My nine-month-old doesn't eat solids! Help!

By Shruthi.

Hey Moms! (And Dads! And everybody else!)

I need a bit of advice from you all.

My daughter is nearly nine months old. When we started her on solids, she took to it beautifully, eating heartily. She then graduated to simple adult food, which she liked for a while, but then she rejected it and went back to baby food. Now she is going through a phase where she just doesn't want to eat anything solid. Very occasionally, when she is in the mood, she eats a load of fruit or vegetables (mashed banana, stewed apple, boiled peas), but we cannot even rely upon her to eat that regularly. She doesn't take any liquids either(except breastmilk). No juice, no formula, no dairy milk. A few days, she goes through the entire day with just a few nibbles here and there, and breastmilk.

Everybody tells me that I shouldn't worry and that I shouldn't force-feed her and that she will grow out of this phase. (We don't force feed her - just try a variety of foods to see if anything catches her interest). But the problem is that she starves through the day and wakes up nearly every hour at night and asks to be nursed.

I am told that I should limit nursing at night so that she doesn't get into the habit. But when she cries at night, I am not sure if she is really hungry or just wants a comfort feed. So I end up nursing her.

The doctors said that as long as she is playful and active, I shouldn't worry. But still I worry :)

Have any of you faced any such problem? What did you do?

One more thing. What kind of food did you feed your kids at this age?

Before I end, I have to mention that she is teething - four teeth are already out, two of them have just come out. The other thing is that she is extremely playful, restless and a very active child.

All inputs welcome. Thanks in advance!

Desperately Seeking Advice

Hi ladies,

Sorry for not contributing more often, but I am currently going through a divorce and so have been on an emotional roller-coaster over the past few months.. I didn't want to touch on it in my food blog (because my husband is a fan of it), and I don't really want to dwell on it here either, because it's not the reason for my post today, but I thought it was worth mentioning since I'll definitely be posting more about it in the coming months.

Err, see, my son (I call him "Jojo" all the time) just turned 4 in August and until now, still refuses to eat anything but mash even though he has 18 beautiful little teeth!! Anyone has this problem, too? The strange thing about him is that he displays ZERO curiosity about food, and strangely, the only things he deigns to bite are M & Ms and gummy candies (I know I shouldn't be giving him too many of them, but there are days bribing as a last resort gets the better of me, haha)... if anyone has had the same experience as mine with their kids, I'd like to know how they managed to "convert" their kids to solids. :) I don't want to use heavy-handed tactics, but my kid is terribly stubborn and I suspect only reverse psychology will work on him! And he's only 4! Yikes! :)

Thanks in advance for your help!
Hugs!

Hunger Strike

This post is by Kodi's Mom of Kodimeow Kronicles.

I have heard and read enough about toddler's hunger strikes enough that I now think this is a milestone in their lives. My 22mo just started his. He doesn't want to eat anything at all. Let me rephrase that, he does want to eat. But only potato chips, popcorn, icecream. Regular food is totally out.

Till a few weeks ago, he was fairly good with meals. He enjoyed food and would ask for more if he really liked it. But, that has changed overnight. We have tried everything we could think of: offered him a wide range of foods for each meal, not force him, let him starve till he took the initiative and asked for it... but nothign has worked yet. Other than water (and the afore mentioned junk food), he doesn't care for anything.

Do all toddlers really go through this phase? What is the best way to ride it out? How long have you seen it last? (please don't tell me forever!)

ps: I tried some of the tips in this wonderful article on Daily Tiffin. Some he is too young for, some we have had minimal success with.

Feeding

Chintu has come down with a runny nose (like he does once in 3 months :) ). I give him slightly warm milk, bread soaked in milk and such things...but I would like to get suggestions on what to feed a 16 month old with a blocked nose ?

Breakfast for 3 yr olds

This post is written by Ranjani of Eat And Talk.

All this food talk has made me also ask a doubt. What do u give ur toddlers for breakfast . Right now my 3 yr old daughter still eats gerber oatmeal cereal mixed with milk. She likes it & i didn't want to change it bcos its convinient & healthy .
Its not like she is not exposed to indian type breakfast, but i give that in the evening around 4 pm or for lunch/dinner. Now cereal has become like a comfort food to her as she asks for it as soon as she gets up . She doesn't like drinking milk , so this is hassle free for me as it has milk & also oats. Its heavy so i can rest assured even if she doesnt eat snack at school ( she comes home for lunch).
But now i feel that she needs to eat some grownup cereal & not baby food. i went to the store yesterday to buy quaker oats , but found gerber had more nutrition than quaker.
right now she goes to school just once a week . it will become twice a week from september.
so can anyone suggest some quick/heavy breakfast or atleast some good cereal which kids love. Or should i continue this gerber oatmeal? I dont want to give her those fruit loops, etc as they seem to have too much sugar.

P.S. we are vegetarians , but eat egg.
thanx in advance.

Introducing Myself with my kid

HI All of u Moms,
I am Ramya from http://www.ramyascuisine.wordpress.com/ .I have a 23month old daughter Abhigna who is mischievous .As i have to say i am waiting for the invitation to write but when the time comes i don't have words.... no i have many but it what first and what is last i don't know.
Trouble 2's:
I know all children are so.As she is entering 2 the 'trouble 2's' blues started for me.But they r sweet at times i laugh but how to control its out of my mind as i can't spank her(i don't like) only thing i do is shout saying no no no or telling her i will lock her in the room.But these doesn't work either she got used to those.The worst part for me is she drinks milk but for joy she spills with out drinking.This is a daily routine for me i will never allow her to be out of my eyes reach.
the diaper training:
I started it 2 months back.I think she knows when she wants to go but doesn't tell.Sometimes she herself brings the diaper and tissues for getting changed soon after she goes,but she won't tell me.I don't know should i appreciate her or to scold or shout for not telling.As we moms can't be harsh.And my hubby he is in full support to her.Only i can make her to go in the morning and night before sleep.My sister tells u have to be strict so that they will be trained soon even u can spank.But its a big no no for me.
Eating:
Actually there is no worry for me in this case but i have too many doubts.My daughter like good baby she drinks milk 2 times a day,will eat an apple a day,grapes,blue berries,orange,strawberry what ever she like every day.Sometimes she just wants grapes all the time.And tiffin in the morning.Actually coming to lunch sometimes she doesn't prefer rice so then i give her omelet/boiled eggs(2 whites and 1 yellow)/chapati.is it good to substitute these with rice.sometimes i give her boiled potatoes fried little bit in 1 tsp of oil like potatoes curry which she loves.She actually wants to eat by herself.Apart from these juice,cookies,raisins.......there is a big list.

As this became a big post i will continue in next one.If anyone have suggestions for me do's and don'ts fell free to tell me.
Last but not least Thank u Sandeepa for giving us such a wonderful blog. And giving me an opportunity to write.Thank u so much.See u all with my next post.bye....... bye.......

to feed or not?

Well, of course, I mean we need to feed our babies :)

But, I am curious about fellow moms' thoughts and experiences with teaching self-feeding to their wee ones.

To set things up a bit, my wee one started feeding herself at 8 months. About 6th month, we introduced cereal mixed with mom's milk, maybe stage 1 foods and such. Around 7th month we started finger foods like zweiback toast, barley biscuit, fruit puffs and such around snack time, the kind that melt in the mouth with a touch of saliva. She still hadn't gotten any teeth around then, and my mum and mum-in-law assured me that her jaws are made for mashing, even if she has no teeth. But, just to make sure nothing gets caught in the throat and such, her lunches and dinners would be put through a food mill, with some texture - not fully mushy... and was easy as I was making her foods at home.

Then, we started putting the meal in a bowl on her tray in her high chair, feed her a couple of spoons, and leave the spoon handy to see if she felt like feeding herself... at 9 months, she would reach for the spoon from my hands and try to take it to her mouth.

It was very interesting to see her reach for the food and try to take it to her mouth. It was funny as well, of course, as her motor skills weren't all that developed, so she was not quite well co-ordinated :)

But, her pediatrician assured me she is more than ready to handle all that self-feeding and that it is good for her, developmentally.

Boy, was it messy, but, it was also fun. Only when she was sick, or exhausted, she expected me to feed her.

On the other hand, my littlest nephew refuses to sit in high-chair, he is 1½ years old, doesn't show much interest in feeding himself, and his mom runs behind him and tries to feed him. She has always fed him. She says she didn't really try to encourage him to eat on his own as it got too messy...

So, dear moms, what are your thoughts on teaching your babies to self-feed:
What age did they start eating on their own?
What sort of foods got them started?
Did you prefer to feed them yourself?
If so, did you prefer to seat them in high-chair or just walk/crawl around with them and feed them on the go?
Did nursing interfere with getting them to self-feed solid foods?
At what age did you establish regular meal times?
Did you let them graze every two hours in small portions?
When did you start giving store-bought foods for your baby?
When did they start eating pretty much what you eat - no special baby foods, just regular home food?