too much yoghurt?

[trimbler]

Hi,

My 9mo DS has had a bit of an eating regression recently due to a cold, I'd been really pleased that he was eating a nice variety of things, but now he'll just take at most a couple of babyspoonfuls of 'main' dish (comprising of a protein, veggies and carbs) and then only eat fruity yoghurt. I've been mixing in baby rice, oatmeal or rusk to try and get some carbs down him since he's refusing his 'main' course, but if I put very much in then he just refuses it. This has been going on for about a week now, and his poos are looking much more as they used to during the first couple of months of starting solids (he's bf). Funnily, he hasn't been all that keen on bf either - or maybe he's just being more efficient, I'm not sure. Anyway, is it 'ok' for him to be mainly eating yoghurt at the moment - he can get through quite a lot, I'm not good at estimating quantities but maybe 4-5 heaped tablespoons per meal (+ the other stuff I mix in). Has anyone else experienced this and if so, do your LOs tend to easily go back to what they were eating before, once they're feeling better? Or am I just reinforcing his yoghurt habit by allowing him to eat so much? I guess he's getting some protein here but it's probably the veg he's missing out on, as well as the starchy carbs... TIA!

[trimbler]

Ok so today he's feeling much better from his cold, has had some good sleeps, but has completely refused to eat anything but yoghurt So at lunchtime I set him off with some finger food (didn't eat very much, he mostly just plays with it) whilst I got my lunch together, then started attempting to give him his chicken, which he's enjoyed in the past. Just kept bashing the spoon and knocking my hand away, spattering chicken everywhere and proceeding to make a bit mess! So I just carried on with my lunch but kept offering it at intervals with the same response. In between he was getting a bit agitated, obviously hungry but refusing the chicken. I actually finished all my lunch, in the hope that he'd give in and take some, but no such joy. So I prepared his yoghurt, fruit and half a rusk and he gobbled it down... Is this a discipline issue, or is it better to just keep going and hope that he'll start eating properly again soon?? He's quite spirited, he's always been pretty wilful!

[Bex09]

Oh hun I could have written your post a few months ago! Still could some days! Spirited LOs and food seems to be a big issue and it seems to revolve around control - "I will eat what I want when I want and NOT when you say!" Sound familliar? Our way around this was to give our DD her own bowl and spoon and we put a tiny smear of her food in the bottom, plus finger foods on her tray next to the bowl. A lot of it got thrown, but she was soooooo intent on trying to feed herself (got to love that spirited independence hey?) that while she was trying to scoop up the food with her spoon she would willingly open up for a spoonful from me or Daddy. I read the idea in Tracy's toddler book and it really has worked a treat, in fact she can virtually feed herself with a spoon now already. HTHs.

[anna*]

I'd go easy on the yoghurt, myself. ((hugs)) I know it's really stressful when eating and control rears it's ugly head.

[trimbler]

Thanks Bex, I was starting to think that we needed to start letting him try and feed himself with the spoon - we've given him a spoon to hold during mealtimes but I'm not sure he's quite got the idea yet. Might give it a go with a bowl later - and I like your idea of only putting a little food in his bowl! We did have some success when he was starting on finger foods at putting the spoon in his mouth whilst he was manipulating a rice cake - but after a while he got very good at only opening his mouth a split-second before putting the rice cake in! We also (perhaps naughtily) got away with interspersing spoonfuls of yoghurt with spoonfuls of savoury - but again he's not fooled by that one any more...

Maybe I should get the toddler book now, I was thinking I need to start getting to grips with that sort of thing before it hits us... What age is it for?

Thanks for the tips, will give it a go...

[trimbler]

Anna - what do you mean exactly by going easy? Just limit the amount of yoghurt, even if that means he's not really getting 'enough'? So that if he's really hungry later then he'll eat whatever he's given?

[Bex09]

It doesn't really say what age the book is from but I think anything from 9 months up really. There is a section on weaning aimed at 6 month olds so I guess any age really. If your spirited LO is anything like mine you will need to get to grips with the behaviour section as soon as possible! We had a huge tantrum this morning because I wouldn't let her walk around the shops because it was too busy. She screamed and screamed until she was nearly being sick! Grrrrr.

[anna*]

Yep, limit the quantity and the frequency. I'd keep the yoghurt to one meal per day at most, and probably a couple of tbs (I'm guessing at what's in Petit Filou size pot). You don't want him to come to expect it at every meal, nor to understand that even if he turns down his food there will be a big pot of sweet creamy yoghurt waiting.

[trimbler]

Ah - might get onto it tonight then!

[anna*]

PS letting him hold a spoon is a great idea too. You can also try loading a spoon and giving it to him to put in his mouth while you load the next spoon. Yes it is messy but that's part of thef un of solids!

[trimbler]

Sorry, I'm crossing posts! Anna, we'll have a go, I guess I'm just too worried about him getting hungry and then causing yet more sleeping issues, but I don't think that's really happened in the past so I should stop worrying Thanks for that.

Ok I just tried to send that after you'd just sent your last one - again! Actually read it this time before posting... sounds like a good idea although I'm pretty sure he'll either just bash it on the table or turn it upside down and chew the other end - but, as you say, I guess that's the fun of solids

[Lemonthyme]

I think it's easy to start getting obsessional about food and thinking "if you don't eat this you won't sleep" but try not to (I know, easier said than done).  As an idea, why not make lunchtime your 'no yoghurt time'?  Then if he's still hungry later, he'll be given more food at teatime and hopefully not upset your night.  Also if you're worried about the sugar in the yoghurts, why not make your own fruit purees and mix them with plain yoghurt?

When my LO is ill yoghurt is often all he'll eat.  He had a stomach bug recently (he's 14 months) and I don't buy the kids yoghurts so he was eating plain full fat greek yoghurt.  I didn't worry too much about him having that tbh because it's not got sugar in and it has plenty of calories and some vitamins.

[Shiv52]

Yep, limit the quantity and the frequency. I'd keep the yoghurt to one meal per day at most, and probably a couple of tbs (I'm guessing at what's in Petit Filou size pot). You don't want him to come to expect it at every meal, nor to understand that even if he turns down his food there will be a big pot of sweet creamy yoghurt waiting

Totally agree with Anna.  I would limit it to one meal only and not as a 'dessert' type thing.  So he doesn't get into the habit of refusing foods and then still getting the yogurt.  So just make your  yogurt mix as lunch or snack or  whatever and then at other meal times offer other foods.  At nine months a LO should still be having milk as their main food so if he doesn't eat for a few meals then it shouldn't affect actual hunger IYKWIM?

It sets LOs up for really good eating habits when we start as we mean  to go on and just offer a variety of meals from the get go and not get caught up in trying to make sure they eat to the extent we provide favourites all the time to ensure they are eating.  KWIM?  Babies eat when they are hungry and TBH by only eating yogurt even mixed wiith fruit he is not getting used to eating all food groups etc.  At this stage solids are for experimenting and getting them used to eating.  The bulk of calories should still be coming from milk so try hard not to worry about eating solids affecting sleep.  It shouldn't really. 

 

[trimbler]

Thanks for that, I guess I was just taken by surprise since a couple of weeks ago he had suddenly started eating LOADS of solids, a good variety (I thought) of meat/fish/lentils with different veggies, plus something fruit-based for dessert (sometimes mixed with plain yoghurt, sometimes with baby rice, rusk or oatmeal), plus finger foods. So much so that I was beginning to worry that he perhaps wasn't having as much milk as he used to! I'd say the balance had definitely shifted from milk onto the solids, although I always made sure that dinner was lighter than the other meals and early so that he'd still take a good bf at bedtime.

So then when he was ill last week I didn't want to push him too much and just accepted when he refused foods that he'd previously seemed to enjoy. He was still happy with the fruit+yoghurt so I started mixing other things (e.g oatmeal, rusk, etc) to try and keep his energy up. We're still bf-ing for snacks at the moment, so yoghurts have always just been dessert so far. Anyway, now that I've cut down on the yoghurt he's still eating some cereal (although not all that much, certainly not compared to what he used to) for breakfast and fruit at dinner, plus some finger foods. But it's a struggle to get him to eat more than one spoonful of anything else... unless it comes out of a jar, as I've discovered when we were out today! So what's that all about??!

Lemonthyme, I just wondered how long it takes your LO to start eating other foods after an illness? I guess we're doing AP here with the desserts - I don't think they're particularly bad in the sense that there's no added sugar etc, but I certainly agree he's not getting the vitamins etc from them.

Shiv54, would you just not do dessert at all? I guess I only introduced the concept once he was already eating lots of savoury stuff because he still seemed hungry. Even now, if it comes from a jar he can really stuff himself! So maybe he's gone off the texture of other foods? I do try to incorporate texture into his desserts but I guess it's not the same as the meat/veggies.  What do you reckon, just carry on as I am and see if he starts eating again or stop the desserts until he starts eating again??? Seems like such a backward step for him, but then I guess we'll have many more of those to come!

[Lemonthyme]

He was off pretty much all food apart from yoghurt and satsumas for 1 day, then eating but small amounts for 1 day, eating but fussy for 2 days then eating loads today so all in all it affected his eating for 4 days.

I don't know what kind you're giving but most preprepared kids yoghurts do have added sugar worryingly and even if you get something like Rachel's Organics they're a bit minging and really, really smooth.

I found sometimes that if I played with the food he would then eat it.  So putting raspberries on the end of my fingers and waggling them around made raspberries his favourite fruit!  Ah, if playing with your food works for Heston Blumenthal, who am I to argue?

[trimbler]

I could only find two brands of yoghurt in sensible sizes at my supermarket which were plain and full fat, so he either gets 'Total' Greek yoghurt or Yeo Valley natural probiotic, they're not marketed for kids but DS loves them mixed with fruit which I've pureed or chopped.

Ah, if playing with your food works for Heston Blumenthal, who am I to argue?

Might have to get creative then! We did manage to get him to eat something when we gave him a little on a spoon etc - DH even smeared some on DS' hand, which got some in too... but it seems that our tricks are no longer fooling him Having said that, at least he did eat a bit of green veg and lentils tonight - I went back to mixing in pear, which was an old trick, I'd thought he didn't need that any more since he'd got into cheese... It's a tricky business, isn't it!