My 13-Month Old Son Will Not Eat

My 11 month old is doing the same thing. I've found feeding her in different places is helping. She loves being outside so I've been putting her in her stroller and feeding her there and she's doing great. I've been feeding her on the floor so she can watch the dogs play and that is working also. I think the key is to find something that they really like in order to distract them while their eating. I hope this helps.

HI Katina My daughter did that too. Wouldn't eat anything for months. She was nursing still so that didn't matter. Turns out she sensitive to texture. I count anything we get in her as part of a meal. I've read to let them feel the food in there hands to feel the texture. Not that you want to encourage them to play w/ food. My daughter won't eat veggies, she gags and vomits. So we blend them.

1/2 c frozen blueberries, 1 c water, blend. Add 1 big handful spinach blend till smooth and add 1/2 c yogurt or soy yogurt or skip, and then 1 banana. Thin it out w/ water or milk so it will go through a sippy cup.

Read green eggs and ham a lot, he wouldn't have known how much
he liked them if he didn't try them.

Greens Eggs
in the blender
how ever many eggs your using
1 clove of garlic
2 hand fulls spinach
blend smooth

Scramble, and sprinkle w/ parmasion cheese like snow on a mountion we'd say.

Peanut butter and agave necter w/ apples has been dinner here.
(agave necter is a natural sweetner that would make them crazy like sugar does. Trader Joes has a good price)

Pancakes w/ mashed sweet potato mix into the batter. We have them w/ peanut butter, apple sauce and a bit of maple syrup on top.

I also talk about why healthy foods are so good for us. Spinach has calcium for good strong bones. You want good strong bones don't you....
Any way I hope some of that helps you. A. H

I think you're making a mistake, and I'll tell you why: formula, expressed breastmilk or cow's milk (whatever is in the bottle) IS FOOD. Your son is eating.

If he is drinking a great deal of juice, that will erode his appetite for other foods, as well as shorten him significantly. There is no human need for juice, certainly not undiluted, as it has terrifically-huge sugar content (even 'naturally' present sugar is sugar -- bodies don't care how it gets there). Even if it weren't for the nutritional zero (the same amount of vitamin c is found in 1/4 of a cup of tomato sauce, or 1/4 of a baked potato, so vitamin c is an easy nutrient to get way more than necessary)...

Even without the nutritional zero, the interruption of normal appetite, how much shorter the child will be than he's otherwise grow to, and the additional risk of cavities... even without all those negatives, juice still adds another risk: type 2 diabetes.

Juice provides *such* a huge hit of pure sugar (no fibre, no protein, no fat = instant absorption) that blood sugar levels go way up, then way down, then he wants more... do that all day for 4 years and the baby's pancreas is just worn right out. His muscles will become insulin resistant, and the pancreas just makes more and more insulin (because it stops working properly) and then quits.

Take him off the juice cycle by starting diluting the juice with more and more water every day until within a week or so there is a teaspoon of juice in a half cup of water, and then just eliminate it. His appetite will grow proportionally as he is delivered less and less sugar in a cup.

If fruit is going to remain a significant proportion of his diet, it needs to be whole, fresh or frozen, raw or cooked. But he'll have to get off the juice before he can be bothered chewing to get the calories he needs.

When my son was that age, and was barely eating, they told me no child has ever starved itself. Its probably just that his needs are lower, he's satisfied on the bottle and is transitioning. Don't increase the formula and especially don't offer food he might like but is empty calories. He'll eat when he's ready. Above all, be calm and don't let your anxiety flow over to him. In my experience the more I wanted my son to eat, the less he ate. (That became true of just about everything!) I also forgot about "mealtime" for awhile and offered small amounts of snacks: Cheerios, toast, fruit, etc. between bottles. He's 13 now and empties the fridge! I also suggest talking to the pediatrician to confirm healthy weight and to reassure you. It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life. Let this one go for awhile. Don't forget to take care of yourself!!!

It seemed like my first son was going to starve himself, hes 12 now and bigger than I am! Don't worry or be anxious, is he growing good? Then he's getting what he needs. One thing I would suggest is NO JUICE! Its nothing but sugar water and fills them up on empty calories, so when real food is offered they don't feel hungry. We always just offered formula/whole milk or water.

Just keep offering.. eventually he'll eat. I'm sure he's getting plenty of nutrition from formula still.

If your son is not eating ANYTHING solid and you suspect that it is for reasons other than a picky eating stage, take him to see his pediatrician. He can be referred to a speech therapist for a feeding evaluation to make sure there is nothing physically wrong that is causing not to eat. A ST can also rule out food aversions. My son is 12 months old and suffering from reflux. He has developed a food aversion and won't eat anything solid but will drink from a cup. One thing that has worked for me is to make a thin "smoothie" and have him drink it from a cup. I usually mix pediasure or yogurt, some fruit baby food and a little cereal. I had to experiment to get a consistency that he would drink. GOod luck! I know how frustrating it can be to have a non-eater. Hopefully it is just a picky eating stage for your son but having him checked out by the pediatrician might make you feel better.

Go girl you are so strong to be this flexible God have something great in store for you he will eat his type of food like cheerios, cut up apples and club crackers my 11 month old is the same way but love the food I mentioned.he gets all his nutrients in his milk dont worry to much about it if he's not losing weight. Stay blessed

Sometimes there may be a problem that needs to be checked out by a Doctor. There may be a problem with his gums and or teeth. Sometimes when they are not in their growing period they will not eat much either.

Katina, i also had that problem but i did as my dr. Said and took the bottle away and fixed her breakfast and if she did not eat it i put it in the icr box til lunch ,nothing inbetween meals then i brough it back out at lunch, she did`nt eat it either. Well to make a long story short ,she ate her dinner and she also got broke from the bottle. It wont hurt your son to skip a meal as long as he is healthy.question is can you handle his crying for his bottle because he`s hungry between meals,grand ma

WOW!! You're a dynamo of a MOM!!

I had the same problem with my son. The mistake I made was that I offered the drink shortly before the meal. When it was time to eay, he was "full" and wasn't hungry.

When I withheld the drink until he ate some, he ate better.

Good luck.

My 14 mo old daughter has had the same problems. We sought help through Mary Free Bed's feeding program. Basically we let her have messy play with any new food. She smears it around and puts little plastic animals in it. Eventually we get her to kiss the animals, then kiss them when they have food on them which eventually leads to a bite from a spoon. Our progress has been very slow, but at least she is eating *something* and gaining a little weight. Email me if you'd like more details.
L.