1 Year Old Refusing Bottle, Solid Foods

I agree with you that trying to get her to drink something is pretty important. You mention the bottle, but have you tried a sippy cup or a straw cup? Maybe you could find a fun one with a silly straw? Since she's 1 year old, you might even be able to try a regular cup if you are patient and hold it for her. You could also try popsicles. Those won't give her a lot of liquid, but they will give her some.

You mention she eats bread, meat, cheese and egg. When she does eat these, is she feeding herself? Do you think she would be more open to finger foods? Both of my sons were very independent eaters. Once they hit 10 months, neither one of them wanted me trying to feed them anything. The only way they would eat was if they could feed themselves. So I just kept giving them finger foods, even if it got messy.

It's important for you to try and relax. Make a list each day of everything she did eat or drink so that you can bring it with you to the doctor if you need to go back. For now, just keep trying. If she's been sick, she might just need a little more time.

She sometimes eats " very small pieces of bread, meat, cheese, or egg" - so she IS eating.
If she eats best off your fingers - then finger feed her.
Yes they all play with their food - give her some mashed potatoes to mush with sometime.
I use to think about feeding our son in the shower so I could hose him and everything else off easily afterward - I never did it - but I really thought HARD about it!
She's at prime time for teething and that can mess them up for awhile.
It's good you're having her doctor check up on her.
If she's wetting her diapers regularly then she's doing alright with what ever she's drinking.

Not something that you want to encourage in the long term but my one year old is fascinated with whatever I am eating. I get close to him and say for instance. Mm banana. Then I take a bite. Again I say mmmm. I make a big show of it being delicious and of my eating it. 7/10 times he will reach for it and try it. Of those things he's tried he will eat over half. The rest he pulls out of his mouth either because he doesn't like it or because he doesn't care for it today.

Good luck. Also I'm glad you've been to the doctor.

F. B.

My 4 kids were off a bottle and stopped nursing by 9 months.....their choice. Take her to the store to buy a 'big girl sippy cup'. I left a few sippy cups of water on the floor , this way they got curious and they would drink whenever they wanted.

Keep introducing more solids; noodles, cut up fruits and vegetables, chicken, beans, pizza, peanut butter/jelly sandwich, basically everything you eat, just cut up smaller....my kids loved frozen peas, yes frozen peas!

What is she sick with?

if she's been sick she may have a sore throat and the pain has discouraged her from eating much. you say you 'have been taking her in to the doctor' for the last 4 or 5 days......but only that they're not worried.
how many times have you taken her in? what ARE they saying?
i understand your anxiety, but your fear over this may well start to become a problem in and of itself.
stop trying to trick her. take the gimlet focus off food for a while.
let her sit near you or on your lap while you eat.
let her sit in a high chair with something soft, bread soaked in milk or oatmeal or pureed fruit and let her make a mess with it. she'll eat a fair bit of it off her fingers if you resist the temptation to 'encourage' her too much.
very few children will starve themselves voluntarily.
but it's all too easy to turn eating into a war zone.
khairete
S.

You mention her being sick. Is she still sick? It sounds like her throat is bothering her. Is she teething?

I would try giving her some infant tylenol and see if that might hellp her not mind taking a bottle.

I would call the ped office back and get more help. She's going to end up in the hospital if she doesn't start drinking.

Keep up the formula and whatever is left of breast milk. My girls hardly ate any "real" food before 18 months. You can also pump to get your milk supply up again.

If she's sick with a cold, or her ears are bothering her (sometimes even pediatricians can't tell just how much fluid is in a child's ear) - this can really affect things. Foods don't taste good, and it can be painful to swallow. Also, if she's got snot, it can collect down her throat and gross I know, but fill her up. Appetite suppressed even more.

I'd have her head elevated at night and at nap times if it were me. Just to help with the cold and congestion.

As for foods to try, mine had allergies and colds and ear infections. We stuck to easy foods like pureed fruits and vegetables when they weren't well. Baby food, but we didn't mash it entirely - chunky kind, but my kids would gobble that up. Cereal mixed with formula or whole milk if she's 1 - mine would love that, or I'd mix in some apple sauce with it to sweeten it up.

Good she's eating bread, meat, cheese and egg - how about yogurt, and pieces of bananas, cut up grapes, etc.

Remember don't give her bottle/sippy cup before meals. That will just fill her up. I usually did milk after meal at that age. Mine weaned themselves at 9-11 months on their own. My milk supply was decreasing as they lost interest.

Good luck - don't worry too much. Trust her pediatrician :)

let her play with her food. let her experiment with different textures and flavors. offer much but don't expect any to be eaten. n urse her more often till shes completely better. that way you know shes getting nutrients. ( you can check out kellymom. com for ways to boost your supply) this too should pass... but keep her dr informed so they can assist if the not eating does become a problem. relax... your not hungry when your sick so why would a child be?