Worrying about one year olds total lack of interest in food.

[Elliemama]

My 13mo dc is really not interested in eating. I give him lots of different stuff and we all sit down and eat together most of the time but he will just play with the food and then after mealtimes he'll come to me for a bf. My doc says he looks healthy and he is on 50th centile. Health visitor says that I'm creating problem or will be making it more of an issue by worrying but I can't help myself... Please does anyone have experience of difficult eaters? He is very active and totally knows his own mind.

my perfect angel of an eater is also 13 months (although i'd just posted a thread for help and said she's 15 - i'll put it down to baby brain )and i say shes an angel because until two weeks ago she was and now she's gone totally crazy - has started refusing food that she's always eaten and then getting bored really quickly and throwing it on the floor which is so frustrating! I think i have made the mistake of giving her something else once she gets sick of the original thing i've given her but i was so worried she was going to starve! i talked to a friend who had the same problem and she has told me to try not offering her anything else for at least 1 hour then give her cheese or fruit and veg snacks. Have you thought about refusing the bf and giving him water then trying again with a snack later?

My 12 month old doesnt eat much at all. She has about 4-5 breastfeeds in a 24hour period. She is on the 75th percentile, but honestly we are lucky if she will eat one slice of pear or one spoon of yoghurt. She hates all food. She refuses to sit in the high chair. If i sit her on my lap and offer her food from my plate she just bangs a spoon around. I leave snacks around the living room for her, fruit/carrot sticks ect and she doesnt touch it.
I have finally strted to relax about it, i think stressing really does make it a lot worse. Only when i completly ignore her does she actually put something in her mouth.(doesnt always swallow it though)
I guess some babies need more food than others.
DD is now walking alot, which i thought woul increase her appitite, but if anything it has decreased!!

I have 13 month old, did the blw with him (in a fashion) but... he too has recently gone off the whole eating thing at times. It is like there is almost too much else to see and do to bother with it. I know its hard not to stress but your dc will not starve them selves.

I am also still breastfeeding and thought got it down to 4 day day.. but nope back up again. He is in love with bfeeding and i follow the dont offer and dont refuse route with that.. though i fail at the dont offer when he is all and needing comfort.

Also i think i have overloaded his plate at times with too much choice. So i put it on my plate and then he pinches it. I praise him when he self feeds with spoon and try and ignore some of the food throwing.. Was hard not to laugh as plate was propelled across kitchen today.

Also we all eat meals together and i try not to focus on what he is doing (though i am always keeping an eye) and i pretend to be occupied with ds1 or mumsnet cleaning kitchen etc.

I think its a bit of a stage too, the whole asserting independence but not wanting it too much. It will all be fine.

Also fab on the still breastfeeding. It will NOT be ruining your dc eating. Honestly xx

Apparently, as long as they have their full milk quota, they can get by fine on 2 mouthfuls of food a day.

He's not been eating solids for long, so he'll still have an on/off relationship with them for a little while longer yet. Don't stress about it, just offer food and let him choose. He's more likely to eat if you don't pressure him. When he's really hungry, he will eat.

Good luck!

My DD hardly ate a thing until she was about 14 months old, she would pick at things but had no real interest in food. She still drank what seemed like loads of breastfeeds though!
All of a sudden one day she started eating, and now she eats more than her older brother & isnt at all fussy, there is no stopping her!
I guess she was just waiting till she was ready.
I know its hard but try not to worry, there is a freat book called "Help my child wont eat" from La Leche League which I found very enlightening & reassuring.

Thanks for the reassurance and advice. I think I find it hard to stay positive because so many people keep nagging me about still bf him on demand. I had just assumed that like me and his dad he'd love food and he'd have given up the bf naturally by now. Will def get that book as planning to go to La Leche meeting next month. Thanks again everyone.

I had the same with my DD - I would be a millionaire several times over if I had a pound for everybody that said I had to stop BFing to get my DD to eat. She was not keen on food at all until a month ago when she was 2 years and 2 months! She stopped BFing at nearly 23 months and I cut down gradually (problems conceiving was why I pushed weaning although ultimately she gave up the last feed herself but was 5 months pregnant at the time). As I cut her BFs down she DID NOT increase her intake of solids.

I got very stressed when she was about a year old and I did read the La Leche league book which was helpful.

She remained 91st percentile in height and 75th percentile in weight during the whole period. Some children just don't need to eat much food to grow it seems.

Two of the child's sized fists of food at each meal was given to me as a guide by the nutritionist at the hospital.

Maybe you are overwhelming him with choice a bit. Give tiny portions of the same foods everyday until he gets used to them - helped my DD and then gradually increase his repertoire. It took my DD until 14 months to eat carrots and to over 2 years to eat brocolli.

Thanks for posting this Elliemama. I'm at exactly the same place with ds. Great replies too, very reassuring.

Thanks Iwantitnow. I do give him too much choice... He just ate some of my branflakes for breakfast not sure if he's allowed cos of the fibre!? (according to BLW book)
On different subject I'm trying to get pregnant too but with no luck. I'm menstruating - irregular but between 4 and 5 weeks so must be fertile or is bfing interfering with that? (sorry - tmi )
Congrats on yours - when you due?

I am really pleased to see this thread too as struggling with the same thing.

Just wanted to add to the messages of reassurance. My DS was BLW and until 12 months ate very well- not enormous quantities but would try anything.

Around his first birthday he had a bad cold/ear infection which put him off food completely -he ate almost nothing for 2 weeks. His poo even went back to breastmilk poo again! For at least 2 months after that his appetite remained very small - he would eat a tiny amount at each meal, new foods were greeted with suspicion and meals invariably ended with food flung with great force.

Anyway, in the last few weeks his appetite has picked right up again. He eats a decent amount at each meal, throwing still occurs but only when I haven't been quick enough to notice his 'full' signs, and he will try new things again.
We haven't done anything different, just kept offering regular healthy meals and trying not to comment too much on what he was eating. He is still bf on demand.
Talking to other mums it sounds like quite a few babies go through a fussy stage at about a year.
Sorry, this has got quite long, but basically, try not to stress, he knows his own appetite and will eat what he needs!

Do you think it makes a difference if you let them have stuff with sugar in it tho? Sometimes he has fromage frais and other puddings at my sister's. I'm sure part of his prob is that he has a sweet tooth and would rather hold out for desserts...