10 month old BF and wont eat food!!

[freefruit]

Hi
Not sure how to title this but grateful for your thoughts.
My ds is 10 months and refuses food, after much trying he will eat cooked carrot sticks, brocolli (sometimes) pasta only 1 piece per meal and never with a sauce on, a bit of potato, the odd chip/wedge, peas, sweetcorn about 10 max at a time and rice cakes. Liqiuds, yog,etc make him gag and vomit.
I recently tried some nectarine and he licked it like a cat but did eventually take a small piece.

So you can see a tiny bit of solid stuff that can be self-fed gets in. Liquids, semi solids anything on a spoon is a no. He will clamp his mouth, turn his head push my hand away etc etc.

We have visited GP who thinks that it is psychological because he likes being breastfed and told me to bottle feed, I went back saying I had done so and she has referred on but I wanted to know whether anyone has come accross anything similar.

An internet search leads us to think he has a hyperactive gag reflex and the amount of food he eats has increased massively in the last couple of weeks.

I did hold his hand today then he cried and gave him 2 tiny spoons of baby pasta which he swallowed without being sick so I do wonder at the back of my mind whether the GP might be right.

I am off to post for some recipe ideas because I am getting worried about his nutrition but i am grateful for any input
thanks

I don't know much but I do know that your GP is talking utter rubbish saying it's because he's breastfed. What can the logic be for this, I ask yer??!! He or she should know as a GP that the majority of a baby's calories should come from milk for the first 12 months of life.

It must be frustrating for you but I really would encourage you not to worry too much. Some babies really don't get going with eating until much later than the widely-touted 6 months.

Like my DD....

She didn't eat significant quantities of anything until she was about 14 months. Certainly never ever let anyone spoon-feed her and would generally only eat what she could get in her mouth herself. She has turned out to be very strong-willed, and very sensitive to certain strong tastes or new textures, so I think it was all just part of her character. Babies can manage on very little actual food!

It sounds like your is better with self-feeding. That's totally fine. And if the amount he's eating is increasing, sounds good to me.

Do you have a breastfeeding cafe or meet-up group anywhere near you? I found them very helpful for advice on weaning.

Can see the GP's point - if the baby prefers breastfeeding because he gets to be close to you, knows how it works etc, there's no incentive to try solids.

My DS is pretty strong willed. Weaning started out very shaky, though he's ok with it now (8 months). He was quite suspicious of the whole thing to begin with. I got worried because I could see we were going down a path of flat out refusal.

I tried things like just letting him play with the food - beware of the mess - and sitting him on my lap whilst I ate his food, so he would get curious about it. I try very hard not to have any preconceived ideas about how much he should eat & I praise him for every mouthful.

I try to be happy and smiling throughout so that he understands it should be an enjoyable experience. It's still hard though - he doesn't just sit there while I pile it in! I'm either not spooning fast enough for his liking & he's stomping his feet or he's decided it's over just a few spoons in.

I let him play with a spoon when I'm feeding him or give him a bit of bread to suck on at will - think it makes him feel more in control. I also have a sippy cup on the table so that when he wants it instead of food, he clamours for that. He's just not going to be a passive participant in the game - that's fine.

An onlooker may think the whole thing is a raucous mess, but I think it's progress!!

Have you got the Gill Rapley book on baby led weaning? Must read.

Thanks
it's reassuring (IYSWIM) to hear from others that their dcs didn't eat much until later on.
I'd heard the bit about the calories I am getting worried though about iron/calcium and vits hence I was really pleased about the nectarine!!

I agree it would seem he is def a baby led weaner! We have tried every which way to feed in every different location with so many diff foods it's tiring trying to think of another variation!!

Hadn't thought about eh breastfeeding cafe!!!

Also have you tried letting him spoon feed himself? DS could do this 6mo so sure a 10 mo old could If he wanted to. He didn't take huge amounts of solids to begin with either. If you're worried about vita you can always give him baby vitamins. I was told by HV they need them if you BF past 6 mo as the iron stores are reduced after this anyway. Not sure how true that is as it's another of those things that as a mum you get told differently by different people. But it may stop you worrying on that front and if he's still getting lots of milk he'll still be getting plenty of calories. You may then find you're more relaxed about the whole thing and he may be more receptive.
Have you tried some puree or are you doing the BLW which might not be quite so good if he's not interested in food. Also think you need to make sure he is not too hungry when you feed him so give him some milk first. HTH

Agree that your GP is talking crap. My DD barely ate any solids until she was about 14 months, just the odd bit of fruit. I used to try giving her purees but she wasn't interested so in the end I just gave her finger foods, but most of those ended up in the cat for the first few months.

I was worried so I spoke to my HV about it and she said not to worry until DD was 18 (years!) I asked about iron levels and HV told me not to worry about that either (as DD ran around shrieking and giggling). She was a brilliant HV, I was gutted when she left.

This subject came up at a LLL meeting not long ago and it seemed that for BF babies it is normal to not eat as many solids. What's the BLW saying, 'food is fun until they're one'? Something like that.

There's some good info on BF babies and nutrition on kellymom.

your gp needs to refresh his training.

dd (nearly 10m) is also breastfed and we offered her first solids when she was 6 months.
she is trying everything we put in front of her but would only really eat a little bit. she recently started nursery where she is offered food and water during the day, bf when Im around. took her a few days but now shes eating a little more.

remember that food before the age of one should be for trying out textures and tastes, main intake should still be milk.

"food before one is just for fun"

as long as she is interested in his food, happy and alert, I wouldn*t worry too much.

puree makes him vomit
spoon just dropped
no real interest in food, turns head clamps mouth shut
have tried feeding before milk feeding after milk and feeding during milk (not the exact same time obv.

this is interesting though I am less concerned about it than I was!

(although a tiny bit of wheetabix has just resulted in effortless vomiting, creating loads of washing and it is soooooo wet here I opened machine to rinse only to discover it was still full of the last load!-so that is a concern )

thanks

DS2 and DD both were offered solids at 6 months but didn't really 'get' them until 12months+. DD is 19 months and we still ahve days when almost all she has is BM.
They are both a nice size, not skinny not fat (unlike DS1 who eats nonstop sometimes and is tall and skinny) and active, alert, meeting developmental milestones.

thnaks all
bumping to see if any other ideas.

do we think they refuse food because they like BF or is it just they're not interested?
actually does that matter/

And that from your GP! Bloody hell.

Breastfed all of mine and none of them flinched at solid foods.

See if this book is in your local library. It's out of print now so silly money on amazon, but a friend's recommended it to me, my nearly 2 year old still doesn't eat much, tried refusing milk, set mealtimes, modelling good eating patterns, loads of things. Concluded he's a healthy weight, he's still getting loads of goodness from BF, and I'm going to stop stressing about it. I mean, if you weren't breastfeeding, and he was older than a year, they'd be suggesting you give a vitamin drop or go back to using formula! Breastmilk is still a food and still beneficial. I don't think that stopping breastfeeding is likely to magically make your child eat. At least by breastfeeding you know he's getting some goodness.

Just a suggestion, but try the mini oatibix/weetabix with a little milk on them to make them soft. Easy to pick up and less messy than something like ready brek.

Keep at it, honestly. He;s not going to be 5yo and still refusing food and only wanting the boob :)
(Well done on BFing this long too, in case anybody else hadn't already said)

don't stress.. let him try things. It sounds like he actually eats quite a lot. It does sound like he doesn't like anything soft/slimy though - DS is like this (almost 3 and has never liked fruit. I blame myself not giving him loads of things to play with/gum on when he was little to get used to the texture.

DS hates pasta/fruit/anything in a sauce..... persevere with BLW, let him play with his food, play with textures/sauces etc (don't force yoghurts - who needs petit filous :) )

hope this is a bit useful

thanks all

Hi, nothing much to add except to say my DS, also breastfed, was utterly and totally disinterested in food and really only ate anything (and I mean like a teeny piece of red pepper) at about 10m, started eating slightly more at 14m and has only just really taken off, requesting food, poos changing etc from around 18m. He also gagged and vomited a lot.

We did baby led weaning and the book gives a lot of reassurance- like others have said their main source of nutrition/vitamins/calories comes from milk until around 1 year.

It was still worrying though, especially when his peers were wolfing down great three course meals!

Please try not to worry and maybe try to make food fun for him again, let him just play with it and maybe lick/try it but no pressure. Maybe in a different setting from the high chair, like a picnic on the floor. Your GP is really and truly talking crap and that sort of rubbish makes me so angry. Hope this helps a bit.

Your GP is talking utter rubbish. Really. It is nothing to do with breastfeeding at all. Breastfeeding is the normal way of feeding small children - please don't let some ill-informed person with probably no scientific knowledge of infant nutrition disuade you from carrying on if you want to.

This link might help with some further information:

www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html

My ds1 would only eat when distracted... I would give him anything at all in order to get sumit into him! He used to gag and vomit so much but eventually he began to feed himself a bit more and more proper food and he was so over better, it will get easier... Eventually! My ds2 would not under any circumstances let anyone feed him, my Dh thought it was so wierd not to feed our little baby but that's just how he was... He didn't want things too mushy either, he much nti preferred to have what we were having even when really tiny just made really tiny for him, he would eat chicken but not chopped more like made into hairs iykwim it would be tiny and he could grab it himself and loved that... He also loved just sticking his hand in to sumit like humous o my goodness the humous! Iv pics of it all over his ikle face hands and hair! He'd finish I tub no bother twas the only puree type he really likeed. Have you tried him with humous?

Don't worry about it at all unless he seems ill or not thriving. My DD3 has only just started not refusing to eat in the last month I'd say and she is 13 months old. Now that she's started eating though, it's amazing how much she can put away!

Btw both mine were bf and I know for sure they would happily have chosen mummy milk over food any day of the week, tis not just the milk altho they do simply love the taste but its all that goes with it... But eating is normal and bf is normal and your little man is absolutely normal! It might just take him a little longer for him to learn to like food but he will... Don't don't don't worry if you worry or get upset he'll sence it and it will become an issue, just be confident you have and are giving your lo a great start to life with your milk and every little bit of solid food he try's is super and yummy and sumit lovely for him know that and eventually he will too. Best of luck

Homemade hummus with carrot sticks always goes down well with DD- careful of the shop-bought stuff though, it can be quite high in salt.

My son also didn't do more than taste most stuff until around a year. I tried not to worry about iron etc because human milk doesn't suddenly drop in quality at 6 months and the iron it contains is in a really bio-available form, same for vits, so it's irrelevant that there's not loads, and just to offer healthy foods and trust him to know what his body needed.
Food took off for him when he realised he could wander around and eat a sandwich or whatever while looking at new stuff, bf he could only see me/my jumper.
Agree Gill Rapley book v good.

My dd is 18 months and only "really" been eating for past few months (loves her BF though!) she has always been too busy to eat, (crawled at 5 months, walked at 10 months) The HV was bit concerned as she was quite small for age but she is slowly getting there now,

things i found helped were letting her do it all herself (bit messy!) She also wouldnt take it from my hand i had to put food down on table and walk away! Then she would take it! And she is better on the loose rather than strapped in high chair, although then dog gets some too!

eating with her big sis helped over school holidays, then i would add cheese to mash etc to add some calories! She also loved bread sticks to dip etc

Good luck try not to worry they all do things in their own time xx

My DS aged now 4 had a very overactive gag relfex. Basically gagged and was violently sick whenever he ate anything that wasn't totally smooth until around 18 months.

BTW he never ever gagged on my breast but I changed over to formula at 5-6 months and sometimes he even gagged on the bottle teat and threw the whole lot up.

thansk all
MumNWLondon did he just grow out of it? how did you know?

mine can't tolerate liquidy type stuff yug etc, I've had some success with nectarine and chopped grapes and peas