13 MO just doesn't eat :( help!!!

[Tee20x]

So DD is 13 months old and has always been a bad/fussy eater. EBF until 6 months old when we started weaning. Did traditional rather than blw & started with purées of simple veg - one new flavour a day so broccoli, asparagus bla bla bla. That went well, started combining flavours so maybe asparagus and potato or something & so on.

When she was about 7-8 months I would give her the same food as me just blended down so it was textured rather than full on lumps of food - again this was okay ish - she would try the food and sometimes heat it & that would be protein, carb and veg - but even then wasn't a good eater and wouldn't have a whole meal. Obviously weaning was fairly new to her so wasn't too concerned and she was still on about 2 milk feeds during the day anyway.

But now here we are at 13 months and this girl just does not eat. I swear I could not feed her all day and she wouldn't fuss or complain at all. At nursery she doesn't eat - she will perhaps taste the food, decide she doesn't like it and be done with it. She may eat some toast and fruit. And that's it for the whole day - I used to give them expressed milk, she would always refuse fo drink it so literally would barely eat all day.

Then in the evenings I will make her something as I'm aware she's barely eaten in the day - 9/10 she won't eat it. Even if it's something I know she likes and has eaten before. On the rare occasion she will wolf down a jacket potato and beans or something simple but most of the time just won't eat. The only exception to that is things like porridge, toast and fruit.

She has a dairy intolerance and I have an appointment with the paediatric dietician anyway in relation to that so will raise it there but in the mean time reassure me that she won't starve herself.

I mean I've seen her eat & if it's something she wants she will take it and eat it so I wouldn't say there's any physical reason why she won't eat. Like I said if it's fruit, something sweet or something off my plate like a sausage she might be more inclined to try it.

She has breast milk on waking up before going to nursery and again before bed. She also still feeds on and off during the night - I'm wondering if that's filling her up so she's less likely to eat in the day?

I give her a multivitamin obviously because she cannot be getting anywhere near enough nutrients from the amount she eats.

In any case, I keep offering her food, if she doesn't want it we get on with something else and then try again a while later - sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't, but I'm out of ideas and don't want her to starve!

The weird thing is that she's not small - she hasn't been weighed recently but is a pretty chunky baby with masses of energy. Even the nursery are confused at the fact that I tell them she doesn't really eat at home either because you wouldn't tell just by looking at her.

Advice!!!!!!!

[LittleBearPad]

Are you co-sleeping and do you know how much she feeds at night or are you asleep?

The most logical answer is she gets what she wants at night.

[LittleBearPad]

The other thing is - she seems to be thriving on whatever she is doing so I wouldn’t worry too much

[TooMinty]

Yeah, sounds like she's reversed it and gets all the calories at night. My DS did that when we co-slept and he could help himself whenever...

I did sleep training then night weaning and it went back the other way.

[Tee20x]

Yeah we do co-sleep, so not actually too sure how much she gets during the night. The thing is she doesn't seem to wake up that often maybe once or twice in the early hours? Or maybe she's that efficient that she doesn't wake me up.

I'm wondering if it may be worth night weaning to resolve the issue then? As the amount she eats in the day really is laughable.

I just can't get out of my head that obviously milk doesn't have all the necessary nutritional stuff (brain is dead can't think of the right words) in it and she really should be eating more "proper" food given the age she is now.

[TooMinty]

If she's a good size and full of energy then she must be getting her nutritional needs met. You will need to wean her off the breast eventually but doesn't need to be now if you're happy.

If you aren't happy then you could look at night weaning, it's harder if you are still co-sleeping though!

[RosieLee2019]

@Tee20x how are things with your DD now? I’m in similar situation with my 18 mo DS and he’s been like this for months. He’s just not really interested in food. He’ll often just have a couple of bites of whatever we give him. Every now and then he’ll eat a decent amount, but generally he eats minuscule amounts. He is still bf, mainly through the night, so I’m wondering if you ended up night weaning and did it help?

[Tee20x]

@RosieLee2019 Hey, DD is now just shy of 18 months & things have improved but still not great. I would say after making this thread I noticed a change about 2-3 months later. Randomly, DD decided she liked spaghetti bolognese & basically that's all she would eat which freaked me out - though was happy as at least there was veg & protein in it and it was an actual meal. Then I kind of laddered it, so thought she will have spaghetti, wonder if she'll have noodles - which she will have. Chicken she is alright with if I make a stew so that it's really tender. But she is still quite fussy so will only eat the same few meals on repeat despite being offered new stuff all the time. Half the time she turns her nose up at things but she's still miles better than she was at first as I seriously bought she was going to starve.

When I first noticed the changes I hadn't night weaned, so she seemed to have just turned the corner on her own. Though now I have night weaned and can't say I've noticed that much of a difference, apart from her being more hungry for breakfast which is to be expected.

I'm more relaxed about it now too though which I think has helped things massively. I very much look at it as if she's hungry if she will eat, if not try again tomorrow.

Also due to her dairy allergy we went to see a dietician and she basically said not to worry too much about daily intake and focus on intake over a week.

[PritiPatelsMaker]

That might not feel like it but it does sound like huge progress, especially as the allergy will probably make her nervous of new foods.

[Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas]

Sit her on your knee and met her eat of your plate
or put her in the high chair and give her exactly the same thing as you.

[Arthursmom]

I just jam food in his mouth while he runs about. Apple chunks, carrot battens etc etc