Hello ladies,
DS turned 8 months a week ago and we started weaning to solids at 6 months. He took to it well, and we managed to work our way up to a good variety of foods. At 7 months we introduced proteins and I was also giving him "desert" with one of his meals each day. In total I'd say he was eating around 3-4 tbsp, 3 times a day. He's always be partial to sweet vegetables, but I figured that was pretty normal (DS1 did the same thing, if I remember correctly). We'd also transitioned to textured purees, which he found weird at first, but took to them quite well after just a few meals.
Then last week at both lunch and dinner he started with taking a couple of bites of his savoury meal then begin a sort of fake crying and refused to eat any more. In the beginning I though that it was teething and having to "chew" might have been bothering him. So I figured that giving him smooth fruit purees (store bought) would at least put something in his tummy. After a couple days of this, I worked out that he was actually holding out for his fruit
and so I would just take him down from his high chair when he started his crying to show him who was boss
. Then I'd put him back after a few minutes of distraction and since he was hungry, he'd usually end up eating his meal again.
But now, for the last two or three days, he's been completely refusing to eat any more savoury and even breakfast and sweets are not guaranteed to be eaten either. I have worked really hard making his meals and I'm getting really fed up with throwing it all in the bin. But mostly I'm just worried about his eating habits and how to deal with this "phase" properly. DS ended up refusing all foods except for about 4 things for nearly two years between the ages of 15 months and 3 years, and so naturally I really worry about DS2 developing food issues too. He's taking approx. 700ml of milk a day, so hopefully still getting his nutrition through that. But he's a big boy and I'm worried that milk alone mightn't be able to sustain him very well.
Can anyone guide me in the right direction as to how to deal with this? Do I go back to square 1 and reintroduce everything slowly? I really don't know if I've got the right kind of character, nor enough time, to be able to deal with BLW. I have tried a couple of organic rice cakes and rusks with him. He finds them really amusing at first, but once a piece breaks off in his mouth (even though it's soft enough to gum down) he doesn't know what to do, panicks and throws it up. I'll try with some soft steamed veggies soon, but in the meantime I need to deal with the problem at hand. Also, since he's getting a lot less in his tummy with refusing to eat, should I try giving him more milk or is that just assisting the problem because he'll be less hungry for solids?
Sorry to bombard you with so many questions, but I'm really want to tackle this the best way possible.
TIA, Alison