Mom’s Question:
My 10-month-old baby was an exclusively breastfeed baby since birth and we started introducing food when she was 7 months, but she is just not interested in food, not her food anyways, and hates to eat from a spoon.
My food she wants, but more out of curiosity than anything else. I let her try sometimes if it is not something offending to her. She’ll play with it around and then throw it out.
I’m extremely worried about her iron levels since she is not getting it from anywhere, but the Dr says breast milk is good and all she needs until a year and not to worry about, but he also offered to do a blood test which I didn’t do.
She is a healthy baby and is hitting all the milestones in time if not before, but I do know of some babies that at this stage are eating 3-course meals 3 times a day and my baby in nibbling here and there.
What do you think? Sorry about the mess if I don’t make much sense typing one-handed here.
TIA!
Ellie
Tips When Baby Won’t Eat Solids
I completely understand your concern! It’s tough when you have a very picky eater baby, especially during this second half-year when babies are “supposed to” transit from breast milk and formula to solid foods.
The first thing I would do in your situation is to accept the doctor’s offer of a blood test. As I’m sure you know since your pregnancy, it is a really simple and quick test. Most likely, your daughter’s iron levels are just fine and the test results will take a whole lot of worrying off your back. If not, you’ll have the doctor’s attention! Some things to do if iron levels are a little bit low or at risk of becoming los, are to avoid cow’s milk and to give your baby an iron supplement. The AAP recommends a supplement of 11 milligrams (mg) per day until a baby starts eating iron-rich foods – but don’t start with that unless the doctor recommends it. Since your daughter is healthy and alert, she really is likely to be OK.
As for your daughter’s eating… That is one milestone she is obviously not reaching early, but if she is healthy it doesn’t matter. My youngest was a bit like your daughter; it took the longest time for him to accept anything but bananas. Well over one year old, he was still very picky, but improving.
What I do is I try to offer him a variety of different tastes and sometimes (usually not) he finds something that he likes. And then I also give him his favorite foods, so that I can be sure that he eats at least something.
Funny thing – he is not skinny, very normal, and he grows perfectly along his growth curves. I’ve visited a health nurse to measure him from time to time to stop my own worrying.
I really think you seem to be doing what you can. You are not trying to force your baby, rather offer her foods, which is very good. Remember that even if some babies are really early and just love solid foods, breast milk or formula is still meant to be the primary source of nutrition during the first year. Introducing solid foods can be a very slow process where the child slowly gets used to a new way of eating and all these new tastes and textures.
You can give her finger foods if she seems to enjoy that and offer her pieces of healthy foods also in between meals, to not make such a big deal of her eating.
Skip the spoon if you can. A lot of babies at this age really hate being fed but will gladly at least play with the food if they are allowed to use their hands. And in this age, they still use the mouth to investigate things, some of the food will reach her mouth and from time to time, she will like something. :-)
I know your daughter is only 10 months old, but I think some of these tips for making eating FUN for a toddler can be an inspiration for you too.
In between meals, give her breast milk or iron-fortified formula to fill her up and make sure she gets the nutrition she needs.
Some foods are of course more iron-rich than others, and if your daughter fancies any of the following, then give her that:
- Iron-fortified baby cereal or oatmeal,
- Lean meats, poultry, and fish – to be used in baby food recipes or found in canned baby food
- Iron-fortified pasta, rice, and bread – can be something she likes stuffing herself with
- Quinoa
- Offer plenty of fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C, such as kiwi, peaches, avocado, and sweet red peppers and broccoli). Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron.
You’ll find more iron-rich foods for kids here, including some recipes.
She’ll get there!
Paula
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hi, my baby is 10 months now and dosen’t want to eat solid foods, everytime i offer him solid foods he would refuse and sometimes i forced him but it gets worse that he nearly vomit out his food. please if you have tips on how to get my baby eat solid foods…
thanks
Hi Umai,
I know very well how frustrating it can be when a baby refuses to eat. However, at 10 months, there really is NO rush with the introduction of solids!
Take a deep breath and stop worrying. Eating solids at this age is mainly about getting a chance to start testing, playing, tasting… Breast milk or formula is much more important for nutrition.
Forcing him to eat will just make the introduction harder, as you’ve already noticed.
Since the two of you are already in a power struggle about the solid foods, I suggest you completely stop trying for a few weeks. Then you can slowly try to start again, but I would probably be very careful not to add tension, force, or stress. Just put some finger foods within reach, or some fruit puree where he might just dip his fingers… Let him sit in his chair (if he wants to) while you eat. Let him touch your food if he wants to.
Check out this reply to another mom: https://www.easybabylife.com/11-month-baby-does-not-eat-and-underweight.html
Your son will eat when he is ready. Don’t worry. Just try to make mealtimes happy and relaxed.
Here is another article that might help once your son has started to eat: https://www.easybabylife.com/power-struggles.html
Good luck!