Doesn't like food!

[bigglet]

Hi there,

My 7.5 month old is a really fussy eater - some days she'll happily eat, other days it's a battle to even get a spoonful in!

The only thing she really loves is breastmilk and rice cereal. I've tried mixing rice cereal to all other foods but she doesn't take to that well.

I'm back to breastfeeding her every 3.5 hours because that's all she wants!! I spoke to my CHN about this and she said she should not be feeding that much from me and to drop milk feeds but I'm finding that very hard because she cries and cries and I'll try and give her food and she refuses. She only wants milk!

She's otherwise healthy and gaining weight - should I be worried? Is this just a phase she is going through? All the other mums in my mum's group (same age as her) don't have problems with food - all their babies eat everything and love it!!
I'm finding it very frustrating and at my wits end! :crying:

[the pero clinic]

Dear Bigglet,

While it is great that your daughter is healthy and gaining weight, it is a good idea to get on top of the food issue before your daughter is much older. Bubs should be happily eating a variety of pureed foods before 8 -9 months of age – as a foundation for their nutrition as well as their ongoing feeding and speech development.

It would be a good idea to improve your bub’s interest and tolerance of purees before cutting out breastfeeds – a hungry and cranky baby is not easy to work with.

Try to figure out if there is a time of day that she is most likely to eat the rice cereal, and offer it at this / these times just to start building in some consistency to her feeding routine. Don’t push for too many tries at food in a day, and be content if she will happily eat only one or two mouthfuls – it isn’t worth struggling for a third if it means your bub will become upset.

Very gradually change the taste of the rice cereal by adding just a small amount of pureed fruit to it – so there is just a hint of another taste. Try with sweet and savoury foods to see if there is a preference. Slowly increase the new taste and decrease the rice cereal in the mixture.

Alternatively, you can try offering a spoon of a new taste in amongst a meal of rice cereal. Gradually increase the number of spoonfuls of new tastes that you offer.

If you continue to struggle with expanding your bub’s diet, it would be recommended that you seek advice from a paediatric feeding therapist. The longer that the food refusal lasts, the harder it will be to move away from just the rice cereal and breastfeeds.

the pero clinic