9+ month old becoming 'difficult' to feed - need reassurance

[lunarx]

ds (who is a week short of 10 months old) - has been difficult to feed in the last 2+ weeks. mealtimes used to be something enjoyable (for us both) and now its becoming a struggle to coax him to eat his food. he has lost any interest he had in holding the spoon and attempting to self-feed, although i encourage this, he just chews the spoon and when i move it to put some food in his mouth, he either; cries or spits/sprays the food out/all over. he is teething (currently getting 4 in at once), so i have been attributing this feeding behaviour to the teething. but is it a stage that some babies go thru? (and ahhh! does it end!!??) i try VERY hard not to let ds see that this behaviour is driving me crazy, i talk to him and carry on as if it was our old 'easy' mealtimes. & when he does eat, he will spray (by making the 'raspberry' sound) out every other spoonful.
is this just a stage, or are there measures i should take to correct this? (i dont want to sound harsh, but i worry too if i let this go, he will know that and think it is ok)

i've yet to meet up with my new HV, and would be asking her (if she'd return my phone calls!)

any advice/peace of mind/anything! (but flaming!)
is welcomed.
thanks

Hi lunarx

Don't worry - it's entirely normal - my DS did the same. You are quite right - it probably is down to teething and once he's sorted the tooth coming through then I bet the old routine of happy relaxed mealtimes will return. Also - my DS at about this age started refusing food from me and became a militantly independent toddler hell bent on feeding himself. It,s down to the teething and he'll adjust once the tooth is through. Try giving him some toast fingers to chew on and see if this helps. He'll mush them down with chewing and it'll help with the discomfort of teething.

Mandy

Yes it is a stage. Yes it passes, although you might be unlucky and have to put up with it for four years . It may well be that his teeth are hurting and he doesn't feel like eating. If you think that is the case, give him some teething gel just before a meal or even, (What the hell? it doesn't last forever) some Calpol.

If it is nothing to do with the teeth but just your ds being fussy, do everything you can to ignore it: that way the phase will pass quicker. Don't give in to feeding him between meals though as this will encourage him to not eat at mealtimes.

Aaahh...how familiar! My DD (now 15mo) started at exactly the same time, after a bout of bronchiolitis. She had previously been a fantastic feeder. Even now, she has days when she eats, and days when she won't! Try to look beyond today, and assess what he eats over several days. With mine, I went through a stage of putting the food on my finger, scooping it up with bread, adding fruit puree, houmous ( a particular favourite) and Waitrose Organic Peter Rabbit Ketchup. She was ill again with a chest infection recently, and didn't eat a "proper" meal for 9 days!! But she didn't lose weight and is eating very well at the moment. Hope this helps...I was tearing my hair out whilst trying not to make mealtimes an issue.

Oh yes, that reminds me, get him weighed frequently if the eating does not pick up: it will probably reassure you as all of mine continued to gain weight despite eating nothing at times.

I'm having the same problem, but think I may be coming out the other side! My ds started to do exactly the same thing when his two bottom teeth came through at 9.5 months. At 11 months he will now eat, but about only half the volume he used to. Interestingly, he is still tracking against the same line on his weight chart even though his intake has dropped.
I find the art of distraction works - I give him the pack of wet wipes or a wooden spoon and try to shovel the food in! He will usually take a good half a dozen spoonfuls.
Good Luck, I'm sure it won't last.

my DS did EXACTLY the same thing when he was getting his top teeth last month. He is younger though (7mo at the time). It also turns out his food wasn't runny enough and was getting thirsty during the meal. I've diluted his food a bit (I guess a lot of moisture is lost during the freeze/reheating process) and introduced a sippy cup of water and he's back to his usual guzzly self.

Hope you're all back enjoying mealtimes soon

Same again! Teeth coming through now - 11 months....I now fill the high chair tray with LOADS of finger foods at each meal: toast, grated cheese, bits of avocado, tinned fruit, peeled grapes, strawberries etc etc. I also feed him sludge whilst distracting him - loads less goes in - but if he gets a good mouthful, I give him water to wash it down before he spits it out!! I think he's not going through a 'growth spurt' so doesn't need as much sometimes..

Carrot sticks were a favorite of mine. If you leave them in the fridge they will cool and soothe his gums, plus very healthy, and more tasty than when they are cooked!!!! Good luck. PS Have had difficult stages with both my sons and eating, they are now 5 and 2 and have v healthy appetites. PPS Star charts work for almost everything when they are over 3, useful tip!!!

thanks the advice and encouragement all. its difficult sometimes, but i'm trying! i know he is hurting a lot.. i will try the carrot stick idea too.. =) last nights dinner was a lot of finger foods, which he seemed to enjoy playing with as well as eating.
he does have calpol when the pain is really bad (like this morning) but i usually try to distract him first or use teething gel. guess i just gotta grin and bear it. and laugh with him when he does, i suppose.

thanks again all

my dd went through this but has only been better this last week. i should think that as yours coincided with teething its that, but are you giving him a bottle in the morning/afternoon? i have had to cut dd's bottle out in the afternoon, as i discovered it was that which was stopping her from being hungry.

Same here, DS is nearly 8 months and I think his top teeth are coming through (bottom ones there already). He seems to be drinking loads of milk and jamming his mouth shut for food. DH has found making him laugh works, he opens his mouth and gets a mouth full shoved in! Then gets the hang of it again and carrys on. I know how you feel as its very frustrating at times though.

re: egypt

he usually has his breakfast (cereal or something, eggs and toast) - then a bottle (5-6oz) about 1.5hrs. later / naps / then lunch / then after a few hours another bottle 6 or 7 oz - then nap - then dinner - awake for an hour or 2 then night-time bottle..

he would drink more milk if i offered it, but i'm not since i dont think he really needs it and sometimes may just have it for 'comfort' or if its there (if that makes sense) i usually offer less and then if he wants more, i get him more..

he refused solids today, and was chewing mercilessly on anything he could, so it was a day for some yogurt and breadsticks and milk..

it can be frustrating as anything, but at least now he's sleeping peacefully after much whinging today!

Very familiar...
Comes and goes with my son. Recently he had a foul mouth infection that we didn't pick up on until we got it ourselves. But more often is teething.

DS is going through the same thing at 10 months as well. eating fussily and needs a lot of distraction to have any solids, won't hold a spoon anymore, spits/rasperries and a bit grizzly - but loving his formula bottles. he's also at the same teething stage so hopefully it will all become a bit easier soon...he has 4 bottles a day but i'm thinking of making it 3 as i don't think he needs all of them now.