11 months old, not eating much

[SylvieA]

DD is bf 4-5x a day after trying everything she just has a few bits then play with her food. I'm running out of ideas. She never liked purees so we went with baby led weaning, but she still doesn't eat much of what's given to her. All she wants is milk, which she never refuses.

Only in the morning she gets her milk first. here's our approximat feeding routine

8am bf
930-10 breakdfast/snack (will only have a few cheerios, fruit pieces, or whatever else is offered that morning)
11 bf as she's ready for nap and didn't have much solids
1230 lunch, she'll only have a few bits and pieces
2 snack, but then again plays with food
330-4 bf then catnap
5 supper, here she'll eat a bit more only if we have something she really likes which is not a lot

I'm looking for some ideas and advice. TIA

[*~goldie~*]

hi there,
just wanted you to know I went though feeding issues too - http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=144240.0

I would asky if you feel if she is getting enough milk ?
Is her food completely finger foods ? If so are there disractions in the room ?

From my thread the main advice I got was that a baby will eat what it want's and as long as wight gain is ok then they are eating enough.

How long do you feel the food has been a prooblem.

You mention not liking puree but how about spoon fed macaroni cheese or mashed food etc ?

xx

[Evgenia]

hey,
U said that all she wants is milk, I wonder if 4-5 bf a day interfering with solids?

Have u tried to drop one of the during the day ones? Maybe the 3.30-4 one? Or maybe just try and decrease (limit) amount of bm she gets during the day and see how that affects her appetite?
I found with my dd that when she dropped the 4pm bottle her appetite improved through out the day. At 12month now she has her milk in the morning, after am nap and before bedtime.

Or an why not look at some sample routines to see if u can get some ideas for feeding schedule that might work better for u 2.

hope this helps.

[*Liz*]

Sylvie - I didn't realise you were having solids issues too. I just posted on the BLW board to ask when others 'took' to it!!

I'm not a pure BLWer - but J is refusing all spoons again - I'm happy to just give finger foods but he is just so limited in what he will eat. Anything soft gets squished and ends up on the floor.

I have no real idea where to go now either. I tried reducing the bottles, but J just doesn't understand that solids is food. If he is hungry he won't 'play' with his edible foods - he just wants milk.

I just don't know  .

[SylvieA]

Thanks for the replies.

Liz, we've been having problems with solids since we started, never liked purees much. Although there are days when I think, finally she's eating. Most days she barely eats anything. The only tging she never refused are mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and roast chicken. I try to bake a chicken once a week but can't have it every day. And I know to well about squishing food, then on floor. Talk about a mess to clean, especially bananas.

Goldie, thanks for the link, I'll go check it out.

Evginia, I do think bf may be interfering, but I'm affraid to reduce it and then not eat as much to equal the calories. I did try solids first as well and made no difference.

Another thing is she only gained 2# since 7months old. The Dr didn't seem concerned at all as she's kind of petit and does have a good amount of body fat, but she went from being in the 50th to 5th percentil in just a few months.

[Evgenia]

Just a thought.....  If she likes roast chicken, would she eat home made chicken sausages? They r fairly easy to make and u can add a lot of stuff into them to make them more nutritious.....

{{{Big Hugs}}} to both of u girls.

I did find another little trick handy, but it is quite time consuming. I would prepare six or more different finger foods for one meal, and give them to her one after another. She would get a taste of each, jus a bit and then straight on the floor. But when u add up all the little bits she had, it comes up to at least a decent sized snack.

And with breakfast I put a bowl of cheerios on a suction map in front of her and give her a spoon, and while she is messing around with it manage to get a good few spoons into her. Though I do soak the cheerios in milk until they r soft and soggy.

Best of luck girls!

[SylvieA]

How do you make the sausages?  Thanks for the tips.

[Evgenia]

I chop the vegies and chicken, put the lot through the food processor, then shape them into sausages, balls or burgers, roll in a bit of flour and fry in a frying pan for a few mins untill golden brown.

U can also bit an egg white, dip the sausages in it and then roll in grated parmesan and cook under the grill until the cheese is golden.

Heres a sausage recepie I found on this website http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=102407.0

I use a lot of recepies by Annabel Karmel, especially for finger foods heres a link:  http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes

[*Liz*]

There are some ladies on here who say their los just really didn't 'get it' until closer to 12 months. I am hoping J will be one of those.

I totally understand what you mean thinking they have it - only for it all to go back to square one over the following few days.

Is it worth increasing the spacing between solids and BF - not sure what you do currently - but I space by 1.5-2hrs rather then the recommended 30-60 mins. I need that time to stop him spitting up. This morning, after a really waful solids day yesterday, he woke at 4.30am and I fed him at 4.45am, so when I got him up at 7ish I just gave him his breakfast to see if it would help at all. He did eat quite a bit more than usual, and I gave him the bottle an hour after that. But I tried the same a week or so ago and he screamed until he got milk. I'm just trying as many things as I can as I've kind of figured that the standard advise just doesn't work with Jacob.

Have you tried giving quite dry foods that she is less likely to squish? Things like thin toast fingers and breadsticks go down quite well here. I give the cheerios dry on the tray for breakfast. He will sometimes eat other cereal things out of my bowl that are moist by haven't gone soggy yet - so shreddies or mini wheetabix. I know your brand names are different though.

I have almost given up with steamed fruit and veg now as he just doesn't eat them. Blueberries work well as they are nice and sweet but can be popped right in. Banana I break into little pieces and he eats it then - but a chunk will get squished and flung.

But quite literally all J eats is banana, blueberries, toast, fruit bread, breadsticks, a few spoons of fruit puree, and he will eat yoghurt spoon fed now as well. And very small quantities at that.

Just thought I'd mention a few things 'in case' you hadn't tried any yet. But if you have then I am sorry. I know how frustrating it all is.

Have you mentioned it to your health nurse? J is under the feeding clinic here in the UK so has had assessments to make sure there is no oromotor reason why he isn't eating. The reason with Jacob is he doesn't like eating because of his reflux. I have an appointment on the 20th so will let you know what they suggest this next time.

Last time I saw them they just said lots of different tastes and textures, and let him make as much mess as he wants to, but don't worry too much if he doesn't eat. They did say to be careful about not filling up with milk all the time, but just said make sure you try when he is hungry sometimes as well as when he is settled. They didn't suggest cutting his milk to force him. He was 8 mths at the time though.