my 11.5 month old, who was a GREAT eater up until two days ago, has begun a food strike. he eats cheerios and other finger snacks with gusto, but when it comes time to actually eat...breakfast, lunch or dinner....as soon as he sees the spoon he's crying, fussing and turning his head. he will drink his milk/formula with no problem (i'm currently weaning him off formula).
i know at 1 year babies start to eat much less b/c their growth slows down. do you think that's what's happening now? has this happened to anyone else's child? what did you do to encourage him to eat? i don't think it's that he wants to feed himself b/c when i offer pieces of chicken or fruit on his tray, he's not interested. help!
Since he's eating cheerios, I assume he's not feeling ill or anthing like that. I'm not sure that cheerios are very healthy for a baby though. Sugar makes people addicted and I'm pretty sure a baby can become addicted to sugar - and he wouldn't want to eat anything else.
I'm not sure how much of this is safe for a baby - I'm assuming missing one or two meals should not cause any problems - and mind you, I have NO experiences with babies at all, but I do with puppies, who will sometimes do the exact same thing - refuse to eat anything else but what they like best. The cure for that is to wait it out until they're so hungry they start eating what you give them. OF COURSE you can't do that to a baby, but maybe you could try to find more healthy alternatives to cheerios (like banana etc.) and slowly wean him off sweets and finger snacks.
Just a note: original Cheerios have but 1g of sugar per serving. They are very "healthy" compared to other cereals - FULL of vitamins and minerals, and oat-based. I guess that's why they're so popular - babies will eat them, and they are pretty "good for you".
As for the pickiness - my son started about that time. He ate EVERYTHING until almost his 1st birthday. It's been a struggle ever since (hence my new thread).
I remember those days well! What I did was cut down on the between meal snacks and juice/milk, that way when meal time came along, he was hungry enough to eat what was being offered.
I agree to cut out snacking between meals except maybe an official snacktime. Also, my son did this too, at exactly this age, and it really was because he wanted to feed himself. Though he did not like chicken either and fruit at first I think it was too wet/cold and slippery. Babies like things they can get their tiny fingers on. I would keep pushing finger foods at meals. Try scrambled eggs, tiny cubes of mild cheeses, steamed (soft) carrots cut into little bitty cubes, tiny peices of low sodium deli turkey or chicken breast cut into tiny cubes, frozen waffles broken into 100 peices, (mine liked the blueberry ones), etc. yes cheerios are healthy. You can also start having your baby included in your mealtime and offer some of the foods (if appropriate ) from your own plate. You can also try giving him the spoon and showing for soft foods as he can probably awkwardly direct the spoon to his mouth getting some of the food and you can do applesauce or yogurt for this as a snack so it is practice and not a main meal. And don't forget how filling formula is, it is a meal in itself. Cut out some, start transitioning to milk and he will probably be hungrier.
i would cut out snacks but i don't offer him snacks (like cheerios) unless he's right under my feet, fussing and crying, while i'm making his meals. then i put him in his high chair with the cheerios to occupy him. as for drinks, he only get milk/formula at mealtime (except for his night time bottle). he refuses to eat any of his meals until he's drunk some milk. i think he REALLY likes the milk!
it's gotten a bit better as long as i'm super entertaining and pretend to eat his food as well. i eat the little snacks too, and try to meals with him as well. i've found that he's much better at eating at the table with a large crowd; unfortunately, it's just the two of us during the day.
how often does the typical 1 year old eat? he eats approx every 4-5 hours (usually wake time is 6am and bedtime is 6pm, give or take 30 minutes). if i stretch his meals out too much it interferes with his nap schedule, especially the afternoon one.
Little late on this response since it's been a few weeks since you posted but I have 12 month old with the same exact issues, all she wants are carbs it seems! she'll eat pasta pick ups and crackers and things but no vegies, what is the trick with this? We have been feeding her baby food still because we just found out that she has passed the allergy test! she was on special formula for the whole first year and we found out she can have milk and other things so we are just beginning to experiment and she enjoys it but refused her vegies, chunks of the gerber kind and is starting to refuse her baby food because she wants to feed herself. any food ideas please let me know. As far as sleep, mine eats 3 meals a day, 8am/12pm/4-4:30pm and has a bottle of her formula at night at 7:30, gets up at 7:30 approx. she has milk after every meal but we are using up our last can of formula and give her that at night, plus we feel the extra nutrition of the formula can't hurt since she doesn't seem to eat much! If anyone has any ideas on any more foods to try with my little one please let me know.
since i first made my original post, the eating has gotten SO much better. he really likes the food that we eat, although the babyfood is okay too. i'm still giving him that since i have so much left.
applesauce, yogurt, fresh fruit (banana, peaches, kiwi are staples)---these things he has in some combination at every meal. cheese toast is a favorite b/c he can feed it to himself and it's very quick to make. i too am having a hard time with the veggies. he's not so into them unless they are pureed. i have cooked a sweet potato and pureed it with some cooked broccoli to sneak in a green veggie. that worked really well. i have a babyfood cookbook that is a great resource too. it's a lot of trial and error plus LOTS of patience!
