1yo on food strike

[GimbleInTheWabe]

DS used to eat/try whatever we put in front of him. He's had lots of different flavours and tastes and we did mostly BLW with a few punches and purées here and there. He's still bf on demand and bfeeds a lot but that never used to get in the way of his solids intake.

For the last few months he's slowly began eating less and less and now we're basically down to porridge (a few spoonfuls), berries (1 or 2 but he goes off them if we give him too many) and sometimes toast with peanut butter (a couple of fingers). Oh and of course he'll eat the Ella's cheese puffs - wtf does she put in those? He's 10kg so a healthy weight and was 9lb born so I've never been worried about his weight being too low. But obviously I'm worried about this turn off food.

We keep it very calm at food times and never let him cry or force him to eat and whenever we feel like he's done we let him out of the high chair. We always offer him some of what we have (which is usually whatever he's having anyway). I guess I'm worried that by being passive around his good time that we're maybe setting up bad habits that he doesn't have to eat, but the alternative seems also like it would have a negative long term effect.

He's not teething/poorly/anything else I usually blame it on but did get a v bad d&v virus maybe 8 weeks ago that knocked him sideways. He's just learning to walk but tbh the food issues started before that.

I guess any advice/experiences would be much appreciated as I'm starting to get a little concerned. Tia.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Can I ask a few questions? What do you do if he refuses food? Are you BFing before food or after? Is he BFing at night?

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Thanks for the response @JiltedJohnsJulie.
We mainly put the food in front of him on his tray so often he just throws it off (we leave it on the floor and don't make a game out of it) or will shake his head and sometimes grumble. If we say 'do you want X?' or encourage him to eat in another way he usually will shake his head so we don't push it but I will often it again in a minute or so and often something different in between.

He will sometimes feed after he's eaten but would also do this before when his appetite was good. I generally only feed him now before a nap and a little when he wakes up, if he hurts himself/needs soothing or he asks for it (he points to my boobs or pulls down my top, fun in public).

And yeah he's never slept well so bfs at least 3/4 times a night, sometimes just sleeps with boob in mouth.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

So you don’t offer him an a.ternative if he refuses food?

I think the night feeds might be part of the reason he’s not hungry in the daytime too. Have you thought of trying Dr Jay Gordon’s night Weaning technique?

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Sorry just realised I made a typo so I wasn't clear but yes we do offer him an alternative which sometimes he goes for but usually not.

You could be right though that he's getting so much breastmilk that he's not hungry for solid food. I'll try and cut down the lengths of the feeds in the day. I haven't heard of the hat Gordon technique, is this something you've tried and recommend?

[Okaassan]

We did try the Jay Gorden method as I couldn't cope with 5 bfs a night and working fulltime with an 11month old. We changed it slightly to suit our circumstances better. We also don't co-sleep regularly. I chose the method as I didn't want to do CC.

I would bf baby to sleep then any wake up after that, my partner would tend to our baby with a bottle of water. She kicked up a fuss the first night which gradually got better around night 6. She now only wakes up twice after being put down to bed at 8pm.

So 8pm bf to sleep then wake up at 2am and offered water and wake up at 5:30am for bf. She then goes back to sleep till 7:30am. It really changed our lives.

I had my baby weighed two weeks after starting the routine to ensure that the reduced milk intake wasn't causing any weightloss. She had gained as normal which was positive to see.

We have now stopped her expressed bottles throughout the day (mid morning and mid afternoon) and replaced them with a snack. We also stopped the bf at night and now give her a bottle of 180ml expressed milk for bed ( which my partner gives). She is eating all meals well and has a better interest in food.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Dr Jay Gordon’s method is here Gimbleln.

And never, ever offer an alternative. If LO doesn’t eat the food in front of them. It’s safe to assume they’re not hungry

[GimbleInTheWabe]

Thanks @Okaassan , good to hear from someone who did it and survived! I read about it on the link that @JiltedJohnsJulie kindly shared and I really like his style. Very gentle but results driven so when we're back from our weekend away I'm going to give it s go.

As for his appetite- I have purposely bfed him less today and he's had a bit more of an appetite but still not huge. Funnily thiugh he's not asked for milk though so he obviously doesn't need as much as I give him.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Have a lovely weekend OP