Almost 10 month old refusing food

[Buddy02]

Hi,
im getting really frustrated and I don’t know what to do . My almost 10 month old was really slow to begin eating anything and only started accepting food around 8 months old. Now he will refuse anything unless it is custard or sweetened with fruit pouches, he refuses all savoury meals. We try offer him meals everyday and he will cry and refuse to open his mouth, he will also refused finger foods like carrots etc .He will suck on toast but actually eats very little. I don’t want to only be giving him sweetened stuff so some days he actually eats very little. did contact the public health nurse previously however they never got back to me. Any advice would be appreciated.

Honestly I’d take the pressure off, just keep offering a mix & encourage him to have a try. Also, try just letting him try what you’re eating when you have a meal, they like to steal😂

My daughter is 11 months now and this is basically what I do, she has some of whatever I eat and if she’s having a fussy day and doesn’t eat much then that’s okay I just keep it low pressure always!

Sit him at the table with you and your partner to eat meals. Serve him some of what you’re having and a bit of something you’ll know he’ll eat. He’ll watch you eating and learn and may get more interested in the food. Over time he’ll get it, he’s still very young but model good eating to him and he’ll get there.

Cut back on sweet stuff completely. Just offer him what you're eating and eat with him. He'll get there, maybe in a few weeks, maybe in a few months.
Don't fall into the trap of feeding him only sweet/ unhealthy options just to get him to eat something. He shouldn't have had Custard yet at all really. Stuff is way too delicious 🤤

Yeah I know my own fault for giving him custard I was just so desperate to get him to try something 😩

I’m not sure where you are based @Buddy02but in the UK the advice is 450 mls a day if you’re FFing between 10 and 12 months. Is that roughly what they’re having? If it’s more that might explain the lack of appetite.

Ok so, he will eat his baby porridge in the morning with puréed fruit, at lunch he will have a youghurt a nibble on a small rice cake and then at dinner its unlikely he will take more than a couple of small spoons of anything he seems to not like typical dinner options. He has approx 3-4 8 oz bottles in 24hrs also. How does this sound to others please ?

If he was offered custard or youghurt or porridge in the evening he would happily eat it but I tend to stay away from that in the evening

You need to reduce your milk feeds OP- he’s not eating because he’s full.

The guidance is roughly 450-500ml or formula per day alongside food at his age, you’re currently giving him about 950ml, so way over what he should be having.

Reduce/drop a milk feed & his appetite will pick up & he’ll eat.

But as an aside I’d say you need to drop the sweet stuff for now. All of the options provided are sweet, baby porridge, fruit pureé, yoghurts, rice cakes- it’s all snacky/sweet. I’d focus more on savoury and repeatedly offer, demonstrate eating, so breakfast could be toast with butter/avocado/PB/scrambled egg, or you could make egg & veg breakfast muffins for breakfast (I make a batch on a sunday and they last for the week), mini omelette with cheese. Lunches offer things like sandwiches, pizza pinwheels, wraps, pastas, quinoa, rice etc. Step completely away from the sweet stuff. Sugar & sweetness is addicting even for adults, it’s far more so for kids.

Agree with the PP, he’s having roughly double the milk he should be having.

how about to tomorrow just giving a bottle before his 2 naps and before bed?

So 3 bottles of 8 floz each then doing that for 4 or 5 days then just offering a bottle before hos afternoon nap and before bed which is roughly the amount he should be having?

Stop giving him all the sweet options. Give him a decent breakfast like normal porridge with chopped banana (baby porridge has lots of sugar and actual fruit is better than puree) or peanut butter toast, snack of veg sticks with hummus, scrap the yoghurt for lunch give him a whole meal pita with soft cheese or a sandwich with some cheese cubes and avocado for example. For dinner give him what you’re having and all sit down together to eat, small bit of yogurt for pudding if he eats some dinner. Drop 2 of the bottles.

Tonsillitis?

Don’t give it too much thought, milk is the most important thing till 12 months old and food is a small part of his diet. Best give him savoury items when hungry and ignore the sweet tooth.

Have you tasted how sweet baby milk is? Whether its formula or breastmilk it has loads of sugar in, and the fact that its a natural sugar doesn't make it "better" - sugar isn't bad. Children and babies need way more sugar than adults do. Give him the foods he likes and don't turn mealtimes into a battle ground. There's plenty of time for introducing savory foods when he has grown a bit older and more able to communicate.

This is a bit outdated. They’ve changed the advice as people were taking it a bit too literally.

In the UK the advice is to give them 15 Floz of first stage formula a day between 10 and 12 months. I think I the OP is offering between 24 and 32 Floz each day which is quite a bit over the recommended amount.

@Buddy02are you happy with the foods that you’re offering or would you like a few suggestions of things to try? For example Ready Brek with chopped banana is way cheaper than Baby Porridge

@Overthebow Decent breakfast? Really ?! Stop with the judgement it’s advice I was looking for thanks anyway. I was really struggling to get him to take anything so I’m sure puréed fruit won’t hurt in the morning . I have obviously tried and if he would eat what you have suggested I wouldn’t be looking for advice. Also I can’t drop bottles as he will cry for them and it’s hard to explain that to a 10 month old.

Thanks everyone for your advice. He’s doing much better since I last posted. He’s eating the same dinners as us too which I’m so happy about .

That’s good news

Hi what might be helpful also is try pureeing vegetables mixed with fruit for example carrot , parsnip and apple or peas and pear. He will get a slight sweet taste from the fruit but it just might get him used to other foods like vegetables. Banana baby pancakes are a good option too as they also have egg so you are getting the egg in that way , definitely don't overthink it your baby is being fed and looked after and that's all that matters