My 11m/o won’t eat “proper food”

[kittykat5839]

Mums I need help .. don’t have a support system to turn to and health professionals don’t seem to understand.

Abit of background ..my 11 month old is the pickiest eater and will heave until she throws up if she doesn’t like something.

all she seems to eat is baby porridge either out of a pouch or a specific smooth Heinz one (6+ month one)

shell have petit filous and odd snacks like fruit or cheese - sticks her nose up at veggies I’m absolutely stuck and don’t want her to not get all her nutrients

what shall I do does any one have any tips or tricks ?

She’s still very young and they get most of their nutrients through milk at that age. Does she still have lots of milk? The food you do give at that age gets thrown or mushed up! Keep trying with different foods and purées and it will happen gradually.

Food is fun before 1….. just keep offering her food, baby lead weaning is great for that

My baby is a similar age. Some days turns their nose up at everything except porridge, other days eats like a horse. I just keep offering a range (finger food, chunky foods) and try not to be upset about how much goes on the floor.

While I think you mean well. This is a terrible phrase and many dieticians hate it. After 6 months food has many important roles. Milk does remain the main source of nutrients but doesn’t contain enough iron and other nutrients. Food has an important role in oral motor development, social development, fine motor skills and as well as nutrients.

OP- weaning can be very tricky. Just a few thoughts- do you do all meals in the highchair? If so could you try doing some picnic style where she can be a bit freer to explore? Are you doing a mix of finger foods and purées or just one (both ways can be valid but need to work out what works best for you and her. If largely purées may be worth doing finger foods so she can explore more. Have you tried doing some sensory play with food. Put yogurt on her tray and just let her mess about with it. Do you eat with her or are your meals separate? Eating together can really help.

We had a similar experience until I gave her finger food. Once she was more in control she was happy to eat more.

Milk is still the important thing at 11 months. Is she hungry when she eats?

Are you giving her things with flavour?

DS isn't interested in rice but loves chicken biryani for example.

I agree you need to try and expose her to a wider range of textures, it seems like she's got a preference for smooth things? Is this all the time or does it come and go? If it's intermittent it might be teething causing her issues etc.

@Jk987 she has 7oz bottles about every 3/4 hours but sometimes she leaves behind loads of it and I’m worried she’s not getting enough at first I thought it may have been her teeth cutting through but it’s just regular now x

@Springisroundthecorner88484848 every one seemed to tell me not to worry about it but I can’t help it .. I just try to give her whatever she’ll take at this point x

@OtterMummy2024 oh dear I thought it was just me and mine lol .. I’m not so worried about the mess I just worry weather she’s had enough to eat because she just plays with everything instead of trying the food x

@Exhausted25She has a feeding chair and she really loves it so i encourage her to sit in it for all meals .. I’m defo gonna give it a try with the sensory play thank you xx

@MyOtherProfileI’m defo gonna give this a go thank you hun xx

Does she still have milk at night? 7oz every 3/4 hours seems a lot as they should be transitioning more towards food being their main source of sustenance at 11 months as the aim is to be weaned by 12.

No judgement here btw. If my baby didn’t eat well then I’d give more milk too. But I wonder if she’s just not hungry enough from all the milk?

@HeySnoodieI try to give her milk mainly but I just worry that she absolutely LOVES pouch food (which I try to keep only for emergencies eg; while we’re out and about) but she won’t eat anything warm or if I make her porridge with her milk, weetabix, pasta meals - not quite sure what else to try x

@PickledElectricityOh god shell flat out refuse whatever is newish to her and I try to stay consistent so she can get the hang of it but I’m not having much luck .. she wanting smooth food literally all the time .. going to try finger food as other have suggested and see how she gets on xx

@RuffpuffShe sleeps through the night she always has.. it’s only when she’s not eating I try to stay on top of her milk but usually she’s start acting up around the 3hr mark too .. so I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong here or I should just continue to follow her cues x

Mine was exactly like this at 11 months, he's now 12 months and things are starting to improve. I know how annoying it is when people tell you not to worry and don't take your concerns seriously, but a bit more time may be all you need.

He would literally only eat completely smooth purees (4 month ones or blended homemade) or baby melty sticks until very recently, everything else caused tears or got immediately thrown on the floor.

Best thing I can suggest is just keep offering small pieces of things that involve little effort. I was devastated when he wouldn't eat meals I spent ages making but I'm less bothered when it's just random things from the fridge, it doesn't need to be a 'proper meal' if theres a balanced mix of things. Also small things take longer to throw so more may get eaten!

Any progress is positive, we're still on up to 4 bottles a day (every 5 hrs ish in the day, occasionally 1 at night and he's teething so trying to be more flexible) and pouches are still his favourite, but yesterday he ate toast, cheese, chicken, porridge, salmon and a strawberry which compared to 2 weeks ago is amazing.

Give yourself some time, you've got this x

You're worrying too much for her age. She's not even 1 yet, don't panic. My now 2yo was v similar, I ended up giving him Ella's Kitchen pouches until he was around 18 months as he was trying lots of new things and the texture of the food changed with the age range of the pouches which I think helped him adjust to new textures much easier, then gradually introduced picky plates and meals, now he doesn't stop eating! You'll look back in a year and realise how far she's come

If she likes the smooth food it may be a bit of a sensory thing that she doesn’t like the lumps etc.
if you do want to try some sensory play some other things to try at rice crispies, crushed weetabix for texture things.
At mealtimes just put a few bits of finger food on her tray for her to explore but don’t pressure her to try it. Then finish the meal with something smooth and slowly you may find she will transition to more finger foods. It may also be that a lot of the pouches can be quite sweet so start with fruits and the sweeter vegetables as finger food.
Could you offer her some form of snack before her bottles?
Weaning can be very frustrating and anxiety inducing but keep trying. You are doing well to think about it and try different things.

I had one that mainly wanted smooth purées at this age, it turned out that they had undiagnosed Tongue Tie.

I would look at dropping one bottle for now and see how you get on. Usually the first one is the easiest. The current advice is 450 ml/16 Floz a day of first stage formula between 10 and 12 months.

So try something like Bananacado fir breakfast which is calorie dense with a finger food on the side, maybe a bit of grated cheese?

If she doesn’t like warm foods would she try porridge fingers or cold blueberry pancakes?