My one year old is so difficult with solids and is tiny! HELP!

[Toposlonoshlep]

Hi mamas,

It seems I am the only one going through this, as when I meet other parents, their one year olds eat just fine. My son is very whatever about solids. He is only 18 lbs. at 12 months. He still nurses on demand, many times a day, and several times a night (we co-sleep). Is totally satisfied and never goes hungry. He has a dairy allergy and no teeth yet, so his menu is slightly limited, although we let him have EVERYTHING we eat ourselves. He even gets eggs and peanut butter and all the no-nos, with no signs of allergy. When he does eat, it isn't much. The only thing he will eat in large amounts is chicken soup with egg noodles.... and there are mornings he will eat several spoonfuls of oatmeal. Aside from that, most food is fun for him. He will suck on it, or get a mouthful and then spit it out.

Developmentally, he is leaps and bounds ahead. He has been walking since 9 months and is now running freely. He has a good (maybe 8 word?) vocabulary, he signs, et.c., e.t.c.

I know food before one is just for fun, but now that he is 12 months, how do I make sure he gets all of his nutrients? Do I need to focus on weight gain more? Part of me feels like he's just fine and will do this solids thing in his own time (after all, I am in no hurry to cut off the mama milk), but another part of me sees all these HUGE babies, who are the same size as him at 6 months, and feeling slightly less confident...

ANy advice?

[Kailey's mom]

My dd weighted about 17-18 lbs at 13 months. It sounds like your ds is doing fine. I wouldn't worry too much. He's getting everything he needs from the breastmilk

eta: Avacado, omega 3 oils, and eggs, all excellent foods at this age.

[alfabetsoup]

My 20 month old was about 17lbs at a year. Some children are just small. It sounds like he is getting plenty of breastmilk so you don't need to worry too much yet! When you do give him solids, just try to make sure it's worthwhile food, eggs and pb are great, whole wheat toast, bananas, etc--stay away from fruit puff type snacky foods as those will fill him up without any real value iyswim. Keep mealtimes pleasant, (sounds like you're doing that already) he'll soon get the hang of it.

[blessedwithboys]

assuming your babe doesnt have any serious underlying medical conditions that require him to put on weight in a hurry, he doesnt need any solids at all right now.

my ds1 was a hair under 9# at birth but was only 17# at a year. he adamantly refused solids til he was almost 2. i was nervous, sure, but i just kept nursing him and he was fine. all his milestones were early, he walked and ran at 9 mos and could go up and down stairs on two feet at 12 mos. at 18 mos he could push off on a skateboard! he started losing interest in nursing around 17 mos but i kept offering until 24 mos. when i stopped offering he stopped asking and then found his appetite for solids.

he's 15 now and about 130# of solid muscle. he did fine.

on the flip side, my ds2 was also 9# at birth but was closer to 20-22# at a year. he LOVED to eat solids from the very first bite, then got huge and stocky, also hit milestones way early. he CLW at 60 mos. he eats non-freaking-stop all day long. he's almost 8yo now. about a yr and a half ago he lost about 6-8 lbs. we never knew why, considering how much he ate. all the blood work in the world couldnt give an answer. he gained it back just as mysteriously and now at almost 8 is about 55# but i guess he's tall bc he is STICK thin.

point being, one of mine ate , the other didnt and they are both long and lean. just keep nursing, offer bites of what you are eating, and relax. your ds will eat when he's ready.

[Toposlonoshlep]

Awww, thanks guys! I do feel better about it. It just gets so exhausting to keep offering with only a couple tiny bites making their way in… I do try to make the solids worthwhile by giving him egg, beans, avocado, coconut milk, potato with olive oil, peanut butter, e.t.c. I’m not into processed food to begin with, so staying away from the puff-type stuff is easy around here. I guess I just see all these mothers with babies twice his size and I wonder what they did differently. But I should just trust nature and his instincts. He was born at 7 lbs., so was always floating in the 25% for weight (he did double at 6 months), at least when I consult the breastfed boy chart from WHO. My DH, by the way, is very slim with a very high metabolism, so he must have inherited that. ‘cause it sure isn’t from me… Thanks again! Your advice has been invaluable and it’s good to see I am not the only mama of a smaller boy out there!

[redvlagrl]

I wouldn't worry but i would recommend the book "my Child Wont' Eat" published by the LLL. It's an awesome book with great suggestions. I read it even though myu child doesn't have food or weight issues.