10 month old never eaten solids.

[Lucia201837]

Hi just wondered if anyone has experienced the same problem as myself??? My 10 month old has never eaten any solids including purées ever since I tried to wean her at around 5 months old! She had colic and reflux when she was younger but now seems to be symptom free and has been for a few months.
Every time I try to feed her she bats the spoon away and clamps her mouth shut shaking her head. I’ve tried baby led weaning and she doesn’t put any in her mouth. She doesn’t really mouth any toys either just her fingers.
She’s meeting all her other developmental milestones and is nearly walking but I’m at my wits end with the feeding! It’s making me so depressed I cry most days. Please can anyone help or let me know of any similar experiences that get better?

I've not really any advice but have you talked to your health visitor or GP?

Yes but I’m not getting anywhere with it. The health visitor referred her to a dietician in which was a complete waste of time as she said it wasn’t herself ( the dietician) that needed to see her it should be occupational therapy. I then waited 6 weeks to hear that the occupational therapist will not accept her and at the moment keep persevering with trying to get her to eat. I’ve been trying for 5 months with no luck and I’m so frustrated. Everyone seems to be passing the buck and the months are just flying by.

Would she even try a tiny taste of something liquidy from your finger? Yoghurt for example.

Have you tried refillable pouches? You could fill them with milk first, so she has the familiar taste, and add a bit of fruit purée over time.

She has done with me forcing her. Occasionally she appears to have liked the taste and sort of licked it but then I try again the same thing a day later and she refuses. The only thing is that when she’s been poorly and needs to give her calpol she will have it lying down and actually open her mouth for it. Obviously I can’t try to feed her with a syringe lying down??

Willisurvive3under2- she will only drink her milk or water from the bottle so not sure how I would get her to eat from the pouches?

She may be picking up on your stress.

Sit her on your kitchen floor rather than in high chair. Place a plastic toy in a bowl of angel delight and play. Don't encourage her to taste it. Just play. Get ridiculously messy. Don't use language like - you're so mucky. Let's clean you up. As she may think being dirty is bad and not touch it.

Do this everyday. It will take a long time. Over time she may accidentally taste it.

Play with melty snacks. Again don't ask her to eat it.

Lots of positive fun with food.

Ask your HV for advice. Speech and language therapy here do sensory play with food to encourage eating.

My daughter is almost 14 months old and it is only in the last month that she has started eating solids. I know it can be worrying but it is fairly common. For us I think it was developmental; she just didn’t put anything in her mouth. We do blw and in desperation I did try to spoon feed her a few times but she was completely unimpressed and clamped her mouth shut so I stopped bothering. I’d give her food every day in her highchair, and she just played with it and chucked it on the floor, and then one day something clicked and she put it in her mouth and had a chew. Then the next day she did it again... and now she eats everything I put in front of her and she shouts at us if we don’t share anything and everything we eat!

Try to relax - remember the mantra ‘food before one is just for fun’ She will get there in her own time. Just give plenty of opportunities for her to explore different foods in her high chair - even if she’s just playing with it with her hands. Make sure she sees you eating, sit with her and eat yourself while she is having her meal. It’s hard, I was getting very frustrated as well - I have toddler too and he was eating full meals within weeks of starting blw so I was completely thrown by this. I just had to be super patient and hold my nerve and eventually she just got it in her own time.

Has the GP checked her mouth?

Cushion cuddle- yes I am starting to get anxious when I feed her however other people have tried and show no stress/ anxiety but still no result.
She does tend to play with the food which I suppose is a positive and sometimes a bit gets in her mouth when she puts her hands in her mouth but that’s about it.
Do you know of what age the speech and language therapy get involved? Many thanks

Tinseltitties- The gp has checked her mouth for a sore throat when she has been ill but that’s about it??

Forget trying to feed her, instead sit her at the table when you have your meals and put some interesting looking bits of food on her tray. When she's bored get her out. Eventually she will eat, I promise you, everyone does. I know you will feel anxious but hide this from her.

You need to persevere with this because she'll never eat if she isn't given the opportunity.

No I mean have you specifically had her mouth, throat and tongue checked in relation to the eating problem?

Firstly dont panic this is not umusual and she is still young.
It took ages for my DS to properly eat solids. I stressed and stressed watching my friend's babies wolfing down pouch after pouch of food whilst he refused anything being put in his mouth.
He never had food from a spoon except he eventually let me feed him yoghurt.
I could only get him to eat those orange baby wotsit things. Have you tried those? No nutritional value but not bad either and babies seem to love them and might get her used to eating.
Honestly though don't worry too much. As long as she's having formula and maybe a supplement if recommended, then she is getting everything she needs. She will eat eventually. Some countries don't wean till over 1 year anyway. 10 months is still young.
One piece of advice is I found feeding him in the high chair just didn't work at first, it seemed to stress him out. Just fed him in his normal baby chair or on my knee.
Make sure food is available each meal time but don't stress, she will get there. My DS eats well now and has since about 12 or 14 months.

Have you ever stopped totally trying to feed her and only offered whatever it is you’re eating and just let her play? But do that 3 meals a day every day for a month? No trying to encourage her or get a spoon in her mouth. Just let her play while you eat your meal and pretty much ignore her. That takes the pressure off both of you.

The first step really is just several weeks of mushing up food and playing before they eat. But if you’ve been nervously hovering with a spoon, it may have put her off, so you might just need to go back to being really hands off and keeping it low pressure.

Lucia, personally I feel too much pressure/expectation is put on our children that they should be doing xyc by certain ages.
My DS was late sitting up, walking and talking and eating solids. My health visitor kept asking “Is he eating solids yet?” She made me feel like a failure as a mum. At 8 months old I got very frustrated one meal time and stupidly every time he opened his mouth I spooned half a jar of lumpy food in his mouth. Soon after he vomited it all back up.
As others have said just keep trying your DC with different foods. Something they can hold in their hand so they can decide if they want to try it.
Think in the long term. One day your DC WILL start eating solids but all in their own time.
My DS was referred for speech therapy (not related to his eating) and within a year could speak clearly. He is 13 now, and a strapping rugby player and while still a fussy/plain eater - still certain textures he doesn’t like, hasn’t starved yet!
The advice I would give you is every child is different. All in their own time x

For feeding issues you can be referred at any age.

Firstly, I would just like to thank all of you that have replied to me. You have made me feel so much better in the fact that I’m not alone with this situation and also have been given some good advice to work upon.
Ohpleasesleepbabysleep- I’m pleased to hear your baby is eating now and your right in saying I need to keep giving her the opportunities.

2019rubberband-no she hasn’t had her mouth specifically checked for anything related to the feeding issues- I will book an appointment to get it checked this week now that you have mentioned it. I do think it’s a psychological thing though but it’s best to look into everything

Eloisajane- yes I’ve tried those wotsit finger foods and she just plays with it but doesn’t attempt to put it in her mouth. The only thing she puts in her mouth really is her fingers- not even toys. I will definitely keep persisting with trying her on my lap as she’s getting very fussy about going in her high chair at the moment which is just escalating the problem.

Mindutopia- yes I have stopped trying to feed her completely for a couple of weeks at a time but it doesn’t seem to make any difference. I do allow her to play with the food and she is interested in playing with it but not eating it.

When she last visited the health visitor she mentioned it may be a sensory issue with her. I guess by hearing this and googling it ( worst thing I ever did) I’m just worried it’s something like that and how would we overcome it. I know I need to try and relax a little but it’s so hard especially being a first time mom not really knowing what to expect.

5 years ago I could have written this post. Except occasionally I did get a spoonful into DD's mouth, at which point she'd vomit to get it out. I cleaned up an awful lot of vomit.

The good news: DD no longer consumes only milk. The bad news: she eats a pretty restricted diet, and it's taken a long time to get there. I think she only switched to getting the majority of her calories from food rather than milk when she was 3.5 (years old).

We did see dietitians - only managed to get an appointment when she was 15 months, when they suggested trying anything (including chocolate!). They also suggested restricting her milk to make her hungry, which I refused to do - when she went to nursery (at 3) she refused to eat or drink anything in the 4 hours she was there for over 6 months, before finally deciding she'd try the stuff she was already eating at home by that point.

I don't know what formula your DD is on, but we were strongly advised to switch to 6+ stuff, as it has more iron in it, which children of that age need.

What helped me was choosing to be less stressed about it - DD was never underweight, and managed to drink so much she was overweight at 3.5, so she was at least getting enough to eat. I think we just kept presenting her with food - the first time she chose to eat, it was pizza, and we hadn't given her any, but she grabbed some from someone else. I'm afraid I can't remember how old she was! For DD now, the main issue is texture (and I think it always has been) so you may be more likely to have success with something lump free. DD also preferred very dry food, e.g. crackers, cheerios.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask me more questions!

will book an appointment to get it checked this week now that you have mentioned it. I do think it’s a psychological thing though but it’s best to look into everything

I would be asking the doctor to check for tongue tie specifically.

I haven't read the whole thread and I'm sure you need to rule out anything wrong but just wanted to say my younger daughter didn't eat until she was fifteen months or so, she's thirty-four now and completely ok and normal! Nothing was wrong, she just wasn't ready and wasn't having any of it.
So please don't worry, OP, it can happen and mean nothing at all.