11mo won't eat bloody anything healthy....help!!!

[BettyOff]

My 11mo DD was a fairly good eater when we started weaning and would have various purees, fruit and veg finger foods, anything involving bread or cheese and anything at sweet. She's now pretty much just eating weetabix, breadsticks, raisins and yoghurt.

It's driving me completely nuts as she won't try anything, she just throws it onto the floor and if I go near her with a spoon with anything other than yoghurt on it she thrashes all over the place. There's so much food going to waste in our house that it's an absolute sin.

I've tried pasta, rice, curries, stir fry, casserole, mash, cauliflower cheese, hidden veg sauces, soups, purees, roasted veg, boiled veg, steamed veg, veg covered in cheese sauce, raw fruits (pretty much all imaginable), mushed, pureed, veg muffins, fruit pancakes, sandwiches, things on toast, dried fruits other than raisins, package purees and baby foods and I'm pretty much out of ideas.

I'm trying really hard to keep mealtimes fun, I eat with her and play games to try and get her to try things but I'm just getting so stressed that she's getting no nutrients and I dread every single mealtime. I used to love going out to eat with her but now she just throws everything on the floor and has a breakdown so it's a misery now.

Help!!! Has anyone got any ideas to convince her to try things?

That all sounds very stressful, especially if she use to eat well.

I would say just give her the same food as you are having at each meal time, and let her do what she wants with it. Only give her a small portion - if she eats it you can always give more. That way you won't feel quite so upset if it all gets thrown on the floor. Although you could put something on the floor like oilcloth, or a shower curtain etc and just pick up anything chucked to give back to her.

It might take a good few days of letting her play with and explore the food before she starts to eat any. If she's getting plenty of breastmilk/formula then she'll be ok wrt getting nutrients. You could give her a multivitamin as well if you think that would help.

Don't play games etc to try and get her to try the food, just completely let her do what she wants with the food and try and remain absolutely neutral. Think of it as a learning and play experience rather than being about getting a certain volume of food into her. She will want to copy you and join in with mealtimes, so I am sure she'll eventually start to feed herself.

Thanks ExBB,

I eat my 'proper' dinner with DH when he gets in from work at 8pm but have a portion of whatever DD is having to try and encourage her. The problem is she doesn't try or play with anything, she just sweeps it immediately onto the floor and its been getting worse for weeks now. I just hope it's just a phase!

She's still breastfed and has multivitamins so hopefully you're right that she's getting enough nutrients from that!

My DTD survived for about 6 months on exactly the same diet you describe plus satsumas. I was everso worried, esp as othe DTD was very easy. GP said don't worry. No child will starve themselves, make sure she drinks well and keep mealtimes low stress.
I did keep her on formula a bit longer to make sure she was getting vits. She's 2.8 now and still a fussy bugger but I don't worry and don't get stressed at mealtimes anymore.

That is tricky, if it all gets instantly rejected. I would just keep offering I think, and hope that it is a phase that she will grow out of.

It sounds like you can give her a breakfast though, if she'll eat weetabix and yoghurt. Either of those with raisins is a decent brekkie, so I would continue with that. Maybe offering a different breakfast every now and again to see if she'll give it a go.

My what to expect book says this s normal at this age. Babies often reduce what they will eat to maybe one or two things. The book says just to go with it.
At least you know your daughter can eat well. My 10 month old has never eaten well. Went out today and bought a whole load of processed and tinned crap as he refuses all the nice healthy stuff I spend all bloody day making, so reckon If it is going to end up all over the floor I may as well put in no more effort than opening a packet!

This book might be useful. It sounds like you are doing brilliantly and I wouldn't stress too much. I think they go through stages.

When my dd did something similar at that age I used to just put a selection of finger foods on her tray, bits of veg, pasta twirls, cheese cubes etc and then I would take no notice of her. the more I tried to make a game I think she could sense my worry, so I would serve and then bust myself with cooking or washing up. She threw it around for a few meals, then after a few days she started to eat a few bits. After 20 mins I would just clear her tray and get her down.

Thank you everyone, as with all these things you think you're the only person in the world going through it at the time and all the babies I know IRL seem to be wolfing everything down. I guess it's just keep calm and carry on!