7.5 mths solid refuser / dairy allergic WILL HE EVER EAT? WHEN? give me hope please

[zwiggy]

Did you have a food refuser who was never interested in solids? What age did they start eating?

will I ever be able to go back to work? Or will I have to bf and home ed for next 18 years?

Help. Let me hear your stories to know if this is relatively normal

bump

from what i've read peoeple say on here and elsewhere, it's not uncommon for bf babies to wait until 9 months or beyond to get started on solids. (it's possible, tbh, that's when they're supposed to wean... certainly was until fairly recently).

oh thanks. I suppose it won't be forever. just getting stressed cos i need to go back to work

agree with Aitch, it's really quite common.

get a copy of "my child won't eat"

children are very good at regulating their appetite. if he's hungry he'll eat.

Work is a bummer in combo with weaning.

I like the mantra "food is fun till one", particularly when your lovingly prepared offering is smeared about in a messy play session.

It wont last forever. Curiosity gets the better of most children.

the hv keeps telling me he will be iron deficient tho. what can i do? (dairy allergy btw)

My DS wasn't very interested in solids until he was about 11 months. He would eat the odd bit of finger food here and there but nothing substantial. No meals as such.

I started back at work around the same time so I used to send him to nursery with some snacks that he would nibble on at least (Organix carrot puffs for example) but every day for a good few weeks he refused all the meals they put in front of him.

I was a bit worried to start with as he never took a bottle, but he made for the milk in the morning/evening/through the night.

He eats really well now (still has the odd off day), but still loves his milk!

OMG preggars! was he distressed at nursery for being so hungry?

Did he bf through the night alot ?
(mine wakes every 1-2 hours at the mo)

How old is he now? When did he sleep through the night?

Did he have formula at nursery?

Soz for all the questions

Hi zwiggy,

My dairy allergic Ds was a complete nightmare to wean. I read somewhere that allergic babies are a bit more cautious about trying new things than non-allergic babies.

It took DS until he was 11 months until he started eating properly. I found it all really stressful so I totally empathise with you.

I didn't go back to work until he was a year old and I'm still bfing him at 20 months because he won't take the hypoallergenic formula.

he bf once or twice throughout the night until he was 18 months old, but is now sleeping through (fingers crossed!!)

My advice to you is to try and stop stressing about it and keep offering a mix of finger foods and purees and your DS will get it eventually.

i honestly wouldn't worry about the iron, if you're breastfeeding he'll be fine.
they always spout crap about breastmilk not having as much iron in, which is true, but they don't mention the fact that you absorb more of it and it's more easily taken in by the body.

you could always give vitamin drops if you're really worried, but I am sure he'll be fine.

my child won't eat
that's the book I said about. it's published by LLL, and is a really good read for anyone worrying about a child who isn't really into food

ta all. i have to go now as its way past my bed time

Hi Zwiggy, sorry for the delay in responding. My DH commandeered the computer.

I don't think he was too distressed, he would drink water and he would have bites of banana, his puffs, the odd rusk etc etc. Nursery just kept offering him food and it just clicked eventually(I think seeing other babies eating helped).

He did (and still does, at 16mo), bf at night a lot so he must have been getting all his calories fine - he's a big boy and never lost weight, as far as I can tell, during this phase.

He didn't have formula at nursery, just water. They offered him cows milk a couple of times at my request but he was never really bothered so I didn't push it.

Sleep through the night??? What's that?!