Baby is uninterested in solid food Advice needed!!

DS is almost a year old and he is not and rarely has been interested in
solid food. He is a healthy happy baby and weighs a very healthy weight
but all he wants is the bottle. He will very occasionally eat food, but
never very much at a time or very often. This is really starting to
worry me considering the pediatrician recommends we switch to whole milk
at a year. How is he going to get adequate nutrition from just milk? I
am also worried because at his 9 month appt they said he was very solid
and all muscle but if babies are fed too much formula and not enough
food they will become "doughy". This hasn't happened yet but I am
worried it will if he doesn't start to eat real food. I look in my AAP
book on childcare on what a year old baby should be eating and he isn't
even close. What do I do to get him interested in eating and not in the
bottle? Advice needed!

Wendy
Mama to the stubborn little peanut who refuses to eat and Baby November

I have a perfectly healthy 5 year old who refused to eat solid food until
she was about 13 months old. Just keep offering a good variety of foods when
he's hungry (before offering formula), he'll take it when he's ready. I
wouldn't (and didn't) switch to cows milk until he's regularly eating solid
foods. Keep in mind that books and advice on what your baby "should" be
doing are generalizations based on when "most" babies are doing these
things. That doesn't mean they're right for every child. He'll eat when he's
ready to!

My most recent baby was not interested in solid food AT ALL until he was at
least 18 months old. His diet at three is still very limited.

I don't have any advice re getting him to eat (obviously!) but I wanted to say
it's not all that uncommon, and the one thing you SHOULDN'T do is switch to
whole milk until you are confident he is getting plenty of nutrition from
solids.


Leslie

Emily (2/4/91)
Jake (1/27/94)
Teddy (2/15/95)
William (3/5/01 -- VBA3C, 13 lbs. 5 oz.)
and Lorelei, expected 11/2/04

"Children come trailing clouds of glory from God, which is their home."
~ William Wordsworth

"Wendy" wrote in message
...
DS is almost a year old and he is not and rarely has been interested in
solid food. He is a healthy happy baby and weighs a very healthy weight
but all he wants is the bottle. He will very occasionally eat food, but
never very much at a time or very often. This is really starting to
worry me considering the pediatrician recommends we switch to whole milk
at a year. How is he going to get adequate nutrition from just milk? I
am also worried because at his 9 month appt they said he was very solid
and all muscle but if babies are fed too much formula and not enough
food they will become "doughy". This hasn't happened yet but I am
worried it will if he doesn't start to eat real food. I look in my AAP
book on childcare on what a year old baby should be eating and he isn't
even close. What do I do to get him interested in eating and not in the
bottle? Advice needed!



Does he eat babyfood? My DD wouldn't consistently eat solids until around
18 months, but she would eat stage 1 babyfood. What kept her going was that
she loved yogurt, so she had some every day. Anyway, everyone develops at
their own pace.

Nancy

Wendy wrote in message
...
DS is almost a year old and he is not and rarely has been interested in
solid food. He is a healthy happy baby and weighs a very healthy weight
but all he wants is the bottle. He will very occasionally eat food, but
never very much at a time or very often. This is really starting to
worry me considering the pediatrician recommends we switch to whole milk
at a year. How is he going to get adequate nutrition from just milk? I
am also worried because at his 9 month appt they said he was very solid
and all muscle but if babies are fed too much formula and not enough
food they will become "doughy". This hasn't happened yet but I am
worried it will if he doesn't start to eat real food. I look in my AAP
book on childcare on what a year old baby should be eating and he isn't
even close. What do I do to get him interested in eating and not in the
bottle? Advice needed!

Will he eat finger food? #2 refused solids (except yoghurt) until I tried
her on finger foods. Try a piece of bread. She ate her first food-a piece of
pizza crust! Having refused slop.
Debbie

Wendy,
He might be one of those babies who wants to skip directly over baby foods,
and go straight to finger foods. Try putting him in his high chair several
times a day, when he asks for his bottle, and putting out some Cheerios,
Zwieback, raisins, etc. Let him play with it and/or eat it for a while
before you give him his bottle. Taylor loved to feed herself from a very
early age. Also, keep in mind that as much as babies/toddlers drink, their
stomachs are still relatively small, about the size of their two fists
together, so it doesn't take much to fill them up. I know when I watch
Taylor guzzle that 8-9 ounces of milk it's hard to believe, but it's true.

Good luck.
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

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"Wendy" wrote in message
...
DS is almost a year old and he is not and rarely has been interested in
solid food. He is a healthy happy baby and weighs a very healthy weight
but all he wants is the bottle. He will very occasionally eat food, but
never very much at a time or very often. This is really starting to
worry me considering the pediatrician recommends we switch to whole milk
at a year. How is he going to get adequate nutrition from just milk? I
am also worried because at his 9 month appt they said he was very solid
and all muscle but if babies are fed too much formula and not enough
food they will become "doughy". This hasn't happened yet but I am
worried it will if he doesn't start to eat real food. I look in my AAP
book on childcare on what a year old baby should be eating and he isn't
even close. What do I do to get him interested in eating and not in the
bottle? Advice needed!

Wendy
Mama to the stubborn little peanut who refuses to eat and Baby November

He has never liked baby food very much and he will occasionally eat
finger foods such as crackers, pieces or cheese, cheerios but we're
lucky if we can get him to do this once a day. He loves to throw his
food on the floor and he has recently learned that when he sticks out
his tongue or blows "raspberries" the food will go flying out of his
mouth, which is terrific fun! Should I wait until he is willingly
eating and interested in food to switch to milk? How long did you keep
your reluctant little eater on formula? Sometimes when I am eating
something he will come by and have a bite but sitting in the highchair
eating, even when we are, seems like it is just too boring and
restrictive for him. When he is not sleeping he is in constant motion. I
am very reassured to hear other mothers say their babies did the same
thing and are not (obviously) malnourished. As a first time mother
without close friends who have young children it's good to hear from
someone that this isn't uncommon.

Thanks,
Wendy

I highly recommend the book, How to Get Your CHild to Eat, But Not Too Much,
by Ellyn Satter. It's really wonderful.

I'd make a point to only feed him in his chair, and to sit him down for all
3 meals and snacks every day. Lay out his food, and the moment he starts to
throw or spit or play with it, pull him down and end the meal. Then, make
him wait until the next meal or snack time for anything else. He'll get the
picture, and eventually eat.
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password: Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

Check out our Adoption Page at http://home.earthlink.net/~jamielee6


"Wendy" wrote in message
...
He has never liked baby food very much and he will occasionally eat
finger foods such as crackers, pieces or cheese, cheerios but we're
lucky if we can get him to do this once a day. He loves to throw his
food on the floor and he has recently learned that when he sticks out
his tongue or blows "raspberries" the food will go flying out of his
mouth, which is terrific fun! Should I wait until he is willingly
eating and interested in food to switch to milk? How long did you keep
your reluctant little eater on formula? Sometimes when I am eating
something he will come by and have a bite but sitting in the highchair
eating, even when we are, seems like it is just too boring and
restrictive for him. When he is not sleeping he is in constant motion. I
am very reassured to hear other mothers say their babies did the same
thing and are not (obviously) malnourished. As a first time mother
without close friends who have young children it's good to hear from
someone that this isn't uncommon.

Thanks,
Wendy

Wendy wrote in message
...
He has never liked baby food very much and he will occasionally eat
finger foods such as crackers, pieces or cheese, cheerios but we're
lucky if we can get him to do this once a day. He loves to throw his
food on the floor and he has recently learned that when he sticks out
his tongue or blows "raspberries" the food will go flying out of his
mouth, which is terrific fun! Should I wait until he is willingly
eating and interested in food to switch to milk? How long did you keep
your reluctant little eater on formula? Sometimes when I am eating
something he will come by and have a bite but sitting in the highchair
eating, even when we are, seems like it is just too boring and
restrictive for him.
I'd suggest that when you are eating you put him in the high chair next to
you for a short time. If you don't now, then he may never want to sit down
and eat. That may be fine with you, but I know if my pair don't sit down to
eat properly then they tend to snack through the day. They also both have
loved being "part of the family" sitting up there with us for eating. #2 is
very active too, and crawled before she sat, and is much less interested in
food, but still likes to be with us at meal times. If she won't eat her food
then I'll give her a toy to play with while we eat.
Debbie

When he is not sleeping he is in constant motion. I
am very reassured to hear other mothers say their babies did the same
thing and are not (obviously) malnourished. As a first time mother
without close friends who have young children it's good to hear from
someone that this isn't uncommon.

Thanks,
Wendy

"Jamie Clark" wrote in message
nk.net...
I highly recommend the book, How to Get Your CHild to Eat, But Not Too
Much,
by Ellyn Satter. It's really wonderful.

I'd make a point to only feed him in his chair, and to sit him down for
all
3 meals and snacks every day. Lay out his food, and the moment he starts
to
throw or spit or play with it, pull him down and end the meal. Then, make
him wait until the next meal or snack time for anything else. He'll get
the
picture, and eventually eat.
--

Jamie & Taylor
Earth Angel, 1/3/03

Check out Taylor Marlys -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password: Guest
Become a member for free - go to Add Member to set up your own User ID and
Password

Check out our Adoption Page at http://home.earthlink.net/~jamielee6



Is this the type of advice in the book? The title interests me. We're
still having eating issues and I'd love to expand my DD's diet, but she's a
grazer. I'm completely comfortable with the grazing.

Nancy