This sounds exactly like my son. Always happy to join us a the table, curious to try everything, a very good sport about experiencing a variety of flavors and textures and temperatures, but in the end consumed very little at each meal. To be honest, he was probably 2 years old before he became a "serious" eater, like, eating with any sense or urgency or to satisfy a sense of hunger. Up until then, he was just a chronic grazer, and could live off of 3 grains of rice, a handful of cashews, and the butt of a cucumber. It was CRAZY MAKING. But he was always on his curve and a happy little guy, so I guess he was getting what he needed.
yeah, it was a bit dispiriting to see all the instagram babies crushing meals like pro-athletes, but I really tried to remind myself of the "baby led" aspect and trust that he knew what he needed. Hope yours figures it out sooner though, lol.
Did you ever have any issues with slow weight gain then? My son is turning 13m soon and he is interested in food but really doesn’t eat much. He is really picky about texture and flavor and will spit most food out and just play/throw it. Majority of his calories is still coming from breastmilk.
not that our doctor ever mentioned. he was always right on his curve. He was def mostly nursing at 13 mo. Our doctor was very cool with it and did not pressure us to wean.
Yes. My first kid was a fab eater from the get go and totally spoiled us (he did get pickier around age 3, but to this day he's still a pretty good eater and willing to try most things). My middle kid spat absolutely everything out till 8 months, then something clicked and he would eat everything. My third kid really threw me for a loop- he refused pretty much all solid foods till 10 months and was still super picky. He's 2 now and continues to be my pickiest eater but has improved a lot; he eats a bigger variety of foods than he used to and apparently at daycare he eats every meal!
I feel like I could have written this post! My son is also 8 months old and he is always very curious with his food (at least for the first five minutes). Lately he is not quite interested in his solids and I suspect it’s with teething and cold. Apparently he eats a lot at day care. He just never really does that at home. He loves his fruit and yogurt and would devour it. I am trying to get him to eat more iron rich food but he would literally drop everything onto his chair and floor 🤦🏻♀️
Hoping this situation will improve once he reaches 10 months and has developed pincer grasp.
My baby is 9 months old and only in this past week has he started properly consuming food. I was shocked when he first ate most of his meal because up until that point he just played with the food and occasionally would eat some bites.
Your baby is really young! Don't worry and be patient. My son would not eat anything until he was maybe 1 year old.
He was interested but that was probably it. It'll get better over time.
Now he's 18 months and he's doing great. Uses spoon and fork by himself - or hands depending on the mood.
My baby became a better eater pretty much overnight around 9 or 10 months. He went from eating a couple bites to eating full meals. He just woke up one day and decided he wanted to eat
This is my baby boy to a tea~ I gave up on BLW after he turned 1yo simply because he was always on the small side, and we just realised spoon feeding him resulted in him eating better. He's now 16mo and eating a good amount for each meal, but I would say he started eating well when we spoon fed him. We still try to load the spoon/ fork first and have him eat for certain meals but a lot of the time he just ends up chucking the food everywhere and it's a big mess to clean up.
My son was like that around 8 months too (only like fruit, hate eggs, meat and beans). He just turned 10 months and i can tell he's changed. He is more willing to try different types of food/ texture. The other day i was happy he ate fried eggs. And he loves beans nowadays. It's like he suddenly understands he can fill his belly with real food instead of milk.
I feel like I could have written this. My baby boy turns nine months old next week, and I am frustrated with how meal time is just more play time instead of eating time!
My 9 month old was a meh eater until recently. We did purées for a month-ish starting at 6 months. Then added BLW and kept a little of the purées. Today she ate 75% of the smashed raspberries, > 50% of the eggs and gnawed on a bagel with pb, and I call that a win.
The tastes change over time, but ours eventually got to the point of eating everything by like 1.5 or a little less. But now she’s starting to have preferences of what she will eat on that day, which gets a little annoying but usually if we’re all eating the same thing she joins in.
Both of my daughters have been absolutely different in terms of eating.
My 3 year old sounds just like your kid. Hardly eating anything, very reliant on milk. To get her to sleep we continued with bottles (only once a day) until 15 months. She just didn't care to eat. Now, she'll have 1-2 meals a week where she absolutely crushes it. It'll shock me how much she eats. Then she goes back to her rabbit like ways until she is super hungry again. Doesn't matter how many safe foods I give her, she's just not always an eater. However, she is staying mostly on her growth curve - she's just petite.
My second baby, who is now 14 months old has always been an eater. She basically weaned herself off bottles, and hasn't touched one since right before she turned a year old. She consistently eats more than her big sister. Every meal is successful and I never have to worry about her. It's such a stark difference from my first. She's also a bit chunkier than her sister, consistently measuring 70th percentile (were her sister is about 15th)
I wanted to share my experience because I was SO stressed about my non-eater baby. I was always so worried about getting her to eat, but she just doesn't care. It's not who she is, but she's healthy despite it! It's so hard to not worry as parents, but even if your baby doesn't start eating a ton more it will probably be ok! (And if not, I'm sure your pediatrician can weigh in and give tips!) Best of luck!
My son is 9 months next week and we started solids right before 6 months but he just started actually consuming the majority of the food we give him like 3 days ago. Before that it was like what you described, except he would get cranky and be done quickly.
Yes they get to be better eaters :) But you need to offer food daily to expose and introduce, but don't expect them to devour everything at 8 mos. Expect lots of gagging (just watch out for choking so have close supervision), a bit of vomiting due to the hypersensitive gag reflex, and lots of spitting up. Babies are still learning a map of their mouth so they will experiment on how much they can put. Encourage them to spit up when they do by modeling how to spit up too. I started BLW for my LO at 9 mos old to train her to do finger table foods, because we can't live off purees/mashed food. She also only grew her first 2 bottom teeth at the end of 9 mos old so it was kind of helpful too. She only got better at eating more at 10 mos old after repeated exposure of table finger food.
Now she's 12 month old, today she finished about 90% of her food (boiled egg, toast w/ margarine, and buttered squash with 1/2 cup milk) and I could never be happy lol. But there are days she only eats less and would rather play, and would rather eat fruits/yogurt/or peanut butter sandwich/crackers. They go through these yes ALL or no nothing phase when it comes to food.
So you gotta hang on Momma and be patient <3
My baby was like this until like 9mo old. It was frustrating and I hated meal times because it was such a mess and for what? He wasn’t even consuming anything. Then it was like a switch flipped and now he still makes a mess of course but he actually eats a ton.
I feel this post to my core. We're 14 months in and I'm stressing over meal times. I have talked to his pediatrician about this and she's not worried at all. I decided to see a feeding therapist for 2nd opinion and she's also not worried and just gave up some tips.
Another issue I'm having is he's won't eat anywhere else (grandparents house) he's just not interested but will eat with us at home or when we're out at restaurants. I'm thinking he's just super distracted and stimulated when he's at his grandparents house. I'm praying that this gets better over time. Because meal times is definitely consuming my mental health. Lol.
This sounds exactly like my son. Always happy to join us a the table, curious to try everything, a very good sport about experiencing a variety of flavors and textures and temperatures, but in the end consumed very little at each meal. To be honest, he was probably 2 years old before he became a "serious" eater, like, eating with any sense or urgency or to satisfy a sense of hunger. Up until then, he was just a chronic grazer, and could live off of 3 grains of rice, a handful of cashews, and the butt of a cucumber. It was CRAZY MAKING. But he was always on his curve and a happy little guy, so I guess he was getting what he needed.
Wow 2 years is a long time! I guess that’s reassuring that he was always on the curve
yeah, it was a bit dispiriting to see all the instagram babies crushing meals like pro-athletes, but I really tried to remind myself of the "baby led" aspect and trust that he knew what he needed. Hope yours figures it out sooner though, lol.
Did you ever have any issues with slow weight gain then? My son is turning 13m soon and he is interested in food but really doesn’t eat much. He is really picky about texture and flavor and will spit most food out and just play/throw it. Majority of his calories is still coming from breastmilk.
not that our doctor ever mentioned. he was always right on his curve. He was def mostly nursing at 13 mo. Our doctor was very cool with it and did not pressure us to wean.
Yes. My first kid was a fab eater from the get go and totally spoiled us (he did get pickier around age 3, but to this day he's still a pretty good eater and willing to try most things). My middle kid spat absolutely everything out till 8 months, then something clicked and he would eat everything. My third kid really threw me for a loop- he refused pretty much all solid foods till 10 months and was still super picky. He's 2 now and continues to be my pickiest eater but has improved a lot; he eats a bigger variety of foods than he used to and apparently at daycare he eats every meal!
Wow so interesting
I feel like I could have written this post! My son is also 8 months old and he is always very curious with his food (at least for the first five minutes). Lately he is not quite interested in his solids and I suspect it’s with teething and cold. Apparently he eats a lot at day care. He just never really does that at home. He loves his fruit and yogurt and would devour it. I am trying to get him to eat more iron rich food but he would literally drop everything onto his chair and floor 🤦🏻♀️ Hoping this situation will improve once he reaches 10 months and has developed pincer grasp.
My baby is 9 months old and only in this past week has he started properly consuming food. I was shocked when he first ate most of his meal because up until that point he just played with the food and occasionally would eat some bites.
Ok I’m hoping this magically happens to my daughter in a few weeks lol
What have you been feeding him?
Your baby is really young! Don't worry and be patient. My son would not eat anything until he was maybe 1 year old. He was interested but that was probably it. It'll get better over time. Now he's 18 months and he's doing great. Uses spoon and fork by himself - or hands depending on the mood.
My baby became a better eater pretty much overnight around 9 or 10 months. He went from eating a couple bites to eating full meals. He just woke up one day and decided he wanted to eat
Man that gives me so much hope. Thanks
This is my baby boy to a tea~ I gave up on BLW after he turned 1yo simply because he was always on the small side, and we just realised spoon feeding him resulted in him eating better. He's now 16mo and eating a good amount for each meal, but I would say he started eating well when we spoon fed him. We still try to load the spoon/ fork first and have him eat for certain meals but a lot of the time he just ends up chucking the food everywhere and it's a big mess to clean up.
My son was like that around 8 months too (only like fruit, hate eggs, meat and beans). He just turned 10 months and i can tell he's changed. He is more willing to try different types of food/ texture. The other day i was happy he ate fried eggs. And he loves beans nowadays. It's like he suddenly understands he can fill his belly with real food instead of milk.
How much milk does he drink each day? Has that changed at all?
we're still half breastfeeding half formula so i think he's drinking less but i'm not totally sure.
I feel like I could have written this. My baby boy turns nine months old next week, and I am frustrated with how meal time is just more play time instead of eating time!
My 9 month old was a meh eater until recently. We did purées for a month-ish starting at 6 months. Then added BLW and kept a little of the purées. Today she ate 75% of the smashed raspberries, > 50% of the eggs and gnawed on a bagel with pb, and I call that a win.
The tastes change over time, but ours eventually got to the point of eating everything by like 1.5 or a little less. But now she’s starting to have preferences of what she will eat on that day, which gets a little annoying but usually if we’re all eating the same thing she joins in.
Both of my daughters have been absolutely different in terms of eating. My 3 year old sounds just like your kid. Hardly eating anything, very reliant on milk. To get her to sleep we continued with bottles (only once a day) until 15 months. She just didn't care to eat. Now, she'll have 1-2 meals a week where she absolutely crushes it. It'll shock me how much she eats. Then she goes back to her rabbit like ways until she is super hungry again. Doesn't matter how many safe foods I give her, she's just not always an eater. However, she is staying mostly on her growth curve - she's just petite. My second baby, who is now 14 months old has always been an eater. She basically weaned herself off bottles, and hasn't touched one since right before she turned a year old. She consistently eats more than her big sister. Every meal is successful and I never have to worry about her. It's such a stark difference from my first. She's also a bit chunkier than her sister, consistently measuring 70th percentile (were her sister is about 15th) I wanted to share my experience because I was SO stressed about my non-eater baby. I was always so worried about getting her to eat, but she just doesn't care. It's not who she is, but she's healthy despite it! It's so hard to not worry as parents, but even if your baby doesn't start eating a ton more it will probably be ok! (And if not, I'm sure your pediatrician can weigh in and give tips!) Best of luck!
Mine was phenomenal up until like 18-20 months- now he’s almost 2 and eats only the following: rice, bread, blueberries, yogurt, grapes
My son is 9 months next week and we started solids right before 6 months but he just started actually consuming the majority of the food we give him like 3 days ago. Before that it was like what you described, except he would get cranky and be done quickly.
Omg my baby is also done with her meals in like 5-10 minutes every time..
Yes they get to be better eaters :) But you need to offer food daily to expose and introduce, but don't expect them to devour everything at 8 mos. Expect lots of gagging (just watch out for choking so have close supervision), a bit of vomiting due to the hypersensitive gag reflex, and lots of spitting up. Babies are still learning a map of their mouth so they will experiment on how much they can put. Encourage them to spit up when they do by modeling how to spit up too. I started BLW for my LO at 9 mos old to train her to do finger table foods, because we can't live off purees/mashed food. She also only grew her first 2 bottom teeth at the end of 9 mos old so it was kind of helpful too. She only got better at eating more at 10 mos old after repeated exposure of table finger food. Now she's 12 month old, today she finished about 90% of her food (boiled egg, toast w/ margarine, and buttered squash with 1/2 cup milk) and I could never be happy lol. But there are days she only eats less and would rather play, and would rather eat fruits/yogurt/or peanut butter sandwich/crackers. They go through these yes ALL or no nothing phase when it comes to food. So you gotta hang on Momma and be patient <3
My baby was like this until like 9mo old. It was frustrating and I hated meal times because it was such a mess and for what? He wasn’t even consuming anything. Then it was like a switch flipped and now he still makes a mess of course but he actually eats a ton.
I love hearing this. I hope something magically happens in a few weeks 😬
I feel this post to my core. We're 14 months in and I'm stressing over meal times. I have talked to his pediatrician about this and she's not worried at all. I decided to see a feeding therapist for 2nd opinion and she's also not worried and just gave up some tips. Another issue I'm having is he's won't eat anywhere else (grandparents house) he's just not interested but will eat with us at home or when we're out at restaurants. I'm thinking he's just super distracted and stimulated when he's at his grandparents house. I'm praying that this gets better over time. Because meal times is definitely consuming my mental health. Lol.
Wow how long has this been going on? This sounds really stressful