13 Month Doesn't Want to Eat.

Updated on July 11, 2014
C.A. asks from El Centro, CA
11 answers

Hi, my son is 13 month all he wants to eat is banana, yogurt, and breast milk. He weighs 23 lb. I have tried all kinds of food but he won't eat it. He already has 9 teeth, and I've seen other kids at his age eat all kinds of food. I am worried about him, even if the doctor said that he OK.

What can I do next?

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X.O.

answers from Chicago on

I'd just keep offering it. 13 mos is too soon to start worrying, especially since it can take MANY times of offering the same food for a child to accept it. Babies vary so much--my 10 month old eats table food right off my plate, but my 5 year old has a very limited array of foods he'll eat. My other 2 were in between, and are pretty good eaters. Just keep trying to give him healthy foods to try. Don't worry yet.

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P.M.

answers from Portland on

Your worry is normal, and your son's eating is normal. Babies go though sometimes long spells of having little appetite. As long as he's getting enough breast milk and you have a good diet, he's probably getting all the nutrition he actually needs. Solid foods at this age are more for practice than nutritional requirements.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Don't start comparing your kids to other kids, that's never a good idea, especially if the doctor isn't concerned. My kids were still (mostly) breastfed at that age. Eating isn't some kind of a race, so RELAX and let him be the baby he still is.

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D..

answers from Miami on

Keep offering other foods. Try Cheerios on the high chair tray. Picking them up works on his manual dexterity.

If you are breastfeeding him all the time (I don't know your schedule), then he is getting most of his diet from you rather than using food. At some point you really need to come off of the breast milk. Everything you are detailing here that he eats is SWEET. He needs to learn to eat grains, vegetables and meat. He also needs to learn to drink water.

Stop offering the banana and yogurt. If you offer veggies (cubed carrots, peas, cut up green beans), he'll eventually try them. I've read that it can take offering a new food 10 times to get a child without texture or feeding issues to be willing to add that food to their regular diet.

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L.K.

answers from Milwaukee on

He is getting all the nutrients he needs and your doctor is correct. Also, kids go through phases. Once he gets tired of bananas he'll be ready to experiment with something else, then he'll only eat avocado for a month, thats just how it goes. You said "13 month old doesn't want to eat". This is untrue. He does want to eat- he wants to eat yummy breastmilk and healthy yogurt and bananas. If your friends are scaring you don't listen to them.

Trust your doctor, those guys tend to be pretty smart. You are doing great my breast-feeding past a year and I applaud you. My son had this exact diet at 13 months and weighed less. If you push it he may resist more. I used to breathed and then do a breast milk smoothy with the yogurt and banana. Try that and then change it up to a different kind of smoothy just to get a new taste in there in a familiar way, the smoothy looks the same but tastes different, now you've introduced a new taste in a non threatening way. If he likes the taste of an avocado or strawberry smoothy maybe next time put the sliced banana on his plate with a sliced strawberry next to it- he might be intrigued.

Reading picture books with different foods and people eating them is great. Also, try eating with him. If he's eating banana and your eating a strawberry, ask if he'd like a bite. Most kids want to do what we're doing.

Lastly, try to relax and enjoy your sweet baby!

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J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

My 11 yo only wants to eat chicken fingers and pizza. ☺️

Your baby is getting everything he needs nutritionally so stop worrying. His diet will expand.

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S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

sounds to me as if he wants to eat all right, he just doesn't want to eat all the things you want him to eat.
listen to your doctor.
khairete
S.

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Children go through times of not being very hungry and other times of seeming like they are starving.

Also in warmer months, some kids slow down a bit with food. Have you taken him to the pool to float and splash? That type of activity in the summer will get him moving, experiencing some new things and all of a sudden his appetite will perk up.

Never stop offering new things, even things he has rejected in the past. But always make sure you have something you know he will eat.

Frozen bananas are messy, but also great if he is teething or feeling too warm.

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M.T.

answers from New York on

Are you still feeding him like a baby, or are you sitting him down to have meals with the family? Often if babies/toddlers are at the table with the rest of the family, and you serve them what everyone else is eating, and they realize that they have what everybody else does, they will want to eat it!

I breastfed my youngest til 14 months, but at 9 months, he was pushing the baby food jar away at dinner, pointing to our plates and yelling. He only had maybe 3 teeth at that point, so I had to grate his food, but I did it at the table so he could see that I was taking the food from my plate and grating it up for him. He knew that he was having hamburger, meatball, veggies, just like the rest of us.

Good luck!

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P.K.

answers from New York on

Just keep offering different foods. He is getting what he needs. One day you will be surprised at the food a boy can consume lol!

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

He is between growth spurts. He does need to work towards table foods but he may not be ready. Always put him in his high chair at meal time and put tiny bite size pieces of food on his tray. 1/4 inch size or less and only 3-5 pieces at a time.

He needs to see you eating and get the idea. He'll eventually get it though.

BTW, 1/4 cup of banana is a complete serving of fruit per day. A LOT of people give a whole banana and think it's not that big of a deal. Banana's are constipating. So just limit him to a single serving a day.

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