Baby doesn’t eat much at 11 months

[Natpat81]

Looking for some advice. My 11 month old still hardly eats anything. She ate nothing for the first 2 months of weaning. Then I gave up making her separate meals and just gave her the same as us in the evening, she then began eating them sometimes but still no breakfast and lunch. Then after another month she ate lunch sometimes. And now she will eat breakfast but only berries and yoghurt. I offer her a mixture of BLW and meals on a spoon.

This is an example of what she ate yesterday, fairly typical although odd meals she will eat more of:
Breakfast - porridge, banana, pineapple
Ate - nothing
Lunch - pitta with hummus, cucumber sticks, strawberries
Ate - quarter of a pitta, strawberries
Dinner - chilli
Ate - 5 spoonfuls

I offer food before milk.

I know it’s not a problem at the moment as she’s still on 4 bottles of formula a day, but the health visitor told me to reduce the milk at 1 year so this is what is worrying me. What if she still won’t eat much and I reduce the milk? Anybody had anything similar with their child and what did you do?

So I think my dad 11 month old is a pretty good eater and she doesn’t eat much more than that. She is eating some solids so just make what you give her as nutritious as you can and follow her lead. She doesn’t realise she should be dropping bottles at one so if you feel like she needs them still just reduce them more gradually.

My DD was quite tiny for her age (lowest percentile) and thus had a smaller appetite. It was disappointing when I heard friends talking about the huge amounts their DCs ate but my DD was eating the right amount for her.

Does your DD have the energy to do things she likes? Does she sleep well and nap regularly?

If your DD is still having a lot of formula, that could be keeping her full. When my DD started eating solids, she mostly stopped having formula/breastmilk and switched to water. She never really liked cow's milk but ate yogurt.

Maybe start giving her smaller amounts of milk/formula but at the same times?

Thank you for your replies.

@Thumberline sorry not sure if my post was very clear, I mentioned what I had offered her then underneath what she’d actually eaten of it (so strawberries, quarter of a pitta and 5 spoonfuls of chilli in a day) - does that sound like what your 11 month old would eat in a day?

@tarheelbaby yes she sleeps through at night and has 2 naps of about 30mins during the day. She is very energetic and always on the move so definitely not obviously short of calories! Her weight was also fine at the 10 month check.

I think when she gets to 1 though reducing the milk gradually is the best idea.

So my 11 month old has, about two tablespoons worth of porridge for breakfast, she had two tablespoons of quinoa and a lick of cream cheese for lunch yesterday (was offered cherry tomatoes and some baguette as well), and for dinner a few mouthfuls of omelette and half a baby potato. She stole quarter of a banana from her sister too. She’s bf so I’m not sure how much milk she has but it’s a lot I think!

Sounds like everything is ok generally so if you want her to eat more solids, I'd try offering solids first at each meal, cut right back on 'bottle' snacks, offer solid snacks (fruit helps keep up their fluids) and only offer milk/formula after your DD has made a good effort on solids.
It can take a while to transition to mainly solids so brace yourself and, as my own mum observed, it's not linear: some days it's 2 steps back (or more).

My first wasn't interested in eating, and had to be persuaded - he was still on milk 3 times a day at 18 months!. My second gave up feeding the moment he tried real food and never looked back.

Now they both eat well, although the youngest is currently rather fussy which I'm sure he'll grow out of eventually.

If they're otherwise happy, meeting sensible targets etc. then I wouldn't worry, just encourage :)

My daughter was 13 months before she ate her first meal and was 20 months before we could reduce her milk
She only gained 200g between 7 and 13 months which was stressful and for her she needed formula and food to gain weight. Thankfully we were under paeds and dieticians as she has reflux and food allergies and they were happy for her to be on formula and didn't rush us dropping it. She still goes through periods of barely eating. It seems to be worse if her reflux is bad again.

My DC1 was like this. We started reducing her formula at as the HV suggested. At 11 months we dropped her down to 3 bottles and then at 12 months dropped her down to 2. We started to see a clear increase in the amounts she ate.

However, I will say that she's 6 now and still not a great eater. She's fussy, and very thin, albeit somehow still just about a healthy weight. She still loves milk. Whereas DC2 hardly drank any milk after being about 7 months old as he preferred food and is chunky at 2.5!

Thanks all for your replies, it’s helpful to hear other experiences and it doesn’t make me worry a bit less. I will start reducing her milk at 12 months and see if there is any changing in eating habits. At least her weight was healthy at the last weigh in so if she does eat less for a short period it shouldn’t be a big worry.

I think what she's eating sounds fine actually. She is tiny still and if you look at the palm of her hand, which can be used as a guide for portion sizes, it sounds as though what she's eating should be about the same size?

I would drop a bottle now though. Probably the first one and look at dropping a second on a couple of weeks when she's got used to having 3.

You're aiming for 300ml/10 floz by 12 months.

This guide is good as it gives sample menus and suggested portion sizes. You'll probably need from page 77

Also, if you're giving follow on milk the added iron can suppress appetite. Sony reducing milk feeds she will naturally want more food and if you are giving follow-on, the result of having less iron each day will help her appetite to increase too