12 month old refuses to eat wants bottle

[1pj]

My baby girl is refusing to eat,she used to eat well but last few months i think shes gotten worse eating less and less,even her favourites she just turns her head away,problem is i dont know if ive done the right thing but ive kept persisting with food but ive been giving her more bottles because she wont eat and im worried shes not getting nutrician!So shes been having the toddler formula but i just worried,she definetly doesnt look starved and shes not sick,shes had 2 teeth cut threw in the last week but she just really its like shes fussy or just not interested in food!! surely shes hungry???I just dont know whether to cut down her bottle so shes hungry and has to eat or if thats mean?I cant force her to eat!Anyone else been threw this?She will only really eat finger food and its just not much!

[Saffi]

Its a bit of a vicious cycle they don't eat so you give more milk, which in turn (may) mean that they don't want to eat as they're not hungry. Do you always offer food first and then the bottle? Don't have any tips, sorry.

[Curly]

She may not be hungry because all the milk is filling her up.

Try cutting back the amount of milk in the bottles to about 180ml and limit it to 3 per day - 1 when waking up, 1 after a nap, 1 before bed. You should see an increase in appetite then.

Offer her her favourite foods and if she likes finger food encourage this - maybe some brightly coloured chopped fruit or tiny sandwiches? Home made crumbed chicken and fish? Maybe with some sauce to dip? Pasta?

After 12 months of age milk is not such an important part of their diet and they should be getting more nutrients from food. A small piece of cheese or small tub of yogurt is the equivalent of a cup of milk - if you are worried about calcium. The other thing you might consider is getting rid of the bottle altogether - babies naturally drink less from a cup then they do from a bottle (sometimes easier said than done though, my DS took a cup fairly easily but my DD won't have a bar of it).

Also, they aren't growing as quickly so even though they are older it is common for the amount they are eating to actually decrease.

Try it for 3 days and see what happens - if she refuses the first couple of meals don't freak out too much, she won't let herself starve. It will be a bit of a change for her if she's a bit addicted to the bottle. My DS was like this, in the end I decided I just had to trust him to regulate his own appetite and I did note that on the days he drank less milk he ate more.

[MantaRay]

1jp. It's really stressful when your toddler doesn't eat, I know from experience.

This is one of the problems with toddler formula - it fills babies up and stops them from eating the food, which is what contains the nutrition they need. Unfortunately they use clever and misleading advertising to play on mums' guilt and lead us to believe that our babies can get all they are missing out on from not eating. This is not true.

What I am going to suggest is not easy, but it worked for me (although it was cows' milk in our case). Cut the milk right down (and skip toddler formula altogether, it is not good for kids in any way). Offer a meal, and if your DD doesn't eat it, then don't offer her anything else. I told you it would be hard - we are hardwired to feed our children - but the truth is that kids don't starve themselves. If you keep doing this, she will get hungry, realise that holding out won't get her what she wants, and eat what is in front of her. And this will get her eating back on track.

It can help to look at it like this - success as a parent is not about how much our child eats today - it's about setting them up with good nutrition and healthy eating habits for their lifetime.

All the best with it hun. It really does get easier, and it is the best feeling when they suddenly start eating better. You are doing a fantastic job and you will get through this phase.

[1pj]

thanks so much!I cant believe it I never thought that would help!I cut down her bottles of milk and shes eaten brekky and a bit of a sandwhich for lunch and all her dinner and even a yoghrt!!Yah!!I'll keep perservering!Thanks for the info on the formula too,they really make you think that its ok for them to not eat as long as they on toddlers formula there still getting nutrician but I know toddlers that are 2years old and still barely eat because there mums just kept giving them bottles instead and i really didnt want that!Thanks again!