Hi Mel and All

I am mother of 15 months old baby girl, she is 19 Pounds now. I want to putdown my case and appreciate suggestions/Help from you all.

My Baby was born tiny (4.3 pound) and was not able to suck milk, so i pumped milk and feed her from bottle. This I can do it only for 3 months, after that she started drinking Enfamil ready to drink formula. At the time she was 6/7 months old i gave her cereals mixed with milk (Enfamil), which she took only for 2 months. When she was 10 months old her Pediatrician advice us to give her Pediasure since Enfamil ready to drink was not good enough for her.

From last 3/4 months I am trying to give her Sold food but she is refusing it. Now she is only on Pediasure. She will rarely eat some bread and butter and some cheese. I tried all this below food for her

1. Mixing the food in mixer and giving her in liquid form.
2. All type of food including Egg, Rice, Paratha, Vegetables dal.
3. We also tried Gerberfood and fruits.
4. Finger food, Cookies etc

She just refuses to take any solid food. If I don' t give her pediasure she will be starving for the whole day but will not touch solid food. Please help me and give me suggestions what I can do. Tell me how we can get her into a habit of eating solid food.

Thanks
anamika replied. Hi Mel,Sonu

Thanks for Yor advice,I am trying very hard to put her in the habit of eating,but till now no success.I hope in New year she will change.


Wish u all a very happy and prosperous new year.
Take care
Bye

Mel replied. I know what you are going through. I have gone through the same thing. I used to spend every waking moment wondering HOW to feed my son, WHY he doesn' t eat while all other toddlers seem to eat, and so on.... It used to be so frustrating.

But, I learned one thing... the harder I tried, the more unsuccessful I was. I also believe that you SHOULD NOT FEED her forcefully... and even though most people may tell you to just let her be, and she will eat when she is hungry... I COULDN' T JUST LET MY SON BE... BECAUSE HE WOULD HAPPILY STARVE. If I left him hungry for 2 hours, he would get irritated and cranky and would refuse to EAT ANYTHING AT ALL the rest of the day. Then he wouldn' t even sleep properly.

The thing I realised about my son was that it was never to do with variety. It wasn' t about offering him different foods everyday, but to find out ONE or TWO things that he didn' t mind eating.

The first thing was DAHI. I just put a little bit on my finger and rubbed it on his lips and he seemed to like it... So, I just fed him a few spoons of Dahi. Over the next few days, I offered him standard food as well (Dal Chawal) and when he wouldn' t eat, I would offer him his favourite Dahi... as little as he wanted... Over a period of time, I started mixing standard food (very small quantities) with dahi and he would have a bit. Sometimes he would figure it out, and sometimes he would have a little.

What I' m trying to say is that with some of our kids, it' s more psychological. They like their bottle so much that they are unwilling to have alternate sources of nutrition. And the HARDER we try to force feed them, the more they hate FOOD and EATING.

When my son was your daughter' s age, I used to keep him engaged... put him in front of his blocks... or on the kitchen platform with some cups and jars of water... while he played, I managed to pop in a few spoons... but only pop in the food when SHE WILLINGLY opens her mouth. Don' t stuff... don' t force.

Offer her different things to find out one or two items that she will like... it can be cheese, yoghurt, plain rice, etc.

Then get her busy and offer her as much or as little as she wants. When she' s done, DON' T OFFER THE BOTTLE IMMEDIATELY. Wait for an hour and then give her the bottle. I couldn' t just reduce the bottle for my son, because then he would just starve and lose weight. But, if I delayed offering the bottle, then over a period of time, he would realise that he needs to eat a bit more to sustain until the bottle appeared.

Another thing you can try at 2 times during the day: Mid morning and Mid afternoon is... Keep some finger food on a plate, somewhere around where she is playing and just ignore it. If she walks over, looks at it, picks a piece, eats it... whatever she does... DON' T comment, DON' T applaud her... just be normal. If she doesn' t eat it... take it away after half an hour. I just leave some biscuits, potato wedges, tomato ketchup, mayonnaise, bits of cheese, potaot wafers, raisins, etc. This will encourage independent eating.

I wish you all the best, and I TRULY understand how difficult and troublesome this can be for a mother. But, try not to get angry at her, and try not to blame yourself... she isn' t doing it PURPOSELY, and NOTHING you did has led to this issue. SHe will get over it and everything will be ok in due time. Just persevere and try not be upset about it.

Take care. And do let us know if things improve. Sonu replied. Hi Anamika,

I understood how painful it is when baby refuses to eat.
Well I would like to suggest you few things:
first thing is offer new food when baby is really hungry. Keep her hungry for say 2 hrs and then offer her. If she refuses, try to give her through your finger(may be lil forcefully so that she comes to know what it is) what you are offering her. Like put a bit of aata halwa in finger and try to give her and then see her reaction and then give her again.
And keep doing it for 3-4 days I am sure she will take it.

Second thing is give her differnt tastes. Add bit of sugar and ghee or salt.

I hope this will help.

Sonu Sonu replied. Hi Anamika,

I understood how painful it is when baby refuses to eat.
Well I would like to suggest you few things:
first thing is offer new food when baby is really hungry. Keep her hungry for say 2 hrs and then offer her. If she refuses, try to give her through your finger(may be lil forcefully so that she comes to know what it is) what you are offering her. Like put a bit of aata halwa in finger and try to give her and then see her reaction and then give her again.
And keep doing it for 3-4 days I am sure she will take it.

Second thing is give her differnt tastes. Add bit of sugar and ghee or salt.

I hope this will help.

Sonu