My baby just isn't into solids!

[Elisianna]

My baby girl is nearly a year old and we have been doing BLW since she was six months. She isn't really a picky eater, in fact she enjoys some strange foods like lemons, limes, raw garlic, and black licorice. I just can't get her to eat much at all. She just is not interested. In fact, the only thing she will eat a reasonable portion of is yogurt.

Sometimes she will decide to eat a little more, but "a lot" for her would be half a piece of bread. I would be amazed if she ate that much. Last week in fact she ate NO SOLIDS because she was sick. She only had breastmilk.

Maybe I am getting too paranoid but I need to get her interested in solids! My husband and I want to try for baby number 2 in July. I want to nurse throughout my pregnancy, but I know my milk supply will go down and then probably disappear. I know it is still a long-ish way off but I do think it would be important to help her slowly build up an appetite for solids over the next few months!

My doctor also told me at her nine month appointment that she should be having more solids than breastmilk!

Is this disinterest normal? How can I encourage her to want more solid food? Any specific recipes/tips that have worked for other people?

 

[missk1989]

I think its common for bf babies to fill up on bm instead of solids. I think you will find that if you start reducing bf then she may start eating more.

 

[staralfur]

My LO was still having mostly breast milk at 1. Her doctor was very supportive and not concerned at all because she had always remained on the 70-80th percentile for weight and she seemed perfectly satisfied with a diet of mostly milk.

I don't recall when exactly she started taking more to solids, but I never pushed the issue. I just kept offering and eventually she started to love them. She's been eating three meals a day with a few snacks for a while now, she LOVES her food! It just took her some time.

If your LO's weight is staying fairly steady and she seems satisfied with milk, then I wouldn't worry.

 

[Elisianna]

Thanks ladies.

I have heard about giving less breastmilk to get her to eat more solids but I don't know how I would go about doing that. She takes milk from me when she wants it, sometimes whether I like it or not! Hahaha

I will keep trying, I guess, and try not to worry. Her weight is great. She's super chubby and is usually at the 75th percentile for weight.

 

[Rachel_C]

As long as she's healthy I wouldn't worry. Loads of kids barely eat a thing at a year old but then it suddenly just clicks.

What kinds of foods are you offering her? Have you tried some fairly spicy foods or strong flavours? With you saying she likes some strange flavours, maybe that's the kind of thing that will get her interested. I was very surprised when my OH cooked my youngest a curry one day and she wolfed it down. She was a good eater anyway but I'd never seen anything like it! My oldest is a bit fussy but she too will eat a curry

 

[minties]

I agree with Rachel. Mine both love flavoursome foods like curries. Thomas loves Thai green curry, and sushi with heals of wasabi on it. He always has.

 

[Elisianna]

I actually make a lot of flavoursome foods but often avoid giving them to her cause I am scared they will be too spicy or too messy. Sometimes I run the meat and veggies in a dish under the tap to rinse off the flavour... Maybe I should try and see what would happen if I didn't do that!

I normally offer her pretty plain foods like rice and potatoes (she does like these), she also likes beans. If I make a spicy curry or chili I will rinse it so she can eat it (though I never add the hot spices so she could probably handle them). She will usually happily take a couple bites of anything (though she dislikes eggs and sweets) but then just toss the rest around. She LIKES food but she just doesn't want much!