milk. I am going to start giving my son more milk again as I've tried this cutting down lark for long enough, and whilst i'm sure in most children's cases it will work...it's definately not working with mine.

wools- I plan to do exactly the same as you with the changeover to cows milk.

I think the cutting down milk is logical for most babies but sounds like ours are of the stubborn variety. My DS is now having 8oz milk again in the morning and is actually eating more at lunch. When I cut it down to 3oz he was dreadful at lunchtime. Bizarre .
Which son are you going to give more milk to? I hope your littley is still being an angelic feeder.

Bakecake, Have started giving the older ds more milk again....just desperate for him to put on some weight. He now has approx 7 ozs first thing in the morning and at least 14 ozs before bed. Although his appetite hasn't really improved - it hasn't got any worse so I'm going to stick with it. The little one is a good eater but not so good with his milk...I have to try and sneak it into his food. Would you believe it - they are like chalk and cheese.