My 13 Month-old Hardly Eats!

I hate to do this to you but, my baby girl who is 10 months is doing the same thing. Please let me know what suggestions there are out there??
ReneeA

My son went through the same thing around your son's age. I know at one point all he would eat is mashed potatoes. So I would hide other types of foods in the mashed potatoes to get him to eat a balanced diet. I know how fustrating it could be, but just be patient with him. He will eventually come around. Now my son is almost three, and we are now in the pizza, chicken nuggets, and fruit loops stage.

K.,
I noticed that you said that your son hardly ever goes in his diaper. If he isn't having consistent bowel movements then his system could be backed up. I have a friend who has a son that hardly ever had bowel movements. After a cat scan they realized his bowels were so backed up that he had no room for anything else to digest, hence the no appetite (it gives them a full feeling). It may be that your little one is just very inquisitive and doesn't want to take the time out to eat. However, if his bladder or bowel movements are not consistent then it is worth having someone take a look to make sure nothing else is going on. At least then you can be sure he is just going to be one of those kids who doesn't eat a lot. My youngest is this way. She didn't want to take time to sit at that age. I would always make sure to sit her down for all three meals but inbetween I would lower the high chair down to the floor and scatter a few cheerios or green beans on the tray. Occasionally she would walk over and pick up a little snack and eat it. (Supervised by me of course!) It made me feel a little better at least knowing that she was getting something. I also gave her a carnation instant breakfast (the vanilla kind) in her milk every morning at breakfast after the doctor recommended it. She loved it! She was just too busy to take the time to eat! Eventually though, she got the hang of it.... yours will too. It may just take a lot of trial and error. Hang in there and good luck!

I also have a 12 month old. She eats mostly table food. She seems to be beyond the puree stages, and maybe this no longer interests your little guy either. Since he is able to eat fruit well, I would try more fruits like bananas. You can break these into pieces instead of slicing them, so they aren't so slimy. Also, can you get some nutricious crackers and spread a little butter on them to help him get more fat? Also, how about some macaroni and cheese since he will eat a few noodles. I make dishes with rice mixed with cream soups with meat and cheese in them, and I just put lumps of this rice on my daughters tray, and she likes to eat them with her hands. She does not like me to feed her with a spoon anymore. So, I just try to give her whatever I can from our dinner, on her tray. If it is something difficult for her, I just cut it into smaller pieces. Last night, we had pizza, and I cut it up into bite size bits, and on her tray it went. She LOVED it. Try pizza! It can be healthy too. How about a grilled cheese sandwich, made with lots of butter, cut into tiny bite size pieces or strips, for him to eat with his hands? I give my daughter string cheese that is peeled and broken into bits too. She LOVES cheese. She eats veggies from stews and soups. She loves carrots, potatoes and veggies like that from those. They are cooked soft so she just eats them just are. She is a huge fan of potatoes. They cook up soft, and you can serve them mashed. This is one of the few things she will still let me feed her on a spoon! These can be made to be more fattening by adding cream or butter to them. I think you just need to experiment with more foods. Keep trying them. Maybe just put out a few pieces at a time since he is throwing stuff on the floor. Is he drinking milk or nursing? He can still get a lot of his nutrients from this. Also, is he getting in a lot of teeth right now? My daughter's appetite sometimes wanes when she is getting a bunch of teeth in. Best of luck, and keep at it. Becc
PS, my daughter really dislikes "babyfood" from jars. Once they get a taste for different stuff, there usually comes a point where they do not want that stuff anymore.

K. it seems that everyone has had great ideas but I have one also my daughter does the same thing she never want to eat and she was not even on the weight scale she only weigh 18 lbs at the age of 16 mts. The doctors recommended that we put her back on infant formula which has helped alot she is steadily gaining weight now. It is expensive but its worth a try she loves sweets so she likes the milk and it has alot of calories. We but the soy good start for the 12-24 mts old toddlers.

Hi K.,
I think the other responses have some good ideas. The one thing that concerned me was that you said there is nothing in his diaper. Does he drink milk/fomula? Is he peeing regularly? If not, you really need to follow-up with your doctor. Not wanting to eat solid food may not be a big deal for now, but he needs to be getting liquids.
Good Luck,
Patty

My children have all been in the 50-75% in height and less than 10% in weight. Even my daughter who has always been a great eater, is 75% height and 10% weight. I would make sure he's getting enough to drink so that he at least has wet diapers. My kids like the drinkable yogurt for liquid nutrition. But I did notice that you wrote a lot about spoon feeding. At 13 months, your son may be trying to tell you that he wants more independence in feeding himself. I would give him a large variety of small cooked table foods and let him make a mess. In the beginning, it's about him exploring the textures and not much may make it into his mouth. It will seem like he's just playing with it. But eventually, he will start eating a little bit at a time until he finds something he loves. Good luck!

I have a really picky almost 3 year old, who has never enjoyed eating. It's always been a fight. I started giving her pedisure...I'd fill about half of her sippy cup with pedisure and the other half with whole milk (or formula). Her brother is 15 months and ways 2 lbs less than she does!! He loves to eat. Anyway, this has helped my daughter and gives her all the nutrition she needs. I get the flavored kind so we can call it Chocolate or Strawberry milk.

Hope this helps!

Hi.
It could be that he want's more texture than the purees. Have you tried giving him small chunks of softened veggies? carrots, green breans, peas?
My daughter loves apple slices, banana chunks, and mandarian oranges but only if she can hold them. if you chop them up for her she throws them.

You can also try giving him some pedia-sure. Its like a milk shake.It has vitamins and is made for picky eaters.

Hey My name is S. and I went thru the same exact situation with my son now 5 yrs old. He just really started to eat about 2 yrs ago and I was feeling the same way asking the doctor what can I do or give him to make him eat more. He told me not to force feed him and to let him eat whatever he likes. And I notice that he likes to eat Oatmeal with applesauce. So my anwser to your solution is to find out what he like to eat the most and just feed him until his appitite picks up and trust me it will because now my son eats everything in site.

If he is healthy, stop worrying. Provide him a variety of nourishing foods and he will eat when he is hungry.

If your pediatrician is seriously concerned about his iron intake, she will prescribe something, like vitamins with iron. Talk with her about this.

Hi K.,

I have two boys (5yo and 10mo) and my 5 year old still doesn't like to eat. It's almost like he's never hungry. He was normal weight up until about a year old when he was 19lbs. He stayed the same weight until he was two! I was so worried about him and took him to the doctor. She told me as long as he's developing normally, not to worry. He didn't even weigh enough to get on the chart (percentage-wise) until he was 4 and then he was at 5%. Does he drink milk? I tried giving my son the Pediasure, but it's really expensive. A good thing to mix in to milk to get more calories is the Carnation Instant Breakfasts. My son is now doing better, but he's still thin (34lbs. at 5 1/2) but he's healthy. I know it's hard not to worry, but he won't starve himself.....I promise. Hang in there and don't force him to eat. I have tried this and it just makes matters worse. Good luck!

Hi K. W. I too am a 33 year old mother of one 18 month old baby boy. He is also in the 75% for height, what I did to make sure he had weight on him was to put rice cereal in his milk. My son is very active and eats when he feels like it. He requests some foods but I put cereal in all of his milk so that he can have nutrients as well as get full. Being that you are a vegetarian, I don't know what kind of milk you give your son, but try the rice cereal (Gerber is all I use) and it may add some substance. I hope that helps!

Jackie T.

I think that your idea of given your son food when he is hungry and not force feeding him is great. My mom force fed us and my whole family has an eating problem. Your son won't starve himself to death and if you are giving him whole milk and iron/vitamin suppliment then I wouldn't be too concerned. You may just have a picky eater. See if cheese or pretzels or little meals throughout the day will help him to get use to food. It may take him longer to like various foods. Good luck! L.

As long as he's pooping and peeing he is getting what he needs. They go through growth spurts and eat, otherwise they will eat

My son is 12 months and will only eat if there are 2 pieces of food on his tray. If we put more down, he will throw them all on the floor. You can try putting just 1 or 2 pieces down at a time. It's more work, but when we do that, he'll eat a whole grilled cheese sandwich! If I put all the small pieces in front of him, he'll throw them off the tray. Same goes with fruit pieces. We're still having trouble with him picking up veggies though. Boy, they can be tough! Good luck!

Try giving him some pediasure. My sone was the same way although he ate but still did not gain any weight and the Dr told me I need to give him foods with high FAT contents. Any how my son would drink it if I gave him a straw and let him seem like he was a big boy.

Hi K. I am a mother of two.. My sons' are 27 and 21, when my youngest son would not eat my doctor had me make protein milkshakes. I would buy two half gallons of vanilla bryers ice cream, add one egg, a little vanilla, milk and a little sugar. On some day's I would even add a banana or some other fruit. You see my son at four months just stopped eatting. This is what I had to do to get him some kind of nutrition. I would feed him these milkshakes three time a day. If he would take in other food then I would give it to him. At the age of eight I then had to buy husky clothes for him, now my child is 21 thin as a rail you would never know that he was once chubby and now in my eyes too thin. If you think this will help try it. I hope that I have at least given you another option. I know it is hard to be a mom. Good luck. D.

it's a control thing. don't force it. and don't get worked up about it. He will eat when he's ready. he will not starve himself. I went through the same thing with my daughter. she is now 4 and still doesn't eat much. I used to play the grease soundtrack during meal times. It would just keep me in a relaxed and fun mood and I could usually get a few bites of food in. She also drank a lot of milk....

Wow! You are going thru the same thing I am. My son is now 17 mos. and I have been dealing with this since 12 mos. my son will not put any veggies or meat in his mouth. In fact we are very limited on what he will eat. His doctor alarmed me at his 15 mos. visit about his weight because he was falling off charts. I've been reading Satter's book too for advice. I've been giving pedisure. That has helped him gain weight, but not help with him eating. It is frustrating! He only eating cheerios, bananas, apples, blueberries, pretzels, some cereal bars. He only eats these things sometimes. At least you know you are not the only one dealing with this. I wish I could help. I need help myself. Good luck! Let me know if you are succesful with any techniques. I feel like I have tried them all.

K. - first of all, you are not alone! My 15 month old is very similar - 90% height, 5% weight. His brother had a similar growth pattern and is a healthy, happy 5 year old. You said that the doctor's visit alarmed you - why? Just because of the numbers or because the doctor was also concerned? My pediatrician said that Matthew is healthy and there was really nothing to worry about. It is is much bigger problem to go crazy and turn into a short order cook in order to get him to eat. My mantra is "no child ever starved himself willingly". Feed him 5 times a day and put a 20 minute limit on it. If he loses interest, stop.

As far as his diaper - is he constipated or when he does poop is it loose? If he's constipated, that could explain why he's not really hungry and needs to be addressed separately. Your doctor might be able to prescribe something to help with that.

Best of luck.

He will eat when he is hungry! Does he have teeth,and I'm asking this because my now 12 yr old daughter didn't get her first tooth untill she wad 13 mo. Have you tryed cheerios,french fries,hot dogs(peel the skined and cut into small pieces)chicken nuggets,bologna these are all things that my daughter would eat who would not eat baby food either. Is he drinking alot of milk or juice? Liquids will fill him up and he wont want to eat! Hope this will help some and GOOD LUCK!!!

My daughter would not eat anything with lumps well until she was 1 year old. Her palette could not handle it. So I did feed her baby food for a long time. She would eat the veggies though. I also stuck with the cereal with milk or formula which ever you use at least 3 times a day to make sure she got the necessary "vitamins and minerals". Yogurt was also a favorite. It truly was hard and seemed like a nightmare. Also look at your family genes. Is your family on the small boned side, for instance? Look at your baby records if you have them and compare them. He may seem normal according to you or your husband records.

One more thing...Your son seems to not have the desire to eat. I know of a child in Occupational Therapy who is the same way. This particular child will not eat anything except out of a bottle. The point I am trying to make is that you are not alone and you may want to ask your doctor if you think OT would help if it becomes too much of a problem. Keep trying different things. And stick to what he seems to like even if you give it to him all day.

I hope this helps.

This SHOULD be very concerning! He should certainly be on a liquid supplement with frequent meals. Meat is not an issue. However, the fact that he avoids textures is. Beans/gas producers are hard for this age group; peas use to give one of my children terrible constipation. At his age, all three of mine were still on baby cereal mixed with fruits or veggies as a base; breastfed or had formula several times a day; with as much finger food/family food as they wanted on top of it. Infant food as a base; other food only in addition.
Please tell me the ped. has him scheduled to see him again soon - if not, you may need a new one. I stongly recommend you take him to a pediatric gastrointerologist ASAP. No BM's and his weight percentile (compared to ht) is very, very concerning. You should also contact CHILD FIND (free services in MD for under 5) to arrange for a speech therapist- they work with oral motor and feeding issues. My ped. gave me the number when my middle child had food texture problems along with reflux. I should probably mention that I was a ped. nurse up until 5 yrs. ago. DO NOT WAIT ON THIS!

I'm a first time mom myself with a currently pick 2year old. My tactic with him since he started to eat less well, is 1) keep trying 2) continue to try to find any type of food he will eat even if it goes against the grain a bit. When I do these two things, eventually in the course of a week, he's eaten reasonably well. For example, I'll make pancakes for dinner and let him have them with real maple syrup or honey. The pancakes are usually whole grain or hoecakes (made w/corn meal), and I'll make some bacon. He loves the salty, crunchy and sweet stuff. Recently we've gotten him into cereal w/milk, which may be all he'll eat for dinner some days, or lunch and dinner. In general we just try to find fairly healthy alternatives and give him some variety - whole grain crackers, shredded cheese, mixed veggies, and smoothies. But I think the key is to keep giving the things he likes - in your case citrus fruit, plus something new until you hit on some new things he'll eat. Use the foods he likes as a lure or appetizer for him to then decide, Hey I'll try that yogurt, or whatever it is. Good luck - it's tough I know.

Did your doctor make any specific suggestions for dietary changes? Or sent you & your son to a specialist or nutritionist?

I would definitely follow up with a nutritionist or MD with specialization in dietary issues. My understanding is there should be hunger and all possible causes should be considered.

I really like the helpful information on the website below. It suggests starting egg yolks as young as 6 months. My son didn't like the hard boiled yolk texture (paste), so I tried something weird. I mixed it in with he fruit he loves, natural applesauce. I can't taste it in there, it still tastes just like applesauce. Maybe you could try that in one of you 13mo preferred purees to increase his fat intake and therefore calories. One other idea would be to give him finger food detractions rather than toys while spoon feeding him. Maybe one would end up in his mouth. Maybe your son will like what my 11mo eats: regular old canned carrots, peas, asparagus(Ok I know it's weird), peaches, and pears as well as ripe banana because they all have a mushy texture.

One other idea, try putting him somewhere different to eat like a lap rather than a highchair. Maybe he isn't comfortable or secure for some reason.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030100.asp

i went through the same thing with my last 2 kids. they did not not like to eat ANYTHING!!! not even the baby jar food. i introduced it to them as i was supposed to and many times...it never worked. once they got old enough i started giving them pediasure and they loved it. they were both about 18 months before they actually started enjoying food such as green beans, fruits or even just crackers. i understand your frustration but it does get better! did you ask your pediatrician if maybe you should be giving him some extra vitamins? good luck to you...

Most 13 month old babies have enough teeth to eat regular table food without having it pureed. Give hime peas, carrots, green beans, small pieces, of course, granola, raisin, mashed potatoes, cheese. Just put it out for him and don't make an issue of it. If he gets hungry, he will eat.
Even 13 month old children have learned to control parents.

If there is nothing in his diaper, he could be constipated. Plenty of liquids and some fiber in natural foods.

I am 51yrs.old and I have never seen a baby yet turn down McDonald's FRENCH FRIES. All you can do is try and PRAY PRAY

GOOD LUCK

K.,
Your child may also be zinc deficient which suppresses the taste buds ability to taste and therefore everything tastes bland. My son had the same problem and I had to take him to a nutritionist and that is what she suspected based on his diet. I started giving him Shiff's brand liquid vitamins and within 2 weeks he was eating much better and now he is 3 1/2 and a great eater. It seems many pediatricians don't know about this issue, so thank goodness for my nutritionist. Good luck!
M.

hi K.,

personally i would insist upon a sonagram on your sons stomache and esophagus. he should be eating more than that. usually at 3 yrs. of age they seem to give up eating but that's normal. but being your sons weight is down, i would really follow this up or go to another dr.

at that age he should be eating:
breakfast--cereal, hot oatmeal, rice cereal, with applesauce and a full glass of milk/juice.

lunch--tuna, bread, mashed potatoes, hard boiled egg, fruit, etc. and milk

dinner: usually meat, veg, fruit, milk

milk before bed...

i just think there may be a twisting of something in his body so he is not able to eat a lot....PLEASE GO HAVE IT CHECKED OUT....have his intestines checked out too of why he is not absorbing calories....soemthign is definitely not right.

best wishes, L.

Hi K.,

All three of my kids were always in that ratio also, or at least their height was normal but weight was in the low range or even below the chart. And at almost 14, 12 and 8, they still are AND they are MUCH more healthy than average now.

My doctor told me that the height/weight charts were made in the 1950's when most children were bottlefed, and that breastfed babies often did not correlate to it very well and often had a plateau in growth that was normal but did not show up on the bottlefed based charts. She told me that this ratio was only ONE indicator to watch and that so long as every other measure of health came back healthy, I should just watch it. She told me that a weight LOSS or stop of growth was alarming, or that a stop in head measurement growth while everything else was growing was alarming, etc, but a slower than average growth in weight with all other indicators being of good health was not a concern to her.

My son who is now almost 14, very healthy, athletic, still on the slim side, and self-regulates to not eat junk food or soda EVER (that's HIM, we eat pretty healthy but are not perfect, he won't TOUCH the stuff) did not eat any solid food until he was 14 months old. He sounds a lot like your son, no interest at all. However he was breastfeeding at the time, which led my pediatrician to say "he knows what is good" and not worry about it at all.

He never did eat baby food. He waited until he could pick up and self feed and then he very discriminatingly chose what he would eat. Not picky, exactly. He would try stuff. We gave him many choices, let him decide what to eat, never force fed or even cajoled him. I wanted to, I know it's hard! He is now a very confident kid, less concerned with peer pressure than most, absolutely no allergies or health concerns. He wants to be a chef who specializes in teaching people to eat simple, natural and healthy foods that taste great but are good for you. I don't know if there is a correlation there to his early eating or not, certainly my other two will eat all the chicken nuggets and soda that they can convince me to allow! Ha ha. The younger two were also below the charts in weight but low/normal range for height. They ate baby food but I had learned from the older one to let them decide from a range of healthy choices what they would eat or not eat.

BUT I had the safety net of nursing them. My doctor's confidence that his weight to height ratio was not an indication of anything wrong in and of itself. She trusted me and his Dad to let her know if anything else seemed wrong. I know other parents whose doctors don't take that approach and tell them to soak everything in butter, etc. That sounds CRAZY to me!

This may not have helped, but I hope it did!

I just noticed the part where he does not have much in the area of bowel movements. That would definitley combine with the low weight to qualify for more concern and a visit to a specialist to me. As I said, if it is the ONLY indicator, just watch it, but combined with low output, I would go to a specialist. Also keep an accurate food diary of what he eats and how much. Including bottles and length of time/estimate amount breastfeeding.

A. V
BTW, Doctor Sears says in his books that avacado is a perfect first food. And a friend of mine would feed her (over one year old) baby plain whole milk yogurt with mashed avacado -- he always ate that. I would never have thought to mix the two.

call Kennedy Kriegar nutrition center for children in baltimore it is a clinic where children who have nutritional problems there are a lot of children with this problem so you are not alone many get so bad they suffer from malnutrition and have to be hospitalized it may be he has allergies to many foods keep giving him what you know he will eat also look at nutritional drinks to make sure he is getting his nutrition.

____@____.com kriegar.org
###-###-####
707 N. Broadway
Baltimore, Md. 21205

Pray this helps
S.

I understand how you feel. I breastfed my daughter until about 1 year but she ate very little of anything else. I tried everything. She fell off the chart completely for her weight. I really don't like those charts!!! I would give my daughter whatever she wanted. Sometimes she would go a whole day without eating and I would try everything then she would eat applesauce that night for dinner. I would give her as much applesauce as she wanted and not try anything else after that. My in-laws used to tease me because I would chase her around with cheerios during the day to try to get her to eat something. It is so frustrating and I would worry so much. Have you tried Pediasure? It can be expensive but it has lots of viatmins and is filling. If he only eats a few nutrios at a time, give him a few at a time and then wait a little while and give him a few more. You might feel like your entire day revolves around feeding your son but hopefully, he will start eating better soon. My daughter is six now and eats really well. Be persistent and try to push through this. Good luck. I hope all goes well.

Kristin,
I haven't read other replies, but hopefully you're getting some good advice. I'm' not sure if you are nursing or formula feeding, but up until 12 months, most of your son's nutrition should still come from whatever he is drinking. Breastmilk is the most calorie dense thing he could consume, and formula would be great for calories too. Will he drink something like that? Even if he is just passing the one year mark, the only thing I can think of is to up his nursing/bottle sessions to try and get some good, rich stuff into his system. If he's otherwise happy and healthy though, there are just some kids who are skinny sprites and some who are rolly-polly. Somebody has to be at the low end of the charts in order to set the percentiles, and maybe that's your boy! Good luck!

What does your pediatrician say to do?

Are you maybe giving him too much formula or milk? Try cutting down to 3 4-5 oz servings a day. And really limit juice, which is good for you, but has lots of calories. Too much liquid could be filling him up.

Try giving him graham crackers. My son (13 months old as well) is picky and most of the time he'll eat a little bit of food. Then we give him graham crackers and he eats those like crazy. My pediatrician says at this age, as long as he gets some calories, it's good.

You don't mention what your little boy drinks, and that might be part of the problem. If he is filling up with juice or milk, that might cut into his already small appetite. Also, my first child discovered at one year that he could say NO about food, and that was a GREAT discovery for him, he really exercized that power! My little boy existed on dry All Bran and fish sticks, so don't feel bad, a lot of kids go thru this. The more upset you get about it, the more "power" you hand him. Feeding is very emotional, I know, but try and relax about the whole thing. Hope this helps, and good luck!

Hi there. Not sure if your son drinks milk, but we put in Carnation instant breakfast. They have Chocolate, Vanilla & Strawberry. We would use half a packet at a time...trying to use a whole one in a day. Has tons of vitamins and minerals. What about vitamin drops? Have you tried those...you can get them with iron.
Good luck to you!

My daughter was the same way. There were times that she didn't even make the percentage chart! She weighed 16lbs at her 1 year appt. Every child is different, but between her 2 and 3 birthday she didn't gain a pound but she grew 2 inches so my dr wasn't concerned that she didn't gain since she had grown taller!

I made a lot of her food myself - it's a lot easier than you think. I would cook to food to really soft and puree it in the blender and could mix chicken in with sweet potatoes, mac and cheese or ham with green beans. (I would make a big batch at a time and freeze it in ice trays then just pop it out as I needed it.) I don't think that many toddlers are crazy about meat. Since your vegetarian you know that you can get the protein in different ways too! Cheese, eggs and yogurt (although my daughter never really liked yogurt). My Dr has always said to get food in my daughter any way I could and for a while wanted me to give her a milkshake a day! She always liked that! LOL Is your son maybe filling up on liquids (milk or juices)?

My daughter is 5 and still only ways 38 lbs. Some kids are just smaller. She east the same foods that her 3 year old brother eats and he is 37lbs. So there you go! :)

Has he been tested for allergies? He may have a gluten problem. He eats, his tummy is upset.

Have you tried organic foods. It can make a difference.

Try the vegetable purees without the beans. Sweet Potato, carrots, beets. Root vegetables with a lot of natural sugar. See what he will eat. Stay away from the beans and flour. Hold back on any formula, water, sugary juices, etc. got 1/2 an hour before you feed him

Do not give him any milk products for a while.

At Whole Foods they have a "fusion" juice that is ONLY vegetables and fruits. Give him a small amount of that.

Then make sure you are working with a nutritionist or you are very aware that he is getting what he needs. Consult with your doctor.

But I would start by removing the known allergens - wheat, refined sugars and gas producers - beans in any form.

And see if he starts to eat that. You said he eats orange and grapefruit. That is a clue to what he likes. He doesn't eat noodles. Another clue. Nor the cereal.

It sounds as though there is a clinical reason your son is not eating. If you do not want to do the allergy testing then you need to start finding foods, starting with the vegetables and fruits that he will eat and figure out what he likes. Color, texture, taste and digestibility all should be considered.

Keep a log. You might be able to figure it out.

J.

First and foremost, don't stress yourself too much over this. I have had a few friends who've gone through the same thing. (Low % weights at well baby check ups) They are all doing great and are eating normal diets now. PediaSure is an option. Perhaps you can get fresh or frozen fruit and add a couple pureed pieces into it. I make smoothie's for my youngest 2 (frozen fruits, vanilla flav. silk soy milk, one or 2 splenda packets, walnuts for omega-3) puree that up and down it goes. If he hasn't had a significant decrease in weight or has had a big increase in height I just wouldn't worry too much. If he starts to act different, low energy level, sick acting, lethargic. You know when your child seems off. Then, I'd worry. Good luck. Time will resolve this issue and bring on new ones. Wow! Does that sound morbid!?! I mean to say don't worry too much! You are doing your best!!

K., unfortunately there isn't much you can do to put food in your little one. They eat when they hungry, give him fun food that he can put in his mouth by himself....Cheerios, fruit (bananas cut up) and let him feed himself. Make sure he isn't in front of a TV or anything that will take his attention away from food. I would alway make cookies and put wheat germ in them or oatmeal, not as much sugar as the recipe would call for but I would let them go for it. I would also make my kids food homemade. They never ate jar food and they are all good eaters now. Include the little one in cooking....simple little things. Passing you what you need etc. they love to be involved in what they eat

I would offer alot of regular cereal, like cheerios. Cereal has good iron in it and other nutrients. Let him play some with his food, i know its a mess, but they say that kids dont like to eat what they cant feel and investigate first. My sons love bananas, and they areasy to eat in cubes. Maybe talk to your doctor about adding pediasure or something to his diet? I would think if she is concerned, she would sit with you and discuss different options.

Have you tried giving him pedialite. I will help with the iron in his diet. Then his iron should in his blood will go to normal. Try giving him finger foods. Try vegetables out of the can or fresh frozen with out pureeing them. Most kids don't like vegetables anyway. Since he has teeth, it would be fine to feed him table food. No since in send the money on baby food if he's not going to eat it. They do eat when they are hungry. I use to feed my boys fruit then a sneak a spoon of veggies. Then just repeat the cycle again till the get done eating. Hope this helps.

My DD (now almost 3) has been like this for as long as I can remember. She hated purees...all of them and still will not eat things like applesauce that her older siblings like. Her doctor has a little different spin however since she has always been 3-5% on the weight curve--someone has to be there. I'm not sure about your son but DD gains weight consistently... it may be less than others her age but it is consistent.
Since our last weight check/ear infection visit in December, I have been watching closely what she actually eats in a day and am finding that it is more than I believed it to be. I'm always really busy so I've literally been scheduling snack times for her. (She gets busy playing and doesn't ask for food but accepts it willingly when she is offered.) We've been trying different textures/consistencies. I've been giving her choices what she wants to eat and I've been making an effort to offer something from all of the food groups so that she has a somewhat balanced diet. I'm also supplementing her diet with pediasure or carnation instant breakfast to help assure that she is getting the vitamins, etc that she needs. (Not too much to crush any existing appetite.)
At 13 months, your son should be able to eat mostly table foods so experiment. Leave the purees behind and let him try different things. Good luck!