Feeding FAQ: 12-18 months

This may not sound like a problem, but my son doesn’t like potatoes in any form! It’s hard doing dinner, as potatoes go well with most things, like stew, roast, sausages and chicken.I have tried mash, roast, boiled, oven-baked chips and jacket potatoes, but he doesn’t like them in any form.
What can I give instead? I need something to satisfy him, as the main things he eats are vegetables (broccoli, peas, cauliflower, sweet corn) and meat. He isn’t particularly fond of pasta, and you can only give so much before it’s boring! Besides, plain pasta is awful. Thanks for your help.

Fiona Hinton's Response

My little boy has completely gone off breakfast. I understand this is a natural stage of development but he eats so reluctantly with lots of coaxing and then gets hungry and upset midmorning so I give him a small snack which then affects his appetite for lunch.
I have tried lots of different cereals, most of which he used to enjoy. He seems to enjoy the more “grown up” ones such as Rice Krispies, mainly as his Dad has them I think. However he doesn’t have anywhere near your recommended 50g, it’s more like 25g or half a weetabix.
I always offer finger foods of toast, with various spreads and fruits so I don’t know how else I can offer greater variety.
He drinks 180mls formula slowly using a beaker so is not particularly bothered by that either.
He likes a lot of milk before bedtime [240mls] so I tried reducing that to 180mls but it had no effect other than him waking up an hour earlier and chatting in his cot.
I have noticed at all mealtimes that he doesn’t like eating in his chair. He wants to get out after about 10minutes but will eat happily whilst on the move in the playroom. I though this was he was just starting to walk and has always been an active baby. I don’t think this is a good habit to get into but do want him to eat as he is small for his age.

7am, breakfast: 180mls formula from a beaker, half a weetabix or 3-4tablespoons other cereal. Half a banana or handful of grapes. Half a piece of toast with butter and spread. All eaten with little interest and lots of coaxing.
If given a snack mid morning it is generally a small piece of fruit.
11.45am, lunch and 5pm, dinner: protein meals, both approx 30g meat/fish, portion of carbohydrate, portion of vegetable. Yoghurt, fruit or cheese.
Every day is pretty much the same.
His snack in the afternoon at 2.30-3pm is either fruit, cheese, malt loaf or toast.
6.30pm 240mls formula.
Water offered through the day. My son weighs approximately 22lbs.
He naps at 9-9.30am and 12.30-2.30pm. He settles at 7pm.
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Can you advise me when I should start worrying that my 17month old son isn't eating anything? I have read the FAQ’s and fussiness is obviously a common problem at this age but he seems to be eating even less than the other children featured. Also, his milk consumption is very low - between 5-10 ozs a day. A molar has come through very recently, which probably caused him some discomfort, but this has been going on for about four weeks now. It's not that he's fussy - he just does not want to eat. I'm remaining calm and treating it as a phase he's going through but I'm wondering if there may be something else wrong and need to seek medical advice. He's a happy little boy and sleeps well but he doesn't seem to have as much energy as normal - obviously because he's not getting any energy. Is this just teeth and something I just have to see through?

A typical day intake is as follows: Breakfast: scrambled eggs and baked beans with a piece of toast, 3 mouthfuls eaten and ½ banana. This is given with a beaker of water. Lunch: lentil and vegetable Bolognese with spaghetti. 1 mouthful taken, and then spat out, handful of raisins’. Water given at lunch and at 2pm. Tea: Broccoli florets, pieces of carrot, baby sweet corn with some humus and Quorn sausages, broccoli munched on but spat out. Few mouthfuls of yoghurt. 8oz milk offered before bed, only 3ozs taken.

My son sleeps from 12.30-2.30pm and settles at 7pm to 6.30am.
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My 13 month old has always eaten what I have cooked. He doesn't have a problem with new tastes or foods but he has a serious problem with eating without being distracted.

As soon as he has had a couple of mouthfuls he turns away, moans and reaches out in the other direction. If we get to touch his lip with the spoon he will open his mouth and eat it but this doesn't last long so we resort to all sorts of toys as distractions. As soon as he is distracted he will eat the whole lot but this can be a nightmare and can be very frustrating especially if we want to eat out anywhere. I can't quite remember how it started. I think it was after he had been poorly and was refusing food and when we gave him a spoon or other object he would eat and it gradually got worse from there.

He is not very good with lumpy bits either and often spits them out. He will chew food if he takes it in his hand. If big bits are on a spoon I think he tries just to swallow it.

Do I stop the toys altogether and if he refuses, take him out of his high chair and hope he will get the message ? If so, do I not let him have anything to eat until his next meal i.e. no snacks? I don't give him many snacks anyway and if I do they are usually good snacks.

My son has a 7oz bottle morning and at bedtime. He has Weetabix or porridge and brown toast at breakfast. He eats a home cooked lunch and tea. He will have a little fruit puree or yoghurt to end his meal. His snack maybe a goodie bar.

He naps at 10.45-11.45am and 3.45-4.15pm. He is settled at 7.30pm.
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My son of 13mths will not eat protein. I have tried to disguise it by mincing and adding it to dishes. Since moving house one month ago he is refusing most foods and only accepting those he likes and knows. Previously he was an excellent feeder. I know can only get him to eat bread, rusks, cereal, lentil soup and apple.

I am keeping meal times happy, trying lots of finger foods and different recipes but we seem to be getting no where. Could you suggest some ideas? Should I reduce his breakfast?

At present he takes 7ozs of milk at 7.15am followed by 5/6 tablespoons of muesli or ready brek mixed with chopped fruit and 3ozs of milk. A dozen dry shreddies and 2 mini rice cakes. He is offered very well diluted juice all through the day. Lunch at 11.50am is a slice of cucumber, a piece of brown bread, an apple and a biscuit toast. He takes 4ozs of milk at 3pm. Tae at 5pm is lentil soup, rusk and yoghurt. My son has a further 6ozs of milk before bedtime.
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My son is 13 months old and has recently discovered how to point blank refuse food. He is happy with spoon feeding and is not particularly interested in feeding himself as he won’t eat any finger food I give him. He offered food at set times, breakfast at 7am, lunch at midday and tea at 5pm. I offer a mid morning and mid afternoon snack but he’s not usually interested and it ends up on the floor. So he should be hungry by the next mealtime but he refuses to eat. He will occasionally drink milk but if I left him without food, he would be quite happy! Clearly this is very frustrating as all the meals I cook end up in the bin and I am sure he is not getting enough calories. I know that it’s not the taste of the food as if he doesn’t like something, he will gag but these are all foods I know he is ok with. He has an issue sitting in his highchair and sometimes ends up on my lap but even though will only eat a tiny bit. We have resorted once or twice to feeding him in the lounge in front of the TV but even that is tentative and he is extremely fussy about eating. Up until the age of 1 he was wonderful and had really good meals - now it has all changed and I don’t know what strategy to use. Distraction doesn’t seem to work any longer. He is quite happy to eat if I give him a ready-made jar of pudding but he can’t eat fruit jars for all meals.

He takes 10 ozs of milk in the day and naps for a total of 2.25 hrs. He sleeps well at night.
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My son, who is 17mths old used to be a very good eater but for the past 4 weeks he has become very fussy and refusing meals altogether. He goes to nursery Monday to Wednesday but always has breakfast at home with me which is usually Weetabix. He eats well at nursery - they have a snack at about 9am which will be fruit, toast or something similar, lunch at about 11.30 which will be proper cooked meal followed by dessert then about 3-3.30 he will have a light snack for tea which will be sandwiches, scones or crumpets. When he comes home I usually serve him a proper meal at about 6pm which will be soup, quiche and vegetables, pizza, spaghetti bolognese which he refuses. It is getting really frustrating now as I am worried he is not eating enough. I know everyone says if a child is hungry they will eat but I still worry. What makes things worse is he has a cousin 3 months younger and everyone always compares them. Although my son eats more, his cousin looks bigger, although he is not as active as only started crawling few months ago and not walking. So I am stuck on ideas on how to get him back to his old ways and I also worry he is underweight!? I think he weighs between 25lb 10 oz - 26 lb and is about 86 cm in height? Also at nursery he sometimes has seconds of lunch and dessert whilst at home he refuses both? - I am beginning to think I am doing something wrong.

He naps from 12.30-2pm and is settled at night by 7.30pm. He sleeps through the night to 6.30am.
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My daughter won't take milk from a beaker in the morning. She still takes 250ml cow’s milk from a bottle in evening. She drinks lots of water from a beaker throughout the day. How do I get her to take milk from a beaker as I will have to drop the bottle at night as well and she still needs her milk intake?
At present she is offered milk at breakfast with toast, porridge with fruit and yoghurt or scrambled eggs on toast. She takes a full protein meal at lunch followed by yoghurt or a banana and a vegetarian tea such as macaroni cheese.
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My daughter will not, and has never, self feed. She used to hold and suck on bits of toast or rice cake when she was around 6-7 months old, but she will no longer hold anything herself. I have tried a variety of different foods, but she is reluctant to pick anything up. She eats incredibly well, as long as I spoon feed her, and even doesn't mind lumps (when she has pasta for example, I use normal Fusilli twists which I cut in half once cooked, which still leaves quite big pieces). She is also good with a variety of textures (rice, couscous, pasta, different fruits, small pieces of meat) as long as it all comes off a spoon! When presented with lumpier foods she seems to chew ok (teething notwithstanding - she has 6 teeth, and a couple more coming) Should I worry about this lack of interest on her part, or will it still develop? She is beginning to be a little suspicious of new foods and recipes, and I have a nightmare vision that she will end up viewing finger food as something not to be trusted, preferring the tried and tested spoon-feeding.
Her present meals consist of breakfast: 11/2 weetabix/porridge/muesli with 120 ml cows milk and some fruit puree stirred in. Lunch: spaghetti bolognaise, fish pie, chicken curry, Spanish omelette. Tea: soup with bread pieces, scrambled egg, mashed potato with soup, occasionally cereal with fruit sometimes followed by a yoghurt [natural with fruit pieces stirred in]. My daughter drinks milk with her meals.
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My 17-month-old toddler has taken a sudden dislike to all foods. I have even taken him to doctors to make sure he is not suffering from anything and the GP has confirmed that he is OK.
The problem started since the last month. He has become extremely fussy and we noticed an entire eagerness to feed himself, which we have no problem with, but nothing ends in his mouth and when he does taste something he tips the whole bowl upside down.
He wakes up at 5.30 - 6am. He still wants to drink from his bottle, but drinks only 2-3oz. We purposefully limit this feed. If I give him a beaker to drink from, he throws the beaker and has a real tantrum, so we have given in and let him have his bottle. By 7am he starts his breakfast – before he used to have porridge every day – but since he has been feeding himself he refuses his porridge. We offer him Rice Crispies with milk and he will take a few mouthfuls (max 2) and tip the rest of the bowl out! Next comes toast with jam (organic wholemeal bread). He takes it willingly, but keeps on chewing it and at the end he will just spit it out; he never swallows bread. Is this to do with the type of bread I am giving him? I have tried toasting it, not toasting it, give him different jams, cheese spreads – nothing works.
Lunch is at 11.30am; he is very eager and hungry to have his lunch. We put him in his highchair and he gets very excited. However, if I I give him pasta with tuna and peas, he will pick each pea and put in his mouth; anything else that he picks up, including tuna or pasta or the cream sauce, he will immediately throw on the floor. In fact, he refuses anything saucy; once he feels it with his hand and he starts realising it has a sticky texture, it puts him off immediately. I have tried strips of chicken but he is not interested. I have watched his behaviour and he tends to like peas and plain rice: is it because he feels he can touch them and not be put off by its texture? I used to give him Yeo Valley Organic yoghurt, which he loves and does not mind the texture, but I have cut it completely from his diet to see if it will increase his appetite, but it has made no change. How do I get him to eat his main meal and not just the peas? He loves his dessert which is normally chunks of little fruit pieces, but again I have to offer them one by one or else all ends up on the floor. Sometimes I stew his fruit and blend it and he loves that.
When he wakes up at 2.30-2.50pm he has a banana. Dinner is served at 5pm and the same behavioural pattern is repeated. We have also noticed that he hates sitting in his chair for more than 5 minutes. Sometimes I grab a plate myself and he gets very interested and while he is playing around I manage to feed him his whole dinner without any grumbling. Is it alright to not have him in his high chair and feed him while his is playing? To be honest, on one hand I am happy - as a mother - he had his meal but worried he is not learning to sit in his highchair. However if I sit opposite him when he is in his high chair and feed myself, he is still not interested. Should I worry about this?
He gets no juice or biscuits during the day at all.
Please can you advise me on how I can get him interested in his food: eating from the chair. What can I offer him at breakfast and lunch and dinners and do you have any recipes for this age to make food attractive? Please give me options for breakfast and lunches – which will be guaranteed to get a toddler interested in his food. I am aware he will not have 3 full meals but I will be over the moon if he has his breakfast and at least one meal without a fuss.
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My daughter Amelie is 13 & 1/2 months old. She refuses new food totally. She seems to always want to eat the same food: cold roast chicken strips and mixed vegetables, fish pies, mash and baked beans, pasta in a white cheese sauce with peas, sweetcorn and ham.
Every time I try something new, even something I know she normally eats happily at nursery, like other pasta sauce, or shepherds pie, she refuses point blank. She will not even try it, it is like she can see it is different and won't try. Today for example, I cooked her pasta with a tuna & cheese sauce, and she just looked at it and would not even test a bit. Normally she has a spoon and I have one and she feeds herself some or most of it, and I do some. This time though she would not try herself, would not let me feed her. I put some on the tray for her to pick up with her fingers and again she would not try it at all. She picked up one of the peas (which she loves) that was in the sauce and squashed it but did not try it. I left it in front of her for a while but to no avail. I was not annoyed, I talked to her really nicely, but it was no use. I cleared everything and cleaned her up and put her to bed for her nap. Normally, I would have given her some toast, or chicken or at least definitely fruits before putting her to bed, but I am worried that this is why she is becoming choosy with her food, because she knows she will get fruits at least.
My question is: when this happens, what should I do? Should I just take away the food and offer no alternative at all? Or should I even be trying to introduce new food at all cost, should I not just keep giving her what I know she will eat (which is still varied and healthy but limiting)?
Help!!! I just don’t want to end up with a fussy toddler at 3 or 4 years old who won’t eat anything but his 4 dishes and you cannot take out anywhere! In all other respects she is a true contented little baby, sleeping and eating as your routines advise.
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My toddler has suddenly taken a real dislike to his milk and is now taking a lot less than 350ml (12oz) a day. Some nights he flatly refuses his bedtime drink. I’m worried he’s not getting the right nutrition – what should I do?
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I am having a testing time with my 17-month-old boy. He is quickly changing from a terrific eater to a real fusspot. He will eat brilliantly at nursery – sometimes even seconds - and I am regularly told when it comes to food time, he is the first in the queue! Yet when it is suppertime at home he is always pushing the spoon away. Any ideas? He does like feeding himself, but when I get in from work I just want something quick and easy, otherwise it gets too late and he is really tired and irritable. Any ideas? Also, I was just wondering what everybody else’s babies of similar age eat and drink in a day and how much they weigh? I am not particularly worried, but I am curious about toddlers of a similar age. My son is 17.5 months and weighs around 26lb and is about 86cm. Not sure if this is good or bad.

Fiona Hinton's Response

Can you please advise me how to stick to the routine when a baby is suffering with a cold. My 1 year old son is refusing food. I have taken him to the doctors and he was on antibiotics for an infection. This has now cleared but he has a cold. He is very sleepy, and grizzly if he is not asleep. I am worried that he is not eating. Is this normal? And do I need to give him more milk? I dropped his 2.30pm feed as he does not have a huge appetite at the best of times. I am wondering if I should give it to him until he is better.

He takes 16ozs of milk during the day and at present is eating about 16spoonfuls of food.
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At 11mths of age we have cut down my daughter’s milk feeds but when she's one and weaned onto cow’s milk would we give her 5oz at breakfast and 7oz after her bath? Or should we give her 5oz breakfast, 2 oz with her tea and five after her bath at bedtime with a story. I have read your books but could do with a little more guidance.

At present she drinks 5ozs of formula from a cup at 7.15am and 7ozs of formula from a cup at 6.45pm.
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In weaning advice, a lot of the suggested food introductions are based upon the child having teeth at 9-12 months. My one-year-old still has no teeth and I am concerned that having to remain on lumpy or pureed foods will set up ‘bad’ eating habits. She shows signs of being bored with the jar options, but won’t touch mum’s home- cooking! She does eat some finger foods, but gets frustrated when she can’t cope with certain consistencies, such as toast. She loves raisins, cucumber, soft bread, the inside of a jacket potato and is just starting to eat small pieces of cheese, but the ‘non-baby’ foods she will eat as finger foods are limited. Do you have any thoughts or tips that might help, or should I not worry and simply continue as we are until she gets her teeth? A typical day’s meals are milk at 5.30am; breakfast at 8am (Weetabix, small amount of fruit puree, small amount of bread); lunch at 10.30-11am (small jar savoury, small jar fruit puree, small pot yoghurt, maybe some finger foods); after a sleep of two hours, she’ll have milk, cereal bar or raisins at 1.30pm; a snack at 3pm (biscuit or a breadstick); tea at 4.30pm (small jar savoury, small jar fruit puree, small pot yoghurt); milk at 6.30pm and water throughout the day.
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