10.5 months losing interest in solids

[Bonnie89]

My son is 10.5 months old and our once happy and lots of food eating meal times have turned into fussy cry sessions with little food intake. Here's our routine:


(Keep in mind that the amount of food or formula isn't the same everyday. Some days he eats like a champ! Other days, I wonder if he'll waste away because of the tiny amount he consumes.)
6-7am bottle (back to sleep) 5-8 oz
8-8:15am wake up for day
8:30-9am breakfast solids (been turning up his nose most days to his cereal for the past couple weeks)
11-11:30am bottle 6-8 oz
11:40/11:55am- 1:10/1:25pm nap
1:30/2pm solids 6oz jar baby food plus cheerios, water
4-4:30pm bottle 4-8 oz
4:50/5:05pm 30-45 minute nap
6:30pm solids (not so much the last couple nights, but used to be 8-10 oz)
8:30pm bottle and bed (4-6 oz)

Should I adjust his feeding schedule? It used to be PERFECT, but now he fusses and cries and wants the spoon (to throw it on the floor). He used to eat so well and LOVED his solids. He would eat 8oz of baby food plus tidbits of our supper. He shakes his head and turns away when I try to give him bites. He cries and fusses a lot when he can't get what he wants, like hard crying. This is a new thing. Also, he eats a lot of cheerios, so I'm thinking maybe he just wants finger foods?

Another weird thing that just happened: he drank maybe an ounce of his bedtime bottle (after a supper that consisted of maybe 2-3 oz total compared to the usual 8-10). I kept trying to give him more but he would cry and scream. I gave him orajel even though I don't see or feel a tooth coming in. I put him to bed finally and he screamed and cried until I went in there and tried the bottle again, at which point he drank 5 more ounces. As I write this, I'm thinking that he's possibly teething, but this behaviour has been going on for about a week now. Shouldn't I have seen a tooth by now if that's what it is? Of course, another bit of information I can't leave out is the fact that he should be getting his 8th tooth by now because they usually come in sets, right? And he got his 7th one a couple weeks ago. It's weird that is hasn't shown up yet when all his other sets came in around the same time.

I'll keep watching for teething signs, but until then, any advice for food? I think he might be ready for more independent eating, which I'm all for, but I need help figuring out what to give him. He choked on a baby cookie last friday night and threw up his entire supper plus some lunch (which had been a LOT), so I'm scared he'll choke. Any tips? I know I need to read the FAQs pages. Going to do that now. Thanks in advance!

[Erin M]

If you haven't already found it, go read the sticky on baby led weaning -- there's some really good information on that.  There's a good possibility that he really just wants to do it all himself.  My dd2 gave up on purees pretty early and would only eat what we were eating (provided that she could feed it to herself!)  You may even try giving him a spoon - my dd2 would only feed herself at that age and while using a spoon was super messy she got the hang of it fairly quickly. 

Teeth are often a culprit with solids refusal as well - even if you can't see them, they could be shifting around out of sight, which is often more painful for them than the actual tooth breaking through.  Just be persistent, but try not to let it stress you out too much (easier said than done!)

[Lemonthyme]

Gagging is completely normal and at some point however you wean a baby gags so much they'll be sick.  This is one of the ways they learn.

It might be teeth.  There are so many which come through around this age.  Have you tried some calpol / nurofen?  They can also cause pain even before they pop through.  I remember having pain from my wisdom teeth 2 years before they came through (and they weren't impacted!)  No wonder babies cry!

[Bababoo]

I'm thinking maybe he just wants finger foods?

Your description of his reactions sound similar to my 10 month old DD over the last week...loves her food and has been a great eater since she started solids at 5.5 months...with her it's a desire to feed herself - she has just started crawling and I think it's part of an overall trend of her asserting her independence. DD will happily gobble up toast and fruit for her breakfast once I cut them into pieces and leave them on the tray for her to eat - same with her dinner, I just take out the pieces of meat and veg and let her pick away - my concern was how to feed her 'wet' food like porridge and yogurts when she refuses the spoon and also that when feeding herself she eats less than if I was feeding her. Today she took the spoon, but might change her mind later so I'm going to start giving her a spoon aswell and between the two of us hopefully get all her grub in!
Looking at your schedule it might also be the case that after a 4.30 bottle he might not be very hungry at 6.30...DD always had a big appetite, and always took slightly more in her bottle than her age guide...but once on 3 meals I started to reduce the bottle amount (with a view to having formula gone by her first birthday). She now has 7oz first thing in the morning (6am ish)...breakfast a couple of hours later (porridge, toast and fruit)...5oz few hours later (am cutting it down gradually from 7oz), then lunch (maybe a sandwich and yogurt) - have cut the afternoon bottle entirely (gradually reduced the amount over a month while making lunch a little bigger), dinner @5pm (meat/fish and veg) and 7oz bottle @ 6pm.

Of course, it might just be the teeth!

Hope this helps a bit!

[Bonnie89]

Thank you so much everyone! I am sooo terrible that I'm just now checking this again! I checked a while back a few times, but nothing and then before I knew it, my son has almost turned one! So I'm planning for that party too!

Ok teething is still a wonder since last I posted when he was 10.5 months. He still hadn't had his second tooth in the bottom outer pair, and that's still true. So possibly it's rooting around, but teething thoughts have left my mind for now. His eating has become TERRIBLE! I give him the spoon and fork but he doesn't do anything but chew on the end. He'll figure it out in time, but I probably should have given it to him sooner. He's 11.5 months old now and I wonder if it is time for a routine change? I'm going to start introducing cow milk to him. He has been drinking way more formula than solids lately and it used to be other way around. As long as he gets his calories, I'm fine, but he needs to switch back since we're going to cow's milk soon. He's been VERY congested lately too (which I believe has contributed to his decreased appetite) and feeling crumby so maybe that's why he's liking the comfort of the bottle more than solids.

Any advice for a 12 month schedule? Definitely going to read the baby-led weaning threads and the age routines. I just LOVED the routine that I was given last time (the one above) because he took to it immediately and very well. His amounts of food and milk he consumes varies so much, that I can't ever rely on it, but as far as times? I wonder if he just needs longer in between meals? He refuses breakfast now except for cheerios (there's something to that independent eating thing) and maybe a little bit of a squeeze pouch, so he's starving for his formula bottle extra early. Then lunch time, after his nap, he eats half of what he used to eat. Same goes for the next bottle and dinner.

Also, have any of you experienced your baby LOVING a food one day and then completely refusing it the next time you make it? Sorry this is SO all over the place. Thanks in advance for all of your help!

[Erin M]

Also, have any of you experienced your baby LOVING a food one day and then completely refusing it the next time you make it?

That's been all of my kids.  And toddlers in general, I think. 

As you approach a year, you might try just serving him his milk with his meals in a cup?  You could keep the AM/PM bottles if you're concerned about intake, but drop them at other points in the day?  Mine all were breast fed, but once we got past the year mark, we just nursed at wake up and bed time and did milk in a cup at other times.

[Bonnie89]

That sounds like a good idea! I'm going to introduce a little milk to him soon since he's almost a year. I planned on starting with his day time bottles. Thanks, Erin!!

[Erin M]