8 Month Will Eat Baby Food at Daycare, but Refuses at Home

if he is hungry, he will eat. my son is 2 1/2 and eats really good at daycare, but getting him to eat at home is a joke! sometimes, he won't eat but a bite or 2 of any meal on the weekends. His doctor says, if he is hungry, he will eat. And he does. Maybe try cutting back the amount he eats at daycare and he won't be as full when its time for dinner.

My daughter, now 9 months, did the same thing when she was about 6 mths. Although she would eat food for my husband and daycare, she would not with me. She was preemie and wouldn't eat from a jar for a while, so we fed her baby food through baby food bottles. you can buy them anywhere. they made for exactly that, baby food. that's how i fed her her food, and eventually, she ate from a spoon from me. she was getting her nutrients, and i didn't care how she got them. hope this'll help!

This happened with our son, and still does actually. My son is now almost 3. He was sick frequently, mainly with ear infections which had an effect on his appetite.

We had to go back to formula after starting him on baby food due to the weightloss he had from illness. He would do really well at daycare (most of the time), and then at home he just wanted a bottle. So to compromise, we would let our son eat yogurt in the morning with us (so at least he was getting some semi-solid food by spoon from us) then at daycare they fed him his 2 jars of babyfood and a bottle or 2, then at night he would get just a bottle at bedtime.

Eventually, he became hunry upon coming home from daycare and we introduced a solid meal for dinner instead of the bottle.

It seemed us slowly phasing out the bottle feeds helped. On the weekends he would eat the babyfood during the day. But sometimes he refused and we would have to give him a bottle. It will take some time, but it gets better.

My son still is like that. I don't know why, but he does tend to eat better at daycare than at home (maybe they put magic dust on the food?? j/k). Though we give him a plate with a starch, protein, and fruit/veggie (same as daycare) he will mainly eat one thing on a plate. Our doctor wasn't/isn't concerned. Give it some time, he should be fine.

Just stick with what you are doing. he is probably eating enough at daycare. Try some finger foods on the high chair try. Tiny pieces of boiled chicken and tender green beans.

He may be ready to feed himself. Try putting some peas or soft carrots on his tray and see what happens. While he is focusing on picking up the food you can sneak some spoonfuls of baby food in. My daughter was completely off baby food by 10 months. She would only feed herself. Foods to try chicken, peas and carrots (steam bag ones are best-less salt), green beans, fruit, chunky chicken noodle soup, beef stew, etc. Just cut up the pieces small enough that if he swallows it whole it doesn't matter! Also, no more bottles. I would start giving him formula in a sippy cup!

My son would do that as well around 8 months (he's now 11 months). We started offering him some finger foods like cheerios or the puffed wagon wheels. It seemed like that would help to get him "in gear" for other solid foods and I could sneak in some baby food. I would also give him his own spoon. It seemed like when he was distracted doing other things he was more receptive to me feeding him.

I have also noticed that when my son has been sick, and for time after feeling better, he would generally eat less. It would bug me too, because I would think he was eating a certain amount before, why not now? But now I'm a bit less paranoid and I realize that he will eat when he wants to. And you have to remember the bottle is also comforting to them. So when they don't feel good or are upset, the nursing from a bottle can comfort them too. At least your son is taking some solid food from you. I know I'm not an expert with just one kid, but I would try offering him some cheerios or some different baby food. Give him his own spoon and try to not get frustrated. It seems like the more frustrated I become at moments like this, the weirder my son acts in response!

Good luck!

B.
Have you tried feeding your son while the rest of the family is having dinner? I know usually at daycare the children eat at the same time so your son may be going with the flow. You may want to try a more independant style of feeding I know your son is only 8 months but you may try finding something soft he can pick up and feed to himself. Hope this helps!
T. (mother of three)

a lot of babies this age start refusing baby food because they are ready for table food. have you tried cheerios, Gerber puffs or cut up fruits and vegetables? he may just be really ready for some new tastes and textures, and does not need teeth to enjoy them. you would be surprised what a toothless baby can eat.

My son did that after he had a stomach bug. He stopped eating some of his favorite foods. Keep trying but offer him different things than before. Also, he could be ready for table foods. Try bananas, cheerios, crackers, cheese, pasta, mashed real veggies (sweet pot's, peas and carrots cooked well) He may eat those better because they are different and really just better. The baby food is convienent for day care, but you can make him food at home.

Don't stress over it. I did and my doctor told me that could create eating disorders in children if you try to force him to eat what he doesn't want. Sounds crazy at such a young age, but that's what he said!

Good luck......

Just wondered maybe it is your spoon i know that my cousins little boy had a preference to what kinda spoon he wanted to eat out of

I pretty much agree with all of the other replies. I would try table food that you are eating. As long as it is fairly soft he doesn't evern really need teeth to eat it. We did this with both of our sons. I would put various finger foods on thier highchairs and let them play with them and eat them. It worked wonders. You can buy some of those Gerber fruits and veggies that are already cooked, cut up, and the right softness for a little one. Both of my sons loved the green beans, peaches, and carrots. By giving them the idependence of eating like a big kid your little one may start to love mealtime and you may even love it too!

You know, your baby may be like mine. She eats all day long but then when it comes to dinner time, she just doesn't seem to eat. I guess she gets full all day and then she just doesn't like to eat at night.
Also it may be that your baby knows that you have good food at your house because he sees you eating it. At the daycare, there isn't things there to eat like it is at home so he eats with no problem at all because he knows that if he doesn't eat he won't get anything else because there is nothing else.
As long as he is eating at the daycare for sure, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just put food out on his plate that you eat. Squish it up really well and he will eat if he is hunry. My little girl would never eat babyfood. She saw us eating and has always wanted what we ate so that is what we fed her. She is a good eater now and since she eats all the time and eats good stuff, her metabolism is absolutely powerful. She is thin and healthy and strong and growing like a weed.
Hope my 2 cents worth helped.

Is he this way on the weekends as well? Maybe he just doesn't have much of an appetite for food right now and by the time he gets home he's had so much formula and baby food all day that he doesn't want much more. It's really hard to say. My daughter is two, but I can say that she definitely has had her moments since she was a baby when she just didn't seem to have an appetite. It's very frustrating as a parent, especially when they're as young as your baby. Good luck!!