11 Month Old Driving Me Crazy

[Tweakster]

Yeah and our paed says they go through that phase of living off of ketchup and juice lol.  They eat like birds as toddlers and you can't get them to sit still.  DH and I are picky eaters so we have our hands full with each other as it is lol.

Today I gave Finn mac & cheese for lunch, he started smacking his hands together to indicate he was done, he hardly had any!  So I put a bunch of the noodles with cheese on his tray and he ate them...one by one...they kept slipping out of his hand but there he kept at it and keep trying to pick up with his pincer grip lol.  It was cute but also timely...

[First Time Mom]

LOL, my dd LOVES her ketchup, she wants to control how much ketchup goes on her plate but I will catch her trying to spoon it into her mouth when she thinks no one is looking. I guess I can't complain though, her fav foods are veggies- slightly steamed with no sauces, to the point where we have to almost hide the veggies otherwise she'd live on nothing but! We do pass on the juice however, our ped and dentist suggested no juice, not even diluted due to the natural sugars which is still sugar, so dd never learned to crave a taste for juice.

[ajjanzen]

That's so true!  My DD has an peanut allergy so whenever she doesn't 'think' that she likes something she turns away and says "I can't eat that it has peanuts in it!".  She thinks she is so clever! 

[annette.xx]

hello ladies!

ive also been there many times! spoon refusal, finger food refusal everything and the way Ive gotten past it everytime was to take her back a stage on feeding - so gave her what she was having as a younger baby - spag bol jars were her fave and fruit puree pots so to get her wanting and looking forward to eating again I only gave her food that she craves and make it really exciting - then after a few days i introduce another yummy food and let her play with it and feed me while I eat it looking all excited for the next bit! if she didnt eat it I just didnt even say anything or try and coax her I just let her play with it then when she is bored clear her up and thats that...

after a few times she always comes back around and starts loving foods again! I never EVER try and get her to eat anything now - if she turns away from it I leave it in front of her to play with just incase she fancies feeding herself it - if not then no worries there is always another meal time and I can give her a snack half hour later....

oh and I always eat the same as she is eating and at the table with her so its a shared thing and I do silly things with my food to make her laugh - she LOVES mealtimes!!!

I hope it gets easier for you soon - it will in time!

Annette.xx

[Sweetpeasmama]

Wow.  This post is us to a T!  My 11.5 mo old has decided she doesn't want to eat.  She'll eat a few spoonfuls of things she's always liked, then cries or fusses while waving her hands around or rubbing her eyes (and I know she's not tired).  Last night after reading this post, I steamed some sweet potato cubes (she's always loved sweet potatoes) and put them on her tray.  At first, she wouldn't do anything but push them around and she let me feed her a couple, then I walked away and she started feeding herself!  I pulled out the peaches, cut up some bits and put those on the tray and managed to get some spoonfuls of apple & chicken baby food in there.  Went to the store and bought some peas, green beans and carrots to see if I can try those today at lunch.  Ended up buying a can (adult stuff) of each, but found "no salt added" versions.   Figured we'd try this out, then I can look for something fresh or fresh frozen to feed her if this works.
This morning she wouldn't take her breakfast (banana peach granola), but wanted Mama's grits, so I managed to get a small spoonful of grits and a large spoonful of peach granola for a while.  She ate a handful of puffs and then was done.  Still doesn't seem to be a lot of food, but like everyone says, if she's hungry, she'll eat.   Now going to attempt to put the formula in her sippy cup.  Tried it before but she seemed to drink a lot less than when it was in the bottle.  She'll drink a whole cup of water with a splash of apple juice in it though.  Not ready to transition to cows milk until after her first birthday in a couple of weeks.  We aren't sure if she'll have allergies (nephew has severe allergies), so I'm going by the book in terms of when I'll let her eat potential allergy foods. 

Thank you for this post!!!  Happened to see it just as I was going to post myself about our little picky eater!  Last night went much better in terms of feeding, but we're still experimenting.  Any other ideas for finger foods for this age (and we have no teeth yet)?

[toppette]

Wow ladies, thanks for all your replies It's obviously not just my LO lol.  I totally gave up the spoon for a while and let her feed herself all the time. Some days she will eat something the next she won't, but she will ALWAYS eat pumpkin and sweet potato! Go figure.  Found out that she also loves zucchini cubed, so another bonus.

Well I find I can feed her some stuff off the spoon now as long as it's not every day, and she won't eat the same thing off the spoon two days in a row.  If I do feed her off the spoon, she has to have some of her own finger foods to be eating at the same time.  If I eat a bit from her bowl first, then she is more likely to try it.  Though if she tries it and she doesn't like it, forget hoping for a second spoonful   To my amazement the other day I was feeding her something and she started pointing at the spoon wanting more!

We started playgroup yesterday, and she sat at the little table with all the other kiddies and ate up all her little sandwiches and fruit.  It was so cute but so bittersweet at the same time because she really doesn't look like a baby at all anymore

[JayLeigh]

I just wanted to add, while I am going through ALL of this, I seemed to have found something that REALLY helps. Whatever he is eating, I need to be able to take bites of in front of him! He refuses the spoon, but If I put yogurt in the spoon and deliberately SHOW him I am taking a bite, he opens his mouth to try.

For finger foods, I know this sounds weird but I take a bite and put a morsel in my teeth for him to grab, he grabs it and pops it right in his mouth, and continually gives himself bites and me bites. Bonus: he is learning to share. But it has made mealtimes a LOT easier. He just needs to see that we would eat it as well. Also, whatever I am eating in front of him, I need to be willing to share so he sees that we eat the same thing!

[Sweetpeasmama]

JayLeigh - I second that.  I've done the same thing when Miss P refuses things.  I take a taste and then she's more likely to eat it.  Awesome tricks and just think how much smarter we mommies have to be to come up with this stuff!  Thanks for sharing!