Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Right, I now have an *11* *month* old who only has milk...

38 replies

cazee · 14/12/2007 20:49

I have posted before about my DD who is not really eating solids,and received lovely reassurance from mnetters, but she will be 1 on 28th December, and I am beginning to worry again.
I offer her foods, I leave them on her high chair tray for her to feed herself, I spoon them in, I have even thrown bread on the floor to see if she will eat it (as she loves to eat any grit she finds on the carpet , bur she only eats a few mouthfulls in a day. I am starting to worry that she may begin to lack some nutrients.
I am still fully breastfeeding, which is really all she is having. She is small for her age, but well covered, happy and healthy.
Do I need to worry?

OP posts:
suzi2 · 14/12/2007 20:54

I think it's worth getting it checked out - but I don't think it's that much of a worry. My DD is 10 months and eats very little in the way of solids and has a lot of milk and I'd rather it was that way around than the other. My DS stopped feeding at a year old and never took milk since and gave me nutritional worries the other way . And he's 2.4 now and frequently has days/weeks when he eats VERY little (a piece of toast a fish finger and an apple all day) but he still seems to be OK on it.

and pmsl at the grit on the carpet. DD has wolfed down most of a till receipt she found today but has declined to eat any of her meals.

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 20:56

My DD also ate some of a receipt today!!! I was wrapping some Christmas presents, and I thought she was a bit quiet...!

OP posts:
NortherLurkerwithastarontop · 14/12/2007 20:57

well you could worry - but I don't think you worrying is going to make her eat anymore Just keep doing what you're doing - I'm sure the eating thing will kick in. Just a thought - does she see other babies eating ever - I did find with mine that they were more likely to eat more/different things if they had contemporaries munching away along side.

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 20:59

oooh, a baby picnic, I like the idea of that!

OP posts:
Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 20:59

oooh, a baby picnic, I like the idea of that!

OP posts:
Shitemum · 14/12/2007 21:00

A friend's DD was still mostly only having breast at 1yo but she was very very skinny. If your DD is 'well covered' then i wouldnt worry - just keep on offering her food. What do your HV and doc say?

camillathechicken · 14/12/2007 21:00

sounds a bit like my DD. she was formula fed, but a poor eater.. and at 2.5 , she still is. she can go days without eating a proper meal, but she still has a pint of milk a day, so am not that worried.

when she was younger she would eat paper, ( only newsprint or kitchen roll, never shiny magazine paper !) dog biscuits and other random bits !!!

i did get rather worried, and we did take her to the doctors when she was 1 and had been on hunger strike for 10 days due to illness... doc was quite unfazed and said she was perfectly normal, and was obviously eating enough for her own needs.

apart from being a bit slow to talk, she has hit every other milestone just fine and is happy and healthy, just petite and a small eater.

it is not a question of should you worry, if you are worried which you clearly are, then you can take her to be checked out to put your mind at rest.

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:03

The HV won't put my mind at rest, The last time I took her too be weighed they went on about dropping percentiles, and the phrase "too much milk" was used

OP posts:
Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:03

to not too

OP posts:
sophierosie · 14/12/2007 21:06

How much are you breastfeeding? Are you feeding on demand?

I'd be the last one to suggest this normally, but if you are how about cutting back slightly on bf's. She may be too full on bm. It might take a few weeks to cut down but then her appetite for solids may increase?

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:08

Yes, I am feeding on demand, because in my heart I feel that a baby knows what they need, and if she needed solids, not breast milk, she would take them. I am hoping that some bf experts may come along and advise me if this is correct.

OP posts:
sophierosie · 14/12/2007 21:08

Forgot to say, don't worry about nutrient levels - she is probably getting everything from the bm...

sophierosie · 14/12/2007 21:13

I guess it depends on how much of an issue you think it is - If you think it is a problem, then only you can cut back on the bf's as I don't think many babies given the choice would turn down an established bf (which is easy for them and offers comfort) compared with the option of them feeding themselves iyswim.

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:19

Thanks, Sophie,
The problem is that I don't really know if it is a problem!

OP posts:
suzi2 · 14/12/2007 21:19

I see where you're coming from sophierose. My DD is a milk monster and will probably turn her nose up at anything in the hope of getting more milk. I have thought a few times that the milk should start taking a back seat but have decided that once she's 1 I'll start pushing the meals a bit more if she's not getting any better.

ally90 · 14/12/2007 21:21

I cut down on bf so my dd would eat food instead...think she mainly bf until about 10 mths ish. Just ended up keeping her busy and away from boob and offered finger food like toast that she took a liking too. By 12 mths I had her down to one feed a day, first thing in the morning and food for rest of day, cow's milk from bottle at night. I did feel out of it tho cause everyone else was weaning babies at 4 mth/6mth and had them on 3 meals a day by 10 mth (easily!).

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:22

... and does anyone know why the asterisks in my title have not made the words bold? It looks really odd now..

OP posts:
camillathechicken · 14/12/2007 21:23

my DD is 2.5 and would still rather have milk than food

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:24

Thanks ally, I am hoping to find out if cutting down on bf is the best thing to do, or if it is better to let her go at her own pace.

OP posts:
PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 14/12/2007 21:25

read this it says that a lot of the babies on the BLW yahoo group didn't start eating until they were one. i've been Very Very Careful to be Very Very Welcoming to mums who ff but the yahoo group seems to have more bfers. i've also noticed on the forum on my site that a lot of bf mums acknowledge that their babies aren't chowing down like the ff babes. so you could look at it like you're providing the perfect diet for her at the mo... [non-medical]

Original poster
cazee · 14/12/2007 21:27

Thank you Aitch, that was exactly what I wanted to read, very reassuring

OP posts:
PrisonerCellBlockAitch · 14/12/2007 21:27

oh, and dd was ff and ate 'well' (although as i say who knows what 'well' is?) but she still didn't cut back on her milk until about 13-14 months.

Philomytha · 14/12/2007 21:44

My ds was like this too. The HV sent me into a panic at his 8mo check by saying he should be eating 'three meals a day'. Three teaspoonfuls, more like! I tried blw and finger foods, I tried purees and mashed-up foods, but he didn't seem to want either. It wasn't till past his first birthday that he really took to solids. Now he's a fantastically unfussy eater and enjoys his food. I didn't cut down on bfing at all or make any changes, just kept offering solid food and tried not to make a big deal of it, and when he was ready he started eating more.

Tapster · 14/12/2007 21:47

My DD is now 13 months old and I have lost weight due to her lack of eating! I think I am depressed after 7 months of throwing home made food into the bin and worrying about how little she is eating so i know how you feel.

We seemed to hit a break through at 12.5 months and for 2 weeks she sort of ate with enthusiasm for the first time in 7 months. Last two days its been back to the "six pea" lunch (can be literally this) and I'm very down.

If you ask the HV then they will say cut back on milk - mine said to go cold turkey and stop BF. There is no guarantee that your baby would then eat of course. BF I find as a security that they are at least getting some nutrients.

With my DD I find that any slight illness/teething puts her back onto a mainly milk diet.I did manage to cut her back from 6 feeds a day to 3 a day with absolutely no difference to solids intake. She is teething again so we are back to 4-5 feeds a day. No night feeding though.

I think some children take quite a while to get used to solids especially BF babies. You could read the LLL book "my child won't eat" - however it says in that that BF babies often start to show interest in solids at 12 months.

Should we worry - my DD is very round and tall for her age. I just don't know how she does it on so little solids. Her size doesn't stop me worrying and dreading meal times.

Smamfa · 14/12/2007 22:03

Having weaned DS1 at 4 months (greedy little so'n'so) I got a real shock with DD when she wouldn't have anything to do with the butternut squash game. My HV was very helpful and I BF quite a long time before we brought in the help. HV turned up a speech therapist who specialised in feeding (all to do with the mouth, apparently) who came to observe her. 'Course the little blighter decided butternut was OK actually on the day of the home assessment.

Main tip which worked for us was to sit her at the table with us, every meal time, with a tub of the same stuff (viz. butternut) and a bunch of toys and let her play with it. We had to view the butternut as just another sensory experience and not stress. We did it for about a month, every meal time, then wiped her down without comment and sent her on her way.

Swipe left for the next trending thread