11 Month Old Not Eating- I Am So Frustrated- HELP

Try not to worry, he definitely won't starve himself. Both of my kids did this too. Just keep offering food like you normally would, and eventually he will get back to normal. Lots of things affect eating, sometimes just the knowledge that they can refuse.

Good luck!

J., I started going through the same thing when my son turned about 1. I believe it's just a change they're going through. If he's hungry, he'll eat. (Unless he's not feeling well of course).

Some little tricks I do that sometimes work:
1) distracting like oh look at that! Then I put the spoon to his mouth and he opens it and eats.
2) put the food directly on his tray. He sometimes wants to feed himself.
3) mix foods with the ones he wants to eat.
4) I even pretend to scoop something out of a jar of food he wants, but really the spoon has something else on it.
5) while he feeds himself fish crackers, inbetween turns, I feed him the real food I want him to eat.

Maybe one of these tricks will work for your son!

Hi J.. Don't get too worried - it sounds like normal behavior for a toddler. I would definitely check with your pediatrician just because it wouldn't hurt to do so, and it's worth it to find out if they have any advice or concerns.

Both my older kids went through these stages. I made a couple of huge mistakes, though, that I am still paying for. First of all, I did the short-order cook thing that you did yesterday by making a bunch of different things. My pediatrician says not to worry if they miss a meal or two and that often times kids of this age only really eat one meal a day and pick at the other two (and the meal they eat is usually breakfast or lunch!). SO - he says do not force them to eat or try making a bunch of different things. Serve the meal you intended to serve, and, if they choose not to eat it, let it go. Otherwise you're teaching them to wait until you serve just exactly what they're in the mood for. Not good for you!

The other mistake I made was in deciding that their rejection of a type of food that they used to like meant that they no longer liked that food. Then I would no longer serve that food to them. My daughter used to eat a wonderful breakfast of bananas, yogurt, cereal, toast or waffles, OJ and milk. She slowly starting rejecting the bananas, yogurt and OJ and now just eats the cereal and waffles or toast with milk. Not great! I've heard that if you continue serving the foods that they will eventually start eating them again, especially if they are foods that they used to eat. They say that it can take 11 to 20 servings before a child will accept a new food.

So my advice is to:
check with your pediatrician
don't become a short order cook
and
don't stop serving the foods he rejects

I hope my mistakes help you!

Good luck to you. I know how frustrating eating issues can be.

D.

hi im C. my son nathaniel is now 6 years old, he was like that when he was small and to this day he is sill like that. maybe he needs to go to the bathroom i stil get worried but my doctor told me that if he eats alot one or two days week he may not each alot or anything at all just keep giving him liquids so he dont dehydrate. hopre this helps

Don't get too stressed out. If they're hungry the'll eat. If all he wants is bread, cheese and bottles for now, not a big deal. I'm not really big on pushing the kids to eat. Just make sure that when they do eat, that it's something healthy not junk. My 4 year old is just fine and growing like he should be, and also goes through not wanting to eat times...

Hi J.,

Your baby might be teething and his gums are bothering him or he could be feeling a little sick.