What can I do????

[Ole]

Any suggestions to my problem gratefully welcome!

Baby won't be spoon-fed, he won't do finger food, yet he is hungry!! He pats spoon away and he throws finger food on the floor. If I give him a loaded spoon he will drop that too, so he ends up hungry and then won't sleep at night, yet in the morning the process starts all over again even though he must be starving! He is 9.5 10 months.

[Fuschia]

what does he eat? Lots of milk? breast or formula?

Are you sure he throws ALL the finger food on the floor?

[ratty]

Squeezy fruits?

How old?

[Fuschia]

ratty Wrote:

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>

> How old?

9.5-10m she said

[Ole]

until recently he was eating very well, porridge with fruit or toast for breakfast, then breastfeed, then lunch (e.g.meat with veg followed by fruit), then at mid afternoon a snack (e.g. a yoghurt), then dinner (e.g. pasta with veg), then another breastfeed, and then bed, so I was very pleased because he was eating so well, but now even his favourite foods he won't eat. He used to scoff avocado sandwiches (which he would feed himself) but now he just picks at them and ends up on the floor! He seems to have one good meal a day (presumably when he is ravenous) but the rest of the day nothing. For example yesterday he had a great dinner but hardly had any lunch or breakfast. The previous day he ate breakfast very well but did not want to have dinner, and so on...he is so erratic there is no pattern!!

[nunheadmum]

Probably not what you want to hear as no magic solution but I think the main thing is not to stress yourself - it's a reaction and probably what your little one likes to see. Give him food - if he's hungry, he'll eat. If he doesn't eat it, take it away and let him move onto something else. Offer good snacks maybe if that tempts him - perhaps he just doesn't like being in the high chair. But, unless there is a real problem like intolerance, I think babies eat what they need - we sometimes misjudge what they need because the books say they should do X or Y. If you stress, your LO will pick up on this and either stress himself about food or like the reaction and continue with the behaviour that gets that reaction.

I think there are very few babies around our area who suffer malnutrition despite their best attempts to wind us up over food. It's amazing sometimes how little they actually need to survive.

It may mean a few bad nights while he gets the message (that was always my worry over food!) but he'll soon work it out.

[Fuschia]

I'd guess it is just a phase, possibly linked to teething.

At <1y the solids are more for taste/practice than nutrition, so try not to worry. The more you fuss the more he will decide it's a good game. I'd try to avoid serving up one delicacy after another trying to find his "favourite" as he's totally fickle anyway.

Serve up balanced but easy to cook meals, then try to pay little attention to what he eats or not (and don't then top him up with sweet puds)

The night waking is more to do with brain development than hunger.

Try to relax and ride it out. How you respond to this will set the pattern for future years... try to see your role as providing a balanced and healthy diet.. his job is to eat (or not!) and that bit is out of your hands.

[Ole]

Thanks guys, it is exactly the kind of thing I would tell anybody else with the same problem, it is so difficult to get perspective when it is happening to you though! all i want is to see him eat (even if it means feeding him only chocolate biscuits, not that I'm going to of course, but the temptation is there!)

[womanofdulwich]

i am sure health visitor will not approve but I would but baby rice in the bottle and give it that way. my mum did it to me.:-$

[Ruth_Baldock]

Seb does this and it drives me mental. It's also why I don't cook his meals from scratch 100% of the time, and why I give him jars. Like Fuscia said, at this age food is more about the general experience than totally nutrition so try to relax. When Seb chucks his food around, I take the food away, take off his bib, clean him up and take him out of the highchair but don't react. It seems to work, at least most of the time, and the next meal he eats well.

[snowboarder]

Mine did this too at 8.5 months. Didn't want my lovely meat/veg meals. Wasn't fab at finger food (bit better than yours though - mini sarnies could be popped into his mouth) but refused anything offered on a spoon. Ellas kitchen squeezies saved me (the stage one fruity/veg ones) - top off and let him suck at it (squeeze to encourage if nec!). Sainsburys even do squeezy yoghurts. He's had a limited menu (ie pasta) ever since. Annoying babies! Oh yes we went through a phase where if totally distracted by random kitchen implements (salad tongs/measuring spoons etc) you could get something in him. I stopped that when it got ridiculous and he was asking for the blender to play with.

[GinaG3]

I must say I agree with fuschia 110% on what she said. My daughter did the same for a good while at that age. Food is just for exploring right now, they still get most of their needs from milk. We sat it out and tried to stay calm - easier said than done I know. We found the more wound up we got the more she played on it, simply looking for a reaction.

Stay calm and positive. Let the baby try food off your own plate if wanted. The less you stress the better. Good luck with it, it will pass trust me!