11 Months Bf Baby Is Just Not Eating Right at All -How Do I Get Proteins in Her?

Find something soft that she likes and let her dip food in it. For many kids, it's ketchup or ranch dressing. For my son, he'll eat meat (chicken, pork, pot roast) if he can dip it in applesauce

Here's an interesting thing about breastfed babies that will make you feel better-they have the tendency to pack on the pounds early on and then slim down-just like your little one has done!

My suggestion is to just follow her lead. She is telling you want she wants/needs right now and what she doesn't. I really do believe that breastfed babies are tuned in to their needs. My daughter was 9 months old before she started solids. She would gag at anything that I put in her mouth so we took a very gradual approach to solids. And around 10 months she began eating like a champ. I think you are wise to keep following her lead and letting her nurse on demand.

This is also an age of great changes for her and they get very busy during the day. Try to make time for at least 3 or 4 nursing sessions during the day and see if that helps.

My first was not a fan of meats at all until he was close to 2. Give her time and don't force any one food issue. She'll come around. She is getting what she needs from you.

Obviously your GI doctor might have some very specific guidelines for you, and those would trump anything you read here.

But as far as mom's advice, I had read a ton on baby feeding and nutrition. Not expert stuff, but books and articles from reputable sources. Everything I have read says that your daughter's primary source of nutrition until age one should be breastmilk. Lots of moms don't even offer solid foods until age one, and apparently thier kids do fine. I don't really understand that, my son needed more food than that. BUT, as long as you are still nursing her on demand, she should be getting all the protein and dairy she needs, unless there is something more serious going on. So it is good that you have an appointment with a doctor, but in the meantime, I would not stress over it.

I know you want her to eat more solids, I would too. The best way to get a baby or toddler to try new foods is to just keep offering. They say you should offer a variety at every meal. I always tried to get my son to try something new, but let him have his faves after that one try. I didn't force it into his mouth, but I kept trying to give him the bite and sometimes just encouraged him to lick it. I did not do a whole lot of meats before age 1. I made my own food and we were still working our way through all the veggies and fruits until about 10 mos. Most things I have read say that around a year, you can start giving your baby all the things you are eating in smaller, softer bites. So what you are describing really doesn't sound that far off. I have a hard time remembering exactly, but it sounds like your daughter's diet is the same as my son's at that age (except mine ate a bigger variety of fruits and veggies), and his doctor was always very happy with his eating habits and weight.

Some things to try for protein- yogurt. I buy plain whole milk yogurt (keep doing the whole milk for a while to get the good fats.) I add fresh or frozen fruit to it every morning for breakfast. If you have to make it a little sweeter, juice would be best, then regular sugar. After she is a year, honey is best for a sweetener. Even if you have to sweeten it, it will be easier to give her less sugar than the store bought baby yogurt which is packed with tons of sugar. I also mix in some ground flax seed occasionally too, good for omega 3s. And you can use some oatmeal or baby oatmeal to mix with it for more grains. My son's favorite yogurt meal as a baby was applesauce, yogurt, oatmeal, little bit of vanilla extract, little bit of cinnamon, little bit of brown sugar. Like the one you can buy of yo-baby's, but not as sweet. My son still loves it.

My son hated cheese. Hated it. Still barely eats it. BUT he will eat shredded cheese. Maybe not at 11 mos, but by 15 mos I had figured out he would eat the heck out of some shredded cheese. Cottage cheese blended up in a blender with pineapple and pineapple juice is another good source. My son didn't like the curds but if I put it in the food processor to get it smooth, he loves it.

I can't remember what the guideline on eggs is, but I personally gave my son scrambled eggs before 1 year. About 11 mos. The AAP is saying now that delaying foods for fear of developing allergies is NOT necessary, so I didn't worry about skipping egg whites. My son has no food issues whatsoever. Except that now he is a picky toddler who only wants spaghetti. :) And occasionally, some scrambled eggs. He always loved them. I will actually grate some fresh parmesan into them while they are cooking to give them more dairy and flavor without adding salt, and use milk to whip them up, not water.

As for meat, I blended up chicken into things like mashed potatoes and pasta until about a year. I didnt' do much other meat before then. We are not big meat eaters anyway. And for fish, try tilapia with a sauce or something on it, give her some flakes of it. Tilapia is a mild fish that my son likes. I never did jarred meat, they looked disgusting and smelled even worse.

Lots of babies are barely transitioning to chunky foods at this age. And lots are not sleeping through the night yet. The only thing that sounds different than my son in your entire post is that your daughter had gained so much weight at first and then stopped. Otherwise she sounds totally normal, my son didnt weigh 20 lbs at a year.

I hope something out of all that will work for you. I am guessing since you mentioned bloodwork and have an appointment with a GI that your doctor agrees she needs to gain some weight. The GI may recommend a food therapist to help her learn to eat. If the doctor says she is normal though, then I would not stress about this just yet. Like I said, my son was not eating that much meat or dairy yet, other than the yogurt. And lots of babies aren't eating anywhere near as much as your daughter. I would just keep offering things (as irritating as it gets to make something and then not have her eat it) and try to get her to try one bite at each feeding. I would personally not skip a breastfeeding to try to make her more hungry. With breastmilk, at least you know she is getting something and it is probably better for her than any meat you could offer. And I would make sure to nurse first. Good luck!

EDIT*
I can't believe your doctor told you to wean at 11 mos and said cows milk would be more beneficial than breast mik! Good for you for not doing that, I have never heard of such a thing. Most doctors say wait until 12 mos for cows milk, and there is no reason that you can't do BOTH. We started introducing cows milk at 12 mos, it took about 4 mos before he would drink it, and we still nursed at 2+ years. If you need to get some good fats into her, there are better ways to do that than to take away the one thing she eats well. Hopefully the GI doctor will have better advice for you than that.

M.,
If meats are an absolute no go, why not look at high protein non-meat options. My son is/was and shall ever be the king of beans. If you go refried and puree them until there are no lumps or bumps, maybe she'll eat them. I think it's worth a $1 to give it a try.
Good luck
S.

Wanted to share that my daughter gained at ton of weight until app. 7mo, to the point that we bought a new car seat out of fear of her outgrowing the infant seat. She was only 2-3lbs shy of the 20 lbs weight limit. Well she slowed down right after that and was only about 20 lbs at one year. She did not eat many solids at that point either, maybe once or twice a day. She mostly nursed for a food source until14-15mo. As long as she was healthy and develomentally on track the pedi did not seem concerned. She did not drink cow milk unitl 18mo (mostly due to grandma!). I did, and still do, make a lots of shakes with whole milk yogurt. You can add any combo of foods and they are all healthy. I use fresh/frozen fruits, vegies, ground seeds and nuts (lots of protein), etc. I stayed away from the Gerber and others as they sometimes add sugars and other unhealthy things. She did not eat a lot of meat before 2 yrs.
As for sleep, she slept through the night until almost one year, when she started teething. So her night waking could be from some other reason. I believe that we sometimes put to much pressure on ourselves to get them to sleep through the night at such a young age, when they still need us.
Sounds like you are doing a great job.

Some kids just don't like the texture of meat. Have you tried tofu or beans? They are good meat substitutes and sometimes the texture is more palatable for little ones.
You're breastfeeding still which is awesome!! Keep that up so that she's getting all the nutrition she needs even though her solid food diet isn't providing it.
She's nursing all night because she's hungry and not getting enough solid food to keep her full. Do you nurse her during the day at all? Or do you pump bottles for her if you're working? Pumping/nursing to supplement her solid food during the day would probably help with her nursing all night and keep her from being hungry.
When I started to switch my daughter to solids, I let her decide how much and when. I introduced new foods here and there but I did not replace nursing with solid food until she replaced those feedings. So I followed more of a child led weaning process verses weaning her myself.
I started cereal and mushed bananas around 6 months and gradually started to introduce more and more solid food but I only ever supplemented my nursing sessions, I never replaced them. As I introduced more solid food and she started to eat more she nursed less because she wasn't hungry. I never forced the solid food on her. She was still nursing a fair bit, even at 11 months old. I would say probably almost half of her nutrition came from me and not solid food. It decreased quickly once she hit about 12-13 months old. At that point most of her daytime nursing sessions were gone.
If you want to get her to try meat, hide it in something she likes such as potatoes or squash. Just throw a bunch in the blender/food processor and mush it up until it's a texture/consistency that she likes and will eat. Meat I find is the difficult one. Try tofu to get her some protein in the meantime, until she's old enough to try peanut butter and then keep bringing the meat every few days until she eats it.
Good luck!

Good for you for continuing to nurse that baby.
I have one very picky eater and one that will eat ANYTHING.
The picky eater is now 4 years old and healthy as can be.
Do not worry.
With my picky one, I tried a few alternatives...I pureed beans and rice, I made protein smoothies (avoid the soy...quite damaging to the reproductive systems)...I prefer either whey protein or legume ...like a yellow pea protein (my favorite). Add a scoop of protein to 5 ounces of water with some frozen fruit or fresh fruit (berries and a bit of banana) and ice and whalla ... a delish protein snack.

If your little one can handle dairy, try plain whole milk yoguart and add some frozen blueberries for a wonderful breakfast treat or anytime protein snack.

Get yourself a copy of the book SUPER BABY FOOD by Ruth Yaron.
Heaps of healthy and excellent recipes that you can try for your wee one.

Hope these suggestions help.
I so know your frustration.

You are a good mama, Manuella!

Blessings,
AnneMarie

I have an 8 month old and and when I feed him baby foods, he gets the Earth's Best Organic blends which are like the chicken/pasta blend or beef/spinach or Ella's Organic baby foods--which you can find at Babies R Us. I like getting my baby food there because they have a larger selection than my grocer. They also carry other organic blends which are very good too. The Ella's come in these really cool little pouches. I've found that they do taste better too than the regular baby foods and are worth the extra money. Maybe try those baby foods--my son scarfs them down with no fuss. But, also, as long as she is still nursing, she doesn't really need anything else.

Many happy feedings:)

M

I think it may be to do with the texture of meat ... my daughter used to gag when I gave her meat, have you tried mincing is and mixing it with what she likes ... if shes nursing you know she is getting the best of both worlds and I am sorry I havent more answers but I thought my daughter to eat meat by mincing it, "hiding" it in other foods she loved and adding some fluid like a gravy or whatever she likes, a little bit of meat first then increase gradually, remove without comment if she leaves it and picks out the rest of the food and add it again the next meal/day. Fish was a different story because I never succeeded in getting her to eat it ... very few babies like fish I think its an acquired taste that goes with growing up.
Hope this helps a bit

Hi M.,
I think its AWESOME you're choosing to let her self wean. Its so much better for the baby, I think, and she'll still getting plenty of nutrients from your milk.
If you did some bloodwork and everything came back ok, then you need to remember she's STILL thriving, just not at the rate that young babies do (ie growth and weight gain slow down drastically around 1 year of age).
I would suggest just keep offering her different food choices, but don't be too worried if she doesn't take to them right away. The key is to continue offering them and eventually she might start enjoying them.
You didn't mention how many teeth she has, but that could play a big part in it too. No molars? They can't chew that chicken nugget anyway!
You can still give her plenty of protein with a bean/rice combo, peanut or almond butter and dairy such as cheese and yogurt. And remember, you're still breastfeeding which means she's getting iron AND protein from you too! :)
Enjoy your little girl and follow her lead. Some babes just don't want to eat meat (plus thats a bonus cause her poops won't smell awful!) until they're a little older. :)

Neither of my children ever ate anything except cereal, fruits and veggies while they were on baby food. In fact, I don't know of any babies who would eat the meat baby food. It looks digusting! I was, also, told by my children's pedi that breastmilk and/or formula is the only nutrition a child under a year needs anyway. Eating solids before a year old is just to help them experience the texture and tastes of foods. One thing I have learned as the mom of 2 children are the 3 things you cannot force a child to do-eat, sleep and go on the potty. Discuss your concerns with her pedi. Good luck!

Hey there! I just wanted to second the kudos to you for continuing to breastfeed and letting her self wean. Nice work!!! It is a gift that lasts a lifetime. Also, I wanted to second the recommendation of the book Super Baby Food. Such a great book!!!! I got mine on Amazon used for like $5. The ONLY thing I didn't like about the book was her recommendation of soy products like soy flour. Other than tofu, miso, and soy sauce (basically fermented produts) you want to avoid soy, especially when it comes to children.

Avacados were a good protein veggie for us. Also, Gerber makes meatsticks in beef, chicken and (maybe?) turkey. This was the only meat my little girl would eat at that age because it was really soft and easy to chew. We also had weight gaining issues.with our little girl too. Since you've already had bloodwork done there shouldn't be any concerns with anemia (something we struggle with) but if there is any possibility she was exposed to lead that test can't be performed until she's 12mo, so you might want to talk to your doc about that. From my experience you just have to keep trying new things and always insure there's something on the plate she'll eat. One thing I did do was offer the solids first and then nursed after she was done. It did start the weaning process, but it was slow and non-stressful for both of us. At 11mo and 17lbs she hasn't fallen off the chart yet (mine was 16lbs at 12mo and still on it) but she's getting close. I think 12/13 mo was a turning point for us where she started gaining weight more consistently. 2yrs was when the doc threw it up to genetics and stopped worrying about her. I think, on average, she gains about 5lbs a year, but otherwise she's developmentally on track.

My granddaughter is the same way. She goes in to be weighted at the Doctors office every week. She spent almost a week in the hospital with them running test, weighting her diapers and everything else included an IV and she still did not gain. She has been to Children's Hospital and they can find nothing wrong. She is still on formula and at 20 months weighs in at 21 pounds. She eats a lot more than she did and still no weight gain. We make sure that she gets plenty to eat and is down to 2 bottles a day to keep the weight on her. They tell us just to make sure she gets plenty to eat and is feed whenever she tells us she is hungry. She eats of lot of yogert and table food along with the few baby foods she eats. They tell us she is health and is progressing in every way she should but the weight. We tried whole milk and ended up using Rice milk since she won't drink any other type of milk.

You can buy pediasure and give the iron vitamins peds usually recommend at that age to supplement on the nutrients she may be missing. If you are breastfeeding, (like I am at 14mos), then you can take comfort in knowing they are getting some nutrients - if you eat right too that is. Also, once they eat solids, I think breastfeeding becomes simply a comfort habit, not really for food per se. Yogurt and whole milk to supplement your breast milk can work. I would try mincing cooked chicken breast in the blender, adding some milk and cheese to it and try if he will have that.

Do you nurse first before offering solids? That may help with the weight gain. As far as the proteins, I would keep trying. They weren't my son's favorites either, so the milk is where he got the protein from.