Would you just keep feeding him what he wants?

[HeadFairy]

ds (8mo) had a tummy upset earlier this week, no diahoerrea but a couple of bouts of violent vomiting. I kept him on bland food yesterday, no dairy just dry toast, cooked apples and a bit of rice but he didn't really eat much of it. Tried to keep him drinking sometimes successfully, sometimes now. Today I was going to keep things simple but try and get him back to proper food, he had porridge this morning with mashed banana and he ate a pretty good amount. This lunchtime he was pretty hungry because he snatched a rice cake out of my hand that I'd offered him while I was preparing his lunch, but he won't eat anything savoury. I tried some sweet potato, a bit of grilled chicken, some of my risotto I was having for lunch, a piece of bread with philly and a piece of bread with butter on. He nibbled and then refused everything. He's just eaten a yoghurt and is now demolishing a jar of Hipp mango and banana melba so he's obviously still hungry. My question is, should I just keep giving him stuff I know he'll eat, ie sweet stuff?

Can't give any proper advice I'm afraid but just to let you know thst DD (10.5mo) has had the same thing this week and is behaving in exactly the same way. She also isn't eating much savoury food although she can be a fussy little monkey at the best of times. I'm trying with the finger foods with the same result and also a savoury puree. If she dribbles it all back out again I'm giving in and giving some fruit. I reckon its worth trying with the savoury every now and again but give fruit if not eating savoury. HTH

What do you think - do you feel he is on the mend? when my ds did this I took it meal by meal, if he is hungry and fancies something why not let him have some of it - if he's ok, after a while let him have a bit more. If still Ok let him have whatever the next meal.

Or do the little and often thing - if OK then go onto usual meals tomorrow.

Hi littlestbadger, he's normally a brilliant eater, loves his food He doesn't dribble the food out of his mouth, once he's tasted it once he gets absolutely hysterical as soon as I approach him with the spoon. The tears we had this lunchtime were the most I've ever seen him cry, ever!

he's definitely on the mend medowflowers, he was really subdued and tired when he was ill but now he's back to his usual self destroying my house, but his appetite is just so wierd. I was worried about him losing too much weight, not that fruit is going to fatten him up much, but if he wants a jar of pureed apple I guess it's better than nothing. There's absolutely no problem getting the sweet stuff down him, he guzzles it, but anything savoury he rejects after one mouthful. I'm still bfing him morning and evening and he has a bottle of formula in the afternoon so I guess he's getting some nutrients that way.

My Ds was ill with a stomach bug at the same age and did exactly the same - refused all savoury foods for, ooh, about a month But he went back to them with gusto when he was ready. At 8m you have nothing to worry about honestly. Just keep offering him tasty savoury foods and his fruity stuff as normal, don't make an issue of it.

isn't that odd provincialLady, I guess it makes sense, I often crave sweet drinks when I've got an upset tummy, but maybe not for a month! I've just changed his nappy and it was quite runny so maybe the bug's still moving through his system and he's not ready for his normal diet again. To be honest I'm just glad he's eating something, he's not really eaten anything since Monday.

Watch out how much fruit he is having though as that can cause nasty nappies too - ie don't give him more than you normally would. Hope he is better soon.

ok, will do. I can always alternate with some rice pudding or yoghurt to avoid od-ing on fruit if all he's eating is sweet stuff.

ds has had two nasty tummy bufs so far this year. Once he is on the mend he will only eat bland food i.e toast, jacket potato and pasta and sauce. So I give it to him to try and encourage him to eat. Both times within the week he was back to normal.

Try not to worry, though I know it is upsetting. Don't know about you but when I have been poorly my appetite takes a nose dive too

that should read bugs btw

Have you tried mixing fruit and veg? carrot and apple/ sweetpotato and pear? you can do 3/4 fruit to 1/4 veg - at least then some veg is going in if you are concerned. My friends dd had apple or pear in most things for ages.

And chuck some breast milk as well in for a bit more familiar taste.