Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Weaning support

14 replies

pg1 · 27/03/2023 12:42

Thank you in advance for reading.

My LG is soon to be 11 months and our whole feeding journey so far has been a slow one. I'm looking for any tips or even just stories of things getting better!

She will happily sit in a high chair, pick up foods, and put them in her mouth. I have tried previously spoon feeding but she seems to prefer being able to handle things herself (or gets too distracted by the spoon itself) and it means I can eat at the same time!

Snacks I tend to offer with her either sitting on the floor, or I hold her and hand feed small pieces. She is able and very keen to pick up and eat cheerios herself and she will share raspberries or banana with me. I am confident she knows how to chew and swallow when she wants to. She is also happy to drink water, especially from an open cup.

She had a severe tongue tie which was divided early. I've got no idea whether that can or is affecting things. Or whether once it's treated then things should be same as other babies. She has always been able to bottle feed fine but we were never able to breastfeed. I found this very hard emotionally. Which is definitely still affecting me now, I'm trying my best to be positive about food and meal times, but the fact that things are going so slowly just makes me feel like I've failed again.

She's always seemed very happy with milk, and it's still as if she wouldn't be too fussed if I didn't offer her any solids all day. Any time she's awake and I'm eating something she can have I always offer some. I'm trying to just provide as many opportunities for her to try different foods and not worry too much.

Thank you again. I'm not overly worried myself as I know all babies develop and do things in their own way. It's more other people asking for questions that's getting me down (shouldn't she be...by now etc) and it's feeling quite lonely.

OP posts:
Tillytilly5 · 27/03/2023 12:53

Someone told me that "food before one is just for fun" and I do think it's true. My son was pretty keen on eating at that age but honestly I don't know how much actually went in despite everyone's efforts, so even the ones that look like they're eating a lot may not be having much more. I'd say just keep offering lots of choice and she'll come to it. Sounds like you're doing all the right things.

Is she still growing well and does she have plenty of energy? As that's what really counts and might help you be more confident in how you're doing

And on the tongue tie and feeding, try not to beat yourself up about it. I had exactly the same here and it took me a long time to get over it. I wish I'd been able to come to terms with it earlier as I wasted a lot of emotions on it and now he's 2 and a half you'd never know which toddlers were BF and which were bottlefed. You made the right choices for you and your baby at the time and that's all you can ask of yourself. You've definitely not failed, fed is what counts and that's what you've done.

fyn · 27/03/2023 12:56

I’d recommend Solid Starts, I had similar problems and got to one and my daughter wouldn’t eat much at all. We saw an NHS dietician but Solid Starts are what helped (and still help!)

https://solidstarts.com/troubleshooting/

Baby not interested in eating? What to do when baby won’t touch food

There are many reasons why a child may not be interested in eating, but what do you do when your baby won't even touch their food?

https://solidstarts.com/troubleshooting/

Original poster
pg1 · 27/03/2023 17:17

Tillytilly5 · 27/03/2023 12:53

Someone told me that "food before one is just for fun" and I do think it's true. My son was pretty keen on eating at that age but honestly I don't know how much actually went in despite everyone's efforts, so even the ones that look like they're eating a lot may not be having much more. I'd say just keep offering lots of choice and she'll come to it. Sounds like you're doing all the right things.

Is she still growing well and does she have plenty of energy? As that's what really counts and might help you be more confident in how you're doing

And on the tongue tie and feeding, try not to beat yourself up about it. I had exactly the same here and it took me a long time to get over it. I wish I'd been able to come to terms with it earlier as I wasted a lot of emotions on it and now he's 2 and a half you'd never know which toddlers were BF and which were bottlefed. You made the right choices for you and your baby at the time and that's all you can ask of yourself. You've definitely not failed, fed is what counts and that's what you've done.

Thank you so much - it's just nice to know it's not just us!

Definitely agree that it's takes up a lot of mental energy. I wish I could go back and tell myself that we would still bond etc even though feeding didn't go as planned in the early days.

LG is definitely growing (she's usually in the size up for clothes) and no problems with energy and sleeping. I think she's just focused on playing and moving at the moment.

OP posts:
Original poster
pg1 · 27/03/2023 17:18

fyn · 27/03/2023 12:56

I’d recommend Solid Starts, I had similar problems and got to one and my daughter wouldn’t eat much at all. We saw an NHS dietician but Solid Starts are what helped (and still help!)

https://solidstarts.com/troubleshooting/

Thank you, I have the app but hadn't found that help page yet.

OP posts:
PritiPatelsMaker · 28/03/2023 08:02

Has the TT ever been assessed again as sometimes it can reattach.

Just wondering how much milk she has and what type? Follow-on milks contain a lot of iron which can act as an appetite suppressant.

The recommended amount of formula at this age is 400 ml. If she's having a lot more than that I'd cut out a bottle. Maybe offer a small cup of formula with breakfast instead of a bottle then breakfast?

Original poster
pg1 · 28/03/2023 08:16

She's able to poke her tongue out and move it a lot from what I can see. But no, we've not had it checked again. I will look in to that.

Yes, she has follow on milk and probably more than that still. Her top teeth are coming through and she's been very snotty at the moment. So I think another factor is just wanting milk for comfort right now.

Thank you! (:

OP posts:
PritiPatelsMaker · 28/03/2023 08:21

If she's teething and snotty try her with some ibuprofen, it's much better for dental pain than calpol. Do you use a teething gel like Dentinox too?

Original poster
pg1 · 28/03/2023 08:27

PritiPatelsMaker · 28/03/2023 08:21

If she's teething and snotty try her with some ibuprofen, it's much better for dental pain than calpol. Do you use a teething gel like Dentinox too?

Yes - we've been using calprofen and the bonjela gel when she'll let us (:

OP posts:
Getthefiregoing · 28/03/2023 08:28

My little boy was very interested in food from the get go but it was still slow going. Very little of what he played about with actually went in him. They're doing a lot of exploring at this age. I would just focus on sitting her with you at the table for all mealtimes and giving her bits of what you have. Let her explore and what gets eaten gets eaten.

It's easier said than done but try really hard not to show her any stress or anxiety around food. Just let her play and taste.

With mine, he had all his teeth come in very quickly so in hindsight I can see that constant teething didn't help. He's still up and down with his food but we just present him with a variety and leave the rest up to him. You can't force the food into them. The more easy going you can be, the more likely she is to enjoy exploring food.

Original poster
pg1 · 28/03/2023 08:34

Getthefiregoing · 28/03/2023 08:28

My little boy was very interested in food from the get go but it was still slow going. Very little of what he played about with actually went in him. They're doing a lot of exploring at this age. I would just focus on sitting her with you at the table for all mealtimes and giving her bits of what you have. Let her explore and what gets eaten gets eaten.

It's easier said than done but try really hard not to show her any stress or anxiety around food. Just let her play and taste.

With mine, he had all his teeth come in very quickly so in hindsight I can see that constant teething didn't help. He's still up and down with his food but we just present him with a variety and leave the rest up to him. You can't force the food into them. The more easy going you can be, the more likely she is to enjoy exploring food.

Thank you, that's very helpful and reassuring!

I agree, I think it's so important that food and the high chair etc are seen as nice things.

OP posts:
Mollysbabyboy · 29/03/2023 22:39

hi I am very interested to see how this is going as I am in a similar situation with my 9.5 month old. This is baby no.3 for me but still uncharted territory as I never had an issue as my 2 girls loved their food and would take the hand off me to get the spoon in faster! My son is also exclusively bf no different to the first 2 but I’m at my wits end trying to get a tiny piece in with a huge theatrical performance to get him to open his mouth , also trying blw he does perfer to feed himself but he doesn’t swallow anything just mushes it in his hands . I can totally understand how stressful it is and would love any tips or insights to help. Thanks

fyn · 29/03/2023 23:05

@Mollysbabyboy I would take the pressure off completely, don’t force food on a spoon or do any theatrics. Let him play and explore his food, at this age it’s more about discovering food rather than the calorie intake as he should still be have full milk/formula. Have a look at Solid Starts for ways to encourage tasting too!

Azk · 03/04/2023 00:11

Hi beautiful Mums! What type of weaning sets do you guys use for your kids? What your little one likes the most in those sets? If you could change or improve anything in those sets what would it be? What should I look for when buying the first weaning set?

poppet131 · 16/05/2023 15:49

@Mollysbabyboy - my DS sounds just like yours! How’s he getting on now? X

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread