nearly 8 months - very active, won't eat

[MrsLionHeart]

DS2 will be 8 months on Friday and won't eat food. He has been crawling for about 7 weeks, pulling up, and is now standing alone and I am finding it extremely difficult to keep up with breastfeeeding such an active baby. I've browsed the threads on this board of other moms with kids that don't eat and seen that most of them have a small repertoire of foods they will take. Mine cries like he's being beaten after one or two teeny weeny spoons. There have only been a handful of occassions where he ate what I consider a decent amount of food (usually only about a small ice cube, sometimes two). He will put small bits of food in his mouth before spitting out - pasta twists, bread crusts, mixed veg, and will sometimes chew on apple, banana or rice cake, but his interest is short lived and he doesn't actually get any nourishment from this. I started weaning at 5 months and one week, so expected he would get better by now.

Would probably be fine if he wasn't so active. His weight is fine (both my boys are big, above 90 percentile, which means high caloric need), but I feel I am withering. I have been needing a fourth meal lately, and been in bed most of today - feel it is affecting my immunity. Nipples also getting sore from the frequent vigorous feeding, and DH is talking about supplementing with formula, which I really don't want to do. Any advice?

Hi MrsLionHeart, not sure how much help I can be but here is my situation...
DS3, just over 10 months, EBF, started weaning at six months.
He is also v v active, very nearly walking. I sit him in his high chair for meals and get the same response as you. I think he looks at me and sees milk, quick and easy meal, minimal effort, then can get back to exploring. So he kicks up a fuss.
We are therefore offering four or five quick meals a day. I get the food ready before sitting him in his chair. He'll often eat better for DH too, think he realises there's no milk on offer! If however all else fails I will just offer BF. We've decided to work with the situation. Think it could be v miserable all round if we got stuck following routine etc

We often try and get a fruit pot in if he's sitting still! I think Hipp and organix do them and I have them stashed in the car and nappy bag for opportune moments!

Have you tried given him real food instead of just a bit of pasta or crusts or veg? My DD won't eat any purees (aka baby food), but will happily chomp away things we eat. Things like roast dinners, sausages, casseroles, etc. I'm sure it's because adult food tastes nice, while baby food are a bit bland! In other words, try having the same meals at the same time with you? At 8mo, and especially since he's pulling up and nearly walking, he should have enough dexterity to eat anything you offer.

Poppycat, I wouldn't consider fruit to for such an active baby for calories! Surely apples and pears are less filling then milk if you think about it.

Hi Lilham, I wasn't suggesting the fruit for calories, I'm aware B milk vs apple/ pear is a non contest! More to keep exposing DS to lots of different tastes, and textures.

Also I'd always try and eat with DS and share food,got a great masher from amazon for about £5,

Thanks for the replies. Poppycat, good to know I'm not the only one in this situation! Will try having DH feed him. We do eat dinner together nearly every day (well, he sits with us while we eat!). I do share our food when I feel it is appropriate - although I do accept BLW, I don't feel everything is appropriate at this age. We also eat quite a bit of spice. He'll be introduced soon enough - people are surprised what my 2 year old will eat, but don't want to introduce too soon. He did eat (swallow) a bit of bread today and even half a bean and a tiny smear of chicken. Hope we will turn a corner soon!

My 7mo dd2 is also like this. Starts whingeing as soon as a spoon and/or finger food appears. 3-4 teaspoons being swallowed constitutes an amazing meal in our house (and she is getting our mashed up food ie nice stuff not purees!) BLW completely rubbish as well (at this age)

Personally, I would introduce a tommee tippee cup of formula during the day. Just to give your boobs a tiny bit of a break. I found constant feeding with DD1 make me ill, it zaps all the nutrients out of you then you end up with every cold going. If you just view the odd beaker of formula in the same way as you'd view, say, a yoghurt, then it's really not too bad. It's just another foodstuff.

i have a 10month old who was like this and has been very active since crawling at 7months. i was filling him with porrige, rusks dissolved in milk, fruit pots with baby rice.

the last few weeks he's started screaming for exactly what is on our plates so i now have to have something he can have - mainly toast or sandwiches so he's eating a lot of bread now. he devoured a huge piece of pizza the other day as well, just because it was what we were eating.

i think it's a developmental thing and if you can then hang in there for a few more weeks. my ds dropped night feeds and started eating loads more solids around 9months. he practically threw bottles of formula across the room in disgust at 8months but will now have a proper feed from them.

MrsLionHeart how is your DS doing now? Mine sounds almost identical to how yours was back in Dec. Zero food was good. He's formula fed though and still loves that, so at least I know he's getting the nutrients he needs. Regardless of the nature of the food (simple, complex, flavoured, bland, mashed, pureed, finger food) I can't get it passed his clamped lips. At least NaturalBaby gives me some hope that we'll turn a corner one day. Until then it seems like a real uphill battle, where I simply throw food away, having made DS cry 3 times a day. Porridge & pear/apple seem to be the only palatable items & yep 3-4 spoonfuls is considered a real success!!! Please let me know how you get on & if anything's changed.

I came on to post about the same thing! I'd also like to hear about how you're getting on now, a month or two down the line.

Ds2 is 7.5 months and just not interested. I've tried pots and homemade purees and any finger food is gagged on.

I tried a piece of toast today and he bit a piece off immediately and then choked on it (proper silent choking, not a bit of gagging).

I'm finding weaning immensely stressful (and did with ds1 too), and just haven't had this lovely experience that you hear others posting about.

I suppose I know he'll get there eventually because ds1 is 3 and eats well now, and wasn't a great eater as a baby, but don't remember him being quite this bad!

But in the meantime it deels like its never going to happen and I'd be really grateful for any advice or success stories!