1 year old barely eats

[HeartyBlueReader]

Does anybody elses 1 year old barely eat? I offer solids, majority of it gets launched on the floor before shes even tried eating it.. Offer spoon feeding and the only way to get her to take it off the spoon is to put something on TV so shes half distracted. I really feel like am doing something wrong, I end up buying her premade childrens meals half the time because am worried she wont eat if I offer her what I am eating or because I eat too late in the evening for her to eat at the same time as me because am not really hungry most of the time at 5pm.. I just feel like am failing at the minute. Everyone told me how much ‘easier’ it is once theyre eating and I have never found parenting hard half as much as I do now😔 every time its meal time now I just dread it my stress/anxiety is up the wall. She eats for the teachers in nursery (majority of the time) and for her grandparents.. I just dont know what to do

My 12 month old chucked loads of food on the floor this morning that they happily ate last week. Babies gonna baby.

I tend to batch cook something we will all eat (like ratatouille) and then take out multiple small portions for the baby and freeze them. Then I add salt for the grown ups.

For me that means dinner time is less stressful, just grabbing something for the microwave plus whatever is in the fridge (bits of ham or cheese for protein) and toast/crackers, maybe fruit and yoghurt. Some times LO is really keen, other days quite a bit gets wasted. I sit and do a jigsaw while LO eats, or have a snack, but I'm not just sat there staring.

How old is she in months?

TBH I’d turn the TV off and just accept weaning is a rubbish journey, not a sprint. Keep offering her food, let her explore it and sit with her while she eats, even if you aren’t eating yourself. Don’t view mealtimes as needing to shovel food into her.

Honestly every thing you eat just keep some to the side and all you need to do is then pick out from the freezer and reheat. Even now at 4 & 6 I have loads of small tubs with cheese sauce, homemade tomato sauce, pizza dough etc in the freezer ready to go. All of them from meals we've made and I've just made a few small portions up. Don't worry about putting on a full meal in front of them either. Lots of picky bits that hit all the food groups is fine. For example cheese cubes, plain pasta and strawberries hits a lot of the food groups. It doesn't have to be spaghetti bolognese or cottage pie every night. Also try modelling eating so if she's eating cheese cubes for example you eat some with a cracker. Even if it's not your main meal it might interest them enough to have what's on your plate.

Feeding kids is really stressful

Bin the Premade baby food.. turn the TV off.. then be very very patient..

I know that will be seen negatively by some, but I feel like you are responding to very normal frustration and challenges by creating bigger potential challenges (child thinks eating = screens & child only likes sweeter processed foods etc.)

Milk should be filling the babies core nutritional needs, so it doesn't really matter if they don't eat too much.. better that you create good eating patterns that, even if not succesfull now, will eventually end up with the result you want (after an insane amount of patience)

How old is she in months @HeartyBlueReader? Only there is a bit of difference in a 12 month old not eating and a 23 month old not eating?

Is she in Nursery 5 days and is she eating well there?

Is she gaining weight and producing wet and dirty nappies?

Normal!

I'll say it again. Normal normal normal normal. Even if you don't believe it, I assure you it is. My DS, now 7 continues to be a minimal eater but he's just fine. I went to the doctors numerous times and obsessed over how much he ate. I still do obsess a bit as it can be a worry, and I continue to be baffled at where on earth he gets his energy from.

Every child is so different, I'd compare him to other children and like yours, he would eat at nursery! Don't compare, if he's happy in himself then relax. Or try to!

Turn the telly off and force yourself not to stress about it. Some kids are like this, mine was. He’s nearly 4 and eats absolutely fine now. It got gradually better and much better from 2 years old when he stopped breastfeeding.

My DC1 was quite like this, although I've never given her meals in front of the telly and child ready meals were used very rarely. She was still a rubbish eater though so I'm not saying what I did was right necessarily. Anyway just to say that 7 she's soooo much better. If I'd have known thAt when she was 1 I would have been so much less stressed. Also DC2 was always a better eater from the get go and we did exactly the same with them so that helped reassure me that it was nothing that I was doing. I have always ate with them though for the most part, they'd maybe eat alone one evening meal a week, if that. Eating together as a family is important for us but I accept it isn't for everyone and also it's not possible for some with work etc.

Turn off the telly and feed her earlier. Most of it will go on the floor and that’s ok. Bin all the pre-made UPF junk and give her real food. Give the baby led weaning cookbook a go? There is a HUGE amount of mess at this age. It’s totally normal. Make sure she’s not getting too much milk or she won’t be hungry.