10 month old hardly eats

[lottie198]

My baby Started weaning at 6 months, never really taken to it. He will have a try but never really eats to eat (satisfy hunger) if that makes sense. He had a period where he was eating more (for about 2 weeks) and now gone back to eating nothing. He will probably have half a yoghurt the whole day. I eat with him, give him the spoon to self feed (he refuses to be spoon fed) . He chucks food or flings it on the floor or keeps pushing it away and cries to get down and play. He's just over 10 months now and I guess I thought we would have made some progress but we haven't and I am tired of making meals for it to end up on the floor. We currently do 3 meals a day.
I'm thinking whether to reduce back down to 2 meals a day?
I offer a wide range of foods (I love cooking). So breakfast for example toast with different toppings, fruit, porridge, weetabix ,shreddies, scrambled egg. Lunch is different homemade soups, jacket with cheese and beans, pasta etc. yoghurts , smoothie bowls. Dinner is a lot of one pot dishes like cottage pie, fish pie, casseroles etc. The only thing he will reliably eat is yoghurt. He is teething and has been unwell so not sure if that's just completely put him off? I've never put any pressure on him to eat. I can usually tell how the meal will go down within the first minute.
He's breast fed and still loves his milk , feeds about 3-4 times daily and 1-2 times in the night. Weight I'm not worried he's 99th centile. I always offer food in between breast feeds - example - morning feed 6am, breakfast 8am, mid morning feed 1030 , lunch 1pm.
I know it can be normal but just wanted advice of whether to cut the meals down or not? Or any other advice?

[PritiPatelsMaker]

If he's unwell or teething I'd try not to worry. Give him a dose of ibuprofen before his morning feed as it's much better for dental pain than Calpol and a teething gel on his gums just before you offer the food.

Lots of BF babies do seem to take a while to get that food can satisfy hunger though.

[lottie198]

@PritiPatelsMaker

If he's unwell or teething I'd try not to worry. Give him a dose of ibuprofen before his morning feed as it's much better for dental pain than Calpol and a teething gel on his gums just before you offer the food.

Lots of BF babies do seem to take a while to get that food can satisfy hunger though.

I will try that thank you .
Really ? I wonder why that is with breast fed babies? X

[PritiPatelsMaker]

I wonder why that is with breast fed babies?

I've no idea. If I was to guess it would be that by 10 months most FF are used to handling the bottle themselves and are not necessarily held for every feed, so having food put in front of them instead of a bottle might not be such a huge leap. Whereas a BF baby will be held for all feeds so being put away from Mum abs given things to try might not necessarily make sense?

[lottie198]

@PritiPatelsMaker

I wonder why that is with breast fed babies?

I've no idea. If I was to guess it would be that by 10 months most FF are used to handling the bottle themselves and are not necessarily held for every feed, so having food put in front of them instead of a bottle might not be such a huge leap. Whereas a BF baby will be held for all feeds so being put away from Mum abs given things to try might not necessarily make sense?

Noo this can't be why. My baby uses a straw cup independently and will drink 4oz breast milk out of it. He's developmentally so ready for solids. He can pick up tiny crumbs , hold is own spoon and bring to mouth etc.
really not sure why he's not into food though.... he hasn't been from 6 months when we started.

[PritiPatelsMaker]

Ah well it was just a theory

Hopefully things will pick up once he's over teething.

[SLA2022]

@lottie198
Hi Op, have you had any improvements with your little one’s eating? We are in exactly the same situation with food. Offer a variety, keep it relaxed etc…
but it hasn’t clicked with our 10 month old. She doesn’t see it as something to satisfy hunger. Health Visitor today said that we need to reduce the amount of milk we offer which we will try but I’m always offering milk second and encouraging food as much as possible so not sure how this will actually work right now.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated if you have had some success!

[lottie198]

@SLA2022 Hi, sorry to hear you going through the same but please try not to stress as much as I did.
About 11.5 months something clicked and he was suddenly eating sooo much. I literally couldn't believe it. He was really enjoying his food. It definitely got better and wish I hadn't worried. He's 13 months now and not eating so much but will eat lots of fruit and veg. Just a bit picky but he's teething big time and also had a few illnesses.
But at 10 months I would say some meals he would've probably had one bite and I could've skipped a meal and he wouldn't of cared, but now, definitely no skipping meals and he also has 1-2 snacks depending on when other meal times are.
I wouldn't reduce milk personally (we didn't ) ,I think they naturally do it themselves. Just follow your babies lead. Mine still breast feeds 4x daily and a few times in the night too.
Hope this helps x

[SLA2022]

@lottie198
thank you for replying! Great to hear that things have improved. Trying not to stress and hoping that soon enough something will click for our little girl too! I figure that it has to at some point and in the meantime we just need to keep doing what we are doing (even though there is a lot of waste!)
Health Visitor just got me worried yesterday because she focused so much on food and need to reduce milk.

[lottie198]

@SLA2022

@lottie198
thank you for replying! Great to hear that things have improved. Trying not to stress and hoping that soon enough something will click for our little girl too! I figure that it has to at some point and in the meantime we just need to keep doing what we are doing (even though there is a lot of waste!)
Health Visitor just got me worried yesterday because she focused so much on food and need to reduce milk.

Honestly take no notice of HV, mine actually said the opposite and said that some don't start eating properly until 2!
The waste is phenomenal, especially when you've cooked them up a lovely little healthy recipe and it all ends up in the bin! Have you tried just putting 1 piece of food on the tray instead of the full meal?
Mine still gets overwhelmed now if I put down a bigger meal. But will eat more if I give bits at a time. He also tends to eat better when we are out in cafes for some reason. He's going through a bit of food refusal at the moment though but I'm sure it will pass.
Just try and stick to three meals consistently. Even though mine didn't eat much for ages and ages I carried on offering the food 3x a day.

[SLA2022]

@lottie198
Thank you for the reassurance. Just what I need to hear! I haven’t tried 1 piece on the tray at a time for a while (since the earlier weaning days). Will give that a go again.
I guess being in a cafe is less intense than being one on one at home and there are plenty of distractions while shovelling the food in! I have to say, I mostly avoid offering food when out other than a snack because I fear she won’t eat it and will just throw it around 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Tori93k]

@SLA2022

@lottie198
Thank you for the reassurance. Just what I need to hear! I haven’t tried 1 piece on the tray at a time for a while (since the earlier weaning days). Will give that a go again.
I guess being in a cafe is less intense than being one on one at home and there are plenty of distractions while shovelling the food in! I have to say, I mostly avoid offering food when out other than a snack because I fear she won’t eat it and will just throw it around 🤦🏻‍♀️

Hi lottie, was great to hear previous success story, I'm just wondering how you got on? I'm having the exact same issue and calling the HV/GP this week. My 9mo cries every time I offer food and offering lots of variety too! Thanks

[lottie198]

@Tori93k Hello
So my little one is 14 and a half months now and eats like a king! I honestly wouldn't have believed how well he would eat if someone had told me this 6 months ago.
The worry was for nothing.
Honestly , he didn't really eat until 11/12 months so 9 months is still so young. Just place some food down whilst you are eating and carry on with your dinner.
I've got to admit (even now) mine eats so much better when we all eat together. Sometimes we have to feed him earlier though (life).
He eats a good variety , just for an example, at 9 months he probably would've eaten a flake of salmon and a bite of pasta and then started throwing it.
For contrast for dinner tonight he ate half a salmon fillet, lots of orzo pasta in cheese sauce and about 4 pieces of broccoli , plus a yoghurt and raspberries for pudding.
He does go off his food when he's poorly and reverts back to a lot of breast feeds.
When he eats well in the day he generally doesn't have any milk through the night either which is great.
Keep me updated how your little one does and pls don't worry yet, 9 months is so young. Some just take ages to pick it up and develop an appetite for food.

[Tori93k]

@lottie198 Thank you so much this is so helpful! From reading all the help pages (like solid starts etc) this seems to be really unusual, so it's just nice knowing I'm not alone and there isn't something wrong!! Thanks for the reply and I'm glad it worked out for you!

[lottie198]

@Tori93k it's extremely common trust me.
What style of weaning are you doing?
Is baby breast or bottle fed?

[Tori93k]

@lottie198 he's bottle fed, and regarding weaning style I've tried everything!

[SLA2022]

@Tori93k it’s a month since I last wrote on this thread and sadly no improvements with my little one. She’s almost 11.5 months now. She doesn’t get upset when it’s food time but she has a couple of spoons or bites and then has had enough of the ‘activity’ 🤦🏻‍♀️ she’s super suspicious of any new foods I give her and often won’t try it at all until the 5th/6th attempt! She does have some ‘favourites’ but I’m just persevering for now and continuing to offer a variety. Im sure it’ll click one day and she’ll start to see food as a way to stop the hunger!

[Tori93k]

@SLA2022 oh no :( it's so hard! What has your health visitor said since? At the moment mine isn't even putting anything to mouth but I'm just hoping it will improve like it did for others on here!

[poppet131]

@Tori93k Has weaning clicked for your little one yet? X

[Tori93k]

Hi! He is so much better now, still quite fussy but does actually eat most fruits, bread and pasta, still working on savoury and potatoes etc. We went on an all inclusive holiday which massively helped as could just keep replacing and trying new food 😅

[Sashimito]

Hi all.

I just wanted to see how your little ones are getting on?

My DS is 10 months and has also not taken to food. We've strangely had a few days where he's eaten and I thought he got the hang of it, but generally he barely eats. In the last week it's so much worse, I'm lucky if he'll eat a mouthful all day.

Would be very interested to hear if your children are still struggling with eating, now that they're older.

[SLA2022]

@Sashimito
Hi! A little update on my daughter. She is now 21 months. Food didn’t really click for her until 13/14 months so you still have plenty of time. When I say ‘click’, it started to replace milk in the day to satisfy her hunger. She slowly accepted foods but very much still has her favourites and will definitely not accept the variety i’d hoped for (I love cooking and food!) Now it’s the case of her being a toddler and wanting to do most things including eating on her terms! I try not to put any pressure on it though and let her explore new foods if she wants it (always putting a safe food on her plate). Typically she eats most things at the childminder’s!
I would say try not to worry and just keep offering. I know it’s hard but some children will just take longer than others. Let him see you eat, take bits off your plate, play with food, offer food over milk first. My HV advised that I drop a bottle or offer less milk but I didn’t feel comfortable doing this and let my daughter lead the process with food. It’s good that’s he’s showing progress on some days. My experience is that it isn’t linear (just like sleep) and when my daughter is unwell, she totally goes off food.

[Swirls346]

My son is 2 now and he eats ok and maintains a good weight and is developing and growing well.
Some days he eats well, other days he eats very little. He will try most foods but if he doesn't like it won't eat it. He definitely has his favourites and doesn't like any meat what so ever. I still offer it.
I've learnt to let go and trust that he knows what he needs. Some days he probably has too many snacks which ruins meals.
Still breast feeding but only once or twice a day.
10 months is very young looking back. Feel like they don't start properly eating till a bit later, like almost 18 months.
Also a lot is personality dependent, nothing you can control. My friend's toddler eats so so much compared to mine. But they are both thriving.
Don't worry, it will all fall into place.

[Seeema2902]

@lottie198 @SLA2022 @Sashimito
hi there looking for hope, we are 8 months weaning hell, won’t be spoon fed gets very very upset when I try to do this so we offer the plate of food which he usually cries at, squishes food throws spoons and generally doesn’t really put much to mouth. On the occasional meal he may let me pop a little something in his mouth which is very short lived. I’ve read mixed things about offering solids first and milk after and various other things. But I feel so confused. It’s really affecting my mood and I feel so embarrassed taking him anywhere where I’ll potentially have to offer a meal. He’s due to start nursery in May, would any of you suggest switching milk for solids first and then milk after which is what I’m guessing will go down at nursery?

any advice would be lovely x

[SLA2022]

Hi @Seeema2902

Is your little one 8 months? If so, it’s still very early days for food. I know how stressful it can be when you see other little ones loving trying new food. My daughter was just not interested for a very long time. There can be many reasons why - it doesn’t always mean you’re doing something wrong. As hard as it is, try not to worry and don’t be embarrassed. He’ll get there.
Keep doing what you’re doing. You could try giving a little milk first so he’s not super hungry but equally not full before food. Try not to show any stress or anxiety and if he is getting upset, then just ease off for a while. Throwing food/spoons is all part of the learning. So is squishing it in hands etc. keep offering a few times a day. Sometimes taking the pressure off the situation for you and them helps - e.g place some snacks on the play mat so he can access it himself if he wants it. Let him see you eating and offer a taste (if the food is appropriate).
My daughter wasn’t keen on being spoon fed at the start so we let her try to spoon feed herself with those stubby self feeding spoons. She also preferred finger food to hold/gum. Nothing really went down for a good few months but she slowly got the idea of it and I’m sure your son will too.
As for nursery, a lot can change before then so try not to worry. My daughter eats really well with her childminder because she sees the other children eating too!

[Seeema2902]

Total lunch refusal, tried to give half a formula feed and then thought I’ll use the other half as a top up… he got really upset so I ended the meal for comfort.

SO hard, maybe he’s teething who knows x