Please help 13mo refusing all food

[Charlotteap]

My DS really struggled to transition from purées to solids and we were under a dietician for a while, eventually we got into a good place. And last month or so is best he’s ever been, eating his three meals a day with snacks.

He had his 1 year jabs a week ago and he’s fine in himself but since then he’s not taking anything , shaking his head and throwing it on the floor. I’ve tried making his favourites , chicken casserole , veg chicken pie and he’s refusing. He eats a few carrots on his tray and that’s it. The health visitor said persevere and try give him plenty of yoghurts to make sure he’s getting his calories and he will take yoghurts but he can’t live on them right.

also he is not refusing any fruit but I know he can’t live on that either. I just don’t know what else to try. He can use a spoon and can nearly use a fork but once he gets food on them he just throws it on the floor.

He’s also doesn’t refuse puff pastry pin wheels, spinach/ham and vegan cheese ( egg dairy allergy) so for the last week , yogurt , pastry fruit is all he will happily eat.

he’s still breastfed so I don’t know if I should be giving him more , the health visitor said not to but I worry he’s not getting what he needs.

his first molars have been coming in for a couple weeks I know sometimes this can affect. But he really does seem fine.

thanks so much in advance I am very worried

Poor you, it's so stressful isn't it! However you're doing all the right things and he is still getting some variation, as well as your breastmilk. Continuing to offer different food is the right thing to do, even if it's wasted. I once read that you need to accept the division of responsibility- it's your job to offer food, it's his job to decide whether to eat it. You can't do that for him. That helped me come to terms with it and stress less.

With that said- how does he seem in himself? My DD was suddenly off food recently and I put it down to teething, she was also miserable and not sleeping well. I took her for a check up and it turns out she had tonsilitis and needed antibiotics! No wonder she couldn't eat, her throat was so sore. Her appetite came back after one day of the antibiotics. Might be worth getting him checked out. Even just to put your mind at rest that it's the usual toddler fussiness and teething shenanigans rather than something fixable.

You're doing a great job x

He's not refusing all food. There's a list of things you've given which although limited is a fair range. Alongside breastmilk as well.

Try not to be stressed around mealtimes. Give him meals containing things you know he will eat and a small amount of things he used to eat or are new. Keep doing that and he should gradually branch back out into more variety.

Sounds like he's felt a bit off and now he's teething.

I'd carry on BFing, gone him a daily vitamin, try him with some Ibruprofen and just keep offering food. He'll feel much better soon enough

Given jabs and molars I would take any food they reliably eat as a win.
My daughter didn't eat her first meal until 13 months and didn't regularly eat a meal until 15 months when her premolars were through and she finally got to symptom free for her food allergies.
Keep offering foods they reliably eat and add a food that is more 50:50 to stretch their repirore of foods. Patience too. My daughter is 3.5 now and still goes through phases of only eating one meal a day or even a weekend. We just have to ride out the storm. We give a good multivitamin and have regular dietician input due to many food allergies and associated restricted diet plus restrictions due to reflux and protect it her teeth from acid erosion

Thank you all this is all really helpful and I do feel much better this evening

@Purple89 thank you so much ; really appreciated. I feel a lot better after your comment. What you said about the division of responsibility really makes sense and definitely feel better knowing I’ve done all I can. Yeah that’s a good point , he’s still got a bad cough after a bad cold which he then had his jabs so wondering if he is all just abit out of it. Then with his teeth!

@CadyEastman thank you , he has a vitamin for D due to breastfeeding can he take a daily vitamin alongside this or will it include his daily vitamin too? Sorry if that’s a silly question.

@Superscientist thank you, you’re probably right. He’s under a dietician and allergen too and only recently started actually eating meals just seems to have gone a step back lately but he’s had his molars and by the looks his fangs for a few weeks and also a bad cold so probably added with his jabs isn’t probably feeling the greatest. We are not due to see his allergen until he’s 15 months to see how his egg/milk is. Thank you that’s very helpful