12 month old still not eating any measurable amount of food

[@llli*midwestmama2010]

I am one of those follow the baby's cues moms. I don't wean. They wean. We co-sleep. I mother my children with nursing, etc., etc.

That being said, my 12 month old won't eat anything!! Except for stray bits of food on the FLOOR!!

I am all for nursing til she wants to wean, but the PRESSURE of being this very busy baby's sole source of nutrition at 12 months is wearing on me.

I don't want my period back, and I really don't even want to night wean, but I am considering it. Will it help at all to encourage her to eat some food?

I debated about where to post this...

[@llli*mommal]

Are you letting baby self-feed?

[@llli*midwestmama2010]

Are you letting baby self-feed?

Yes, I put food on her tray and she plays with it and tastes it and slobbers on it, but as for actually eating it, not so much. She won't let me spoonfeed her, so I only try that every once in a while. Maybe if I get her to laugh, she will open up and I can get one spoonful in there, but I don't really try the spoon that much anymore.

[@llli*mommal]

I had a feeling it wasn't going to be as easy as saying "Just let her self-feed"!

Okay, since you're allowing self-feeding, I think you just have to be patient and let baby get into in solids on her own. A lot of breastfed babies just aren't interested in solids until after age one. My firstborn didn't eat more than a teaspoon or two of solid food until she was around 14-15 months- which is not so coincidentally when I got my period back. Once she started eating more solids and cutting back on nursing, it was welcome back Aunt Flo.

[@llli*columbakss]

My second son didn't eat anything till he was about 15 mon old. He would scream if he even seen a spoon, and liked to play too. As long as your baby is growing and has good check ups, I wouldn't worry about his health. I decided to "semi" wean at 15 mon cause of a health concern he wasn't getting enough.... after yrs now we realize he is just like his dad, grows up but never out.... I didn't cut the night feedings though. The doc told me to give him his favorites to get him eating first then nursing.... after a few weeks of eating favs before nursing, he became more likely to try new foods. It was still a year and half before I could ever get him to eat meat, but at least he was eating. He didn't wean completely till he was 2.5, and it didn't seem to bother y milk supply either. I noticed he was eating more and more food, but he also took he reg amount from me, but instead of it being every 1.5 hrs, it turned into 2.5 to 3, which after 15 months was a great break. Do what feels comfortable for you, if you worry about his health, check with his phycisian to make he is satisfied with his growth and if you and baby are happy, he will start eating, no need to stress..... but if you would like or need some help try a "semi" wean that works for you!

[@llli*alphawoman]

This sounds a lot like my son (13 months), who we've used a very laissez-faire BLS approach with. We worked with Jack Newman and his team a few weeks ago due to concern over a lack of weight gain from 10-12 months and infrequent stooling, despite 10+ feedings/day. He diagnosed late term low milk supply and prescribed domperidone to set off a virtuous appetite cycle.

After 2-3 days once my supply increased dramatically, my son took an instant liking to everything- meats, cheese, veggies, fruits. It was like tuning on a light switch. He put on over a pound in 3 weeks and now eats about 1 oz of solids at his meals. I tossed all his veggies in fat-- alternating each day through a polyunsaturated (e.g. Canola oil), a monounsaturated (e.g. olive oil), and a saturated fat (e.g. butter, coconut oil). I threw etiquette out the window and let him eat when on the move, but reverted to eating at the table once he warmed to solids.

If you're seeing any indicators of low milk supply that presented in my son's case, I would encourage you to reach out to Dr. Newman, as few paediatricians are well versed in BFing. Our ped is a paediatrics prof at a leading university and, in 30 years of practice, had never heard of Dr. Newman's approach of increasing milk consumption to stimulate appetite.

ETA: If not, then keep at the BLS with nutrient dense foods! Some babies are just ready earlier or later.

[@llli*midwestmama2010]

This sounds a lot like my son (13 months), who we've used a very laissez-faire BLS approach with. We worked with Jack Newman and his team a few weeks ago due to concern over a lack of weight gain from 10-12 months and infrequent stooling, despite 10+ feedings/day. He diagnosed late term low milk supply and prescribed domperidone to set off a virtuous appetite cycle.

She poops all the time, and her pedi didn't say anything about her weight gain from 9 mos to 12 mos. But now she's got low hemoglobin. How cool you got to work with THE Jack Newman!!

[@llli*jonathansmom]

This sounds a lot like my son (13 months), who we've used a very laissez-faire BLS approach with. We worked with Jack Newman and his team a few weeks ago due to concern over a lack of weight gain from 10-12 months and infrequent stooling, despite 10+ feedings/day. He diagnosed late term low milk supply and prescribed domperidone to set off a virtuous appetite cycle.

After 2-3 days once my supply increased dramatically, my son took an instant liking to everything- meats, cheese, veggies, fruits. It was like tuning on a light switch. He put on over a pound in 3 weeks and now eats about 1 oz of solids at his meals. I tossed all his veggies in fat-- alternating each day through a polyunsaturated (e.g. Canola oil), a monounsaturated (e.g. olive oil), and a saturated fat (e.g. butter, coconut oil). I threw etiquette out the window and let him eat when on the move, but reverted to eating at the table once he warmed to solids.

If you're seeing any indicators of low milk supply that presented in my son's case, I would encourage you to reach out to Dr. Newman, as few paediatricians are well versed in BFing. Our ped is a paediatrics prof at a leading university and, in 30 years of practice, had never heard of Dr. Newman's approach of increasing milk consumption to stimulate appetite.

ETA: If not, then keep at the BLS with nutrient dense foods! Some babies are just ready earlier or later.

How do you know if you have low milk supply. Also what this has to do whit LO now eating solids?

[@llli*debbers]

I am one of those follow the baby's cues moms. I don't wean. They wean. We co-sleep. I mother my children with nursing, etc., etc.

That being said, my 12 month old won't eat anything!! Except for stray bits of food on the FLOOR!!

I am all for nursing til she wants to wean, but the PRESSURE of being this very busy baby's sole source of nutrition at 12 months is wearing on me.

I don't want my period back, and I really don't even want to night wean, but I am considering it. Will it help at all to encourage her to eat some food?

I debated about where to post this...

I just wanted to reply that I'm a follow the baby's cues mom too with your same approach to feeding, soothing & sleeping. It will be interesting to see if my now 7.5 month old who hasn't had interest in food will be at the same point at 12 mos.

[@llli*amysmom]

My daughter turned 1 last weekend. All 3 of my girls really didn't start eating solids until around 1 year. DD3 is only just starting to eat any sort of quantity, but BFing is still the dominant source.

Since she has 2 sisters running around, she has more opportunities to try the things her sisters are eating. Or more accurately, steal. But it comes down to little attempts at little things, frequently. I'll give her a little bowl throughout the day of things like pieces of cheese, fruit, nutrios (like cheerios, but healthier), vegetables, etc. I'll also give her yogurt, unsweetened applesauce and bits of fruit cup (unsweetened) when her sisters are eating them. She's MUCH more apt to eat if we're eating it too. So she's had bits of meat, stew, rice, french toast, pancakes, etc. Whatever we're having. She really has no interest in eating things we're not eating.

Be patient, she'll come around. Just keep offering. I don't get into "meals" until much later (although she gets to snack on whatever when we do). Try sitting her on your lap when you eat. You'll probably get a searching hand on your plate pretty quickly.