Hello Moms, I am new to Mamapedia and I have to say I love this site. My question to all of you is that my 8 month old son is not a big eater (and has never been) and I would like to know what I am doing wrong. He eats about 15-20 ounces of breastmilk a day and 3-4 tablespoons of oatmeal a day. I also feed him a few tablespoons of either fruit or vegetables pureed and sometimes some pureed chicken if I can get him to eat it. Everything I read about what an 8 month old should be eating is far more than what my little guy is eating. I offer him breastmilk and/or food practically all day long and he will only eat when he wants. I am a first time mother and I worry about him so much. He is in the 10th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height. The pediatrician doesn't seem to be worried at all. My son was never a big eater. Do any of you have any tricks you use to get your babies to eat more?
Some babies are not big eaters and never will be. Just let him try
everything. Try not to worry. There will be days when you think
"how can he exist on what he eats". As long as he is healthy, relax.
My 10 month old was and still is not a good eater. He only drinks about 10-16 oz. of formula a day and he eats a little bit of baby food 3 times a day. He never cried out of hunger and never get excited about eating. He is too busy for food or eating. My son is very active and started crawling for about a month so he is not that interested in eating now but ever since he was 4 months he never ate the amount that the guideline said he should.
Maybe you can wait longer in between feedings to see if he will eat more when he is more hungry? Is he a snacker or he is more of a 3 square meal kind of a guy?
The trick that I use which I don't recommend is that I would feed him in his bouncer while watching Sesame Street. So basically I distract him with the tv to get him to eat. Alot of moms on here would say that is not a good idea and I know as well but I am at a point where I will do anything to have him eat at least a bite. I am also a first time mom so I am worried too but I have let it go a bit now that I realized I can't force him to eat and distracting him is not a good idea either. My son is a smart boy, he finally realized that I was using the tv to get him to eat so he doesn't even look at the tv anymore and just keep his lips tight shut to let me know he doesn't want to eat anymore.
Something else that I do is that my son would wake up about 2 times a night and I would dreamfeed him formula when he is half asleep. That's the only way he will take his bottle - when he is half asleep. I also think he wakes up in the middle of the night because he is a little bit hungry since he doesn't eat much during the day. I am planning on weaning him off of night feeding when he turns 1 but right now I can't bare not feeding him at night to make up for what he doesn't eat during the day.
I would suggest to just keep offering him food like you are doing now and if he doesn't want any then let it go and try again later. Like they all say, babies will not starve themselves and will eat when they are hungry.
Also if he is teething or if he has an ear infection, he might not have an appetite to eat.
Good luck !
He truly wouldn't "NEED" any food. Breast milk is all your baby needs right now. (Our son didn't get ANYTHING else for the first 9 months!) He will start eating more "food" as he gets older. Don't worry. You're doing the best thing for him by giving him your breast milk!
The great thing about breastmilk is that it's TOTAL nutrition for the first year! Solids are totally unnecessary and are only given to "teach" an infant how to eat and what other tastes and textures there are! He doesn't need solids if you're breastfeeding him on demand. Don't schedule his nursing sessions, let him eat when he asks, or offer every couple hours. Try a few bites of solids here and there in between. Also, he's old enough to start trying finger foods, some kids just prefer to feed themselves. So try cheerios, puffs, blue berries cut in half, globs of sweet potatoes he can put his fingers in...whatever you're eating for dinner! Just make little pieces and put them on his tray to play with and try. He'll be fine:)
And remember what our doctor says "I don't care what percentile he's in, as long as he's on the chart and growing on his own curve, he's healthy".
Christina,
All kids are different. What you haven't mentioned is: is he happy? is he colicky? are there sleep issues? My son didn't eat a lot (and I didn't pump so I had no idea how much milk he was getting, but according to the pediatrician, at first it wasn't enough, and then I was filling him up on liquid isntead of solids?
AMA recommends at least 1 year - and according to LLL this can be sole food intake too - of breastfeeding. WHO recommends 2 years. If your baby is eating enough, they are happy, and if they're not, they are are NOT!
Another thing you didn't mention - are you scheduling him?
To give you an idea,at 8 months, my son was still not eating rice. he didn't enjoy it. I didn't give it to him 3x day until he did. That was at almost 9 months. He was on a regular curve until he started eating solids. Hmmm, then he went down to below 3rd %. Hmmm....and the pediatrician wanted me to STOP breastfeeding him? That didn't make sense, and I didn't do it. I'm so glad I didn't, for all the reasons LLL gives! Consolation, bonding, closeness, nutrition!
Breastfeeding fills in the GAPS that solids leave behind.
IF you are truly worried about weight gain, don't give your baby oils. Cook organic and pasture-fed meats and let him have the fats. Seriously.
Check out what LLL has to say about grains(and why they have to be fortified with incomplete vitamins that don't do as much or any good?)
So much more but so little time,
Good luck!
M.
Try to feed him the food before the breast milk and also mix some breast milk with the veggies and fruit also make the oatmeal with breast milk. Also have him at the table while you are eatting your meals he might also get the idea about food if he sees you eatting reg food. My son went from baby food to reg food at 10 months. He wanted to eat what ever he saw us eat at the table. I hope this works for you being a first mom my self i understand.
I agree with Terri M. You're doing fine, and as long as he continues to stay on the same growth curves, he's fine. And, if he's not hungry, he won't eat, nor should he.
You might try giving him some soft foods that aren't pureed. Like bananas and avocados, and sweet potatoes and carrots that have been cooked long enough to be easily smashed with a fork, but give them in little bites. Maybe he's like my boy, and not too interested in the pureed stuff.
Don't worry about it. I've seen my MIL complain when they don't eat then she starts going the other way when they eat too much, she then drives them crazy about how much they eat. I was told by a doctor once that a child won't starve themselves, they eat what they need (they are lot's better at that than adults are) then stop. Unless he stops gaining any weight don't stress. My kids and grandkid's seem like they don't eat much about that age, there's just too much going on to stop to eat! Also I think they don't really like baby food, it's kind of tasteless, we start them on table food as soon as we can, you'd be surprised at how many things they can eat with no teeth. My advice is don't stress, you don't want to give them eating issues.
