My 1-year old doesn't eat... anything

[westcoastlady]

My DS is about to turn 1 yo. When he turned six months we eagerly introduced solids, starting with rice cereal... which he hated. We then tried mushed banana, peach...etc. He never would tolerate being feed from a spoon and still hates it to this day. I thought that once he could use the pincher grip then he would start to eat more. Nope.

Currently he is likely still getting 95% (at least) of his nutrition from me... which is fine, but I wish he would start eating. Our basic strategy is to continue to offer him good healthy food with lots of variety at least several times each day. We never force him to eat and we keep a pretty relaxed attitude about it. He generally interacts with the food on his tray and even puts it in his mouth, he then swishes it around and spits it out again. He just doesn't seem to 'get' swallowing it.

I guess what I'm looking for is less advice and more reassurance that this is normal and he will grow out of it. I have lots of friends with babies and it seems like they all eat wonderfully. They are consuming whole apples, bowls of cereal etc and I'm celebrating if I can get him to eat 1tsp of yogurt. It has been very discouraging.

Has anyone else had this experience?? Is this normal?? Or should I be starting to get worried? I wouldn't mind bf a 2-year old... I just don't want to be exclusively bf him at that age

[feminist~mama]

My dd didn't "take" to eating at 6~ish months, and I thought it was a hassle... so I quit! Lol!

She's 11 now and just finished her 2nd helping of lasagna. Honestly, once she did start eating my concern was generally about her eating *too much*- she really liked it once she got into it! Lol!

Your attitude and continued casual offering of food is perfect. No worries mama!

ETA: I've no idea if it makes a difference, but my dd loved to nurse and was sad to stop when my supply dried up when she was 4. So she did get a significant amount of nutrition from nursing too, for a long time...

[buttercups.nest]

I once spent a whole entire Sunday making baby food (it was good too, I tried it all!) only for me to eat it in the end after attempts to get her to eat. LOL I was so frustrated! I just gave up for a bit. When we started offering whole foods rather than pureed was when she made the switch. It was at about a year so I understand your anxiety!

[SallyN]

totally within normal range!

(my 10 month old could care less about non-breastmilk food too)

continue keeping it casual. and maybe offer some different textures? DD2 could not care less about squishy slimy things, but does LOVE cheerios (though I limit them as she was getting constipated)

[KatWrangler]

How are his other milestones?

Hmm, personally at nearly a year of age and not swallowing, I would be concerned. What does your HCP say?

[azdesertrn]

My DS (now 8) didn't eat anything until he was about 12 months old- and then he would only eat dry foods (cheerios etc...) he gradually expanded overtime, but was 3 before he would eat even pudding or ice cream (not that I pushed those foods LOL) Some kids just don't like moist foods. He had texture issues he outgrew.

He grew normally in height and weight and now eats a pretty varied balanced diet.

My DD is the opposite and eats everything. She swiped a spicy Asian spare rib off my plate at 5 1/2 months and chowed down.....she was so happy I couldn't take it away.

[swd12422]

Our son didn't eat solids until he was 18 months, and he was bottle-fed formula before then, not breastfed. (I would think that BFing would have made it even harder for him to give up in exchange for solids, just b/c of the comfort/closeness...) He was evaluated and basically there was nothing wrong, he just didn't want to eat solids. Since I wanted him off the formula ASAP (I wouldn't have been in such a rush if we'd BFed), the one thing we did that seemed to help was smoothies. The OT said to make them very thick and use a small straw so the muscles have to work hard to suck. That was supposed to help his tongue and other muscles develop enough to help him chew and manipulate solids. It didn't take long after that to move on to real solids, so maybe smoothies would work to get your LO used to different flavors. (You could use BM as the base instead of yogurt...)

Just a thought.

[Liberty5_3000]

My son was pretty much 95% breastfed until 14 months. When he was ready, he just started eating. There were no issues from it, other than his doctor was concerned about his weight at his one year visit, but I don't think it was anything to be concerned about (he was otherwise healthy and both his father and I were about the same weight at that age).

[KristyDi]

I'd say that at a year my dd got 90-95% of her nutrition from BF. Your LO sounds a lot like my dd was. She'd taste, but wasn't swallowing a whole lot that didn't dissolve in her mouth. I think the eating picked up somewhere round15 or 16 months. She's still not a huge eater (except in growth spurts) and still loves nursing. I just keep offering good food and try not to worry too much since she's growing and meeting milestones. I would also usually offer her some of whatever I'm eating. She's eaten some surprising things. So don't limit your DS to just plain or bland food. He may have more adventurous tastes.

[LadyCatherine185]

My DS didn't start consuming a decent amount of solids until about 15 months. Before that he would taste, eat a bite here or there, etc. He has been ahead on all milestones, and he has always been in the 90th % for his weight. As long as he seems healthy/happy and not delayed in any areas I wouldn't worry just yet.

[westcoastlady]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

How are his other milestones?

Hmm, personally at nearly a year of age and not swallowing, I would be concerned. What does your HCP say?

He's totally fine for his other milestones... he's walking, babbling like crazy, making lots of variety of sounds, interacting, transferring things from one container to the next. He does drink water from a cup and on the rare occasions when he eats yogurt or beef broth, he does swallow that... just nothing chunky. I have no concerns about him other than the eating. I'm just worried because he used to be at the 75 percentile for weight and I know he isn't there anymore. I am going to bring it up at my 12 month checkup with my doctor but I don't know what they'll suggest that I haven't tried yet.

I am going to try the smoothie though. I made him one but we didn't use a straw....

It's nice to know that it's quite normal and gives me hope that he will become interested at some point. Thanks for the reassurance.

[~savah~]

Yup, DD definitely got at least 90% of her calories from bf'ing at that age. I would make smoothies with coconut oil and flax meal and freeze them in popsicle containers (I got the idea from a momma on here actually). I would also let her sit on my lap while I ate and she would eat off my plate. It really wasn't much and she went from 80% in weight at birth to now 15% and she just turned two. It was a steady drop on the growth charts but, her ped. is not worried because she is hitting every milestone.

[IntuitiveJamie]

My first was not interested in solids until around a year, even though I introduced them at 6 months.
My 2nd wasn't interested in solids until around 18 months. I couldn't believe it and was so tired of being the main source of nutrition (after several years of bfing total at that point). But it was what it was. I just kept trying to introduce them and one day they finally became a part of his source of nutrition.
It will happen.

[mamazee]

My first baby was like that. She just wasn't interested in anything at all until a year, and wouldnt' eat anything. Nothing at all. Then, right around a year, she started grabbing at food and eating like crazy. IMO, when they're ready, they'll eat. I wouldn't worry about it.

My second baby was ravenous for solids from about 4 months, though I held off on the solids until 6 months to give her gut time to mature. But she turns 1 in Feb and she eats like crazy.

[azzeps]

I think you are on the right track with offering food and not worrying about it. A book that I really enjoyed, that you might too, is called Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense by Ellyn Satter. It didn't seem to me that she was much for extended breastfeeding, so I ignored that part, but the feeding part was/is excellent.

I would say the not swallowing is normal. From what I read, babies/children try new foods by first seeing, then touching, then picking up, then putting in the mouth and spitting out, then chewing and actually swallowing it. So I think as long as he continues to move along that path, which I'm sure he will, then everything is fine. Check out that book, it's great.

[jacobsmommy]

Originally Posted by azdesertrn

My DS (now 8) didn't eat anything until he was about 12 months old- and then he would only eat dry foods (cheerios etc...) he gradually expanded overtime, but was 3 before he would eat even pudding or ice cream (not that I pushed those foods LOL) Some kids just don't like moist foods. He had texture issues he outgrew.

He grew normally in height and weight and now eats a pretty varied balanced diet.

This sounds like my DS right now! He is 25mo and still wont eat anything soft or mushy..only dry stuff and some fruits and veggies. Seeing this gives me hope. I have been thinking about getting him evaluated for therapy to help us, but now I wonder if I am being to worrisome about it. He does like food and has no medical issues so could just be his preference right now. Not to hijack this thread but I do sympathize with the OP and since DS is my first it helps to hear from other mamas. Hang in there.