8 month DS off solids after D&V bug

[hodgiebreeder]

Hi all! An probably worrying about nothing but I thought I would consult the mumsnet jury.....

About 10 days ago DS had a nasty bout of D&V. Awful..... Poor little mite! Anyway, he now seems fully recovered. Hasn't been sick for a week and nappies more or less normal. Since he has been ill it seems his tastes hae completely changed. He used to be a great little eater and would try anything. He is now very picky and will only eat sweet things and probably only about half of the quantity that he used to. He is now having all his milk so I'm not worried about nutrition as such, but it's just such a shame as he seemed to really enjoy mealtimes and was doing brilliantly and really participating in family mealtimes. I'm sure he is just getting back into the swing of things but has anyone else experienced this? How long did it take your lo's appetite to return? In the meantime do you suggest offering what you know they'll eat (yogurt/fruit/rusks etc.) or will this encourage a sweet tooth. My instinct says as long as he eats something that's ok but dh disagrees and thinks if DS turns down the first option he shouldn't be offered an alternative. Any advice or reassurance welcome. TIA

Mine tended to favour fruit and yogurt when they were poorly, soon went back to eating family meals.

8 months is still really young and as long as your DS is having his milk and being offered a range of foods, I'm sure he'll soon pick up with the eating again. Hope he's better soon :)

That sounds perfectly normal to me. He's been really ill, doesn't understand why, it makes sense for him to be careful. I would offer meals as you did before he was ill, with something in the meal that you know he'll eat, even if that's a piece of toast or potatoes. I would not offer anything else as a second option. My DS1 has a very savoury tooth so not sure about your 'sure' list but could you not serve a lunch of bit of bread, chunk of cheese, slices of pear, etc so as to incorporate some fruit into his main meal and avoid it being the second option? It will take some time for him to start eating, still best to try to sit back and look like you're relax IMO.

It sounds pretty normal to me. If his nappies are still not quite back to normal he might still have a slightly tender tummy too.

I would sort of agree with both of you. He is still very little and mainly getting his calories from milk, so I don't think it actually matters if he eats much at each meal. So I would be wary of plying him with yoghurt just because you know he will eat it. The risk is that he gets so used to filling up on those things you have a battle to shift back. But I wouldn't agree with 'if he turns down the first option he shouldn't have another' - as Scaredy said I would offer a range of foods and what he eats, he eats. So if you normally give fruit at the end of a meal I would, even if he didn't eat the main course, but I wouldn't give lots of extra fruit/voghurt to try and make up the volume of solids (IYSIWM).

Also, have you tried giving him quite bland foods? After a vomiting bug you often don't want anything too highly flavoured?