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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

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Original poster

My baby hates my food.

57 replies

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 08:33

DS2 is nearly 8mo and pretty much hates all the food i cook for him. The only things he likes are smooth baby cereals mixed with milk, petit filous and jars of puddings.

He hates greek yogurt and pureed fruit, all the savoury annabel karmel recipes i have cooked (even the sweet potato and ones with apple in).

We attempted BLW but he choked badly 3 times and everyone seemed to hate it.

I have batch cooked loads of meals but i end up throwing the lot away and he cries and cries because he is still hungry. He is also going off drinking his milk so wants something more solid. He has had an upset tummy in the night after eating my food too.

I have a very difficult toddler with suspected ASD and MIL is dying and lives a way away, so for the last couple of months we have relied on packets/cereals of food and now i'm worried i have ruined his taste for real food. I have very little time to spend cooking and don't know what to give him.

He also hates jars and Ellas kitchen pouches.

OP posts:

kitkat92 · 21/04/2015 18:16

I had a similar issue with my son and to be honest he's still quite difficult with his food. After making loads of homemade foods and throwing them away I gave in and bought the plum pouches which I mixed with my own purees gradually reducing the amount of pouch I mixed with my food, which he ate the majority of the time. I think the issue was the texture more than anything. As for blw only do it if you feel comfortable, you could try giving banana as its smooth. It also sounds like your son likes sweet over savoury which happened with us too and you may have already done this but mixing the two together again can sometimes help and using the sweeter vegetables ( not sweet potato if he hates it ) it's all trial and error, but do what works for you and don't stress about it as he's only 8 months old and I've always been told food is for fun before they turn 1..you sound like you have a lot on your plate so if packets work for you then use them and introduce simple foods/ purees gradually when you have the chance x

LittleBearPad · 21/04/2015 18:34

Can he have a fork mashed version of what you're giving DS1? At least it isn't adding to your cooking workload. Can you try porridge with milk to get bm or formula into him.

I wouldn't stress too much as you have a lot going on and his taste for real food isn't 'ruined'. It's just a bit sweeter than you would like at the mo but that can be fixed in time.

Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 18:59

Thanks kitkat. That's what I have done today - bought plain cereal and mixed half my food with it. That seems to be an improvement but he still was looking into the kitchen as if to say there must be something better out there. After he ate half his fish pie he gave up and was crying for something else and opened his mouth really wide for half a petit filous. He wanted more but that's all I gave him. I will give him his night bottle in an hour.

Ds1 was so different he loved everything I made and ate it all up.

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Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 19:04

He wouldn't be able to eat the stuff ds1 has fork mashed yet. Tonight was chicken, mash and broccoli. The chicken would need to be blended I think and I made a chicken casserole with parsnip and apple to sweeten it and he hated it. So I don't know whether he would eat what ds has.

Ds is difficult in his own way too. He only likes mashed potato/swede and broccoli with various meats/casseroles.

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ElphabaTheGreen · 21/04/2015 19:07

DS1 had zero interest in food until he was well over 10 months and even now is a crappy eater. He was a total spoon-refuser as well so I had no choice but to give him finger foods.

Are you sure you won't try finger foods again? Your baby probably gagged impressively - I doubt he choked. Gagging is a necessary pre-requisite to trigger the brain to initiate chewing and to learn how to manipulate food in their mouths. I'm not a BLW militant by any stretch (I'd much rather spoon feed) but finger foods do serve a purpose in getting babies used to flavours and textures. How does he go with toast? Strips of omelette? Good old broccoli florets? He's highly, highly unlikely to choke on these, but may well gag/vomit if he has a sensitive gag reflex. You just need to learn to sit on your hands and keep trying!

MollieCoddler · 21/04/2015 19:12

My baby is like this at 10 months. With him there seems to be a whole range of issues and not just specific likes and dislikes, so teething, occasional upset tummy and an obsessive desire to control the spoon all seem to conspire to make him a poor eater. I avoid ready made pots because he has never finished a pot or a pouch - not even a quarter and it's such a wAste of money! I try to reduce my workload by giving him banana, avocado, easy finger foods like toast, ready brek and simple mash versions of what we have

Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 19:22

Yes, I think gag/vomit is probably more of a description. But a few times something did get lodged for a while and he was obviously in difficulty and then he yogged and brought up a lump of something followed by streams and streams of vomit, it came out like I couldn't believe, he completely emptied himself it was horrendous. He was distressed, as were we. Once was at my parents house and went on their carpet and they were not impressed.

I haven't tried toast yet. Also how long do you feed them for? It is taking about an hour per meal and longer when we tried finger foods. I just don't have the time to sit with him making sure he doesn't choke.

He is now refusing bottles in the day too so if he has nothing substantial I'm worried he won't be getting his nutrients.

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TwoLittleTerrors · 21/04/2015 19:34

No you don't sit with him for an hour with finger food!

I'm doing blw so it's all up to DD2. She eats while I eat. I clear away her food when I clear away mine. That's probably 20-30min? Lunch might even be only 15min as it was only me.

She doesn't have to eat what I put in front of her at all. In fact tonight's dinner she ate only the cucumber and ignored the egg.

TwoLittleTerrors · 21/04/2015 19:35

And somehow she's put on weight eating almost nothing. She's on the bottom centile line of the growth chart so I don't believe your DS could be skinnier than mine.

Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 19:52

Ha! No, that's the problem he's off the chart. He's over the 99.6 centile line and he's hungry all the time. He doesn't get full with the 'under 1 is just for fun' for him it isn't for fun at all, it's a very serious business!

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TheBookofRuth · 21/04/2015 19:52

My nine month old shared roast chicken, roast potatoes and broccoli with us for dinner on Sunday. Earlier that day he had a salmon and cream cheese sandwich for his lunch. You'd be amazed at what they can manage if you give them a chance.

MollieCoddler · 21/04/2015 20:14

You can buy these weird gadgets from Jojo mamN Bebe which you can put food inside and baby chews it through some mesh. No gagging risk. My baby likes satsuma pieces this way

mrsnec · 21/04/2015 20:46

Hi,

I was having a similar problem with dd. Same issues with AK recipes too and I also haven't had much luck with BLW either. I made one with lentils and coriander that I thought was delicious but dd was having none of it!

I have been adding home made things in gradually though and the other day she ate an entire bowl of something I cooked and I was absolutely delighted!

I had been worried she was going to get bored. At one point apart from fruit purée all she wanted to eat were those heinz dinners the veg and cauliflower cheese ones I discovered I could get a little bit more nutrition into her by mashing a hard boiled egg yolk into it.

The meal she had the other day was a blanched tomato blended with a bit of roast chicken,onion and potato.

I used a stick blender that time though whereas before I had been using the food processor or masher and I was wondering if the texture was her problem but I like the sound of that gadget Mollie.

I also wanted to say that for a while I was beating myself up a bit over using packets and jars but it's not going to be forever and it saved my sanity and made less waste in our case and our pediatrician didn't have a problem with it.

TwoLittleTerrors · 21/04/2015 20:54

mrskoala I guess you have the opposite problem of mine then . Why are you so worried about him not eating then? I guess I can't understand it as they are all so different.

Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 21:09

Because he cries Two, a lot. He's really hungry.

Mrsnec he like that cauliflower and broccoli cheese one and the Mediterranean veg one that I thinks Heinz do.

It has been costing me £40 a week in food as he eats half a packet at a time

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LittleBearPad · 21/04/2015 21:52

Surely you don't need to chuck the rest of the packet away? Can't you put it back in the fridge for the next meal.

Artandco · 21/04/2015 21:55

I would just give him the chicken, mash and brocoli. Just give the chicken in thin strips, over cook brocoli a bit, and mash potato. Give in bowl, eat your own, take away at the end

Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 21:57

No sorry LittleBear, i'm not being clear. He eats half a packet of these at a time. 4 times a day.

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Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 22:00

What about when he's crying for food Art? We did try some foods like that a while ago but he just smushed it about and then cried for food.

For breakfast today he had 2 weetabix and a large banana mashed and 7oz of formula.

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Quitelikely · 21/04/2015 22:02

Sounds like he prefers smooth foods.

Weetabix
Scrambled egg
Brown toast
Sugar free jelly
Houmous sandwiches - cut into little pieces.

Do try to let him feed on his own.

Quitelikely · 21/04/2015 22:02

Sorry mrs k X post

Quitelikely · 21/04/2015 22:03

Would he eat the banana if it wasn't mashed?

Quitelikely · 21/04/2015 22:03

Packs of raisins?

Artandco · 21/04/2015 22:04

I would just give milk before food so he isn't starving and frustrated when you give food.

Does he really eat x2 weetabix and a banana? That's a large adult amount surely?

Sorry but those packets are just refined carbs so won't fill him up long and little nutrition. Try a mashed up avocado with breakfast and some scrambled egg or similar. They will help keep him fuller for longer as well as great nutrition

Original poster

MrsKoala · 21/04/2015 22:07

I have given him a banana unmashed and he just squeezes it and cries

i will try again in the morning. I might try toast too. I know i have to be a bit firmer as i don't want to go down the same route as ds1 who still needs to be fed and only eats mashed veg and wet food (altho he has asd and sensory issues so it may not be entirely my fault).

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