I think I have the 9month old fussy eater from hell.....

[Corky]

Yes there's no hope for me.... to summarise...

It took me 3 months to get my DD to eat home cooked purees, and these were only particular foods. She then caught a bad cold at 8 months, and went off everything, so I had to start from scratch, but could only get her to eat jars of food (I lost the enthusiasm to cook when everything got rejected). Well she now eats most jars of food (Hipp are successful 90% of the time) and even opens her mouth ready for the food which she never did with my home cooking (does this mean my cooking is that bad!). Now when I try and re-introduce my cooking she's having none of it. I'm then very weak and tend to get something else from the cupboard as I hate to see her eat nothing.

Breakfast is also a disaster as she won't touch anything like Weetabix, and went off Baby cereals with fruit, so now she also has jars of baby cereal which most of the time she eats - this has to be an hour or so after the first morning bottle.

I feel that I am going to have problems having a child eating solely jars as how am I ever going to get her to eat what we eat for meals? It seems for ages that I've had meal after meal rejected, and to see her so enthusiastic finally over jars of food, I hate to ruin my good streak!!

Also to add to my frustration, she won't drink water or juice from a beaker, just chews the spout and spits the liquid out.

Finger foods aren't really going very well either as they end up on the floor or she spits them out or chokes on them. She will not let me put anything finger food wise in her mouth she has to do it herself and it takes ages (funny how everything else non-food goes into the mouth straight away!).

She does drink between 15-20oz of formula milk a day so that's one thing she does!!

Sorry to go on, but sometimes you just need to get it all off your chest and try other avenues for advice and reassurance. The trouble is you hear so much that babies only get worse when they reach toddler-hood - I think I've convinced myself that she'll be a fussy eater for life!

Incidentally I can't get a toothbrush anywhere near her one tooth - so ideas on that would be good too!

Does anyone else have these problems, as it seems all the other mothers I know have none of these problems and their babies will eat and drink anything!

Corky - you're not the only one - honest!! I have a 10 mth old who is a law unto himself - we're just getting the homecooked thing sorted now after much the same scenario.

Could you start "diluting" the jars with homecooked stuff? Cow & Gate have some really nice recipes on their website using a jar like a sauce or a puree. Try half n half?

As for the toothbrushing I get dh to pin ds' arms down and give his (6) teeth a quick brush before giving ds the toothbrush and letting him think he was in charge all along!

will post more if I think if anything else - good luck!

got to go - dh has curry and beer - yum!!

Thanks Bobsmum, it is reassuring to know I'm not on my own - couldn't see these recipes on the C&G website - can you point me in the right direction. What sort of things could I add to the jars then?

Corky, my dd2 (8.5 months) is a good eater generally but really doesnt like breakfast much. The only thing she will eat for breakfast is yogurt - have you tried that? To be honest I dont force it and usually end up giving her a bottle then a few bits of toast to gum/throw on floor while we are all eating our breakfast. She doesnt like weetabix but will occasionally eat baby porridge, or as I have said, yogurt. She starts getting hungry about 10-ish when she usually has a ricecake/piece of cucumber/soft cooked carrot. I wouldnt worry too much about finger foods, dd2 is ok with them but I think its just important that they play around with them at this age, I think of them more as something to occupy her. She eats a good lunch - I think the idea of diluting jars with homecooked is a good one. Try cooking a chicken breast in a casserole with a few carrots and potatoes and a bit of water, don't fry the chicken first as babies don't often like that strong flavour. Then blend it and add literally a teaspoon IN a jar of chicken casserole and give her that. If she eats that gradually increase it over the next few days. Let her think it is from a jar. Do you feed her from the jar or spoon it into a bowl?

Can you rub her tooth with your finger and a dab of toothpaste?

I do/did with various babies one spoon of mine shoved in between the jars stuff. so they are conned! Mine definitely hates anyting green - must be genetic!

Enid, did go through the yoghurt stage, but she went off that - have managed to introduce it again as a dessert, so perhaps if she goes off the cereal jars I'll switch back!!

Will try the homecooking thing - wasn't sure what to mix, but just one ice cube may fool her - she's a smart girl though I tell you!! Do normally feed big jars from a bowl and the smaller ones from the jar - don't ask why!?

My HV suggested letting her play with the toothbrush and eventually she'll put it in her mouth - but could try it with my finger - dh suggested this, but he hasn't had the task of trying to brush her teeth yet!

One ice cube is quite a lot in fact - mine are about a heaped tablespoon? Why not try a teeny amount at first, literally a teaspoon full - try and fool her!!

Do try and introduce some home cooking if you can. Jars are nutritionally fine but do contain large amounts of water, so they aren't very satisfying. Also they do taste very bland and processed which will make it harder to introduce different tastes when she's older. Good luck!

You sound really stressed by meal times - understandably. Could you relax about how much she's getting - as they always say, she's unlikely to starve herself. 8mo DD eats well but we do have times when she looks a bit stubborn - I stick a spoonful on her high chair table and she sticks her hand in and plays with it and puts her fingers in her mouth with it on - she usually accepts some from a spoon after that. I thinks she's starting to assert her independence which might be your dd's thing too at 9mo. Breakfast is occasionally chopped up banana and torn off bits of bread given to her as finger food. I praise her when she eats food especially finger food, telling her how clever she is. Breakfast is actually quite relaxed because I have mine at the same time so if she's not eating, I am. I also give her toys and rice cakes to play with/chew and sing songs sometimes. Most of the finger food does end up on the floor but she has a good chew before they get there and I figure it gets her used to independent eating. Hope it gets better for you.

Emwi, yes I suppose you could say I'm stressed, as she's not been easy since day one even with her milk. I do give her praise when she eats though as its a rare sight! I'm not sure whether to try the brutal method now and if she refuses the savoury, just not give her anything - even dessert.
This week I'm going to try sneaking the teaspoon of homecooked in with her jars and see how that goes - one step at a time!

Corky - you're right - nothing on the website. I picked up a few recipe cards at the Baby Show last month - they had a "celebrity" chef on their stand. They sound rather nice though. Here goes:

Peach & Kiwi Whip (7 mths +) - 4 servings
2 tbsp Cow & Gat Organic Oat & Apple Cereal powder
1 ripe kiwi, peeled and chopped
1 ripe peach, peeled an chopped, or 100g of tinned peaches in fruit juice, drained and chopped
200ml of full fat Greek yoghurt
1 jar of Cow & Gate Org. Dutch Apple pudding 125g
1tbsp of orange juice

1 - Blend the peach, kiwi, yoghurt, Apple Pudding, orange juice and ceral powder together for at least 30 seconds.
2 - Scrape down the sides of the mixer with a spoon and give it all another 20 sec blast to produce a lovely light whipped consistency
3 - Serve!

Savoury recipe in a second...

Button Berry Pasta Sauce - 7 mths + (4 servings)

100g of button mushrooms washed and thinly sliced
1 finely chopped shallot or 1/2 a medium onion
2 tbsp or 50ml of full fat greek yoghurt
1 tbsp or 25g of grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp of chopped parsley
25g of butter
1/2 tsp of dried tarragon
2 tsp of cranberry sauce

1 - Heat the butter in a medium sized frying pan and add the shallot/onion once sizzling.
2- After a couple of minutes of gentle sauteeing, throw in the mushrooms and continue to cook until soft.
3 - Stir in the cranberry sauce, cheese, yoghurt and parsley and remove from the heat.
4 - Serve sauce with C&G Org. Vegetables & Red Pepper Pasta jar or plain pasta.

Cous-Cous and Chicken Combo
12mths + (but I think if you used unsalted stock instead it would be ok) - 4 servings

2 tbsp of cous-cous
150ml of stock (using 1/2 tsp of marmite and 150ml boiling water)
1 tbsp of tinned lentils, drained
1/2 red adn yellow pepper, roughly chopped
2 tbsp of defrosted peas
1/2 cooked chicken breast, roughly grated
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of ground turmeric

1 - Put the couscous and turmeric in a medium sized frying pan and roast on a high heat for 2-3 mins until golden
2 - Pour in the vegetable stock and turn off the heat, leaving the couscous to absorb the stock for a few mins.
3 - Meanwhile, put the peppers in a blender and whizz up until finely chopped.
4 - add to the couscous along with all the remaining ingredients and mix well.
5 - Serve with C&G Org. Chicken and Vegetable Risotto.

The chef guy was Peter Vaughan, just in case he's reading this!

My dd nearly 9mth used to eat everything I put in front of her but lately seems to be battling me - too young surely for power struggles??!! I usually just leave her to it and ignore and sometimes she then has a few spoonfulls. Also doesn't have anything from a cup, throws these on the floor.

I found the Gina Ford weaning book and the Lorraine Kelly Baby and Toddler book both really good for receipe suggestions, maybe try those?

Thanks Bobsmum, well today I tried a jar of peach with a teaspoon of ready brek and managed to sneak it down. Lunch was big jar of lamb mousakka with some pasta thing I had in the freezer, she eat half of it. Tea was jar of carrots and potatoes with an ice cube of chicken casserole and she eat that as well - result!! So maybe this will work - lets see what tomorrow brings. Thanks for the recipes will give those a shot.

Also remember the weather does not help - I don' t feel like much in the way of hot food, my DS1 is the same.

My baby will be 2 end of next month and won't eat anything. Dietician advised me to cut down on the milk and have set mealtimes and also not feed him anything until his next meal, so when he gets hungry he will eat the next meal. unfortunately none of these seems to work with him. he was a big baby when he was boen and this started when he was around 6 months and I have tried everything eg. including him in family meals, leaving him to get hungry, cut down on snacks, cut down on milk etc. Has any one got any new suggestions that I can try. I am so desperate as I dodn't want him to loose any more weight.

Corky - ref the tooth cleaning problem. My 9 month old ds is the same. He has four teeth and a new one coming. He clamps his mouth resolutely shut or cries and protests. We try and shove a finger or toothbrush in when he's crying but then he rocks his head from side to side and puts his hands over his mouth! My health visitor said as long as the plaque is cleaned off the teeth at some point in the day it should be okay - she said there might be times in the day when they are a little more accommodating. Have to say I haven't found them but it's worth a try!
he is also more keen on jars than our food but getting better. Think it's an acquired taste after the relative blandness of jars. He won't eat anything in a tomato sauce or tomato-ey flavour though - like me...
Olive Oil - I read that around 9 months is the time when babies realise they are their own person and not an extension of mum so don't be surprised if it is dd starting to show she has a will of her own. Ds is doing it ref the toothcleaning mentioned, plus refusing milk at night and when something taken away from him!

Toothbrushing suggestion - we have 2 toothbrushes, one for me and one for ds. He likes to put his in his mouth and when he does I can usually sneak mine in and have a quick brush. Then he grabs mine and we swap.... lots of fun! v

Bluecow

Well its been a while since I looked at this message, but I've been brutal and given my dd nothing but homecooked for over a week now, there have been one or two things she won't touch, coincidentally these were things with tomatoes in them, but she's generally been eating my food - hurrah!! She doesn't eat as much as the jars, but maybe my food is more filling? As for the tooth cleaning, I bought a strawberry toothpaste and she is starting to cooperate slightly, some days are better than others - so things are looking up!! Next hurdle I suppose is introducing cows milk!

Just been reading this thread and what a relief - Corky I thought I was the only one with these problems and it looks as if loads of people have similar problems.

My dd (9 months soon) is exactly the same - seems to prefer Hipp jars to my lovingly prepared home made stuff - she seems to have good days and bad days and I have found that if all else fails - bread, toast, rice cakes and yoghurt with pureed fruit seem to go down a treat. I think i read somewhere (Karmel?) that you have to look at your baby's diet over the course of a week rather than a day - otherwise you spend all your time worrying about what they didn't eat today, but during the week they probably got what they needed nutritionally.

Teeth also a problem here - HV told me to spend a week just putting toothpaste on her thumb, then a week putting it on my finger then re-introduce toothbrush in 3rd week - first evening at bath time gave her the toothpaste then she wanted the brush! Typical! At the moment I am giving her both to play with and she keeps them in her mouth while I clean my teeth so it's a start!