Weaning hell

[LittleadventureB]

My son is now 13 months old and it's such a struggle when it comes to solids.

During the day he will have Soya milk as he refuses cows and then he has a bottle of formula for bed.

Breakfast is always a hit and he will eat a full bowl of porridge or wheetabix. Lunch was going well but is now slowly becoming a challenge and he just refuses and dinner in an evening he won't try much.

I have tried everything, eating with him, small portions, praise, fun all sorts. He won't eat off of a spoon anymore apart from breakfast, he hates anything sloppy in consistency like spag bol. I am stressing so much about it that I am not sleeping much just fearing meal times, sounds silly I know.

He is only just cutting his first tooth so not sure if that will affect his eating, I fear he will never eat, sounds so silly :(

Teething will definitely affect feeding. Also babies go through phases of having less of an appetite and then it increasing again. I have a 2.5 year old now and I remember it used to stress me out so much! Now I just take her lead and she’s growing fine. After 1 their rate of growth slows down significantly so they don’t actually need the same amount of food they previously had

as long as baby is keeping hydrated that’s the main thing x

Sounds exactly like my almost 4 year old was/is. Reached a stage where he would only have porridge or yoghurt off a spoon. Would happily live off wheat and potato if I let him. He just has no interest in mealtimes (except breakfast), whether its something new or something familiar.

It's hard but you really need to pull back and try not to stress about it. They can pick up on the tension and dig their heels in even more. Just keep offering different things alongside what he does like.

I'm hopeful my son will keep gradually improving, every now and then hes prepared to try something new and likes it. (Mark the calendar moments.)
Few things I do for peace of mind.

• good quality multivitamin (or you'd probably need drops)
• complan/pediasure mixed into milk
• ground up seeds mixed into porridge, also mix oats with buckwheat flakes for varied nutrients
• homemade low carb pancakes

You're still early days though, just keep offering and eventually he might wonder what this stuff tastes like. Also eating with peers rather than family might help.

If you're not already, I'd be giving him pain relief for the teething.

Try to look at what he's eaten over a week rather than a day or a meal. It will hopefully stop you worrying about individual meals. Babies and small children often eat more on some days than others.

If he's having Soya milk and formula, how much is he having a day? He only needs 300 ml so anything over that could be affecting his appetite, particularly if the formula is Follow-on as the added iron can act as an appetite suppressant.