Can't Get 10 1/2 Month Old to Eat.

I agree with your mom - I think she's fine...it actually sounds like she's a really great eater - she probably doesn't like the baby cereal or baby foods since you've been feeding her "real food" - I would just keep feeding her mashed up foods that she likes - and introducing something new every couple days - you can boil chicken, mash fruits, steam veggies - it sounds like she would like all of that - don't worry - kids go through growth spurts and she's at the age where growth will slow down (a little) I wouldn't worry about if she's gaining an ounce or a half ounce a day - I would just weigh her (maybe) once a week (at most) and make sure she's gained some weight and isn't losing weight...

the 1/2 ounce a day rule is for the early infancy stage - not an older baby. Your daughters nutritional needs are not meant to be filled with food before the age of 1 year. Breastmilk or formula. (Breast is best - great job!!). Food right now is meant to be experimental and this is an acclimation period. It is typical for an older baby to taper off on weight gain, b/c they begin moving more and burning more calories. After one year - your childs diet should be monitored over 3 days - not day to day. (So if one day your kid only wants to eat cottage cheese and fruit, another day crackers and hummus, and another day cut veggies and oatmeal - you look at total balance over the 3 days)
If you look on the World Health Organization weight percentile charts (this is based on breastfed babies vs. your Dr.'s that is formula based) Your daughter is above the 50 percentile. Approx. 60+ SO, no fear. If you go on - note that you have to convert pounds to kilograms.

http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/cht_wfa_girls_p_...

p.s. - my stringbean of a daughter was never more than the 5th percentile for weight or less than the 98th for height until she was 3 and then - despite her ribs sticking out she jumped to 98th for height and weight - And my second is 21 months old and a bit over 24 pounds. He is about 50th percentile for weight right now, but at 4 months wasn't even on the charts! Point being - that you can't put too much emphasize on the numbers.
Since dairy should be held off until 1 year - try hempmilk - which has all the right fats in it.

I wouldn't worry about not eating cereal at all. It's really a lot of empty calories. Rice cereal has no nutrition (other than the iron they've added) and tastes awful. She doesn't need baby food either, real food works fine. Really try not to make eating an issue, because you've got years of it ahead (oh the picky toddler years) and really you cannot make them eat if they don't want to. Why are you weighing her so much? Really stop measuring how much she is eating; clearly it will only stress you out. If you are concerned that she isn't gaining enough, give her more breastmilk. It has much more nutrition and the very important fats they need, than any food you could offer her. That (or formula) really is where they get most of their nutrition during the first year.

I didn't start giving my DD solid food until almost 10 months. At 10.5 months, she probably had a little avocado or a bit of banana per day, if anything at all. I never fed baby food or cereals (she didn't have a grain until 16 mos). She got real food and if she didn't want it, she had breast milk. Really you can relax about it, as others have said, they have growth spurts and she may be between spurts.

Has she had difficulty with weight thus far? Is it something the doc is concerned about? If not and if she is acting normally and peeing and pooping normally, she's probably fine. If you have the sense that something is really wrong, then just call the doc now and have her checked out so you can be sure. Try not to stress.

It sounds like she is still eating a good variety for her age. Have you tried yogurt? My daughter loved the Yobaby by Stonyfield, its organic and made with whole milk. Also some kids like canned veggies cuz they're mushy. I really wouldn't worry about her weight gain though, it starts to plateau around this time, and she sounds perfectly healthy. Most kids are picky with their solid foods, just keep trying different things. She won't keep gaining at that rate, so don't stress!

Try not feeding her any more baby food! She can have most table food in very small pieces. She can definitely eat ripe cubes of peeled pears, mangoes, etc., and she could try beans, cheese, yogurt, etc. I hope this helps!

My daughter would never cereal or oatmeal of any sort when she was an infant. I made all of her food from the get go. I introduced solids around 9 months but she didn't really eat all that much for a couple of more months.

She didn't have any teeth until she was a year, so I pureed table food. They used to laugh at her daycare because she ate "pot roast" (with carrots and brown rice) for breakfast.

The best thing you can do is to introduce new foods over and over again...I read that it takes a child 10-12 tries to figure out if they really like it or not. Try a different cut or version to see if it is a texture issue. For instance, my daughter doesn't like to bite through a carrot stick, but will eat carrot matchstix. Thought she didn't like green beans, just turned out that she will eat the french cut style. Wouldn't eat regular broccoli (and still won't) but will devour broccolini (it does taste better).

Usually by this age if the parent is okay with it I served my daycare children the same thing as the older children just with a few adjustments for choking. Any pasta would be good also meatballs cut up in tiny pieces, she could have any sanwiches cut up tiny, like grilled cheese, all vegetables cut up tiny. One trick I use is to get soups, drain the liquid and serve the other stuff, its nice and soft and usually perfect size. Yogurt is good and any type of fruit, just soften a little with water in the microwave and cut up tiny and let cool. Just remember the statistics say that you should offer a food 14-15 times before a child will be sure that they will not like it. I would suggest giving her one new food with some of her other food and if she tries it great if not try again at the next meal, you will have 3-4 times a day between meals and snacks that you can offer something new. Hope this helps!!! Good luck

Hi B.,
If you are really concerned, call the peds doctor and ask him/her. It sounds like she is gaining enough weight. Babies go through growth spurts and she may just be about to have another one. But the doctor should be able to put your mind at ease.
As a mother of a very thin/ tall child, I know the worry about a child not eating enough. The doctor always reassured me that his weight was healthy as long as he was progressing along the growth charts at the same rate. He has always been on the 10% on weight and 90% on height.
Good luck!

She's doing just fine. :)
If you're feeding her avocado, bananas and table food along with breastmilk, she's getting plenty of good fat and nutrition! :)
She's probably just in between growth spurts which makes little ones not as hungry as when they're growing like weeds.
Don't worry, momma. Just relax and enjoy! :)

As long as you are feeding her well balanced foods, she should be fine. Her brain is busy growing and learning, and the body does slow down a little bit as well around this time. My daughter is almost 2 and only 23 pounds (def my husband's genetics), but as long as her height and weight are on in incline together, our Pedi is not worried. You can always call the pedi/nurse on call to ask in case you are nervous.

As far as foods, yogurt is great for milk and protein. You can try and make some smoothies with bananas, shredded carrots, maybe a little cereal to thicken or yogurt and other fruit that is safe. Look into some alternate finger foods like macaroni and cheese, soft that she can squish around in her mouth. You can also try a different cereal, we went with more of an oatmeal type cereal which worked out well, or cream of wheat. Maybe she wants to experiment with something new.

good luck!

sounds like she is doing just fine to me. I wouldn't weigh her so much. My little one at first took to cereal at around 6 months but by your daughter's age wanted nothing to do with "being fed" so it was hard to feed her cereal. she wanted finger foods so we gave her things you do, plus ripe pear and cheerios. boy did she love cheerios. also tofu - it's really mushy and hard to imagine choking on.

anyway, it sounds like you are both doing great!