11mo won't eat

[doblet]

We have done a mix of purees and finger foods since she was 6mo. She has never been great at eating but used to accept a limited variety of foods. After a month of various illnesses and teething where she stopped eating for days at a time I feel like we are back to square one. She will eat, at most, one spoonful and then just spits everything out. I spend bloody ages whizzing up food for her and it feels like such a waste. Is it too late to try blw? She is EBF (also a bottle/cup refuser) and I would like to be dropping milk feeds soon as I go back to work part time next year

I know it is very hard, but try not to get too worried by it all. If she will only take one spoonfu, then dont make a fuss, move it away and give her something she will eat well ( fruit/yogurt or something) try not to fill up on milk, but really try to relax about it.

I speak from hard learnt experience. DS1 was just like this, I turned into the mother from hell, bribing, giving endless alternatives, crying, forcing, and ds1 eat virtually nothing. Eventually ( when he was about 2!!) i stepped away from the high chair, and let him be. It was v.hard , i left him to eat on his own so I wouldnt revert to bad habits, but now at 6 he is a good(ish) eater. With ds2, I let him take the lead, if he didnt eat anything, I didnt worry and even gave him pudding if he hadnt touched his main!! He went for periods where he didnt eat much, but is now a MUCH better eater than his brother ( he is 4) and will try most things.

Sorry this is an epic, but your post reminded me of ds1, and I wanted to pass on what I could.

Thank you for your reply. I don't get stressed with her and don't spend ages trying to get food in her when she clearly isnt interested (although I did in the early days). I do get pissed off spending hours preparing purees that just end up in the bin though. Reading these boards I know she will get the hang of it one day but I was wondering if there was another approach I could take.

It seems you have heard of baby led weaning? The other approach is don't bother with the purees. Give a bit of what you eat to your LO. If you didnt have to spend anytime making her food will you still be do upset? In you case you don't have to go all finger foods. If you are having soup, thicken it with pasta or bread and spoon feed. If you are having roast dinner, give her some roast spuds, strips of meat and Yorkshire puddings. It's really that simple.

DD doesn't eat brilliantly every meal. She's only 8mo so I don't offer alternatives since she will always have milk. But she gets a taste of everything.

My dd is now one and eats well but did have a phase of total food refusal, which in hindsight was probably teeth related. She still has days when not much gets eaten but like missmapp I've had to learn (and it really doesn't come naturally) not to get stressed/annoyed and just let her takethe lead.

If we have any future DC I would consider BLW, as I think we've got into a bit of a rut with the foods she's eating (see my thread!).

One thing that I try and remember is that babies won't starve themselves, so try not to worry. I know how frustrating it can be though.

Agree with lilham there is no need to spend ages cooking for an 11 month old, especially, as you say, its just going to waste.

Just give her what you have and if she eats it fine, if not then don't worry. Mine are older now and still eat little some days and more than me on others, we just try to look at how much they eat over the week.

As for starting back to work, I wouldn't worry too much about that. When my DD started Nursery she used to wolf down her lunch and have seconds and sometimes thirds. She still wouldn't eat much for us at all.