1 year old baby refuses to eat anything what am I doing wrong

[Littlebabybear]

My LO has just turned 1 and pretty much drinks the same amount of milk he was on at 6 months old and still hardly ever finishes his bottles doesn't take many bottles either so it's not the case of him being full of milk. Started introducing him to solid foods around 6 months but I think the mistake that I made was giving him fruit purees 1st. I later found out that starting with veg purees is a better idea. However my baby just isn't interested in fruits either or any food whatsoever. He does take an interest in what we eating but doesn't like eating. He gets very stressed if I keep trying to feed him. He likes apple puree but I need to seriously distract him to put few spoons in his mouth and its a very small amount.

I've tried purees and also baby led weaning. I've looked at all the tips I could find online, tried different things. There's been days he seemed to like certain things but will not eat it next time. He just closes his lips together and turns his face away.

I've asked midwife and but the advice has been useless. My friend has a baby and I also know other babies who have their favourite foods and by 1 year they are eating good sized portions for their age.

I know when they teething they go off the food for a bit but this has become a habit. This makes me quite worried. I've also tried sitting him in different settings but nothing works.

What happens if he shows an interest in what youre eating? Do you give him some? Do you put it on the table infront of him or are you trying to feed him?

Ignore the others and try not to compare.

Push back meal time so they are really hungry? .. my baby is same age and he loves picky bits.. his fave lunch is pasta cut up really small and salad.. avocado, tomato and cucumber (skin off) .. all in bit sized pieces he can pick up .. plus we all eat together so he is happy sitting in his chair with us watching and copying for ages

Your health visitor is better placed to advise rather than a midwife.
Do you think baby could be filling up on milk so isn't hungry?
Could you look to restructure bottle times around meal times to encourage him to get hungry?
There are some babies who just don't get solids until they are approaching 18mths. I would pop him in a high chair at any opportunity you get during your meals and just give him little bits of what eat - let him play and explore.
Learning to eat is quite a skill (different textures; learning to chew, swallow etc)

Mine was a bit like this although I think possibly not so bad. Are you planning to send him to any childcare any time soon? Going to nursery three days a week when mine turned 1 was the turning point for us - only then did she start reliably having meals. Even now at 2.5yrs she’s still pretty hit and miss with meals at home but eats everything at nursery.

Appreciate childcare at this age might not be in your plan but thought worth mentioning as if it is, you may hopefully see some improvement then.

I give him some in his hand or try putting it in his mouth depending on what it is. He does try it sometimes but don't seem to like it. If it's on the table infornt of him he likes to pick it up and play with it which is normal for babies but doesn't wana eat.

Mine is exactly the same. Started nursery last week. Didn't eat a thing.

Even at home mealtimes are a force. She will just about have breakfast and I think that's just because it tends to be sweeter things like porridge, muesli, toast, fruits etc.

Lunch and dinner are no go's unless she is actually starving. I've tried purées and blw like you and she just refuses and refuses. Might have a little taste and that's it.

She is only on 3 milk feeds a day. Morning on waking up, before afternoon nap & bedtime. I had a thread a few weeks ago about this and whether I should cut back on milk feeds to try and get her to eat more in the days.

Spoke to HV and she didn't seem too bothered and said it's mainly milk at this age but I'm dubious. I see others kids scoffing food so not really sure what's going on with her tbh.

My first could be quite frustrating with food. He loved breakfast though. I always did milk feeds after a solid meal. So didn't give milk in the morning till after breakfast for example helped him to be more hungry.

Other than that different foods for them to help themselves to and accept it might get messy??!! It is frustrating but I prise they do gradually get better at eating. Also snacks might work well.

The book My Child Won't Eat might help you @Littlebabybear

DS was the same till about 11 months - he absolutely loved milk (still does!). We made sure he was absolutely starving at mealtimes, it was tough going but he got it in the end.

If you're feeding formula, try a follow-on milk for the iron content as babies' stores decline from 6 months onwards. If you're giving breast milk then make sure your multivitamin includes iron.

My ds1 and 2 were like this. They both had a definite preference for milk until around 18m.

Just keep offering food. Do it in a way that's easy for you - for me that was mostly non messy finger foods with occasional porridge/similar when I could be bothered to clean up after.

I've now got DS3 who eats more food at 9m than the other 2 did at 18m - I don't think I'm doing anything differently.

For reassurance; I don't know any adults who prefer a liquid/milk diet to actual food so I expect your little one will come round eventually 🙂

We had a very slow start . She is 14 months now and is only in the last 6 weeks or so starting to eat more.

She was slow to grow so we are under a dietician and she asked us to drop a bottle whixh at the beginning made no real difference other than making me panic that she was starving and dehydrated! Onvsiously she wasn't.

She wouldn't put a single thing to her mouth and very very rarely accepted anything from a spoon

The thing that finally worked for us that you might want to try was cucumber cut in to a long stick shape. It felt so good on her teething gums it got her used to picking up and putting to mouth and then after that she started to do the same with all different foods. Another thing was to let her take her time so I would put finger food on the tray and literally just wait. At first it would go on the floor but after about 10 mins of picking it up feeling it throwing it etc she started to put it in her mouth. Each meal was abojt 30 mins in high chair / all on her terms

My son was exactly the same. He wasn't interested in solids at all until about 13/14 months. I used to stress about it so much but honestly - I didn't need too. He was getting plenty of nutrition from milk and now is an amazing eater.

The thing that worked best for us was to focus on 1 meal and that started with breakfast.

So when he first woke up rather than milk we went straight to the kitchen for breakfast. Now they would either be weetabix and milk, porridge or toast.
Whereas if I gave him milk as soon as he woke up then he wouldn't eat food.

I think then when he woke in the morning and was hungry he "learned" that eating food for breakfast satisfied that hunger and therefore it made me hungry for more.

So start with trying to get breakfast established and then moved onto different meals.

My DD2 was a very poor eater due to having enormous tonsils. When she had them out aged three, things totally changed. Might be worth looking at.

I had a dd that was ebf until about 15 months, was not interested in food at all.
She's in her 30s now and a mum - to a year old dd who loooooves food so much!

I'm sure your lo will get there OP. Just keep offering variety, and sit and eat at the same time yourself. My dgd is so happy sitting and eating with all the big people. Good luck.

@Littlebabybear sorry I know this is an old post now but I was wondering how your little ones eating ended up? We are in the same position. Almost one and will hardly eat anything and doesn’t drink much milk either!

My one year old is similar. He will drink lots of milk but not that into food. He's also low centile so don't want to cut the milk.

@theotherfossilsister same here, low percentile baby and always been anxious about weight gain. My first born was a great eater and always piling on weight so I’m just at a loss with my second

You need to follow solid starts on Instagram or Facebook. They are fantastic and have special advice for toddlers who refuse foods.
Sorry didn't realise how old this post is.

@SassyPants87 sometimes I wonder if it's my fault, he's picking up how stressed we are by it.

We were in hospital with him for something not weight related and saw they'd made a note about how small and thin he is.

Hi,

my daughter is turning 11 months soon as barely eats any solid.. sometimes goes for weeks where she will not put anything in her mouth. We have tried all sorts of food and recipes and don’t think I have left anything out. We tried BLW and spoon feeding both. I have to go back to work in a month’s time and I don’t know how I will manage the situation. She never took on the bottle so still being exclusively breast fed on demand and she is not putting on any weight for last 2 months and also not growing taller.

can I please know @Littlebabybear how is your baby doing now and if he/she is eating no well now

@hopeful02

how did you get on I saw your post in search for hope 8 months in? Is your little one eating any better now x

Hi,

@Seeema2902 she is 16 months now and still drinks milk from breast like she was 6 months. She is now accepting lil bit more solid food but it's still extremely less as compared to what an avg toddler eats in a day. We are also suffering from growth issues with her and she is on 0.4 centile for length now and 9 percentile for weight so we will be getting her checked if it's not some other problem