"Food before one......" Blah blah blah!

[MummaSue]

"Food before one is just for fun". Right?

DD is hardly eating. Anything. This morning, a bite of toast and half a grape. Last night a few grains of rice from the beautiful risotto I made from scratch and half a small yoghurt....... each day is the same. She Hardly. Eats. Anything.

So what do I do....... get serious on friday? (day after she turns one)
How though? Do I just have a small eater on my hands? She'll try anything but one bite and it's usually launched off the side of the high chair.

She's still guzzling the boobie like there's no tomorrow though - thank goodness for that!

Waaaaaaa!!!!! I love BLS, I really do but I'm getting really frustrated!!

[briggsy's girl]

just do what you're doing - maybe make sure you haven't given her boob for a while before a solids feed if you can. she will get the hang of eating when she is ready

[Cassius2]

how many BFs is she having a day?

have you tried giving her brekky well before a boob? i remember we had to do that with DD1 for a bit as she just wouldnt eat any brekky at all if i gave her boob first.

just a thought...

[MummaSue]

She's still feeding around 10 times per day. (and more overnight).

I always thought we had to offer boob first? Does that change as they get older? I just worry that if she gets no boobie then eats no breakie/lunch/dinner then she's going to be hungry.

I have no idea how to make this transition!!

[starangelk]

Good point Mumma Sue. I've been a big "Food is fun" advocate but yeah, what happens when they turn one? Is it some magical massive eating increase? My DD still goes through phases. She used to inhale nectarines and plums and now won't touch them. She used to love dates, then went off them but now loves them again. I am just needing to offer her lots of food often. It does mean lots of waste though. I would say DD only eats about 20% of the food we actually give her and I'm the same as you, I cook things from scratch and she just throws them on the floor!! It's heartbreaking. Luckily their little smiles make up for it.

With the food thing, I agree to try and give solids before boob and also maybe just try giving her foods she really likes and not worry about balance for the first meal of the day? I've noticed DD loves these gluten free orange and almond biscuits that have a chocolate base and if she's not eating but has had a little nibble on some things, I will give her a bit of one, she'll eat that and then go back for more of the other food. It's like she "remembers" that eating is okay.

Big hugs and happy early birthday to your LO!!

[Traveller]

Although she is not eating much, it does sound like she is trying a good variety of food which is great. If you are worried then try offering her food about half an hour before you think she is getting hungry, so she is not going to abandon the solids in preference of breastmilk. Also consider cutting back a little on breastmilk so she is not getting full and might be more inclined to try solids. Try regular small snacks instead of offering main meals as she might prefer that. The main thing is though, don't pressure her to eat. She will eat when she is ready and you don't want her to have any negative connotations about food.

[MummaSue]

Thanks guys. We have fun at the table, she's willing to try anything - it's just the actual eating part that is the worry!

I do find as the day goes on that she eats more - meaning she'll eat more at dinner than she will at breakie. But maybe that's because we start the day off with a breast feed?

So maybe start the day with breakfast instead of a breast feed? And offer the feed after breakfast?

[starangelk]

I think that would be a goer MS - we don't give DD milk until after food and it sort of works well for us as she is now on 3 milk feeds/day (plus a night time one if she wakes.) I think the basis is that they soon realise that eating stops them from being hungry, it's not only milk that can satisfy hunger.

[Traveller]

Thanks guys. We have fun at the table, she's willing to try anything - it's just the actual eating part that is the worry!

I do find as the day goes on that she eats more - meaning she'll eat more at dinner than she will at breakie. But maybe that's because we start the day off with a breast feed?

So maybe start the day with breakfast instead of a breast feed? And offer the feed after breakfast?

That's what I would do
xx

[Miss E]

Thanks guys. We have fun at the table, she's willing to try anything - it's just the actual eating part that is the worry!

I do find as the day goes on that she eats more - meaning she'll eat more at dinner than she will at breakie. But maybe that's because we start the day off with a breast feed?

So maybe start the day with breakfast instead of a breast feed? And offer the feed after breakfast?

Yeah, that's what I would do...

I have to say though, I've found with DS there is always a different 'phase' when it comes to food. But I do vividly remember when we swapped from BF first to food first. It was a couple of days into it and I swear I almost saw the light switch come on as he was eating a bananna and realised that 'hey, this food stuff actually fills my belly'. From memory it was around the 10 month mark that we swapped things around and at that time he also dropped quite a few feeds quite quickly. I would basically offer food, let him eat (or not) and then offer booby. I'd do this for breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. HTH

[CrazyLady]

Thanks guys. We have fun at the table, she's willing to try anything - it's just the actual eating part that is the worry!

I do find as the day goes on that she eats more - meaning she'll eat more at dinner than she will at breakie. But maybe that's because we start the day off with a breast feed?

So maybe start the day with breakfast instead of a breast feed? And offer the feed after breakfast?

That sounds like a good plan! Is it possible she's thirsty when she wakes up too? I couldn't give brekky to Pixie unless she'd had some water first because she was too thirsty. I'm not sure if you give your DD a water cup but if you do maybe try a few sips out of that if she refuses to eat.

I found DD got fussy around 1 year and I had to get tough with her milk intake. She was relying on milk to fill her up and just playing with her food. I made it so she'd just have milk before her nap and before bed of a night with maybe a bottle after lunch. It was a tad horrible for me but she was seriously not interested in food! After we cut down the milk she definately had a better attitude towards food and thrived.