Why wont he take a spoon?!

Ollie is 12 mths, self-weaned himself off breastmilk 3 weeks ago and will only take bottle now. He has never showen much interest in food, finger foods are fun for him but he doesnt eat much at all, 15mins in a highchair and hes had enough, and will not accept food from a spoon- even if he has 1 himself. DS1 was munching his way through my cupboards by this age, eating almost anything he could get his hands on.
The rest of the family is starting to put pressure on me about Ollie not eating (as if Im trying to starve him or something).
He has 4 teeth, loves his milk but only takes 150-180mls at a time I realise he has a small tummy. I feed him about half an hour before a bottle is due, otherwise he wont eat anything ever!
If we lived in a decent country I could go to family clinic and get help- but they have nothing like that here and keep trying to give us medicine to make his appetite grow- there is nothing wrong with his appetite that we can see.
He is healthy and happy, a busy little boy, but he is small for his age- people think hes a girl alot. He was induced 10days early, so I keep allowing for that but Im at the end of my tether. I want him to eat and get chubby and enjoy food.
Has anybody elses baby been like this? any suggestions?

Maybe you could get a range of rather funky sppons and let him choose? Cos thats what big boys do...

well it worked for me - anytime you tell DS its what big boys do - he's there!

We have a range of spoons, sizes, colors, textures, materials, but doesnt matter what spoon it is he doesnt want it. But he does enjoy waving them around and throwing them around the room LOL

Maybe you could get a few coloured spoons (we have those Heinz ones, but they're probably a bit small for 12mo) and instead of jumping straight in there with the food, let him play with it and chew on it for a bit first. Then give him hid finger food and the spoon at the same time. And then put some food (like porridge or something?) on the spoon and let him play with it...? Then try feeding.

Or maybe tell him he CAN'T have a spoon?

We had a lot of trouble getting Flynn to eat in his high chair. What we are doing at the moment (which is still working after a week or 2!!!) is having him sit on a booster seat at the table with us. I agree with the big boy statement. I think that was Flynn's beef! He has a spoon and holds it in one hand while shoveling food with the other. It is quite messy but we have a plastic drop cloth underneath him and a towel on the table for easier clean up!
It may aslo be that he just has a small appetite. Try not to worry too much, if he is happy and active and learning new things etc I wouldn't be too worried. If he seems sickly and is not progressing/developing well then be worried.
Hope this helped :)

LOL this was my DS. Try him with a fork!

DS really loved forks, trying to stab the food with a fork (mostly failing at first but he got really good at it) but to start with we would have two forks going. Put food on Fork 1, give to DS so he can put food in mouth. Put food on Fork 2 - swap with DS. And so on.

We still kept the spoon around for yoghurt but we didn't really come back to spoons until he was nearly 2. He's excellent with a spoon now...he finally worked out that it was more efficient for some foods. Previously we would have to put the peas and corn on the tines of the fork!

My daughter hated sitting the high chair. So, we got a little chair and table for her, and she sits at it to eat. When she started sitting there, she started eating better. We also try to make sure we all sit down and eat together - if she sees us eating, then usually she wants to eat as well.

Another option is to take soft foods and chop them in to small pieces and just put them in his mouth yourself. That way you could at least work out whether the issue is the food or the spoon! And you can do this with him sitting on your lap (or even sitting on a big towel on the floor) so there isn't the high chair issue.

Thank you for your ideas ladys. He sits where he wants, mostly high chair sometimes on my lap. We all eat at the same time, boys in H/Cs next to each other. Finger foods are given but hes still not really interested, will eat 1/3 of a banana at most (that amout once a day) varing smaller amounts during the day. Will try the fork idea see if that peaks his interest. Its gotta happen soon right?

I also had issues with the finger food thing and the fork helped with this too. Don't know why. Maybe he had observed Mummy and Daddy had a fork? I will never know.

Actually, letting him eat most of his food with his fingers is a good way to avoid future eating hassles. ;) Children with food aversion in the later toddler years usually have a fear of getting messy. So perhaps he's smart and not going down that path!

It is quite common for small toddlers to not want to sit still and eat for long periods. Letting him graze and offering smaller meals for often is the best way to meet his nutritional needs. As long as you are offering him a healthy variety of foods, then he'll get all he needs. Some eat less than others, just the same as us adults. You could try writing down everything he eats over a couple of days and you might be surprised just how much he's having.

Another thing that worked for me was to sit down with DD every time she ate. I would have a snack or a meal as well, even just a cup of tea if I wasn't hungry. I talk to her and that keeps her more amused than sitting by herself. Also, if you think he's ready, try asking him which spoon/cup/plate he would like and which food too. The more control he has over the process before sitting down, the more likely he will want to participate. Maybe try offering a few different foods on the plate for him to eat too.

Good luck!

Are you worried because he isn't eating much? Or because he wont use a spoon?

I wouldn't worry about him eating much at 12 months, he is still very little, and if he was BF till 3 weeks ago then that is ok. When they are BF food under 1 is just for fun. As they get older then it becomes something that they should get more into.

As for a spoon, who cares?? Just let him have it, offer a spoon, if he doesn't use it don't stress! It's much more fun with fingers :)

I would like him to eat more and it would be comforting for me- if I was able to feed him with a spoon for 1 meal a day- then atleast I would know how much he was eating.
I think I need to just relax abit more and ignore the rest of the familys comments about what a baby "should" be eating and how. He will do it in his own time and hes far from mal-nurished (sp) Thank you all for your suggestions and support. It means alot :)

Your doing a wonderful job :) It's hard to let other peoples comments not effect you but it's best to try. You know your baby better than anyone else :)