What does your 8 m old eat? Apparently mine not having enough ?

[myBusinessNotyours]

She is just turned 8m and has 1 (small) pouch a day (vegetable) at lunchtime
She doesn’t want food any other time and has plenty of milk and is happy healthy and growing
HV said by now should be 3 meals a day and mashed home cooked or blw not full purée

I’m happy what we are doing and I don’t see the need to rush. She seems totally fine

The reason you need to build up is because when shes 1 she'll need proper meals, as nutritionally milk alone isnt enough. She may be fine now but I think you need to think a bit longer term.

No its not very much.
Have you offered different foods at different times?
They really need more variety than vegetables and should be being offered finger foods too.

My 8 month old currently has 7pz bottle when he wakes up then breakfast an hour later around 8am and he will have weetabix or toast. At 11am he will have another bottle and 12-12.30 lunch, today it was cauliflower and broccoli cheese but usually it is whatever the family eat the night before chopped up (spaghetti Bol, stew, roast dinner) then another bottle after his nap mod afternoon and about 5pm dinner of veg sticks, cheese, fruit and some bread or pasta usually all stuff he can hold and eat himself.
Last bottle around 7-8 before bed. He is staying on his growth curve so I'm happy with what he is eating but he is very active and crawls a lot and cruses round the furniture

This is what my 8 month old will eat today:

1 Weetabix, fruit purée
Salmon, sweet potato, peas (around the size of 4 ice cubes) some banana
Avocado toast (eats a lot of the avocado mainly sucks the bread)

She eats really well but has massively dropped her milk, will probably have max 20oz in a 24 hour period.

I agree it's about what's best for baby and they will all be different but agree with pp you need to start building up to when they are 1 and milk isn't enough nutritionally for them

You could start introducing a bit of protein like some chicken or scrambled egg with the veg puree that she is familiar with.
It would also be a good idea to start introducing some finger foods alongside to help with her self-feeding skills. If she's sat in her highchair whilst you are eating your meals you could give her a few bits from your plate to try. It doesn't matter if she throws them on the floor (although some sort of mat under her chair is a good idea, so you can pick up the food and give it back to her), it's the exploring, learning about different tastes and textures and learning about the social side of eating together that's important.

She seems totally fine

She will be fine now. But the issues arise after 12 months when milk is a supplement to a full diet, not a main constituent. If you've not gradually built up her diet then you'll be rushing her in a few months time.

While milk will always be a part of a healthy diet, it would be unhealthy for a toddler to only/mostly have milk for calories.

With my children I generally work from the idea that:

6m to 9m
Increasing frequency and food groups for solids intake, while maintaining milk intake.

9m to 12m
Reducing milk intake to increase portion sizes for main meals.

12m Milk just given as part of pre-sleep routine. So usually three milk feeds per day, totalling around 21oz (a pint) a day.

You might not see the need to rush but why are you hanging back? I assume you've been weaning for 2 months now? You need to be introducing fingers foods, it's a sensory thing as well as nutritional.

She will not eat anything else we’ve tried porridge just shakes her head and won’t open mouth and gets upset
Finger foods the same and throws them and cries
Gets really distressed and I think that I don’t want a negative association with food so we give what she’s happy with which is a veg pouch she will be visibly happy when sees it and eat it all happily

She is breastfed except for a morning bottle of 2-4 oz of follow on ready made milk which we started as she was refusing breakfast
I’m wondering will she just change with time I feel as though should I just leave things for a month or so and then offer diff foods again

Have tried yogurt too and fruits she just clamps mouth shut and we did keep trying but it was distressing her
Finger food is discarded or ignored

Mine used to eat three meals a day at that age. They are all different though.

My oldest DD was eating 3 meals a day by that age while my DS was eating pretty much sod all; I still tried him 3 times a day with food until he started showing more interest. You can’t force him her but if you don’t keep offering then she won’t naturally start eating more

I think you should make sure you offer her food three times a day, and don't worry if she doesn't eat it. Make sure she's still getting her fruit puree if she will eat it, though maybe you could try and add something to the bowl with it like some berries?

But basically, put some soft bread on a plate with some cut up vegetables, a few tablespoons of what you're eating at lunch/dinner time, don't make a big deal out of it. I wouldn't' even necessarily try spoon-feeding her and I certainly wouldn't be forcing her if she doesn't want something: just put it on her high chair and see what she does.

I agree with not having a negative association with food but that is very little, I think getting her into the habit of sitting with food in front of her at mealtimes for a few minutes might start her trying some of the food. Sucking hummus off a carrot stick/putting a strawberry in her mouth, they're all steps on the way to eating more.

Ok so in that case I would move on to the next stage pouch - the lumpy ones - we get the Aldi ones which are beef casserole, chicken casserole and spag bol. Gets them used to texture and encourages chewing but she will still see the pouch and hopefully accept the food from it.

When she’s used to that personally I would start squeezing the pouch into a bowl (in front of her) and feeding her from the bowl. So she gets used to it not always being in pouch form.

If you’re holding her and you are eating something - say a breadstick or toast or a banana... have you tried just casually offering her a nibble?

Also I know it sounds obvious but I would make sure she doesn’t have Milk right before you’re going to give her food. It’s tricky because you don’t want them to be so hungry they’re angry and impatient, but not so full they won’t want to try the food.

Don't spoonfeed her, offer finger food. I say this particularly because she is not responding well to you feeding her and it will become a battle if you keep trying. The more you want her to have it, the less she will.

It's OK if she doesn't eat, throws on the floor, just plays etc. Just make sure you offer 3 times a day and ideally at same time as you're eating meals as you will be modeling how meals are eaten. The simple act of family meals, watching you eat and no pressure to eat will allow her to experiment with what you have given and start tasting it. Continue to give milk as you have been.

There are lots of books and online blogs with recipe ideas for finger food, we gave porridge bites/pancakes/French toast for breakfast. Quesadilla/wrap type food/pizza/omelette for lunch and dinner - we tried as much as possible to feed children same food as we were eating. Savoury cakes/pinwheel/breadsticks make excellent snacks. There is a variety of pre-prepared food available for when you are unable to cook for any reason

Don't expect instant results but if pressure is off from now and she is offered food regularly, food will gradually become her main source of nutrition.

My eight month old was having nothing except 4 x 6-8oz bottles of milk a day not for the want of trying on my part, every day I offered him food and every day he threw it on the floor. Without fail. Purees were a no-go because he wouldn't let me put a spoon in his mouth and all finger foods were thrown. Then, suddenly, one day at 10.5 months he ate a piece of roast chicken and a carrot stick, from that day onwards he has really taken off. Purees are still a no-go but he is now on three meals a day (and now fluids are a problem as I can't get more than 10-12oz in to him).

My 8m old is on 2-3 meals a day. Today she had homemade soft oaty fruit biscuit things with natural yoghurt and for lunch some cucumber sticks with a sweetcorn and spinach muffin. A good proportion still goes on the floor, I figure she'll get more down the hatch the more she practises.

DD is much better at trying things if I eat the same as her and if she gets to play with it, which is messy. I just bung food in front of her and let her do as she pleases. She didn't really eat much of her lunch at all today, but she's in a funny mood today and I won't worry about it.

I think it's important to get her onto lumpy foods ASAP as it can be quite hard to transition away from purées the longer they are on them for. You can blend up the likes of chilli or spag Bol if there is no salty stock etc in the recipe for babies. She might not be keen but it's good for her to have it there to try even if 'trying' goes as far as smooshing her hands in it and making a mess.

I found 6-12 months THE most stressful part of the baby /toddler process! My DD barely ate a thing, at all, until she was about 1!! But I would say that from about 8 months I was always offering the 3 meals a day, as well as bfing, even if none went in. I did a mix of spoon feeding and finger foods. It was soul destroying to see everything I prepared on the floor and the clear up was huge but about 2 weeks before her first birthday she suddenly picked it up and ate it, and then she realised what she was missing!! She’s been a great eater ever since. Like you I never put any pressure on her I would just say ‘it’s lunchtime now so we’re going to sit and have lunch’ and not even comment on if she was eating it, chucking it or what. If I were you I would offer more than one meal a day as you might have a baby like mine and then at least she will be used to being served 3 meals even if she’s not eating them right now.

Mine is that age and at nursery - he has morning bf and also through the night (co sleep so just latches on and off)
half a weetabix with 1oz formula for breakfast
lunch at nursery - today is tomato pasta, maybe an adult handful portion.
half a banana.
tea at nursery brocolli and mash or similar
2 x 4oz bottles at nursery.

then some ready brek or a small portion of our dinner while we eat.

bath at 7, bf before bed at 7:30.

he's always fed little and often even when fully bf so am not concerned about the bottle sizes but am aiming to slowly reduce the night feeds and hoping to increase the formula now I'm back at FT work

Weaning can be so hard for some so don't beat yourself up, and I know it's hard but try not to compare to other babies.

Mine is 8months and it's been quite a struggle.

He has 4 8floz bottles a day and in between (at some point in the day) a bowl of some kind of mashed food. He's only just started tolerating/accepting textures after 2 months of going at it. He has just started to take finger foods too so put some on the side, he does best with some toast or bread. I'll always put some kind of finger food even if he just plays with it.

I bought a book by Anabel Karmel called weaning and found it so helpful with what combinations to give him etc.

Have you tried offering solids before the milk? I used to put babies in high chair with some finger foods on the tray or a bowl of weetabix and let them feed themselves. They would then get the normal milk a little later, there was no pressure that invariably they got into routine of eating what was offered.

I will try the lumpier foods then. I’ve tried offering my food and the best she’s done is lick a banana once but I will keep trying
Hates fruit purée
Porridge and yogurt she just refused
I will keep offering at the same times each day

Two of mine were only just weaning at 8 months because they weren't interested in anything other than milk. They were both stuffing their faces by one.
Just keep providing a variety of healthy food, they'll eat at some point.

Advice is to start 3 meals a day from 9 months. By 6 months her iron stores will have depleted and she needs to start eating iron rich foods to avoid becoming anemic. The later she is exposed to different foods the higher risk there is that she will develop an allergy to them. She also needs to be eating fingers foods by now so her facial muscles develop enough so she is able to talk.

@Thatwentbadly

Advice is to start 3 meals a day from 9 months. By 6 months her iron stores will have depleted and she needs to start eating iron rich foods to avoid becoming anemic. The later she is exposed to different foods the higher risk there is that she will develop an allergy to them. She also needs to be eating fingers foods by now so her facial muscles develop enough so she is able to talk.

This is utter rubbish. Finger foods and speech have no link. Stop making mums worry unecessarily. My son wouldnt eat any finger foods at all until he was 11 months old. Hes fine - babbling away at 12 months.

You need to be careful she gets enough iron, babies have enough stored at birth to last approx 6 months but can then become anaemic if weaning doesn't provide the iron they need. Breast milk is low in iron. You could swap her one bottle of formula to follow on milk which has a higher iron content, and of course she should have a daily multivitamin (recommended for all babies 6 months to age 5). We use WellBaby which has iron in it too.