Baby won't take anything except breastmilk <help>

[Comewhinewithme]

She is almost 8 months old and when she was first born she fed like a dream I had no problems and she started sleeping through at 6 weeks.

I started giving her solids at 6 months and while she will eat fruit (well she sucks it and spits it back out again) she refuses all other food to the point of distress.

I have tried finger foods ,lumpy foods and purees she hates it all and gets so upset I end up bf.

I feel trapped to her she won't ler anyone else comfort her orr hold her for very long she will take milk from a beaker but I have to do it and she still cries for a bf straight after drinking from the beaker.

I am getting worried about her food intake now this is an example of what happened yesterday and we are following the same pattern today.

4.50am BF

8.00am BF

8.30am offer porridge cries and has one mouthful BF.

9.30-10.20 am big BF

11.30 Offer jam sandwich and some mango end up BF

1.00pm Offer cheesy pasta end up BF

1.50 pm Crying so BF to sleep.

School run

3.00pm -3.30pm BF

5.00pm Offer some of our meal spag bog End up BF

Bf on and off in evening last feed is 11pm.

I am worn out with all the feeding and I am sure she is having too much milk and not enough other stuff.

I know it sounds selfish but I wan't some time to even have a bath without hearing her scream for me.

Thanks for reading I know it sounds trivial but it is worrying me quite a bit.

DS was very much the same but around 9 months he just ate alot more suddenly. It's hard, I know but this should really pass soon IME. Once I hit around 9 months everything greatly improved with being able to leave him with someone and not worry he was screaming for a feed etc. I just kept err.. dumping meals infront of him really, if he left it, he left it. He is 16 m now and has thankfully cut back to around 3 breastfeeds a day

How mobile is she? I found Ds's appetite went up loads once he started crawling (and he also started to sleep better).

Have you thought about spending a day where you cancel solids and just breastfeed her? At that age it would be absolutely fine, and you can see how long she goes before asking for a feed. I was still feeding DD, who was an ace eater, 4 times a day (wakeup, post lunch, 4pm, bedtime) at 8 months and she was taking big feeds. So it's not a crazy amount of feeding, just a lot. Also, as far as I understand, they don't absolutely need solids at this age, it is useful for iron, but nearly all their nutrients are coming from milk (either formula or breast).

If you take a break hen the food thing may be less of a stress and work more easily later. Baby might be sick or teething and so not want any solids....or if she only wants fruit just give her fruit! That might fill her up to reduce the feeds. We did BLW and I think BLWers might suggest that she is not really interested in other food yet, and that's OK. Of my friends who also did BLW, some were eating tons instantly, some v little at 8 months.

Thankyou for your replies. I think I am just having a down day TBH.

A few people have commented on the fact I can't really leave her for very long and I have stupidly let it get to me.

She has also been a bit poorly this week so is probably a factor too.

I love BF but I am the first to do so among family and friends and I sometimes feel that they are all just say waiting to say "I told you so" .

C&C She is not too mobile yet she moves around and is sitting up but no crawling.

Roary I think I will take a break from the food and chill out about it thankyou .

Isn't 8 months classic time for anxiety seperation? Couple that with being not quite well, then of course she doesn't want to be away from you.

Easier said that done, but try not to stress about it, she will eat when she is ready.

I believe there is a LLL book called "my child won't eat" which I know that some other mums at our LLL group have found very helpful, alhtough I haven't read it myself.

This too will pass..... this too will pass....

At 8 months I wouldn't worry too much. My DD is 15 mo and still barely has anything apart from breastmilk. I just give her a few bits of my dinner when I'm eating but she mainly just plays with it or gives it to the cat. I have spoken to my HV about it several times and she keeps reassuring me that it's nothing to worry about although like you I do get a lot of comments from people. As long as your DD is healthy and putting on weight then I wouldn't rush to give her solids if she doesn't want them.

You might want to make sure you are getting extra cake a healthy diet and maybe take some supplements so that you don't get too run down.