My ten month old doesn't eat

[MollieCoddler]

Well, not much anyway. I started weaning him at five months and I feel I haven't succeeded yet.

I know food before one is for fun allegedly but I'm getting worried.
There is nothing he consistently eats. He likes playing with finger foods but not much goes in. He usually refuses meals. He cries a lot. He is on 75% for height and weight so no concerns about growth but it must be all milk. I am up multiple times in the night but he will only take small bottles night and day. His nappies are fluid and foul and I'm beginning to worry there's something wrong with his digestion.
Can anyone help?

Anyone? Reading threads on here I feel like everyone else's baby is eating loads. I managed to get a few peas down him at tea but that was it

I would talk to your GP about it and see if they think there is more to the loose poos or not. Also, please don't compare your baby to others - they are all so different, so there's no point to it!

In the meantime I would just try and ignore the amount that he's eating/not eating as much as you possibly can. Try and view mealtimes as fun and for playing, rather than for eating x amount of food.

If you don't already, then sit with him and eat the same/similar food. See how he gets on with feeding himself and leave him to it. If he starts to cry or get upset then I would just clear away and try again at the next meal. Just give him a little portion to begin with, he can always have more if he eats it. If he just plays with it and doesn't eat any then, again, just leave him to it and clear away after you've finished and he's had a reasonable amount of time. Try not to react at all to whether he eats anything or not, the less emotion around mealtimes the better.

I'm sure he'll come out of this phase soon.

Thanks, I think relaxing is important and I definitely started the weaning process relaxed but it just seems to have been going on forever.

I think part of the problem is he doesn't like being spoon fed but nor does he sustain interest in finger foods for long enough to actually eat much

I would persist with the self feeding if he dislikes being spoon fed. It may well take a while for him to get interested and learn what to do.

Offer colourful interesting food with lots of different textures, any kind of food not just typical "finger" foods. You could also try doing messy play when it's not mealtime - it could be help him get more interested in getting hands on.

Have you ruled out allergies? DS has dairy/soy allergies and solid foods were hard going. He had terrible poo and tummy ache so his appetite was crap. He was also up numerous times a night...

Have a look at my posting history- my dd only started eating at all at 10.5 months. She now manages at least 2 meals and 2 snacks at nursery, probably less when at home (breakfast remains hit and miss). At 12 months her portions are still small, and she still prefers milk really but will try anything. I was extremely stressed prior to going back to work and got very stressed reading about how all other babies were finishing jars of food when my little one would eat a few peas on a good day. However she did get there in the end.

Thanks milky way, that's exactly the reassuring story I was looking for! At least mine takes a bottle fine. Your returning to work scenario sounds like a nightmare!

Super worm no I have not ruled out allergies? How would I go about investigating this? He is definitely allergic to egg (skin reaction) so we now avoid this. I do think his nappies are not normal (he is my third child!) and I think he cries more than usual too. He had a very bad tummy virus over Easter - kept in hospital for observation for an hour - so more than a little bit ill. I wonder if the total loss of appetite is a hangover from this, but we had problem s before so it can't just be that

My DS is 11mo and only really just started to get it a couple of weeks ago. He now eats loads and has dropped two bottles out of the four. He sometimes prefers to graze throughout the day more causally (ie not in a high chair at the table) so I tend to leave things out (like cucumber, peppers, cheese, tomatoes, breadsticks, rice cakes etc) and he will just help himself as and when throughout the day as he is playing. He still sits at the table with us and sometimes he eats and sometimes not.

Before he was eating too much his pops were also loose and pretty grim, but with checking out at the gp as per pp suggestion of you are at all worried.

HTH.

ODog, thanks yes I live in hope he will get it soon. I do the grazing thing too, very messy isn't it! Mostly he just plays with it though.

Anybody with any allergy stories and what to look out for?

Sorry I've just seen your reply.

www.allergyuk.org/childhood-food-allergy/food-allergy-in-babies-and-children Allergy UK have some good info on allergies, especially delayed allergies gives a list of symptoms. The allergy board are useful too.

DS has a egg allergy too and can only tolerate baked egg but I didn't realise this until he was 2.5, the others were diagnosed from 6 weeks. Have you been to the GP for the egg allergy? They should send him for testing.

Thanks for the link superworm

I have not seen a gp about the egg allergy but I spoke to a hv who said as it was just a simple skin reaction I did not need to do anything other than avoid egg.
He does have eczema, not severe but quite bad behind the knees.

My toddler was very like this. My Hv said 'Food is for fun until they're one'. So just let them do what they like. Mine was a pretty rubbish eater until only recently (now 2y).

I would see the GP for the egg allergy as it's a bit more complex than just avoiding egg and you will need to challenge him (safely) as some point.
There's also no point avoiding all eggs if he can have baked egg etc but the dietician can help you with that.

Dairy and egg allergies often go together so may be worth thinking about?

Thanks for those thoughts Fitz. I think I'm fairly relaxed about it, it must be cheaper than having a baby who wolfs pouches by the dozen! However, I don't like getting up in the night and the allergy aspect is beginning to worry me. Tonight mixed some avocado with a small amount of tomato sauce I had made for our tea. He had 5-6 spoonfuls before giving up so I was pleased with that but then he had a skin reaction around his mouth. No egg so I'm wondering if it was the tomato or perhaps even the ingredients of the stock powder I had used. There was soya in that. The amounts must have been tiny though.
So yes I tjink I need to investigate further with the gp soup dragon
Apart from this he has eaten very little today. Sigh

I don't mean soup dragon, I mean superworm- doh!

DS would get redness around the mouth with certain foods, tomatoes, hummus, avocado, oranges and the allergist said that was normal in some babies as the histamine in their skin can be reactive. Hives, swelling, rashes etc are obv not ok and would be allergy related.

DS has delayed allergies to egg, dairy & soy. Soy is the worse. His main symptom are green, runny, acrid poo that burns his bum - little and often poos usually.

He's always been a crappy sleep but the night waking improved a lot once I really got on top of things food wise. He us actually an amazing eater now which I could never had imagined!

Well I hope one day to also be able to say that!

I'd look first of all at his overall milk intake and check he isn't having too much for his age (think at this stage it should be 20-25oz over 24 hours, ideally in 3 bottles) and do everything you can to cut out night feeds altogether - easier said than done I know. But with both mine, they only started eating properly well in the day when they weren't fed in the night.

My 6 month old is the same. 18lbs so big on just milk. Hates being spoon fed and finger food frustrates him and every mealtime ends in tears. It is worrying :0(

Barnet but the milk reduces in response to food intake not the other way round.

Mm, interesting point Barnet. I have monitored his intake in the past and it was a little less than recommended. I'd say he has no more than 25oz over 24 hours in general though it is definitely in more frequent feeds, more like 5/6 than 3! He has actually come down with a virus which explains why his appetite had been particularly bad this week. His appetite isn't great even when well though so it is a worry.
I'm reluctant to night wean until I feel he is eating more in the day.