Author Topic: Fussy eater at 12 months  (Read 7320 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Eva's Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 14
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 2332
  • Gail
  • Location: Scotland
Fussy eater at 12 months
« on: August 25, 2013, 12:27:22 pm »
Back again  :(. My DD has been a terrible eater since around 8 months, before that she would take anything. Now she wont eat anything i make her and i mean nothing. The CM is having the same problem and she wont eat anything she makes either, she has resorted to buying the ready made toddler meals and she will eat 1/2 of one as long as it is a tomatoey one. At home our one sure meal was always spag bols but now she wont even take that but she will eat the pre made toddler spag bols.

I am so fed up making meals and they are never eaten, i really dont want her to grow up as a fussy eater but i really dont know what to do if she wont eat a meal. She is tall and skinny, 99 percentile for height and between 25-50th for weight. She will eat 1/4 toast, breadsticks, yoghurt, fruit, weetabix, dried fruit and sometimes these toddler meals.

Is there anything i can do about this or do i just need to sit it out and hopefully when she is bigger she will start eating more.


My beautiful spirited little angel



My angel baby girl


Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Forum Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2013, 14:20:06 pm »
So sorry to hear you are still struggling with this.
There is a big drop in appetite around 1yr so this needs to be taken into consideration.
If there is any chance of teething I would medicate 20 mins before her meal and see if it makes a difference. Also try beginning a meal with a small appetiser of one of her fav fruits, a few sultanas or something to get her taste buds going, then give a small portion of something else.

have you checked the shop bought foods for ingredients? Are they sugary?  If she is hooked on the sweetness of their recipes (even if there is no added sugar) I would be tempted to add a TINY amount of honey or sugar to some regular meals you make to tempt her in. It can (and should) be weaned rapidly if she takes it, but could be a handy 'in' to get her eating home cooked food again.

Does she like to dip?  When mine was a bit fussy he liked a half teaspoon of mayo or ketchup on his plate to dip his foods in.  If I felt he was getting too much I made a healthier dip, then discovered he'll even dip into milk or water!  Anything! a few drops of salad dressing or lemon juice even.

Being fussy now, or having a low appetite now does not mean she will be fussy later. At 2 and 2.5 I saw significant increases in my DS's food variety. he has had fussy stages but on the whole I didn't consider him fussy, however certain foods he would not touch (meat, fish for example) now he will try some and yesterday even picked up a piece of chicken on the bone and gave it a go.  I think the key is to keep offering even if it is just a very small amount of the variety of foods you eat at home, familiarity with the foods will encourage her to try some.

Depending how much fruit and dried fruit she is eating I would consider cutting back and offering something else. I needed to do this a couple of times with DS, he was fruit crazy and when he tipped the balance of his diet from healthy to really unhealthy in favour of fruit I put my foot down. There was some tears which I cuddled him through and explained (whether he understood or not, but he knew the tone I used was sympathetic and also serious) that it is my job to ensure he has a nutritious diet and that I kept him well, that I knew he loved fruit and I understood it was very tasty for him, but that I could not allow him to eat only fruit, if he was hungry he would eat something else.  Then I would offer a couple of things I knew he liked (or had once liked) and if he refused I suggested another cuddle and a play/book/other diversion.


Offline confusedmummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 4
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 886
  • Location: northampton UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2013, 10:43:34 am »
Hi Eva's mummy I think I posted on your last post actually saying my DD was the same, well at just over 11 months we are exactly where you are, except the only thing I can get her to eat (and only half) is the small 4-6 months jars. She takes one mouthful of anything else then turns her head away next spoonful and just cries. All other finger type foods, fish fingers, chicken nuggets etc (all the unhealthy stuff) she will pick at but again after a couple of mouthfuls the rest goes on the floor, and vegetables, well they don't get past her lips. If she recognises one before she tries it, it gets thrown otherwise spat out.

My DS was a great eater at this age loved his veg, still does so like you I'm worried she will be like this forever 😩. I will keep following in hope you find something that works (a miricale in my case).

Offline Eva's Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 14
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 2332
  • Gail
  • Location: Scotland
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2013, 12:49:49 pm »
Hi Creations, can't believe i'm still here. I have had a wee look at the shop bough meals and there is around 2.6g sugar not sure if that is a lot?

I'm pretty sure she has been teething for months now, so i will try meds 20 mins before feeds. I think also i mess up with times too, before her nap she seems to tired and wont take lunch but she also wont take it straight after her nap so if a leave it later is messes with dinner  ::)

I will try dipping to ss if she likes it, we tried soup today with bread to dip in (i know not the same thing) but she dipped then threw the bread, The girl drives me crazy at meal times.

I'm not sure what counts as a lot of fruit but even when she totally refused her meal or throws it everywhere she will still eat her fruit. So possibly i might have to limit it but i usually give her it s at least she is getting some food.

I even tried to change her wetabix to museli this morning and it was a big no no but went on to eat a full weetabix?

Confusedmummy - They drive you potty dont they, Eva wont even touch fish fingers or chicken nuggets they get picked up and flung instantly. I'm so fed up picking food off the floor i just want her to eat 3 meals. Have you tried the toddler meals at least they look like proper food, proper bits of spaghetti, ravilio, veg not that she will eat it if i make it. She wont even eat tinned spaghetti which to me tastes exactlt the same as her toddler meal one.

Maybe 1 day we will wake up and just eat us out of house and home  ;D



My beautiful spirited little angel



My angel baby girl


Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Forum Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2013, 19:54:00 pm »
the shop bough meals and there is around 2.6g sugar
Is that per jar? per 100g?
2.6g is roughly two thirds or a teaspoon of sugar. It's a bit more than the half teaspoon of ketchup I would give my DS to dip his full meal of fish/meat, veggies etc into, in our case I don't mind the ketchup because I know he gets an entire meal of healthy food.
I've read the AHA guides for a preschooler are not to exceed 4 tsp per day but I think a 12 month old is classed as younger than a pre-schooler and just now can't find the figures.  A huge percentage of children exceed the recommended daily guides on sugar, there are naturally occurring sugars of course and then there is added sugar. Some little pots of yoghurt and fromage frais contain several teaspoons of sugar so one per day of those would rocket the sugar intake and be giving a lot of empty calories for example.  I suppose there are a few things to think about; effect on teeth; empty calories which could be replaced with veg and healthy foods; developing a sweet tooth which leads to a dislike of other tastes.

The guide servings of fruit are surprisingly small.  A quarter of a fresh fruit (eg quarter of an apple, a toddler size handful of grapes) is a serving and toddlers are recommended ot have 2 servings per day.  Mine has always been a fruit fiend and would have WAY more than this, however like I said in previous post, if his healthy diet was out of balance because of his fruit intake I cut it right back.


jaidee

  • Guest
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2013, 20:03:14 pm »
I used to make food for my lo and with high hopes feed him, only to see him either spit it out, or stuff his mouth and not swallow it. Eventually, we just started feeding him whatever we were having. He seems to like it better and is taking to some chewing now. Even though, he still could eat a lot more but I am fine seeing that at least he is sitting and having a few bites.

Offline Eva's Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 14
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 2332
  • Gail
  • Location: Scotland
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2013, 16:40:51 pm »
2.6 is per toddler tray and she has half of one. But i have seen some with 5g in it. I think i will keep offering the food i make with a wee bit of sugar on it to see if she will take it and just reduce it gradually. But maybe offer 1/2 a toddler meal if i think she is having a particulary bad eating day. I'm not totally convinced that teething is not playing a but part in this as she ate nothing at all yesterday and she usually only does this before a tooth pops through.


My beautiful spirited little angel



My angel baby girl


Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Forum Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2013, 17:28:02 pm »
tbh I've never seen these toddler trays, I'm assuming it's something like a ready meal. So, is there a chance you can save one of the empty trays, wash it out and prepare sugar free home made meal (like the spag bol she used to enjoy) and present it in the tray (obviously do this when she is not looking!) just like it is a shop bought one.  It's not a great long term solution but it could be a start, if you serve it straight in the tray maybe there is something about it being in separate compartments that she likes or just the association that she likes these trays of food.  If it is successful you can gradually show the food on the tray but use it like a serving plate, serve her a small amount onto another regular plate so she makes the link from tray to plate.

Teething can play a big part in low appetite, it just depends how long the issue is going on for and i think this reluctance to eat has been going on some time so even if teeth are at play you may still want to try some other approaches.

Is she still having night feeds? What's her milk intake in 24hr?


Offline Eva's Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 14
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 2332
  • Gail
  • Location: Scotland
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2013, 18:43:13 pm »
She has been waking around 5-6 so i feed her 5oz to try to get her back down until 7 then she has 8oz at BT. If she hasn't eaten lunch the CM will give her a bottle at 3pm of maybe 6oz. If her naps are funny and she is too tired for lunch i give her 5oz before her nap as she wont wake unitl around 2pm after only having breakfast at 7:30.

It is a wee bit like a ready meal but i put it in her bowl to feed her so i dont think she see's the trays, well actually thats a lie she seems me warm it in the tray then put it in her bowl.


My beautiful spirited little angel



My angel baby girl


Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Forum Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2013, 20:30:32 pm »
It's a lot of milk and always there as a back up. I would cut the day bottles of milk totally.  Totally.  I think both you and the CM need to be firm about not having day bottles and give her some cheese and crackers or something simple to eat instead.  It doesn't need to be a big meal, just not milk and if she is fussy before a nap and wants a bottle I'd temporarily offer water in a bottle to help sooth her. She'll wean of it once she knows it's just water.  When offering a small meal maybe try 3 or 4 sultanas, very very few, along with the cheese and crackers or toast or whatever you offer, the tiny amount of fruit at the start of the meal may get her appetite going.

Maybe secretly put home made food in the tray, let her see you heat it, then dish it out as usual.


Offline Eva's Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 14
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 2332
  • Gail
  • Location: Scotland
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2013, 11:02:23 am »
well we ditched the day bottle and swapped with a snack which she will sometimes eat, sometimes not but it doesn't seem to be helping with the eating of meals.

We treid ketchup for dipping and the wee rascal loved dipping food throwing the food onto the floor then went on to lick the ketchup off the plate  ::)

I swear this girl is sent to try me. I think she might like lentils, i'm going to try to find a recipe for some kind of lentil casserole and maybe a bean burger as i'm sure she really doesn't like meat.


My beautiful spirited little angel



My angel baby girl


Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Forum Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2013, 18:20:30 pm »
Are you eating your meals at the same time?  And are you offering exactly the same as you eat?
Are you stopping her from throwing the food? At this age (and younger) I prevented food being thrown by quickly (gently) grabbing DS's arm before he could drop the food and guiding it over a plate or bowl, whilst explaining 'food is for eating or tidying up, if you are finished lets tidy up' and we'd put all the bits on the plate. If I could, I'd get the plate under where he was dropping the food and say 'Oh you've decided to tidy up, ok, thanks for putting it on the plate'.  I'd also make sure he only had one or two pieces of food available if he was going through a dropping or throwing phase so that I could keep on top of him dropping them and teach that we don't drop.


Offline Khalam's Mama

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 123
  • Posts: 11335
  • Location: London
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2013, 20:14:10 pm »
I think as Long as there is a back up she is not thinking about the food in the right way. I would decide what she is getting and serve it, if she doesn't eat it that is it. If she has a bad day I offer supper like porridge before bed but not fruit or junk at all. Kids do go through patches of not needing that much and if we constantly give them exactly what they like at the time I think they eat because they like it rather than because they are hungry. Kids will not starve themselves. If you offer a balanced diet they will take what they need. Sometimes my kids seem to eat nothing and I wonder how they can't be hungry but the sttn, grow and develop just fine so it is only my problem really.
Do you think your food has the same flavours as the toddler meals? Sometimes they are really bland and this is what kids like. Or the opposite. I assume they don't have a lot of salt in?

Offline Eva's Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 14
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 2332
  • Gail
  • Location: Scotland
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #13 on: September 03, 2013, 07:27:58 am »
We dont always eat our meals at the same time as on CM days it is home, dinner , bath, bed so she has hers on her own. To be honest when she sits at the table with us she eats worse than in her high chair with me sitting with her, and she doesn't always eat the same as us, it depends what we are having for dinner. The toddler meals do taste quite bland so maybe our food taste quite strong to her.

Once she has finished i get her to help me tidy up (more often then not she will then try to eat whats on the floor), and i only giver her a couple of bits at a time, but each bit gets thrown, I stop her from dropping it, she goes to put it in her mouth the drops it again or hides it down the side of her high chair.
 


My beautiful spirited little angel



My angel baby girl


Offline creations

  • Feeding Solid Food & EASY
  • Forum Moderator
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 496
  • Posts: 21993
  • Location: UK
Re: Fussy eater at 12 months
« Reply #14 on: September 03, 2013, 08:15:15 am »
hides it down the side of her high chair.
I think this is quite common, mine did it too and I've read other LOs sneak stuff down the high chair onto the seat.  We used to joke that he was saving stuff for Ron - lateR on - yeah bad joke but it was almost as though there was a built in survival guide to save food for later, I found it quite amusing.  Maybe the bad joke helped.  When mine looked like he was finished and we were tidying up I'd ask him if he'd saved any for Ron and he'd look around his seat, find the bits and pick them up, either eat them or pop them on the plate for clean up.

I'm a BIG believer in family meals even if Mummy (CM etc) only eats a small snack at the same time.  If there is less food eaten at family meals it could be down to enjoying the social aspect and once that is the norm the eating part will take off.  LOs look to us to model all sorts of behaviour from what is safe to eat to keeping it on the plate/table to using cutlery.  I honestly don't think they can be expected to learn any of these unless they are (mostly) eating with someone.
Many years back (long before I had DS) I saw constant food battles between a friend of mine and her son, he was about 5 at the time.  He would ask for food, she'd cook it, give it to him but not eat with him, he wouldn't touch the food, she'd tell him to eat it, he'd say he wasn't hungry, she'd shout, he'd cry, she'd take it away (and eat it herself - IMO showing that really she could have sat down and shared the meal). Then it would be time to go out, he'd delay by saying he was hungry, she'd cook it, give it, he'd ignore it...more crying, she'd take it away and eat it...they'd go out, he'd ask to go the bakery for a sausage roll, she'd shout at him because he'd been given 2 or 3 meals already which he never ate, then she'd give in buy him one, he wouldn't eat it...
argh, I just thought if only she could see what I was seeing.  He just wanted her attention. I minded him a few days whilst she was at work, I made us a meal, ate with him, he ate the lot without a peep of complaint.  Now I'm not saying this is what is happening with your DD, there is a big age difference for a start, but it really taught me how important eating habits are and how the battle can get out of hand for what really ought to be a time of bonding, communication and enjoyment.
I also think if she is ever going to join family meals she needs to be introduced to those flavours (even if less spicy for example) that are regularly eaten at home otherwise when she is older she will still be requiring a separate meal to be cooked and not joining in with whatever you have made for you and DH.  I DO make changes and allowances in my cooking and what I give to DS but it is always based on our regular meal (here things like making a milder curry then adding more spice to mine and DP's after DS's is served if we really need it hotter, or serving DS boiled potato rather than mash which he doesn't like, he gets a tiny portion of mash so that one day he will try it).