14 month old has stopped eating any solids

[Nosleepforthismum]

Hoping someone wiser might be able to help! I have a nearly 14 month old DS. He’s always loved his milk (formula) and I’ve always given him as much as he wanted as he was 5 weeks premature and I was worried about weight gain. We started weaning at six months with a combination of purées and finger foods and all was going well until he turned 1 in September. He started at preschool for 2 mornings a week and has been really quite poorly on and off ever since with bugs etc that I think he’s picked up there. One of them was scarlet fever and we were prescribed 10 days of liquid antibiotics 4 times a day which he absolutely hated taking. It’s all gone completely downhill from there.

This was nearly three weeks ago and since he finished his antibiotics, he will not take anything off a spoon from me and will throw anything on his high chair on the floor. I know it’s because he doesn’t trust me anymore because of having to force the antibiotics down and I’m just getting really worried that I’m completely failing him. The only thing he will now really drink is his milk but it’s not enough to fill him up and he’s drinking to excess and then throwing it up (this is my theory anyway but he still seems to be a little unwell on top of this).

I just don’t know whether I just really need to go cold turkey on the bottles except for first thing in the morning and last thing at night and hope eventually he is hungry enough to start eating actual food? Any tips on food that might tempt him back into the eating zone?

I’m starting to feel desperate and will try anything at this stage.

I would cut down on the milk as he is filling up on that. At that age he ideally wouldn’t be on bottles at all, I used to give mine a cup of cows milk in the morning and one in the evening then water throughout the day.

i would make sure to sit with him at meal times and eat at the same time. Lots of different smells, colours and textures so get his interest and let him feed himself. He doesn’t need spoon feeding.

Thank you. You’ve said what I’ve been feeling about him having too much milk. I think this is probably the big thing to be addressed here. I know he’s too old for spoon feeding, but sometimes I get desperate and try and encourage him that way to try what’s in front of him.

Solid starts is a great resource for this sort of thing and I'm sure they have an article on eating after illness. Assuming he was a good eater before, a few things they recommend for babies who won't touch food are...

Different environment - try a kitchen floor/living room picnic. Move away from the table to take pressure off.

Let them sit on your lap while you eat your own food, and leave theirs on the table with absolutely no pressure to eat. See if they become interested in what you're eating and offer if they ask (this has worked for us several times)

A bit silly but put food between your teeth and offer it, let them take it from your mouth.

And definitely cut down on the milk

Good luck!

Definitely cut down on the milk! He needs bland solid food he can feed himself. 3 meals a day plus a small snack in the afternoon. Will be an adjustment but give it a few days and I'm sure he will be back on track.

Use a baby fork and let him feed himself from his plate. Cut tiny tiny pieces or load the fork for him