At the end of my tether!

[poppety123]

Hi Everyone,
I have a beautiful 10 month old baby girl who used to eat fantastically, more food than her 18 month old cousin! 3 meals a day and 2 courses per meal + 3, 8oz bottles and sleeping through the night. I thought we had cracked it and then gradually over the last 3 weeks she has stopped eating solids and its had a huge impact on the rest of her routine, she has added an extra bottle back into her day routine and 1 at night again as (i assume) she is starving.
Her two top teeth popped through at around this time, so I assumed it was teething pain stopping her eating, but that was 3 weeks ago and its getting worse.
I continue to offer food at meal times and she will take maybe 1-2 baby spoons and then put her head down and cry if I try to offer a 3rd. I immediately take it away so as not to make a fuss and she goes back to normal! I have tried leaving out the spoon feeding and just doing finger food picnics (which she used to love!) and she swipes the food away with her arm and cries again. She will sporadically chew on a quarter of a piece of toast or a mini breadstick, but won't eat the whole thing. I tried letting her feed herself the purees, which she can do and she just threw the spoon down. Ive tried feeding her in different places, distracting her with toys, TV, dancing daddy! - i can't think of anything else to try?
Ive tried reducing the amount of milk back to her regular amount in the day to see if she just isn't hungry because she is filling up on milk but that didn't work as she just screamed an hour later for more!
I managed to reduce the new night feed from 7oz down to 5oz, but when i went to 4oz she woke for more a couple of hours later and took another 4oz!
She has always been between the 75th and 91st centile and was EBF for the first 4 months and then BF and FF until 9 months when I stopped BF, which she didn't seem to notice!
Im sure its just a phase, but I'm worried that if it goes on much longer it will turn into a habit?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Natalie xx

[aidenmc]

Just wanted to offer some hugs Natalie. Teething can be just so awful in how it wrecks their routines. Are you medicating? Just wonder if she'd eat better if medicated. My lo also seems to regress when teething - preferring not to eat as many finger foods.  My fall back when ds refuses dinner is always a baby cereal with some of that apple/fruit sauce and milk mixture. Also I find that even at 15 months ds, who is good with a spoon will get frustrated at times if he's not getting food in easily that way. Do you spoon feed along with her?

Sorry I can't offer more advice at this point. Hoping things improve for you and your lo soon.

[poppety123]

Hi, thanks for your help, she doesn't seem in pain, she is happy enough, plays and laughs, maybe a bit more whingey than normal but nothing major! I try not to give meds unless she is in obvious pain, she mostly spits it out anyway!
I've tried the whole spectrum of feeding options and nothing works, even her must favoured dessert is being refused, I just dont like that this is such a sudden change for her

[aidenmc]

Is it 3 weeks that she hasn't been eating any solids at all? Maybe a quick visit to the Dr. to rule out anything physical might be an idea. Especially as it seems to be a drastic change. I know babies can go through food refusal stages and the important thing is not to get too anxious about it, just keep offering at regular times, etc. But I would be stressing too, especially about the possibility of hunger at night and the NFs becoming a habit.

[Buntybear]

I agree with Becky that if it has been 3 weeks now it might be worth a trip to the GP. Otherwise do as you are doing, keep meal times light - no pressure on her to eat. Try not to get too stressed as they pick up on that. Little and often and leave finger foods around as you have done if she is hungry.