One year old doesn't want to eat

[cantlivewithoutcoffee]

We have had a bumpy journey with food due to teething and illness - started off well at 6 months but have taken steps backwards every few weeks as she has so many teeth already. We started with a mix of BLW and spoon feeding then when things were getting stressful (for me) at 8 months and I stepped back and went full BLW as I didn't want her to feel the stress every time she was sitting in her highchair.

It picked up around 10-11 months and we had a few brilliant weeks but all has gone backwards again and she is pretty much eating nothing (a few bites at each meal then spits it all out or throws on the floor). She has 3 breastfeeds a day plus plenty of cows milk but very little food no matter what I offer (she even refuses things she previously loved). I tried not offering milk but she just goes hungry during the day then wakes multiple times at night.

I've kept telling myself food is for fun before one but she is now one and I'm not sure what to do. Has anyone been in a similar boat? What did you do or do I just need to stay patient and wait for it to 'click'?

Anyone?

My DS refused all food until he was 14 months...and also refused to drink any liquid other than direct from my boob. We only made progress once I cut out all bf during the day and dropped the 4am feed as well. It was horrible - he spent about four days being really quite distressed, but after that he did start trying food. At 18 months I stopped bf altogether and his eating increased again - in glorious hindsight, I should have stopped earlier. TBH he's still not a great eater at nearly 3yo but we're getting there!

Thanks for your reply. I was worried that i need to go down that path to get her to start eating. She was quite unwell a couple of months back and went on a nursing strike - refused breast, bottle, solids and water - took a few days to get her breastfeeding and eating but she ate so well when she did start again.

Since then, we've had 3 more teeth come through so back to no solids again and no signs of improving either..

She's not a fussy eater (when she does eat!) , willing to try almost everything and has a few mouthfuls but then it al stops

Why not try little and often and let her graze rather than pinning your hopes on sit down meals. Our little boy seems to be more of a grazer and often tells us he's full after three bites of dinner so I feel your pain! It's great that she's willing to try lots of different food (ours loves anything beige and breaded. Don't even think of veg!) So keep at it and be kind to yourself. She will get there in her own time x

I feel for you, it was SO stressful at the time (I'm assuming you're the OP using a new name? 🙂). I was so reluctant to cut out bf and felt guilty about that - but then felt guilty about not being able to get my child to eat food as well! Obviously I can't tell you what's right for your DD but I do look back and think I could have saved myself months of worry if I'd been 'stricter'. It sounds like your DD does at least have some interest in food though so you have light at the end of the tunnel! Sounds like she's been through the mill a bit with teething and illness as well, so things might pick up quickly once she's 100% again. Fingers crossed for you!

We had a similar issue. Our paed consultant advised cutting down milk and it did the trick.

Cut down on milk and make food fun. I used to put natural food colour in nearly everything for a good long as dn would only eat pink food for a while from 12 months

Just to add, she was under the consultant because she was born growth restricted and prem, not for any food related reason. That also meant we were reluctant to deny her milk when she wasn’t eating food well because she was so tiny, but it was fine. She’s never been a great eater but does eat something now!

Thanks so much for all your replies.

@hangingkebab yes name change fail there! You are describing my feelings perfectly - I am reluctant to cut out breastfeeding completely but it is so easy to slip back into habit and just give the breast because I know it will fix the immediate problem. I also feel guilt at not being stricter and getting her to eat more solids as I know she can't get everything she needs from breastmilk anymore. No teething or illness at the moment (for now!) but she has eaten the grand total of 5 bites of cereal, a large banana, half slice of toast and a plum over the entire day despite me offering 3 meals and snacks.

I should probably add that we have had a really tough time with sleep so I do everything in my power not to let her go hungry so her sleep doesn't get affected - that has resulted in giving her cows milk before naps which probably isn't helping matters either as she knows she will get that if she doesn't have food

@HaggisMuncher I already give snacks and allow her to graze as otherwise she ends up spending the entire day in her highchair which isn't beneficial to any of us. Success is limited unless her snacks are fruit - I don't want to go down that path as fruit doesn't contain enough calories.

@Eurochick I feel similar reluctance because of her sleep rather than because of her size. Fortunately there are no concerns over her weight (although I look at her and wonder how she's gaining with such little food most days)

@RavingRoo, I try keep it as fun and stress-free as possible. Fortunately she is happy to try foods and when she did have the appetite increase after illness a couple of months back, she ate absolutely anything that was put in front of her and decent portions.

Seems like I need to bite the bullet and cut down the milk feeds and deal with the (hopefully short term) disruption to her sleep. How did all your babies sleep when you were going through this?