my 9 month old only wants to eat pureed puddings

[kathrynv]

Hi, I have a 9 month old baby who up until about a week ago was doing pretty well with solids. He likes his food to be a quite smooth puree consistency but was doing well with flavours and more adventurous ingredients (fish, chicken, lentils etc). But, he has quite suddenly stopped eating anything savoury and gets really upset if I try to thicken consistency or introduce any little lumps. All he wants is pudding. It's all healthy stuff; fruit and yoghurts etc but I'm worried he's not getting a balanced diet of protein/carbs etc. I'm also finding those resolutely pursed lips pretty frustrating at mealtimes. Any advice out there?

Have you tried finger food? soft carrot sticks, bread sticks, pieces of toasts, small bits of boiled potatoes, rice with vegetables, things that he can just play with and put in his mouth? It gets messy but it's the next step I think from puree. Also, the trick is to put the food in front of him and let him experiment, without stressing out about it. You can also give him whole ffruits, like pears for example, just take the top/bottom out and he can lift it, bite it, and eat what he wants. Very messy...

Don't get upset, they go through phases, mine lived on yogourt for about a month at that age. How much milk does he drink? maybe reduce milk a bit more, not drastically.

Hi, my 8 month DS is going through a difficult eating phase just now where he was refusing to eat almost anything at all for about 10 days ish. But i found that he would eat finger foods fine (nibble at them anyway), especially cheese and rice cakes. He would also have bit of soft fruit but I was worried like you that he wasn't getting enough protein etc. Have you tried scrambled eggs? I tried that for the 1st time this morn and he actually ate them fine! Also, I discovered that if I feed him savory stuff with my fingers he takes it even though he won't eat the same thing off a spoon. Maybe try to do this with savory stuff? Or try to mix in savory with his pudding? You could offer eg carrot sticks dipped in apple sauce or something...?

Hi both,

I gave him a bit of fresh mango this morning which he ate a tiny bit of but he didn't eat any of his porridge breakfast. He normally has 4 bottles a day and drinks between 5 and 7oz each time. I don't think that's too much is it? He's quite big (21 lb, 9.5 kilo). He seems a bit out of sorts this morning. He wants more milk than usual (because he hasn't really eaten breakfast) and I think I can see a line in his gum where a tooth is close to the surface. Presumably teething would make him go off his food a bit and I should just indulge his need for more milk/less solid. What do you think?

Within reason, I would take your lead from your little one. As long as he is getting his fluid intake, I would not worry too much. Perhaps he has a slightly sore throat right now or is just really into yoghurt! You mention teething - this could well affect how he is feeling about what goes in his mouth - sore gums are not fun poor lad.
Personally I think it is better to allow him to go back to slightly smoother food and milk than make food into an "issue". If the weather is hot, do you think he might be more thirsty and worth trying a big drink of water first and then some food? Another thought is to indulge his love of yoghurt but for the last bit in the pot (once you know he has had a decent amount) give him a "food spoon" to use - cucumber stick/celery/carrot/apple etc - to dip into the tub and suck on. Gets them holding and licking other food in a gentle form of subterfuge. Also, I added yoghurt to almost everything for a while - big dollop added onto some rice (yucky I know but if it helps...) and then stir in with a little rice slowly adding more. Mine fell for it.

My dd got a bit of a taste for yoghurt and wouldn't eat anything else for a few days so I stopped giving it to her and she started to eat all of the other stuff again. He might want to have a chew on a piece of toast if he is teething. Or cheese.

Teething may mean he wants to bite into things. Once at the same age my ds swiped an cube of frozen broccoli and gnawed away on it like a hamster.

I took the hint and introduced more finger food.

I do understand how infuriating it can be, especially when you have prepared something and they act like its plutonium or something.

Do you give him anything else to drink? Water? maybe he's just not feeling well.My DS1 always stops eating if he has a bug, or a cold (whereas DS2 eats anything, anywhere, never stops...). They don't 'need' that much food., as long as you offer someting they will eat whenever they need to. fingerfood is great because they eat what they want, and play with the food more than anything, it's good for their coordination and if they get something in, great! Good luck. I have two children one is very fussy and the other one is a great eater, and it's not down to me, it's just their personalities/bodies are very different.

Hiya, have you tried to put a bit of mango in the porridge? Or do a sneaky manouvere like the front half of the spoon mango puree and the back half porridge? I'm not sure if the amount of milk you are giving is too much as I bfeed so not sure how much my wee guy gets, however I recently reduced his milk (only offering 4x/day rather than 7x/day) and he has started to be interested in solids again, I'm not sure if it's related or not but it might be worth a try with your son? However, I think it's important to go with his lead too as you don't want him to get upset and hungry either, my DS was fine with the dropped feeds (the ones after his meals or rather his attempts of meals). If he didn't eat ANYTHING at all at meal time I would also just give him milk instead but then not give anything til next mealtime.

I think you DS's teeth will prob be an issue too, I think this is the same for my DS- 8months and still no gnashers!

Oh just thought too, are the sweet things you offer cold and savory hot? Maybe try offering cold savory too as this may help soothe his gums?

Hi, thanks for all the advice. I'm really hoping it's teething as I'm getting a bit frustrated but really want to make mealtimes relaxed and enjoyable for him not fraught. Yesterday was slightly better after following some of the above advice, managed to feed him some broccoli in cheese sauce as well as pudding while he played with his finger foods which seemed to have been a bit of a hit. Today he's really hardly eaten anything again apart from some mango and banana. He isn't fooled by me putting fruit into his porridge but will always find room for one of those Organix Banana Porridge pots, so that's what I resorted to this morning. Most things I give him are room temperature. Good idea though, I'll put his dinner in the fridge to see if he finds it more appealing.

One other thing. He seems to enjoy finger food and puts things in his mouth and chews (cucumber, carrot, rice cake, bread) but very often then just leaves it there in his mouth. Sometimes he gets a bit upset like he's not sure what to do now and it hasn't occurred to him to swallow. Is this just a normal developmental thing?

I would really recommend Ella's sachet foods which you can buy in Tesco - my DD is very fussy but loves these and they are organic fruit and vegetables with no added ingredients....honestly try them.......I have recommended them to all my friends...I wish someone had suggested this to me!

Thanks becka. By coincidence I did get a couple of these a few days ago and he does seem to like them. And a tooth has appeared, so hopefully things will start to get better again!