9 month old won't eat

[aligriff]

Hi, I'm getting worried about my 9 month DS. He just will not eat food (apart from yogurt). He has never been a very good eater but did eat more when we started weaning him at about 5 months. He would have some mashed vegetables, mashed fruit, and wolfed down porridge with fruit. He now often only has a mouthful or two of his breakfast cereal, then thats it for the day (apart from the yogurt - which I restrict to one portion a day). We have tried everything, spoon feeding, allowing him to feed himself by giving him 'baby-led weaning' style pieces of food, sitting him in a high chair (tantrum time), sitting him on a plastic table cloth on the floor, feeding him on our knee. He will pick the food up and squeezes it but won't eat it. He refuses to be spoon fed and reacts by pursing his month and shaking his head to avoid the spoon as if to say no. He has been having reduced milk (10oz less) for about 2 months, at the advice of the HV. For the last couple of days his poo has been a light yellow/clay type colour, and today I noticed a pink spot in the nappy where urine collects. This may be unrelated, but its all starting to get a bit worrying. Any advice? p.s sorry for the long message.

Do you think he is teething and his gums hurting is putting him off solids? Both my LOs wanted more milk and less solids if teething really bad, but if this has been going on for a while so maybe it's nothing to do with that?

You could try some bonjela teething gel 10 mins before offering food?

I suspect you've tried all sorts of things long before coming on here. I would try to offer a banana or something on waking in the morning first before milk if it was me and then the milk after? Let them hold it themselves and eat it - but perhaps that will cue a tantrum if this determined not to eat anything but drink milk.

Not sure about the pink spot? I'd ring NHS Direct if worried.

Hope some other mumsnetters have some more ideas for you.

Thanks, will try giving him something on waking before the milk. We haven't tried that yet as he is a very early waker (5am), but giving him a lot of milk in the morning might be taking the edge off his hunger for the rest of the day?

I don't think it is his gums. He already has 8 teeth and there doesn't seem to be any pattern of refusing food before a tooth appears.

I did forget to mention that although he won't put most foods in his mouth that we present him with, he is more likely to pick up fruit, he bites it but spits out any bits that get in his mouth!

I am going to take him to the clinic tomorrow and will ask about the pink spot, he doesn't seem unwell so I'm not too worried yet.

My son only liked smooth pureed food in his mouth until about 11 months tbh. So the BLW wouldn't have worked for my son. I pureed fruit etc and fed him just a couple of spoonfuls in the early days. I stole most of my food ideas from Annabel Karmel's baby and toddler meal planner but I didn't follow her routine in it and I only used the recipes I liked the sound of.

Do whatever feels right for you and your baby though.

5am is very early I was thinking more of 7am. My aim was to get my son drinking milk out of a Tommee Tippee sucky cup at breakfast and dinner only and maybe a bottle still at bedtime by 1 year old and I have achieved that, but it takes month of patiently offering it to them, to take a few sips from everyday until they finally get used to it. So he now only has milk at 13 months with breakfast and dinner and some milk at bedtime if he wants it. In the day he drinks water now out of a sucky cup. But that's just me...

I expected him to be easier as he has a sister only 17 months older but I was wrong I thought he'd want to be like her and eat "grown up" food. But he just didn't like anything in texture in his mouth unless smooth in the early days...

Yes we tried the annabel karmel recipes in addition to baby-led weaning style food, and he did take to it initially. But now he even refuses the smoothest pureed veg.

I tried giving him his breakfast cereal before his milk this morning and he screamed the house down until I relented and gave the milk. After the milk he did eat a few spoonfuls of the cereal. The HV has suggested reducing his milk further, and offering it in a cup at mid-morning. I will try this, but I'm not sure how it will work out as I offer water in a cup at meal times and he just has great fun shaking the water everywhere and swilling it around in his mouth before opening and letting it run down his front. Although he might be more inclined to drink it when he realises its not water.

I think I've just got to hold my nerve for another few weeks and perservere with the reduction in milk. Thanks for your help!

Both my children have gone through stages of shaking the water out of the cup and watching it with fascination It's all a bit trying sometimes isn't it? I just kept telling myself that it was only water and to not worry about it (easier said than done).

Reduce the milk gradually. After what you've just said, I think if it was me I'd take it down 1 fl oz at a time at each feed in the day or something... The bedtime one - I'd leave as a big one though.

It will get better, no child starts school only drinking milk, as the saying goes... Maybe another Mumsnetter will be along today with a plan.

*reduce it by 1 fl oz