11mo feels like it's going backwards

[fififrog]

Feel a bit guilty for worrying about my DD when there's another thread where poor mum struggling to get anything at all down 11mo DC...

Anyway, DD nearly 11mo now, has been eating really good range of foods for months: curry, stew, pasta, couscous, rice, houmous, fish in sauce, toast, fruit, yoghurt of course, custard, fromage frais, mash+baked beans... Although she has definitely struggled with any attempts to make food lumpier. Doesn't have to be totally smooth (and happily eats pasta+bolognese) but if meat is not whizzed a bit she doesn't tend to like it.

Sounds fab, but this has been the status qui for about four months. In fact now she often refuses things she used to like and whereas before she'd usually try a spoonful of something now she often won't let the food near her. I feel like we're going backwards. To be fair we have had a couple of weeks of illness in the last two months but I just feel really despondent. I try to make meals I think she'll like for dinner and be more experimental for lunch to introduce new things, but most days she ends up having cream cheese on toast for lunch and about three spoonfuls of dinner before I give in and go for the yoghurt.

Is this sort of food regression normal? I'm sure it is, just finding meal times very stressful, patience is not my strong suit! When I read this sounds like I have little to compain about - I just expected progress towards normal meals by now!

This kind of regression is common, particulary when they've been ill as they learn that you're just happy if they eat anything and tend to give favourites.

With dd, if she didn't eat what she was given, took her out of the high chair and tried again half an hour later as sometimes it was just that she wasn't hungry. When she went back to it she was. She could always manage pudding regardless of whether she was hungry or not (something she gets from me, sadly!)

If your dd is eating toast and spread then she can manage lumpy, crunchy things. Could you try giving more finger foods to tempt her?

Thanks for the reply. I often do finger foods at lunchtime but have erred on the side of mush for dinner to make sure a decent quantity goes down! Maybe that's changing now, just as you get a routine going everything changes doesn't it? It is a bit hit and miss to be honest: usually eats: toast or bread or pita, banana, pear, ravioli or tortellini, organix pseudo monster-munch and gingerbread men. Occasionally eats fishfingers, blueberries, melon, tangerines. Nearly always refuses any kind of vegetable, burgers, pieces of meat or fish, sausages, felafel, mango, pineapple, any berries other than blue.

So other than bread+, the stuff she will eat is not really what I want her to eat for a meal

Obviously the filled pasta is ok for a meal too but she's refused the last two times (sigh)

Fickle aren't they :) You can find something they like and the next time they turn their nose up at it.

I've got one really fussy eater and one dustbin, but even the good eater will turn her nose up at stuff she's eaten before and then the next time be fine with it.