My 11 Month Old Son Will Not Eat Much Food, He Only Wants Bottle

I am the proud mom of 3 kids-a 13 yr old daughter and 3 yr old twin boys. My daughter and one of my boys did great in regards to eating, but one my boys is just doing his own thing. The doctor said he is ok as long as he is eating something during the day ,no matter how small,if he gets hungry he will eat. She said he will get better with age. He still, at the age of 3, eats better if you feed him or make it a game.Find something that he really likes to eat and start from there--my boys like fruit and cinnamon sugar toast.

I don't know much anout the not eating thing, my son is a pig and will eat anything if I let him, but as far as the bottle goes, my daughter didn't want to let go of her bottle either, and I found out that with the bottle she knew if was there, and all the sippy cups at the time had the hard plastic nozzles, so I tried the nuby ones, they are a lil under two dollars at walmart, and since the top felt the same as the nipple on the bottle, I had no problem, then...so when my son came along we did the same with him, and took him off his bottle the day he turned one...it was so easy, I hope it works for you!

Hi B., I just got out of that stage THANK GOD! Here is a couple things that worked for my stubborn son.First the milk- nuby cups are the best, they are just like the bottle nipples.If you try that and he still doesnt like the milk, my doctor suggested to me to put a dab of strawberry strup in the milk, just enough to turn it light pink.This made the transition from bottle to cup very easy.I also give my son milk in the nuby and his juice or water in the sippy cup that comes with a built in straw. Now my son didnt like any of the gerber foods except the chicken and noodles.So if your feeding him that he may not like it.I would try mac n cheese, real banannas, adult applesauce, grilled cheese.My son loved this stuff.Of course remember cut veryvery small.Good luck

My munchkin did the same thing. He's 5 now and a little small for his age, I think because he didn't eat anything for almost a year and he had a spit-up problem.

The doctor told me that I had to give him no choice but the sippy cup, and that he would eventually take it rather than go thirsty. The doc also said that kids don't drink as much from a sippy cup, which would cause him to be hungry and eat solid foods.

I thought that sounded awfully cruel because my son loved his bottle so much and it seemed to be a great comfort and security to him. I put it off for about a month, but when he turned 1 and still wasn't eating I gave it a try. It was really hard for both of us but sure enough, the doc was right. He threw fits and didn't drink much for a few days (he drank enough to stay healthy) and I felt like the biggest meanie alive, but over a few weeks it became the new routine. The doc also said that I had to realize that the amount of liquid he was drinking was much higher than his daily requirements, and not to be alarmed if the liquid volume consumed went down with sippy cup use. You should ask your doctor exactly how much liquid he really NEEDS a day instead of wants and make sure he gets that much during the transition time.

I did cheat every once in a while when we had to go on an outing and I knew he would be an unstable wreck without his bottle. He got a small bottle then, but now that I look back, those little cheatings did nothing much more than set him back and make him want his bottle.

Hope that helps, or at least makes you feel like you're not the only one.

Oh, and i guess my main point here is that the problem was that he was filling up on formula or milk because he just loved his bottle so much. I tried the millions of different tasty foods thing, but that was not solving the problem because the comfort of his bottle gave him more pleasure than the delicious taste of any food - even fruits and chocolate. So, I had to eliminate the real appetite killer first. Then, he started eating a variety of foods and even liked things that most kids didn't. He wasn't picky - he just wasn't hungry.

Hi B., this too shall pass. What we did with Celeste was try LOTS of different foods. Unfortunately, she only really loved the chicken nuggets, but hey, there's protein in there somewhere, right? She loved goldfish crackers too. It doesn't seem healthy but as long as they're chewing and getting used to food, they're still getting everything they need from their formula. You'll see, he'll be ready in a month to leave that formula alone. (and p.s. boys NEVER like to feed themselves, but why not feed him, you only get to do this once, they'll never be this small again!)

Make sure that the food you give him is not to tough, some fresh veggies might not be cooked enough...try some of the microwave meals like hormer chicken and dumplings or pasta meals..it only takes about 45 minutes to cook... Sometimes when my son does'nt want to eat he spits it back out, don't force feed him and if you see a sign of weight lost you really need to speak to a doctor...