How Can I Encourage My Baby to Eat?

Keep giving up and trying later! 10 months old is still pretty young to be eating solid food consistently all of the time. Just give her healthy options, let her eat what she wants when she is in the highchair, then take her out when she starts to fuss or if she isn't eating. The more you try to coerce her now, the more work you'll have to do later!

It can take up to 10 times with a new food before a baby will accept it. Keep trying! You are doing great.

I have observed that good mamas are often more anxious about how much their kids eat than they need to be. And 10 months for many kids is simply too young to expect them to learn to sit at the table for a full meal. That will come in time, but it's not "natural" for babies, or even 2-year-olds, to sit through this boring situation night after night.

Family meals and conversation are extremely important for children's well-being and academic potential. But your daughter is not even a year old yet! She will grow into her ability to participate in, and enjoy, family suppers if you can avoid making them into battles now.

Enjoy your meals with her dad while she plays nearby and munches on a well-balanced selection of finger-foods. Let her take pleasure in being near you as you take pleasure in each other and in her. Research suggests that children will choose a healthy, balanced diet over time if kept away from junk and offered the good stuff. Try it for a few weeks – she won't starve and she will probably surprise you.

Give her some power; babies lead extremely controlled and often frustrating lives. This will serve you well not only at mealtime, but in reducing the frequency and intensity of power struggles.

K.,

I like the way you spell your name, cool. So, it's normal what your baby is doing. Some kids are really good eaters from the get go and others are nibblers and try food here and there (hit and miss). Plenty of kids skip the baby food stage as well. I encourage you to give your daughter small bits of real fruit. Think in small quanities of food and buy things this way. It's not like your child is going to eat an adult amount, so when you shop for food think small. Use the bulk section for dried foods, such as veggies for quick snacks on the go and during the day when you are done fixing food for her. The rest of the time you can buy real fruit, such as bananas, grapes (slice and peel if needed), berries etc. Also, many places have bags of veggies you can stick in the microwave and ready to serve in minutes. I love froze veggies because I can take them out anytime and fix a very small amount. If she doesn't wat it I put it in the fridge and try later. Also I always have soup around and serve it to her for a couple of days or we share it for lunch.

Another thing I did is to make a special drawer in the kitchen that had my rubbermaid, tupperware etc. She would get them out when she was hunger. Even if she just wants to go through the routine it's fine because she is watching how you get dishes out and is learning to do the same.

One last suggestion is to take her to a place where other kids are eating as well. My daughter eats the best when she sees that other kids are eating. I am not sure where you live, but here in Portland there is a place where you can stroll with your child on a Skating Rink (Oaks Park) and they have snacktime with crackers and milk. If you want to bring something you could. It's only a ten minute snack, but I wanted you to get the idea that if you look for times and places when other kids are having lunch or snacks your child could join in. And maybe, you might even enjoy the experience fo the activity.

Also, if you have a special treat that you only do when you are at a certain place your child can not only look forward to that particular food, but you are creating a memory for her that is special. I have a special seat, cup and snack for shopping. It helps with keeping her focused in the store while I shop and she really looks forward to it. If you go to the park maybe you'll have a special blanket to eat on. When summer comes around I like to keep stuff in my car for these times.

Happy Eating!
G.

Good Morning K....so I'm so jealous that you've realized to take action while your child is still 10 months old!!!! I was a knucklehead and let my oldest child call all the food shots for waaaaaaaaaay to long (and had successfully trained her younger sister to be a picky eater too). Believe me, this is a much harder battle fight when your kids are older.

So the short answer is in my opinion...it's not your job to make it fun. It's your job to put nutritious food in front of them and it's their job to eat it. Their choices are eat it or don't eat it. My pediatrician told me that in all his years he's never seen a child starve to death with a plate of food in front of them. I would caution you against allowing too much grazing or snacking too because they'll just hold out for that stuff. We are in "boot camp" right now where we put the meal out, tell our kids "it's dinner time until 6:30p (or about 30 minutes) so make sure you get enough food in your tummy to hold you until breakfast which is at 7:00a." When they come to hungry at 8:00p I just say "wow...bummer" and remind them breakfast is at 7:00a. The fact of the matter is they WILL eat just about anything if they're hungry enough.

At 10 months you can get your child into this habit before it gets out of hand...trust me, it's a battle worth fighting now v. later.

L. H

PS I'm a sahm of 9 and 5 year old girls.

My 10-mo-old also has to hold her food and won't look at anything pureed. I suspect that she will probably just jump from milk to food and skip the baby food stuff. We've had some success giving her wedges of cucumber, banana, pear and apple. She doesn't have teeth, so she can't get big chunks off, she just has something to teeth and taste.

All babies need for the first year is mama's milk or formula. Eating during the first year is experimentation. Some kids are totally into food and eating three squares at this age, but every kid is different. My 3-yo didn't really start eating meals until about 13 mo-old.

It's frustrating and hard not to force it when she refuses. Is there an outside reason you need her to take more solids? Otherwise you could back off for a week or two. Set out a few things a few times a day. She doesn't need any of it down unless she's completely weaned, and like others have said, she won't starve with a plate of food in front of her.

I know this sounds odd, but sometimes my daughter will ask me to go "away" when she's eating because she just wants to figure it out on her own and not have me hovering. Maybe if you're just in the kitchen cleaning up, so she can do it by herself she'll decide to try it.

HI,
Have you tried letting her eat in a big girl chair or something. I know how hard this is. My son would not eat in his highchair at a very young age. I also know that children will eat when they are hungry. My little boy is also very challanging. Every time he gets sick, he will not eat for at least three weeks! No joke. And I have successfully weened him from all but two nursings and when he is this way all he wants to do is nurse.. SO as it goes, we are all trying to get out kiddos to eat. I wish I had that problem, I always want to eat. LOL Best of luck

K.

My 2.5 year old was not necessarily a picky eater, but he was not a big eater...and I always felt like he knew how to eat, and he would do it when his body told him he needed to...she is probably still getting a decent amount of nutrition from milk/formula. As for eating solids, my advice (which is purely coming from my own experience) would be to let her decide if she wants to eat a meal. I wouldn't give her food all day long - I think that defined meal times is important - but if she doesn't eat at one, she will eat at the next. We still have days when our son doesn't eat much - but he is gaining weight just fine.

Just give good healthy choices when you do give food - we did a lot of tofu (vegetarian baby) and edemame (looks like peas, but packed with protein), hummus, yogurt, cheese was also big...I wouldn't worry about how much she is eating, and don't fight her if she doesn't want it - her body knows when she needs it!

I have a similar situation. My baby girl is 16 months. She did seem to eat the pureed baby foods OK up until 9 months when we switched to finger foods. We have OK days and days when she hardly will eat a thing. I was worried about her getting enough nutrients, protein etc. I did find out she loves kidney beans, yogurt, and egg whites. You can try to hide foods in the yogurt too. I've talked with a lot of neighborhood moms who experience the same thing. Maybe their child will only eat 2 things. They just let them eat what they eat and make sure they get their fluids. It seems like babies go through stages. Maybe you can try reintroducing things she didn't like before. She may be too young for Gogurts, but it's yogurt in a tube that she can sip. You'd have to help her at her age. Hope it helps.
K.

Hi

I know how you feel. My 11 month old girl was going through a phase of not eating either, I am still breastfeeding so she was still getting some nutrition. The problem was she was teething for 3 months straight, She had a constant runny nose, and if you,ve ever had a cold. food doesn't taste the same. She finally has 6 new teeth and is much happier and wants to try new foods.

I also try some cute baby plates, fork, spoon which she loves. to try and feed herself with, She is so proud when she can get the one tiny morsal of food in her mouth by herself. Try some of the toddler food which is much thicker and is still finger food as well. They have some great varieties, already in a nice tray.

Good luck in your endevours.

Polly
Mom of three girls, 6, 4, and 11 months

You're on the right track with trying to be positive and not forcing her. If she's into finger foods give her a variety of things at each meal; as long as it's all good for her, she'll get what she needs.

She also might be ready to be at the table. You might try picking up a booster seat (restaurant supply stores have them) and having her at the table with you. It sounds like she's working on a "big girl"/independent phase...perhaps if she is at table with the rest of the family she'll be more enthusiastic.

Good luck!

Often babies are interested in what's on their parents plate. You might try putting some of her finger food on her plate and try it yourself. Hopefully she will be intruiged and want some for herself.

I'd just keep trying for now. If she is not gaining weight or if this persists, I'd consult the pediatrician and possibly ask for a referal to a feeding specialist at an occupational therapist or speech therapist office.

There's a great book titled My Child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez. It's not so much about getting your child to eat, but about how to address the battles over eating. I highly recommend it.

All that babies NEED until they are 12 months old is breast milk. I wouldn't spend another moment worrying about it. Also, the less you give her of different foods, the less likely she will be to have food allergies. Babies under 1 year really shouldn't be having wheat, dairy, nuts, peanuts (hold off until 2 if you can on the peanuts especially), egg whites, citrus, or any other commonly allergic foods. It is so not worth the frustration, especially since she doesn't need any of it. The baby food manufacturers spend big bucks trying to convince us that we need to be buying their stuff, but it's not the case at all at this point. Once she is ready to eat more, just give one simple food at a time, such as apple sauce, then a few days later peas, then a few days later bananas. That way if she does have an allergy to something, you'll know right away what it is. If you feel you must feed her something, stick with fortified rice cereal, as it has iron, which is good if she's breast fed, but again it's not absolutely necessary.

I was going to suggest a "seat" you put on one of your chairs and pull up to the table. It very well could be the highchair is the big distraction. It sounds like it's not that she doesn't like to eat, it's just where she eats. Especially if she eats out in public. There are so many things now you can do for your baby to give her a variety. You can certainly steam your own veggies, use the frozen ones, or even the jar ones. Frozen are the easiest to me. Get her a cute plate that she might like or a new spoon and fork appropriate for her age. You're doing a great job!
Just stay persistant!
W.

She loves cheese? Make her a cheese sandwich, and cut it up into smaller pieces so she can eat it. Bread, mayonaise, and cheddar cheese-sounds gross, but this is my son's favorite sandwich.
Cheese and Crackers-try to cut a small piece of lunch meat (ham) the size of the cheese and put in under the cheese.
Also, I used to get yogurts in a tube (go-gurts). Stoneyfield Farms makes an organic one, that is good, and it's good for them-and, she can eat it herself.
She loves peas?! You are so lucky. Try Macaroni and Cheese and put in some frozen peas (to cool it off), and, there is something in there that she loves.
Even if you give her the same things over and over again, at least she is eating something.
I used to take my son food shopping. It was a shopping trip that was just for buying food for him. When I tried to do this with my regular food shopping, I grew impatient. If she is grabbing for something, buy it to see if she wants it. Let her know that she picked it out and she wanted it. It's all trial and error. Be patient, it won't be forever.

I know this is one more piece of equipment but maybe if you give her a big girl chair at the table one of those ones that hook onto the chairs she would throw a fit..I have tried the highchair both of my boys and never had any luck everything turned into a fight but when i put them at the table it was like they crossed over into a different life....they would eat almost anything and were happy cause they c=got to be part of the conversation. So that is just a suggestion. And at her age still soilds are a big part of the food chain but she still has her breast or formula milk to fall back on so right now she is in transition. Good luck!!

I say if she wants to eat big people food over baby good go for it. Thats how my son was about that age. Just make sure it's small bites.
Have you tried eatting with her. I know my son eats more when he sees me eatting too.

Good luck!

Hi! I went through this whole thing for a long time. My daughter is 21 months and just started eating significant amounts at about 18 months. Of course, she's still breastfeeding 5-6 times a day. Anyway, I tried lots of stuff, and stressed about it to no end. But I think (and from what I've read on the internet from others and in books from professionals) they will eat what they want (amount wise) and you just can't make them eat anymore. So you shouldn't force them to or make a big deal out of it or it will become a battle of the wills.

There is a BLW (baby-led-weaning) group on yahoo (or you could google baby led weaning) with recipes if you need ideas (I'm not saying that you need to; in fact, in most cases they just suggest feeding what you eat). Also, I read "My child won't eat : how to prevent & solve the problem" by Carlos González, which was helpful.

I don't know if your child is still breastfeeding, but if so, or if they're drinking formula, I wouldn't worry about how much they eat for a while. I kept telling myself that she would eat what she needed, and now she does eat much better. I wish I had stressed less about it! Good luck!

K.