10 months old - still prefers milk!

[hol92]

Just looking if anyone has had the Same situation.. my little girl still prefers her formula to solids, I try a mixture of spoon feeding and baby led, she won’t let me spoon feed at all hardly and baby led she just plays with it and throws it about, I see other kids her age having 3 meals a day and I just feel like a failure

Mine was like this well beyond a year, and nobody seemed remotely interested until about 13/14 months. Just keep offering a wide variety and keep tensions low - if you are anxious for her to eat/pushing it she will be less likely to want to! Offering food away from milk times can help so she's a bit more hungry, but unless there are significant health/developmental concerns in other areas she will eat when she's ready!

Comparison is the thief of joy!

Milk (FF or BF) should be the main food source of nutrition until 1 anyway, so don't panic. Has she had her 10m development review with the health visitor yet? You could always give them a call for reassurance if you need.

Do you eat with her, and the same food that she is eating? Sit with her and let her see you eating the same food. Let her play, if she picks it up, great! If she licks it, great! If she throws it, great! If she feeds it to you, great! She's learning what she can do and what she likes and doesn't like. She's learning textures and how to hold things that feel different, sticky slippery, firm, soft.

Take the pressure off yourself, don't make separate meals just for her (in case you were), let her choose something from your plate to try. Take the pressure off her, don't expect her to eat it. She will when she's ready.

Keep offering different things, revisit things you've already offered, eat with her. Let her explore. And offer her milk after solids.

You've got this ☺️

My son was like this. Ate very little solid food and also had a really strong gag reflex until about 12/13 months. But he would have loads of milk to make up for it so his weight was always ok. He started eating more at about 14/15 months and is now 11 and eats more than me!

My 18mo is still a bit like this and so was his big sister before him. I found when she was nearly two and could handle cutlery confidently, she ate way bigger meals. My ds can handle a spoon confidently so he'll eat rice or couscous but refuses stuff that requires a fork because it's frustrating. He's reluctant to use his hands unless it's something you're "supposed" to eat with your hands like toast. So for example he won't eat pasta because we're all using forks to eat it. He eats well at nursery because it's all stuff you can eat with a spoon.

Basically just give it time, kids do things at their own pace. As long they're eating well by about 18-24 months I think you're ok

Totally normal at that age, she is still getting the nutrients she needs from her milk so the solid food is as much about about learning, exploring, developing her fine motor and coordination and so on.

Keep offering a wide range, stay relaxed about it, and try (it's so hard I know) to stay focused on enjoying her and her development, rather than comparing to others.

My daughter was 13 months before she ate a meal. At 10 months was 90% milk fed but we made sure milk was separate from meals
Her daily routine was
She had breakfast (1/4 Weetabix if lucky)
5oz before morning nap
Lunch 2-3 spoons of food
5oz bottle before afternoon nap
Dinner - 3-4 pieces pasta, handful peas
8oz bottle before bed
1-2 3-5 Oz bottles overnight

She was 20 months before she ate enough to wean her off formula!

Try not to worry. They’re not going to be five and still only drinking milk. Let them watch you every meal time, give them bites of your food, keep going with the baby led weaning even if they just play with it. One day it will just snap and they’ll start eating with you.