A real fuss bag at 9 mths - grateful for any advice!

[wendyh]

My DD is exactly 9 mths. I started weaning at 5 mths and she did really well on all kind of purees, rarely refusing anything until about 6 weeks ago. She was unwell and stopped eating and drinking her milk properly for around 10 days. Since then she's had a couple of colds but has generally been OK. Her appetite is fine but I'm finding meal times a real battle to get anything of substance in her belly.

I've tried a BLW approach but she's not all that interested in feeding herself. She tends to spit everything straight back out again, except tomato and toast. Not really a balanced diet!

I find that I'm offering her at least 6 things at lunch and dinner as I'm not sure what she's going to refuse that day. I'm also playing tricks to get things in her mouth like offering her a piece of tomato and then when she opens her mouth throwing some puree in instead. Once it's in her mouth she happily eats it so I know she likes the taste.

I feel pretty crappy about it and wish I had my easy going little eater back! I'm tempted to play hard ball and offer her one thing at each meal time. If she doesn't eat it then that's the meal over. I would hope that after a couple of days and no doubt a few tears she'll go back to eating what she's given.

Anyone experienced anything similar? Any tips?

Thank you! xx

Your last paragraph is the way to go imo
offer one thing and then that's it
as longas she has plenty of wet anppies don't worry too much
does she sleep ok at night?
you sound an ace mum by the way

Thank you compo, you've made me smile. She sleeps fantastically, even did when she was barely eating anything. She doesn't have a huge appetite, never has. Perhaps half the time she just isn't hungry.

sounds just like my dd at 9mths i finally came to the conclusion that she just wasn't hungry because just after 10mths her intake increased out of all proportion and her weight gain remained stable on the chart thingys in the red book.

she also reacts like this when ill or teething - which she is at the moment - so I'm back to worrying about how much she is eating

it's a bugger and unfortunately i have no real advice just hang in there. i always figure that so long as she seems happy there is nothing to worry about.

i must remember to repeat this to myself at every meal

probably it's best to stick to one or two items. Too much variety may confuse them.

At some point I did a some sort of inverse psychology for my DD. Sitting for a meal but not putting things in her tray until she asked for it. Or putting food in her tray and then stealing from her, haha. Also, praising a lot whenever she ate something. It could have been a coincidence but she started eating a bit more afterwards.

Thanks for your support everyone. I started yesterday much more positively and I'm offering 1 thing at each meal and when she stops opening her mouth that's the meal over. She's eaten at least half of what I've prepared at each meal which means she won't waste away. I think the fussiness has been entirely my doing by offering her too much choice and also assuming I know how much she needs to eat before she's full. Tricky business isn't it!!