11mo baby being fussy eater, HELP!!!

[Liz79]

DD will be 11mo next week. She has never been the best eater but for the last 2 weeks has been eating nothing but breast milk, fromage frais and weetabix. We have been to a couple of birthday parties and she happily ate jelly and ice cream and chocolate mousse. I offered her the mini quiches/pizza/sandwiches.veg sticks etc which the other babies were eating and she just wasn't interested. When we sit her in her high chair and offer her main course she just closes her mouth and turns her head from side to side. She opens up when the yogurt comes. We have tried alternating spoons of yogurt and savoury but she soon became wise to that one. She has had a cough and cold for the last couple of weeks but is all better except for a little bit of a cough still. She is happy and well in herself and has started moving about more and is starting to sleep through the night which she hasn't done before. She's not interested in finger foods. It makes no difference if is is hot or cold, smooth or lumpy. She doesn't even open up to see if she likes the food. It must just all smell wrong. Please help. We're getting really upset and worried about her now.

please

ds is only 9mo, and from never being a great eater is getting more and more fussy (but not yet as restricted as your dd). My friends' babies who are closer to your dd in age have all gone through a very difficult phase with eating, and come out the other side. I think the bad bad part lasted no more than a few weeks. I guess this is little comfort for you - when ds doesn't eat it doesn't matter how rational I try to be about it and remind myself that breast milk is great nutrition, it is really upsetting.

Hang in there. Hopefully someone with more direct experience of this will be able to post soon.

Thanks mamachris. I don't know any similar age babies in real life who have been like this. All the others eat really well. At DDs friends 1st birthday party on sat, the birthday girl was sat on the floor with a napkin laid out with a plate full of party food and was really enjoying it. Mine didn't have anything except some jelly and ice cream I know breastmilk is wonderful and thats reassuring but its not enough at this age is it. I worry how long this will carry on for.

We weighed her on the bathroom scales tonight in her nappy and she was 8oz less than when naked 3 weeks ago on the HV scales. I know ours aren't calibrated and as good as the HV scales but still.

Aren't friends with perfect babies lucky? ds has never been a good eater/sleeper - perhaps I've just cultivated friends with other awkward babies?

I love my bathroom scales - I weigh a full 7lb less than on any hospital scales But they're not good for weighing the ds, and not designed to weigh accurately at the lower end of the scale.

All I can say is that for my friends whose babies went through this phase, this time passed, so wish you luck that it passes soon for your dd too.

thanks x

It's amazing how little some of them eat at times. One of mine appeared to exist on half of what the others needed, and he did perfectly well on it. If she's an otherwise normal child, and if she's hungry, she'll eat. If you only offer her what you want her to have, then she'll have to eat it eventually. Let her play around with it a bit and perhaps pretend to do cooking with it or something. She'll come around to your way of thinking soon. Otherwise she'll keep this up indefinitely and you will end up on Channel Four with her when she's 25, trying to sort it out in public view!!!

Hya I am a new member and am so relieved that other mums are having the same problem!
My daughter is 11 and a half months old and has always been a very slow eater, she is still on blended food and will have three or four mouthfuls and thats it - sometimes she clamps her mouth shut and turns her head. She just prefers her milk. Meal times are becoming very stressful especially as she is our fourth child! I feel I am a first time mum not knowing what to do. Have you thought cutting back on milk during the day, I think this will be our next step.