Anyone else experienced a 8mo non-eater! I dont know where to go from here.

[twinkleymum]

DD is 8.5mo now and is still not eating, well other than baby rice and fromage frais. She will absolutely not put food in her own mouth so BLW just wouldn't work, no finger foods what so ever will pass her lips. Other foods she will try and will take two mouthfuls before the mouth is clamped shut and she pushes my hand away. I don't know what to do she doesn't even drink that much milk maybe 3/4oz at a time. However she is still night feeding and I don't know whether the night feeds suppress her appetite or whether she needs the milk because she doesn't eat solids. I'm not even sure if she was hungry enough whether she still would refuse things anyway because after a refusal if I get some baby rice she will eat that.

I feel totally lost, and all my antenatal mums seem to be getting on fine, their babies eat all sorts, lumps, finger foods the lot, and as they keep reminding me its not long until they're a year old! Also does anyone know should I be using follow-on milk because I'm not at the moment?

Hi twinkleymum, sounds tricky. I am no expert but don't want your message to go unanswered as I know how stressful feeding issues can be.

what would she do if you combined some other tastes with her baby rice/ fromage frais e.g. a bit of banana? (you have prob tired this already).

How's her weight? I suppose if she's gaining then don't be too alarmed just keep persisting.

I think some advice out there is just to continue to offer a variety of foods, allow her to explore but don't press the issue/ force feed as this is likely to set up anxiety in her.

I would continue with her favourites but also add a little bit of something new into these i.e. a bit of veg /fruit and offer finger foods at same meal i.e if offering baby rice +banana then offer up some pieces of banana also.

I know she's refusing finger food at the moment but this may change.

I don't know about follow on milk but hopefully if this message is bumped up someone more knowledgable will answer.

good luck.

does she put other things like toys in her mouth?

Could it be teething?

No advice sorry but have 6 m + that is not getting on with feeding either. I guess they won't starve,

hope you find some good advice and try not to worry what other babies are doing.

Can you mix things with the fromage frais?

twinkleymum I am not an expert but I would say DO NOT STRESS!

My DS took ages to really "take" to food - he didn't eat more than a tsp at a time until he was nearly 1. Lots of babies do fine on mainly milk for a long time - and they do say "food is for fun until they're 1" and all that.

You don't say how your baby is - is she healthy - does she look like a reasonable weight and does she have energy?

If she looks ok then honestly do not worry - she will take to food when she needs it.

I can't advise about followon milk because I bf, but I've read on other threads that it's not necessary - ordinary formula is fine until they're 1 and then you can switch to cows. But perhaps someone who has ff will be along to say for sure.

I think at this age they still get most of their nutrition from their milk.

DD is 8 months, almost 9, and I've been using follow on milk since dd was 6 months.

My dd was the same - no lumps or finger food at all until about 11 months. She's 14 months now and still not great but it does get better...

As long as she's not losing lots of weight, then I'd try not to stress atm. Just keep trying and she'll take some when she's ready. DD wouldn't even eat stuff I'd cooked and pureed but would have stage 1 jars (I didn't want to use jars but thought they were at least getting her used to different flavours etc)

Follow on milk is a con - NO need to buy it!

Standard formula will be fine.

Hi, my second dd was a very poor feeder. She would hardly eat a thing and dropped off the weight graph. She is 21 months now and on the 4th percentile at last. In contrast my first dd will eat everything and anything.

I would say don't worry too much - although this is not easy! You are right she will not starve. Just keep at it. Puree some fruit and put it in her fromage frais so that she is getting some different flavours. I saved a bit of all of our dinners and then tried them the next day and eventually found some food that she did like. She was a bit older than your dd at this point. About 11 months I think. She tuned a bit of a corner then as she seemed to realise that food was interesting.

The first thing she would eat properly was the pearl barley out of a beef stew cooked in guiness! Part of me felt that this was a totally inappropriate thing for a small baby and part of me was thrilled!

just in case

Thanks everyone, I'll try to stay calm. I've tried mixing things with the rice and that didn't go down well, but I haven't tried with the fromage frais, I'll try that next. She is gaining weight and has plenty of energy, she is on the 25th centile so not worried about her weight. Perhaps I've just got to accept that she is a slow starter with solids and try not to worry. I've only just stopped BF 2 weeks ago so I now know how much milk she is taking in and I suppose even though it doesn't seem like lots it must be enough.