8 month old will not eat - running out of ideas

[Firsttimemummy9724]

My baby is 8 and a half months and still is not at all interested in food, he will have weetabox in the morning but that's about all he will happily eat, I've tried purees, finger food, BLW, feeding him myself and just nothing clicks!!
He does best with purees that we feed him but even that he's getting fed up with, he will eat yoghurt happily but won't touch his dinner.
I'm just so worried he's going to start nursery when he is 1 and still be struggling with food and it's really getting me down.

Does he have much milk still ? As in formula or breast milk? My eldest was similar to this. The HV told us to start reducing her formula intake when she was about 11 months iirc which we did gradually and then by 13 months lo and behold she was finally suddenly eating properly! She loved her milk and I think she just wasn't hungry for solids, she preferred her milk. She actually started nursery at 9 months but she had formula there alongside her meals so it was totally fine, no issue with hunger or anything.

@LegoHouse274 he has become quite touch and go with his milk too and naturally decreased how much he has, he has roughly 20 oz still a day with bits of food here and there!
I should have added too he still has no teeth so I do wonder if he just isn't fully ready himself.
It's reassuring to know that they don't all take to it so early because we are surrounded by cousins and friends that are such foodies!

If that's all the milk he's having then it's not a huge amount.
I know this is easier said than done, but at the moment I wouldn't worry about it.
Do you sit and eat with him? I would do a mix of blending what your having and having the pieces accessible as they are on his plate.
Its still a time for him to get use to all the flavours and foods.
I'm only relaxed as I'm on the weaning journey myself but with my second. With my first I was worried he wasn't eating enough.

I've just looked on the start for life website and it says babies ages 7-9 months typically need around 600l formula a day which is basically 20oz. So your baby is pretty much bang on the amount of formula you'd expect them to have for good growth etc so that is hopefully reassuring at least. I have 3 DC and they've all been totally different with weaning, my youngest is actually the same age as yours now. DC2 was practically eating huge full meals by now and barely drinking milk (which caused it's own problems - growth massively slowed quickly, and he had terrible constipation). DC3 is somewhere in between my DC1 and DC2 so far.

@Firsttimemummy9724

wondering if any of these may tempt him?

My DS was the same. The health visitor said I had to cut out his midday feed and only give him morning and night so that he would eat.

He did eventually but he wasn't much of an eater til he was 8/9 really! Just isn't that bothered about food and even now at 16 he'll go hours without food and then eat a kids portion size.

One of mine was like that although still breast feeding, she wasn't interested in purées or finger food, until she took a fish finger off her brothers plate at about 9 months. She's 20 now and eats perfectly normally, she was just different in how she started with food.

My DD was/is like this. She's 20 months now but up until 15 months wouldn't touch hardly anything, mainly yoghurt or fruit purée. It's so hard not to get stressed about it but at 15 months she just started taking an interest in random foods like olives. I was really worried about her starting nursery but she's been fine- I send her in with her safe foods like purée and crackers and if she doesn't touch what they offer her (which is often) she'll have them. I just think they get there at their own rate so I hope that provides some reassurance

First year of life for baby should be milk first and solids only as a sample thing of tasting and getting used to. Prioritise milk and especially in this weather! Fruit puree frozen into little ice cubes and put into the little net bags that are designed so they can suck frozen things through them safely

Ditto! And there’s a real mixed bag in my antenatal groups - it feels like some are having full three courses and requesting an extra shaving of black truffle on their risotto, the others (mine) are not foodies!

I’m just plodding on and offering her stuff every day, baby led and purées. She has no teeth and pushes any food out her mouth still if it’s lumpy but she really enjoys gnawing on watermelon and cucumber and fritters even if little gets swallowed.

One of the foods my daughter first showed an interest in was a lemon wedge aty the baby sensory class- absolutely obsessed with licking it. Might be worth a go!

He’s only 2 months in, it’s fine! He’s eating weetabix, purées and yoghurt. That’s great! He definitely does not need to be eating 3 solid meals a day at 8 months. There is plenty of time so keep doing what you’re doing.

Thank you everyone all your experiences are honestly so reassuring he's excelling so much in other aspects like he's been early at rolling, crawling, standing and from the looks of it walking too! We did mention it to the GP recently and he was happy with him it's just so hard not to overthink when everyone else seems to be eating all sorts!

@beetr00 thank you I will have a go at some of these!

I’d say hes bang in with the amount of milk hes having too. Once he drops below 20 Floz a day then he’ll need a daily vitamin.

The current advice is to move to offering food 3 times a day between 8 and 9 months. It doesn’t sound as though he’s quite ready yet so I’d stick to twice a day for another week or so.

Perhaps breakfast and lunch as he may be too tired for dinner?

It’s recommended babies are breastfed for 2yrs, and for the first year milk should be their primary source of nutrition. Sounds like he’s making a good start exploring food so don’t feel pressured into rushing him. I’m sure nursery can give him milk if they are taking such young children.

And don’t worry about Nursery. He’ll change again by 12 months. Just think how much he’s changed between 4 months and 8 months.

Between 10 and 12 months the milk recommendation drops to 400 ml/13.5 Floz a day so he might start having more of an appetite then.

Once he’s 12 months it drops again to 300 ml/10 Floz of Cow’s Milk which includes milk used in cookery. The peer pressure of watching other DC and sitting together usually does the trick too. My non-eating, uber-fussy DD would happily tuck into her food at Nursery.