!£mth old DD hardly eats but still wants breast feeds

[bigknickersbigknockers]

My 13 mth old DD hardly eats anything. She wont take food off a spoon unless it is sweet ie yoghurt or dessert baby food from a jar. Sometimes she will eat bits of fish, potatoes, chips but TBH thats about it. I am still BFing her and I think she is relying on this as her main source of nutrition. I actually want to stop BFing shortly but I dont want to do this and have her still not eating. Do you think if I stop BFing her appetite will improve?
Also any suggestions for toddler meals would be great. Ps she is showing NO signs of wanting to stop BFing

Oh heck I pressed the shift button on my thread title

My ds2 was like this. Try giving her food (lots of variety, new foods, things cut into interesting shapes and arranged prettily) before she usually asks for milk. The trick, I think, is to get her really interested in food. Also, make sure you still have plenty of cuddly times.

My 12 month old has been failing to thrive because he wouldn't/couldn't eat. He also wanted to BF all the time. I have cut down on the BFing and he has recently started eating (and sleeping) and his appetite has improved a bit. I give him lots of finger foods and sometimes feed him while I hold him. I give him milk an hour after each meal. I don't do any special toddler meals - he eats what we all eat - but he has baby muesli bars, baby biscuits, plain yoghurt, breadsticks etc for snacks. Hope that helps!

Similar 'advice' really. I just started to offer the food before any milk and then tried to cut down on the milk feeds at the same time.

Also I think giving snacks at diff times and not just at the table at set meal times helps. My two always eat things if I give it to them in a little bowl while they are playing or watching tv. Or out in the buggy. Fruit or other healthy snacks.

I will try giving more finger foods at different times i.e when out in pram and whilst playing/watching TV etc, I must admit I am considering going to see the HV on tuesday to get her weighed and ask her advice about this as DD doesnt sleep well. I feel like I have a new born baby because she has a BF roughly every 3 to 4 hours during the day and probably same at night, sometimes every 2 to 3 hours at night.
I dont want to give her sweet foods all the time but at the same time I feel sure if she ate more she would sleep better.

My 16 month old is like this from time to time - it seems to go in phases.

Is your dd teething? That usually puts DS off his food and he wants to bf more.

I wouldn't worry too much - my pediatrician saud that as long as toddlers are eating something, they tend to be ok. And, between the little food they will eat and BF, that is usually sufficient.

I don't press the food issue with DS because I want mealtimes to be enjoyable. I tend to think that if he is hungry, he will eat. I don't BF until after meal times though (except in the morning)

Favourites for us are:

Tortellini (fab finger food)
Ravioli
Spaghetti (with butter and/ or cheese)
Dry cereal
Tuna
Macaroni cheese
Quorn type 'chicken' nuggets
Quesadillas (2 wraps stuck together with melted cheese)
Humous
Peas (straight from the freezer)
Berries of any kind
Meat of any kind
Couscous
Pesto (on pasta, couscous or toast)

This looks like quite a good list, but he will only ever have 1 or 2 bites of anything and will refuse things most days, even when they things that he definitely likes. Very frustrating!

HTH

Oh, weetabix before bed is great in our house - seems to fill DS up. When he was about 13 months he was BF ALL the time - every 2 or 3 hours day and night. I was exhausted. It has got better now though, so hopefully it will with your DD too.