11 Month Old Will Not Eat Much

My son was eating what we ate at 10 mos old :-) If that is what she wants, why not give it to her? Does she drink watered down juices or have you tried her with some whole milk? I know they say to start milk at 1 year; she is almost there. Both of my boys were eating from the table by 12 mos and both moved to milk by 12 mos. They both were breastfed and had formula previously.
I think she is telling you she wants something with more substance :-) If constipation is an issue, try other drinks; maybe she thinks formula stinks too :-)

Give her what what you eat in little tiny pieces. My daughters (both) only ate baby food for about 2 weeks. After that it was whatever we were eating. A.

It's much better if she eats what the family eats at this stage, for several reasons. She'll develop a more sophisticated and varied palate, and she will develop the oral motor skills she needs, like chewing. There's no reason she needs any baby food anymore.

Also, ignore your doctor about the formula. My doctor hassles me about my son's weight, and said she thinks it's the nursing. (This is after she didn't even ask how often he's nursing, for how long, etc.) No way. I know my child, and he's a picky eater sometimes who takes after my husband's side of the family, who happen to be particularly short and lean.

My doctor backed off a little, then started up again, wanted me to take him to a nutritionist, run digestive tests, etc.

If your doctor does this, get a second opinion. That's what I did. Just remember--you are the mother, and you know what's best for your own child.

I wish you were in Westchester County, I'm teaching a class for moms of toddlers next week that covers exactly what you're describing.
First and foremost, make sure your 11 month old is not drinking juice! diluted or not, juice has no real nutritional benefits and will take away a child's appetite, give them a sweet tooth and rot their teeth! Give her water to drink.

Second off, there is no need for processed packaged baby food, just feed her what you're eating. We are our kids role models, they will eat what we eat ( sooner or later) so it's important that we are eating great stuff.

One of my favorite books on this topic is Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair. She'll show you how to cook one meal for both you and baby, no need to be a short order cook or to buy "stages" or any other of that silliness.

Remember, kids are hard wired not to starve! Mother Nature set it up that way!

Pasta "rings" with a little bit of butter and parmigana cheese are tender and easy to pick up. Spaghetti (cut up) with just a little bit on the sauce you are having, in case the acidity bothers her. Pieces of dry toast are good or Gerber "puffs" so she can feed herself. We used to put a puff on our daughters tray and while she was busy trying to pick it up to eat it we would spoon some baby food into her mouth and she would let us. Small bits of cheese and definitely yogurt and cottage cheese. I remember wondering why it was okay for a baby under 1 to have dairy products but not straight milk but it was okay. (obviously you have to watch for a reaction). Bites of pancake and bananna for breakfast with some baby oatmeal cereal w/ cinnamon sprinkled on? Scrambled eggs were a bit hit for us and I was so happy that she was getting some protein too! A yolk every other day is not harmful. Smashed up avacado will add lots of the healthy fat to her diet which may help her gain weight. About the constipation, maybe you can try to add more fruits and veggies and keep offering water in a sippy cup or a very small amount in a small dixie cup if she can hold the cup to her mouth and drink. Water keeps things moving along. The straw cup sounds great too. It's almost time for whole milk so I would just keep breastfeeding until you wean her in a month! Bannanas and applesauce are known to cause constipation so you may want to avoid them. Good luck! (if you keep giving her a sippy cup of water with every feeding eventually she take it...don't give up! : ) )

My now 17 month old never liked baby food and didn't eat much of anything until she was 13 months old and it was only what we were eating. Luckily we have a great family doctor who doesn't flip out about things like that. She was exclusively breastfed and we still breastfeed. Her iron was fine, her development was fine so our doctor wasn't concerned. First, the growth charts are based on formula fed babies or a mix, not only breastmilk babies so there is a real bias there. When my DD started crawling and walking shortly therafter, she went from the 75th percentile to the 15th! In our docs experience of breastfed babies who weren't big eaters, he fully expected her to go off the charts before bouncing back around 18 months. He said to me while examening my perfectly healthy baby, " Can you believe that some doctors would consider this failing to thrive?!" Well, she just had a big growth spurt and is eating like champ (and a grown up).

Try to relax about it and give your baby the food she is interested in (formula sounds like it's out). You may want to find another doc if only for a second opinion.

Sounds like what i'm going through with my 2nd daughter...
she refuses baby food, but will eat whatever food we eat!
The best thing you can do is keep feeding her whatever you eat, which is less work (I think). Buy a food mill/grinder if you'd like or cut things up in smaller pieces.
This is better because jarred baby food has no seasoning and what i cook, is healthier and tastier and kids are smart - they'll eat what tastes good and kids want to emulate their parents...
my daughter (both of them) are small and my ped says the same thing but they are healthy! They don't eat junk and eat smaller meals throughout the day. my daughter is learning how to use the sippy and they're not going to get that much as it's a learning period. You didn't say if you were still nursing, but your milk has all the nutrients that your child needs so keep nursing if you can...

Hope this helps!

Hi S.,
What is so bad with her eating what you eat. I always carried a small baby food grinder with me and some yogurts or apple sauce. Store baby food is for convenience only!
If the food was to dry I would add yogurt or apple sauce as a base. Keep it simple and don't add a ton of salt. Add spices to what they can handle or like. You can always add more to yours. Leftovers can always become tomorrows lunch.
On my budget it was too expensive to buy baby food so I adjusted my menu to include my kids meals as well. It also forced me to eat better. Fast food places were not an option. As I look back on it we all benefited from it.
Today they are adult Men and are not picky about their food. They food shop and cook healthy for their families. Good Luck

Let her eat what you eat. I only used the fruits baby food with my son, everything else was what we ate or cooked for him. I bought a baby food grinder from baby's r us, and just gind everything and let him eat it. At 11 months my son was eating chicken and rice, or steak and vegetables... well anything you can think of, but ginded. When I cooked for him, I would make things a bit soupy, it helped with the grinding and eating.

well after much research, i have learned a couple of things i will be incorporating with my daughter.
1. solids arent needed at 4-6 months. people/dr like to start them to gain acceptance of food, however that is completely unneccessary. all children will eat.
2. there is no reason for babies to eat baby food. you can, of course, but other countries dont spoon feed. instead they cut up small little pieces of food and allow the baby to feed themselves. research has shown babies who are allowed to feed themselves dont choke(assuming the parent is not giving choking foods and cutting up pieces to the proper size). this is a whole way of introducing solids with much research behind it.
3. breastmilk can sustain a child. i have no idea why your doctor is insisting on feeding your child formula. breastmilk is better(this is not to debate the need for formula and i have no problem with those that choose to formula feed, but nutritionally speaking, breastmilk is scientifically proven to be the best choice if able). breastfeeding is recommended by the AAP until at least 2 yrs old. there is absolutely no need for you to supplement with formula.
4. watch out the labels of your baby food. stage one and 2 for example usually only have pears and water, or appleas and water, ect. once you get to stage three, you may see other ingrediaents listed, including sugar. just because its baby food doesnt mean its the most healthy food avail once you move up.

heres my suggestion. nurse your baby as usual, keep track and make sure she is getting enough feedings. unless she drops significantly like going from 75% to 25% or more, dont worry. remember, breastmilk is designed to sustain life, she is getting enough and until she starts eating real food, her nutrition should still be coming from nursing.
try feeding her whatever you are eating, make sure its cut up and put it on a plate in her highchair. do it whenever you are eating. she is old enough to be included and if she likes the regular food, you should def go towards that rather than formula. again, her nutrition is being met by breastmilk, the food is extra. formula should not be in the equation of this at all. either more breastmilk or less breastmilk with solids. try giving her cheese cubes, toast, cheerios, fruits and vegetables, yogurt(get plain and mix in your own fruit is way less sugar), plain macaronis. as long as you arent eating spicy or choking things, give her whatever you are eating.

now if you feel uncomfortable with all the food, step back and just breastfeed, but formula should not be added. all that will accomplish is her to go to formula instead of nursing and will have no bearing on the solids. please keep me posted and good luck. sorry if im all over the place, im just about to go to bed as its late.

We have had and are still working on eating issues with our twin girls. Two things we do, as they are still on formula at 16 months (and some days take it and some days just play with the bottle) is to add stage one (beechnut or gerber -- chicken, turkey or ham into vegetable purees it comes to about 9 grams or protein per jar. AND then we also add olive oil) Been seeing a nutritionist that is giving us these tips. Counterintuitive but look at the back of STAGE three food only about 2 grams of protein. Once a baby using all carbs and then protein and there is nothing left they begin to lose weight. Try to keep caloric intake up by adding in high protein in smaller meals (we also use avacado as finger food -- good source of protein and fat...)
Wishing you all the best,
L.

S.,

I would go ahead and feed her what you are eating. When she eats what she wants and if it doesn't seem like enough, then give her baby food or yogurt and a veg. Our 16 month old is a picky eater. He will eat a bit of what we eat but we suppliment with pureed veg as he will not eat whole veg but will dig right into the pureed veg of all kinds. Basically we don't care about the form as long as he is getting what he needs.

If she doesn't drink the formula it isn't doing her any good. BF her and continue with table food and baby food. I can't stress yogurt enough. WHen Duncan won't eat anything else, he will still eat that. Good protein, calcium and other such of nutritional value.

Good luck!

S.

hi S.;

you got a lot of great advice here. i'll throw in my two cents, why not.

first of all do NOT give the baby formula. i don't know what is wrong with doctors, what this obsession is with formula, it's NOT FOOD. it's like a 3rd rate excuse for food. your child will NOT gain more weight on formula than on breastmilk. your doctor should be applauding you, as i am, for nursing exclusively. all the current research shows that breastmilk far exceeds formula in every way for infant nutrition. stick with the nursing, please.

next, don't worry. many breastfed babies, MANY, do not get interested in food even at a year. it's totally normal. if you want to discuss this more with other breastfeeders, you could go to a La Leche League Intl. meeting in your area. just google the organization, go to "resources", and click on your area and the meeting shcedule will come up. these moms will have the most up to date information and creative ideas for healthy infant nutrition. they can also help you find a new pediatrician who is more supportive and better informed.

personally, i can tell you that niether of my kids ever ate baby food. the were exclusively breast fed, as in no formula ever, until they wanted food. i pureed a tiny bit of stuff, maybe like one or two sweet potatoes, in the beginning, but they were uninterested. they just started eating food that they could hold at about 5 months, which is on the early side, but it was not a problem. like another mom said, give your child what you eat. it's food, not poison.

lastly, try not to get too attached to those percentage numbers. they are really so random. is your daughter happy, active, bright, healthy, having plenty of poo and pee pee, crying tears, sleeping reasonably well? then she is fine. breastmilk is SUCH good nutrition that she really doesn't need any thing else until she asks for it. and she will, when she's ready.

good luck and relax!
J.

That just happened to us at well exactly at the 11 month mark... and i have a very thin child too. I give him high calorie stuff and that helps and i'm still able to get him to eat the fruits and veggies from the jar. Here are some food options that work for us... noodles with a little butter and some bread crumbs(bread crumbs help him pick it up). broccoli, sweet potato(i microwave for 6 minutes and put a little butter and cute into small cubes which are easy to pick up), avocado, shredded cheese, perdue nuggets(they are precooked and breaded), purdue chicken strips, cheese slices, peas, carrots(well cooked), elmo organic meals- mac n cheese is a favorite, elmo organic soups(this gets messy cause he won't eat off spoon. and I always have cheerios/puffs handy...

Also, in between him feeding himself, i put bites in his mouth. avocado and the graduates puffs help him swallow if he has a mouthful. rubbing cheeks also help him swallow when he over stuffs his mouth. I have a giant bag of toys that help me distract and give him food when he is fussy... which is often.

I hope this helps! I feel your pain. If it makes you feel any better, it seems that most people in my play roup have the same issue at this age, but i know it's extra frustrating when your baby is on the thinnner side.

check with yor peditrician but, you can give her anything you are eating if that is what she wants. just cut things into small pieces, encourage her totake small bites and chew slowly. There is nothing wrong with that. my youngest son was off baby food at 8 months old. He hated it. My older son was off baby food at 10 months. Now at 4 and 3 they are the best eaters, healthy, strong and very smart (sometimes a little too smart!) Good Luck

Hi S.. Why won't you feed your baby table food? An 11 month old should be ready for that. Don't pretend her baby food is from your plate, feed her what you are eating! When my youngest was 10 months, he was done with baby food, he would point at our plate at dinner and scream til we shredded up our food and gave it to him.
If your doctor is suggesting formula to supplement a breastfed baby, I'd look for a new doctor. If doc is worried about her nutrition, formula does not benefit a breastfed baby or give her something additional that your milk does not - it's the other way around, breastmilk contains things which no formula has replicated.
I would look for a new doctor, continue breastfeeding and offer table food. Good luck!

Gerber has a gerber graduates line, in particular, Pasta Pick-ups. all my kids love them and they can eat them with their fingers. if she can eat solids without much issue, then go ahead and give it to her. also try a sippy with built in straw. they can figure it out pretty quick! to pack on weight, i give my kids whole milk yogurt-i think Stoneyfield Farms is the only maker or cheese.

Hello~

I think it's actually a good thing that your daughter is interested in eating what you're eating. Since that's what she'll be ultimately doing, there's no reason why she can't start early, just as long as you are eating foods that she can chew, digest, etc. Maybe change your eating habits a bit for a while so she can share meals with you.

good luck!

Hi S..
Our youngest, now 14 months, was solely on table food by 8 months...she may just be ready...there are tons and tons of food try give her - be creative!!! Cut up small chicken, turkey, pork, hamburger, turkey burger, lamb, avacadoes, lima beans (take out of the pod thing), berries, prickly pear, kiwi...any and all (just about). appleauce, cottage cheese...feel free to ask me for more...I love giving my kids a rainbow of color on their plates!!

As for the formula, we started giving Ava Enfamil Next Step and she loves it...she will still take a bottle, but loves to drink from a straw, also...try a sippy with a straw...

HTH, Best wishes,
J.

Let her eat what your eating. There is nothing wrong with that. My daughter has been eating regular food since she was 9 mos old. I just make sure that everything is well cooked since she only has a few teeth. But she eats everything we do, except steak to tough I think. She eats grilled cheese sandwiches without the crust, hot dogs, mac and cheese, rice, spagehtti and meatballs...you name it. My doc told me that lots of kids don't eat the stage 3 foods, my daughter didn't like them so I didn't even bother. I also give her formula in a sippy while she's eating. She will be 1 at the end of the month.

There is no reason for her to eat the processed baby food. She's probably not eating it because she doesn't like the taste of it! Have you tried that stuff?! There's no flavor at all. There is nothing wrong with her eating what you eat, and it probably better in the long run anyway, food habit wise. I have a 15 month-old daughter, so I remember well what an 11 mo old can eat. Though, my daughter also had a lot of teeth at that point, which might not be the case for you. If lack of teeth is the reason she can't eat what you're eating, then I suggest pureeing food yourself. The taste of freshly pureed food is a 1000 times better than the jar stuff!!

When I weened my little girl (now 16 months) would not take formula. I think it must have smelled funny! So we went straight to whole milk with vanilla yogurt in it. (She didn't like it plain.) I hope this helps while you still try to ween!

With the food, I agree with what some else said, just put more on your plate and share with her. It might mean you meals are more plain if you haven't introduced most food yet. Good luck!

give her the food, she'll be fine. I used to feed mine alot of soup because everything is cooked well for them and very delicious and I would eat it to. I would strain out most of the liquid if it was chicken noodle etc. Just buy good soup and don't give her a bottle keep trying a cup with water, my first would only drink seltzer my 2nd water. good luck and don't stress. I also agree with babyfood is yuck, as part of our college traing to work with children thay made us try it! YUCK YUCK I only gave mine some of the fruit and veg for convienence when we travelling etc.

If she wants to eat what ou are eating, why not feed it to her? Are you still breastfeeding? If so, no need for the formula. Plus, formula is constipating! At 11 months my son was gnawing on chunks of turkey at Thanksgiving and only eating what we ate, and breastfeeding 2-3 times a day (late afternoon, bedtime and early morning) Keep trying the sippy cup, or maybe even a cup with a straw. It takes time for them to get it so don't give up. Most pediatricians advice ditching the bottle once they turn a year old so I wouldn't introduce it at this stage. Have you tried putting breastmilk in a sippy cup?

We had the same problem when my now 14 month old son was about 10 months old. He just did not like baby food any more. I breastfed until he was one year and started him on table foods when he stopped eating the baby food. We did a lot of vegetables- we just overcooked them and added them to overcooked whole grain pastas, brown rice or whatever type of grain we had in the house. We also cooked ground turkey or beef to add for the protein, but if you are not in to meat I think that yogurt and other dairy work fine, like cottage cheese or other types of cheeses. Fish is also good as long as it is not a kind that would have a high mercury content. We eat tilapia or salmon at least once a week. My son now eats pretty much whatever we put in front of him and can do it rather independently. Have fun with your daughter and her growing sense of independence. It is great to see them develop and learn to do things on their own in such a short amount of time!

First off, forget the formula. She doesn't need it. Most breast-fed babies plateau when they are around the 9-13 month mark--they appear to "fall behind" according to the charts (which are often normed on formula fed babies BTW) but then they start to pick up again once they meet and are confident with whatever milestone they were working on.

Secondly, have you ever TRIED baby foods? I wouldn't eat them <yuck>:D If you don't feel like you should let your daughter eat what's on your plate you probably shouldn't be eating it either ;-)

Now all teasing aside, there's no reason to try to force or cajole your daughter into eating the baby foods. They are also fortified with iron, which can cause constipation. If she's interested in the food on your plate, make a plate up with the same things you have. My daughter started eating solids around the same age and the only purees she ever had were things meant to be pureed (pesto, hummus, avocado dip, cream soup, and things like that). Everything else has always been whole foods. DDs favorite first food was Indian Curry and Tandori Chicken :D

Keep an eye open for reactions, just like with baby food, but other than that, don't think too much on it--remember babies grew up just fine before the invention of baby food and formula and our great-great grandmothers didn't have time to puree everything in mortars and pestles, before there were food processors :D

Some links for more info:
http://www.tribalbaby.org/babyLedEating.html
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast-voeds...
OOHH they have a new page with specific food suggestions for each child's age:
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast-voeds...

I wouldn't worry about it, my mother says that when I was a baby at about that age, I hardly ate anything I weighed so little they took me to specialists who after many tests said that I was fine but that it would work itself out. Then when I was a little under 2, I started eating more and I was fine. (actually I'm dieting now! but then again a little time has passed, I'm 35! :-)

you are so lucky. i would suggest giving her table food that is not hard, ex; mashed potatoes; small pieces of vegetables-things she can easily chew. but of course, talk to the doctor before doing this.

i think you are lucky. at least she is eating and wants to eat other textures of food.

Hi S.

Congratulations on breastfeeding as well as you have! It worked well for me too, and I ran into similar problems with switching to a different diet.

You could feed your daughter table food that's mashed up or diced appropriately for her to chew/gum and swallow. I tried babyfood briefly with my son and he didn't want to eat it. He was exclusively breastfed until he was 10 months old, then we gradually added mashed bananas, applesauce and mashed veggies to his diet. He eventually ate the same things we ate, so I became a more thoughtful cook for all of us. To get him to drink, I started drinking with a straw and offered him the 2% milk we were drinking. Once he figured out the sucking technique with a straw, we were all set. This same process worked with my three daughters as well.

Good luck!
R.

I have an 11 month old as well and she also wants to eat everything that we eat. I usually try to feed her a little bit of baby food first if possible but if she refuses(she bats at the spoon) then I give her things that she can pick up herself. One thing that she will always eat off of a spoon is yogurt so at least one meal a day I give her the Yobaby with cereal. She loves the Gerber Graduates meals because she can pick it all up by herself-there are lots of flavors of the raviolis and she likes all of them. I usually cut them in half and she does great with them. She also likes any of the pasta dishes that they make. My feeling is that if you cut things small enough they can eat anything that you do at this time. A lot of times I make her some pastina and then mix some of her stage 2 veggies into it-I usually feed that to her and she will allow it especially if she has some stuff to pick up as well. Good luck!