One year old has never eaten

[Lucy304]

Hi,
Our one year old won't eat anything, and never has. We've been trying since she was 6 months old. Tried spoon-feeding as well as baby-led weaning.
When spoon feeding she clamps her mouth closed, turns away and pushes the spoon away, eventually getting really upset.
With blw, she will pick food up and play with it but won't put it near her mouth. She doesn't put anything to her mouth at all, not toys, hands, feet or anything.
I have even tried 'naughty' things like ice cream, chocolate buttons, Quavers etc because I am just so desperate to get her to eat anything.
HV is aware and we are on various waiting lists for appointments. HV is baffled.
Just wondered if anyone has heard of this before or has any advice? I'm so, so worried.
Thank you x

That's massively helpful, thank you

My cousin was like that. She got to the point she's pour her own milk into the cup for herself, and still wouldn't eat solids.
She got to about 4yo and started to eat. She's now in her 30s and has had no problems with eating any foods, not even a fussy eater since she was about 6yo.

Their health visitor suggested things like adding flavour to the milk, to see if she'd take different flavours (she didn't), sitting her down each meal with a small amount of different foods to play with (she mostly fed it to the dog), but eventually she pinched a small spoon of smash off another child's plate a nursery, then gradually started eating.

She was perfectly healthy and growing well throughout. She just didn't do food.

Thank you for your reply Witchend! So glad to hear all was well in the end, even if it did take a while.

Any issues with swallowing? Have you asked GP to be referred to an ENT? My DD had big issues eating solid food because her tonsils were obstructing her throat. Any chance there could be some kind of obstruction?

Hi crazychemist, thank you for your reply. She can swallow liquids fine and if we ever manage to get a bit of puree past her lips she does swallow that. I think the GP said referrals were to Paeds and to a Dietitian. Didn't mention ENT. Might give him another call on Monday. How is your DD now?

My DD could swallow liquids/Purées/yoghurts but nothing more solid than that. She would sometimes resist these and was almost entirely living off milk. We were referred to an ENT when the obstruction got so bad (was still growing) that her breathing was bad when she slept and it was causing sleep apnoea. Eventually she had surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. There were some issues in the medium term - her adenoids had grown so large they had distorted her faces a little and crushed her sinuses and ear canal..... fortunately small children bounce back - she had the surgery when she was just over 2. As she grew the distortion to her cheek bones went and there’s no sign of it now she’s 4. Her hearing has almost entirely recovered, and is still improving, and as a result her speech is now typical for her age (her pronunciation was poor). She’s perfectly capable of eating normally but is a very picky eater about textures - it’s taken 2 years to convince her to swallow very tender meat.

I have no idea if the issue with your DD is something physical or not, but I’d recommend getting an ENT to take a look if possible. Children that have been on very restricted diets will gradually expand what they eat if there’s no underlying issue, but we’ve found it a very long road so far and sometimes I’ve found it embarrassing - facing judgement from other parents because DD won’t eat most things, having to explain to nursery that she won’t eat..... they took the attitude that even picky eaters will eventually eat especially if the other children are. Not mine. She’d quite literally rather starve!

The dietician we saw was very reassuring. She said not to focus on all the things DD would try but to make sure that she had some protein, carbohydrates and fibre each day and take a vitamin supplement. Always offer something she will eat in each meal and something you’d like her to eat but not make a fuss either way.

Crazychemist thank you so much for taking the time to give me all that info, I really appreciate it.

I can see that you've had a long journey but really pleased to hear your DD is capable of eating normally now.

My next phone call with the GP is next week so I will ask about an ENT referral. Would rather get it checked sooner than later.

Thanks again for all your advice.