When should I worry about how much my LO eats?

[SleepyPud]

Just that really! My LO is 1 next week and hardly seems to eat a thing! He is where he should be for weight (approx 20ib) and has 3 bottles a day of formula (im trying to cut down).

But solids wise he's never been great! I'm trying to move him away from pouches and jars onto homemade stuff but he barely seems to eat anything. Except breakfast. A pouch he will eat half of one in a sitting.

E.g. today he had a bowl of porridge (5 scoops of the heinz fruity one), lunch was spag Bol I had leftover - he ate about 10-15 baby spoonfuls then a mini pot of custard, and tea he just ate half a slice of the mini bread that you can get - toasted with jam on. Snack wise he's had a mini biscuit and a few little crisps.

It sounds to me as though the little bits he eats are very sugary, and there’s not enough protein or ‘consistent’ food? Which should fill him up more and encourage him to eat more. Fruity porridge, custard, jam, biscuit… I would replace all that with fresh fruit. Sugar gives you the impression you’re full, but only in a short span of time. I’d try to introduce more foods that are both filling and have nutritional value, so he starts feeling more full from food, not only from milk?

Have you been regularly giving finger food? Does he feed himself?

Also wanted to say, baby led weaning is now very much encouraged but a few years ago almost no one did it. Your child might be one of those who doesn't actually grab chunks of food to try them, but if he’s receptive to pouches maybe he would’ve benefited from purées at home. Although at this age he shouldn’t only be having purées, but it’s important he gets used to ‘normal’ flavours of whatever you’re having, puréed or not. If he’s very used to industrial flavours, it will be more difficult to get him on a fully homemade diet. Start making small changes, one at a time.

@Fallagain I offer finger food for his tea daily e.g. toast or banana (or both) but he rarely eats it it normally ends up on the floor!

Have offered it since I started weaning at 6 months.

So lunch is usually a 'proper' meal like the spag Bol or a pouch of the like, then tea something finger food (that he rarely eats) - e.g. toast/banana/fruit slices etc.

I offer other things for breakfast too - scrambled egg, Greek yoghurt with fruit, etc.

@BHX3000 I have often tried making purees myself (didn't want to do pouches originally), but he would hardly eat a thing, whereas pouches he was good with.

He's never been great with finger food but I have been offering it since 6 months in the hope he would get used to it!

My 10 month old had today:

• Readybrek kids' porridge (so just ground oats) with dairy free milk and pear, toast with peanut butter

• scrambled egg, avocado, toast and dairy spread

• rice with peas, leftover shredded chicken and peppers and roast courgette, plus a bit of dairy free cheese sprinkled in.

He ate a lot of it and, aside from porridge, fed himself. He also had a bottle at 7, 11, 3 and 7. He's only on the 25th centile and very active.

If you want him to eat more and to eat himself:

Maybe try more roast veg etc as finger food - sweet potato is tasty and easy for them to get in as it mushes easily. Do you give him a chance to really sit in his chair and play with the food for a decent amount of time, rather than cleaning up quickly? Do you give him finger food before other food? If I was doing spag Bol I'd let him eat it himself with fingers initially as it's good for them to build skills.

Oh and mine will eat scrambled egg (cooked well) and beans with fingers too.

I'd try offering finger food at most meals/snacks, and probably put that down first whilst you make the spoon-fed part –he might not fancy the effort of finger food at tea time. I used to have a few little bits prepped in the fridge, so it was just a matter of grabbing a couple of cubes of cheese and some pre-cooked veg fingers to put in front of LO. (I also second the roasted root veg suggestion.)

To help easy him off the pouches, could you serve them with some added 'regular' food, like pouch spag bol with a bit of added regular pasta, pouch shepherd pie with added peas/carrots?