Saturday, October 10, 2009

Please get my boy to eat




Ok all you parents out there, I need some advice. I'm having problems getting Oliver to eat.

This is the deal. In the last week or so O has been slowly but surely rejecting his food. He loves to feed himself off the tray of his highchair but he doesn't remotely eat enough to make a meal that way. As of today the only thing he'll eat from a spoon is cereal. I've been able to sneak some minced chicken into it without him noticing but no veggies at all. Up to now he's been eating meat, vegetables and fruit at every meal so it's strange to me that he's doing this. I even tried changing up his food by adding spaghetti or cheese sauce to give him new flavor but he'll take one bite and won't touch it again.

I of course went the net and the general consensus is that this is normal. He's expressing his independence and I shouldn't worry because he's getting all the nutrition he needs from his formula. Hmmmm. #1. I don't know if I believe that. #2. Even if it is true he's not drinking a whole lot... maybe 18 ounces a day I would say. As I type this I thought maybe I should give him formula in his sippy cup at meals to try and get more in. Up to now I've been giving him water. Anyway, I'm not worried about him starving since he is getting the cereal but I want to make sure he's getting everything he needs to stay healthy.

Can you tell me if your kids went through this and what you did about it. Can I expect him to go back to his old eating habits or should I scrap the old plan and feed him cereal till he can feed himself a full meal?

Thank you in advance and I'll let you know how it goes.





8 comments:

In Iqaluit said...

How old is cute Oliver again?

My son, who is now 2 years old, went through the same thing. Here are a few tricks we tried:

- put Cheerios on the tray. While he feeds himself, I would spoon feed him his meal just before he put the Cheerio in his mouth.
- add apple suace to almost any dish! Lots of it if you need to.
- on the days he won't eat much, I tried feeding him plain yogurt with wheat germ and mashed avocadoes. That usually worked.

I thought I had a baby who would eat any kind of veggies. Then they grow up. He still gets them but I have to be creative.

Hang in there!

Morena said...

O is 9 1/2 months.

Thanks for the tips. We'll try them.

Unknown said...

what does he weigh? Is he losing weight? Is he lethargic in any other way? Is he sleeping okay? No - then stop worrying.

Most babies go through this. And the tips you have received above are good ones. He will eat when he is ready..

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

Hunter goes through the same thing. Just leave food around for them, and if he is hungry he will eat. They become so aware of the exciting world around them, that they just don't want to waste time eating! So don't worry, he will switch from eating nothing to acting like a vacuum and then back again!

Anonymous said...

Ashlynn sometimes does this...its like food strike, but I always get her with things I know she loves!!!! Yogurt, cubes of cheese and whole grain toast. Now I'm not a big beleiver of juice but when she is going through these times, I give her unsweetened baby juice that is watered down in her sippy cup. Also I but the Motts friutastion unsweetened applesauce, but they make it in different flavours, like blueberry, peach mango, stawberry. She loves them!!!!! But again he'll eat when he is hungry!!!
Goodluck you both!!!

Nicole Furlotte said...

Pacey went through this stage around 10mths or so. Once she realized that we fed ourselves she wanted to do the same. She ate anything I gave her up untill that point and then went on a hunger strike. She is still a snacker to this day. My suggestion is to cut everything into tiny pieces and throw it on his tray for him. If he eats what would be a handfull to him then that's good. Remember they have little tummys. Instaed of 3 meals a day give him little meals 5 times a day. He will get what he needs. He's a mover and a shaker right now and to him there are so many more interesting things than letting you feed him. He's been playing that game with you for 9 1/2 mths. Lol. He probably wants to do it himself now, just sneak in the odd spoonfull of applesauce or vegetable/ fruit puree to make you feel better. :-)
Looking forward to seeing the little man and or course you and nick soon.

jen said...

I recently graduated Ezri to 12 month food items, so it's got a lot more flavor and spice ect. Could be he just wants what your eating, no more boring plain veggies. I know I'm going to win mom of the year award for this for sure, but I totally gave Ezri stuffed crust from pizza hut, she went NUTS!

Aida said...

yep, the kids go thru this and sometimes still go thru it from time to time. my d-care kid gets almost the same thing for lunch everyday that she is bored..so one day i gave her some asian chicken soup, she licked the bowl clean! just keep offering him "healthy" snacks. i dont ever remember my kids eating 3 big meals a day, its always 6 small meals a day. they will eat when they are hungry and wont starve themselves for sure.

ohh, and i leave their cup within their reach so they can help themselves. also stuff that i "dont care" if they make a mess, i put it within their reach in the cupboards too and they know where to get it. at 9 months, i would give me more variety or even more "adventure" in food :)

good luck!