Please help me, 10 month old won't eat anymore. Feel like such a failure!

[DamnTheManSaveTheEmpire]

It's been 4 weeks now and she refuses all solids bar 3 spoonfuls of baby porridge/muesli/cereal and bread. That's it.

She used to be a fantastic eater and was TW and BLW so had lumpy purée and finger foods from the start. Lumps are not a problem as she previously would hold finger foods and bite and chew no problem.

Here is our food and milk schedule, please help me. I am in tears everyday over her not eating a single bite anymore!

6-7am 200mls
9am breakfast
11am 150mls
1pm lunch
5pm dinner

I try to offer healthy snacks in between lunch and dinner and everything is refused, including fruit which she used to love. She'll only tolerate a bit of bread.

The hv are not concerned as she is still gaining weight but vet very slowly (2oz a month). I am very worried.

Should I take her to the gp?

Every meal time is a disaster and she is in hysterics from seeing her high chair.

I have tried seating her on my lap, away from her high chair, eating with her, being calm. 95% of meals are homemade so are tasty and shiuldn't be a "bland" issue.

I feel like such a failure!

I feel for you - I've had patches like that with DS (11.5 months)

You are not a failure, this is just a phase.

Is she bored? After weeks of trouble with DS, where I sometimes resorted to putting the teletubbies on just to get him to eat once a day, we realised that half the time he's bored. He spends all day exploring but then we put him in the chair and make him eat, which, apart from a few occasions when he's starving, seems to bore him

So now we strive to entertain the little prince him whilst he eats. TV if I'm by myself and songs and toys aren't distracting enough... or DH crawling around on the floor growling works wonders

Just as a side point, I really wouldn't worry about the weight (especially if HVs aren't worried) - DS is exactly the same. Since he started crawling his weight gain has really slowed and since he began walking, it's completely stationary. I think this is normal - certainly if you look at weight charts they start to slow down from 9 months.

I thought DS would eat more once he started walking but he doesn't and friends have told me the same.

Thank you, she's been crawling since 6months 3 weeks and started taking her first steps last week although not walking very much yet. The hv said she should want to eat more since she is so active which makes me worry even more. She is 91st for height and 75th for weight (although ATM she s just below) and very mum i meet always comments on how slight she is even though she's over 20lbs.

Is she too skinny??

I locked the safety gate in the living room today and cried in the bathroom. I feel like such a failure my poor baby hasn't eaten hardly anything in a month!

I try singing to her and I might get a mouthful in, but I've tried feeding her on my lap and even that makes no difference. Maybe I should try the tv thing?

Forget the high chair for a bit - try different ways of eating. Small bowl of bits (toast, fruit etc) just left near where she is playing for her to dip into, plastic tub of bits in hte buggy, picnic etc
Sit her next to you when you are eating your meals, or on your lap and see if she shows any interest in what you are having. I found my DCs often found my meal far more appetising than theirs - even when it was exactly the same thing!
Is she teething - that might be putting her off food?
My DD was a real pain with food and I was always in tears - try not to make it an issue though, they really pick up on it. If she really doesn't want it take it away and move onto something else. She is still ahving her milk so she really isn't going to starve at this age

She is teething a bit ATM and getting over a cold so that might have put her off her food? It's dinner time in 25 mins so going to sit her next to me on the living room look and see if that makes any difference. Fingers crossed.

SUCCESS! Thank you all! I took your advice seeline and itched the high chair we has an indoor picnic on the living room and she ate everything including a desert!! So pleased! She must associate the high chair negatively so will need to work on that but so pleased she ate her dinner!

This was the only way DD would eat, and still is. Dolly has to share every meal.

We are going through this exact same thing. Google 10 month baby food regression. Apparently a lot of babies start refusing at this age, it's because there is so much going on in their lives developmentally. Dd was fantastic eater and in last few weeks I've been struggling to get her to have more than 300ml milk all day and only a few spoons of food. It's been horrible. She would screw her face up even before she'd tried it. We seem to be getting somewhere now though. I've been playing lots at meal times and throwing her food everywhere which she thinks is hilarious. I've also been giving her her favourite foods (yogurt and rusk) and just sticking to those even though I've not been happy about it she's perked up at meal times. What has made the real difference is finger food, she's always had it but in the evenings she has what we have, casserole, bolognase etc and so comes on a spoon. Since I've been giving her only finger food her appetite has picked back up and she's having a good amount of milk too. You really have to try and figure out what works for them, they're constantly changing so don't think you've ever got it sussed!

So pleased it worked DamntheMan! Hope things are still going well. I know it is really hard, but try not to let your DD realise how stressed you get over this. I'm sure my DD used to and then used to try to wind me up even further. Now she is 8, she still does this over lots of things!!

Thank you seeline she is eating a good breakfast and dinner, but not really any lunch but at least she's eating two good meals plus formula so makes me feel a lot better