Hates food!

[weaningwoe]

My almost 9 month old absolutely hates food. Started trying with BLW at 7 months - he wasn’t even picking food up from his tray so I panicked and tried purées.

He tried a spoon or two the first few days but now point blank refuses. He’s more interested in playing with the straps on his high chair.

I’ve tried to stay calm about it and not make food an issue but I really am starting to worry now. He’s had illness and illness through the winter so that has obviously set him back.

If it’s relevant, he drinks around 5/6 8oz bottles a day.

He's not going to have any room for solids with that much milk!
I'd cut right down on the bottles, maybe 4x 7oz.
Offer food first then milk an hour or so later.

Far too much milk for him to want any food!!

What's your routine like at the moment?

I was doing 3x 7oz a day at 6/7 months then down to 2x 7oz a day about 9 months. Made a MASSIVE difference to sons food intake and sleep!!!!

7.00am - bottle
8.00am - nap on school run
9am - ready brek/weetabix
10am - bottle
11am - nap on school run
12.30 - bottle
1.30pm - purée lunch/finger food
3pm - nap on school run
4pm - bottle
5pm - purée dinner/finger food
8pm - bottle

That’s about the jist of it. Give or take an hour or so on the bottles. He rarely goes more than 3 hours without a bottle.

Quite difficult to time food right really. He’s been a cat napped from day 1, he still has to have a nap between bottles or he doesn’t know what way’s up!

I'd do breakfast as soon as he gets up
Nap
7oz bottle when he wakes
Nap
Lunch at 12.30pm
7oz bottle before school run
Nap
Tea at 5pm
7/8oz bottle before bed

Agree with all before I had exactly the same problem with my 9 month old and I switched the schedule to give him food before milk now so he has breakfast milk; lunch; early afternoon milk; tea and then dinner before milk and bed. It’s made a massive difference to amount of food he takes on and he has halved his milk consumption

Will he be uncomfortably hungry if he barely swallows breakfast though? Or is it just a case of sticking it out until he realises that food will satisfy his hunger?

How about starting with something like cereal or baby rice made quite smooth with his formula so it is a familiar taste? Or a bit of formula in a sippy cup?
Yoghurt in a pouch that he can suck from might be better than spoon feeding and will satisfy hunger.

If you drop his milk he be hungry for solids pretty quickly! X

Do not give him baby rice is nutrionally worthless, if you want to give him something like that give him porridge

Or how about just leave it and try again in a few months. If he’s satisfied on milk he doesn’t need solids yet, he’s still young.

Of course rice isn't nutritionally worthless Do you mean you think it is harmful? Rice is carbohydrate, it provides energy and is filling, and baby rice is fortified with vitamins and is designed to offer a thicker version of a baby's normal milk.

Lady, babies need solids from 6 months, this baby is 9 months and should be having 2-3 solid meals a day now.

@MollyDaydream I'm not talking about normal rice I'm talking about baby rice specifically, all it does is fill the child's stomach, absolutely pointless.

39% of the carb intake from one portion is made up of sugar.

The "added vitamins" you mention is 0.1mg of thiamin, barely something to write home about.

Absolutely pointless food. @MollyDaydream

Baby rice is about all he will tolerate so far. As you said @Molly, down to the familiar taste. He will on occasion, swallow some ready brek, but that’s for the same reason, I imagine. I’d hoped to have moved on from baby rice at this point but if it’s swallowing practice he needs then I’ll keep using it for breakfast.

He has a dairy allergy so yogurt is out.

I gave him an Ella’s sweet potato pouch yesterday and he ate about 5 mouthfuls of it. Tiny little traitor. Maybe it’s my cooking

Baby rice and pouches are fine if that's what he'll eat, you want to get him taking something other than milk. You can build up to other textures and flavours.
I'd give something you know he likes for breakfast, you can add mashed banana maybe to rice/cereal? He probably just doesn't see the point of food at the moment if he isn't hungry.

Thank you for your help. I’ll give it a try tomorrow and hopefully will start moving forward!

You can get non dairy 'yoghurt'

And yoghurt was first thing DS ate in any quantity

My 10 month old was happy to eat but had gone through periods of going off food entirely. He was on 3 meals a day and then basically refused everything except a few mouthfuls (and milk) for a good few weeks. Just found out his top teeth are coming through so think this definitely had some impact!

@Molly

Thank you so much. What a revelation. He’s up to 3 full meals a day and will give any finger foods a good go. He’s still probably taking too much milk but he’s eating lots of food so I’m happy.

Thank you again, your advice was brilliant.

I am really struggling to feed my 21 month old.Just isn't interested and has never really been a big eater.Takes a mouth full then just wants to play.She is healthy and running around but I get so frustrated as would love to know she has a full tum.Now she is burning off calories I want to know she has enough.
Any tips? am hoping that her appetite will just eventually kick in Thank you

My dd was the same. She didn't want food if milk was available. So I started to not make milk until she had eaten in the morning. I kept at it. I didn't lovingly make food for her to throw on the floor because it just added to the disappointment.

She's nearly 10months now and has stared to take more food instead of just playing with it. Keep going and try to give him food when he hasn't had milk.