9 Month Old That Won't Eat.

Hi C.. The first thing to consider is whether your daughter is developing well otherwise. It's not really a concern if she's small for her age if she is also active, happy, developing physically and emotionally, and filling her diapers. You are doing the best possible thing by breastfeeding her. That really should be enough nutrition.

I have three kids. My daughter was eating everything by the time she was nine months old. My first son breastfed exclusively until after his second birthday, remaining in the 97th percentile for height and weight, and my second son breastfed exclusively until about 13-14 months. The youngest actually lost weight as an older toddler, but still continued developing well. It turned out that both boys had oral-motor and sensory issues which required speech therapy. Ellen Carlin in The Woodlands was a great help.

Best wishes to you.

2 moms found this helpful

I just wanted to 2nd everything that Elizabeth B said. My oldest daughter refused to be fed from the moment she turned 9 months old. We were unfortunately on a trip to visit relatives and didn't know what to do. We tried every baby food we could find, and finally bought a bag of tiny frozen peas and carrots and steamed them until they were soft. We put a few on the high chair tray and she gobbled them all up. Some children are very independent and just want to 'do it themselves.' Elizabeth already gave you lots of good suggestions for finger foods you can try so I won't go on and on...good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

She's not even one year old yet. Her nutrition needs should come from her milk at this age. So, don't fret over it.

1 mom found this helpful

I agree with heather H. I have an 8 month old and he too did not eat baby food well. So I cut up bananas, avacados, and gave him some of those dried gerber fruits. (Although, I don't leave them for him to stick in his mouth, I stick them in with my fingers--less mess.) Now I even feed him tiny bites of my meals too--things like cooked brocoli, pasta, bread from sandwiches,crackers, cheerios, etc. Now I even feed him all soft fruits like the inside of cherries, grapes and manderine oranges from Delmonte.

He loves to eat now and he will let me spoon in a few bites of mushy baby foods too. His favorite breakfast is the sprout Oatmeal with Roasted Cinnamon Applesauce baby food (in the pouches not jars)

I breast feed too and we did not start foods until after 6 months. My problem is that I am back to work and he won't take a bottle, sippy cup or anything. His grandmother is having to spoon feed him blended smoothies with formula, little bit of vanilla yogurt, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries and ice. He won't take anything from a bottle including breast milk. I am with you I don't know what else to do! I am feeling okay with his nutrition because of the fact that he does eat and I nurse him when I leave in the morning and as soon as I get home in the evening. Hope my story helps. K. Z

1 mom found this helpful

HI C.,
There are a couple of things you might try. If she is sitting well enough alone, put her in a high chair or other baby item with a tray and put some finger foods on the tray. She will most likely play with it but she may get some in her mouth-as most kids do. And, you might try putting cereal and /or fruit in a bottle food feeder that she may like- If she has any teeth at all she can chew banannas- or other soft fruit cut up into little pieces...she can also finger food green beens etc- crackers and even some scrambled eggs......she may do better feeding herself and making a horrible mess than have you feed her- it's worth a try. I have a grand daughter that had the same issue- breast feed and refused the bottle- etc- once we let her start feeding herself she really picked up and started gaining weight.
good luck and blessings
good luck and blessings

1 mom found this helpful

Well first of all if your daighter seems to be thriving just fine and has the energy that a 9 month old should have I wouldn't worry to much about her weight I have a friend who strickly breast fed aswell and her daughter was always underweight according to the doctors but this baby is tiny all the way around...anyhow i too strickly breast fed but my daughter was always in the 90% for her weight but i did have surgery and for 24 hrs i was unable to breastfeed...ahe refused formula and i did have enough milk pumped so what i did was add either a little bit of apple juice or some bananas to her formula to sweeten it and she took to it a little better....another thing you could try is for you increase your calorie intake which will make your milk more fatty...but good luck and don't stress to much!

1 mom found this helpful

Re: previous poster saying to pump to see how much she is getting- that's not a good indication. I get 2 oz or less when I pump. Yet given that my exclusively breast fed baby was super chubby by her first birthday, she was CLEARLY getting more the 2 oz of milk.

My oldest was always in the 0-10% until fairly recently, even when she was given formula and she eats SO MUCH now (She is 6 and can eat 3 times as much as I do...still a skinny little thing.)

I would just continue to breast feed her as often as you can (don't wait until she cries) and offer baby food occasionally. Some babies would rather go straight to finger foods (that's what I did with my fourth child.) Start with cheerios, teething biscuits, green beans, diced canned or cooked fruit.

Some babies are particularly sensitive to some textures (does she have other sensory issues, such as crying while in the car seat or maybe hates to swing?) If the answer is yes, read The Out Of Sync Child.

You could try to feed her avocado, that is a good healthy fat food.

Don't worry about her yet...she's still young.

S., mom to 4 Earthly Angels and 5 Heavenly Treasures!

1 mom found this helpful

The same thing happened to my daughter around 9months! We started reading a book to her during meals...it worked!! As long as she was distracted...she would keep eating! Hope that helps!

1 mom found this helpful

Are you still trying to feed her baby food or is she eating on her own? If you are feeding her, try putting her in her highchair and just put some finger foods on her tray. Maybe she just doesn't want to be FED. My oldest would not eat ANYTHING that I tried to feed him from about 6 months on. He ate canned peas, cheerios (cover them in yogurt to make them stick to the tray and not roll off as much!),small cheese blocks,cut up turkey dogs,avocado- but NO baby food. Then my second came along and she wanted to be fed until she was 3 years old! They are all different- try some different things. I always felt that once you got one stage of babyhood down and knew just what you were doing- the kid would jump ahead to the next stage and all of the sudden nothing was working again. They are growing and changing so much at this stage that it is hard for us to keep up! I like the idea of reading the book to her- some kids just aren't that into food (could be a texture issue) and they won't eat if everyone is expecting them to, but will gobble whatever is in front of them if a little distracted. Of course, that is also one the reasons we have so much obesity in this country- mindless eating in front of entertainment- so maybe not!!! Good luck- I wouldn't worry too much if she is developing. Someone has to be in the 10% department!

1 mom found this helpful

Has she always been in the 10th percentile (or around that) or has she slipped? Could it have anything to do with movement? At this age they are often crawling all the time, and even cruising (some are even walking), which burns more calories. Also, at this age, they are starting to have the body style that is what they were born to have. Chubby babies sometimes start to be the slim child their genetics say they will be. Her diapers (still plenty of wet diapers during the day?) are a good indicator as well. Someone always has to be at the top of the percentile and someone at the bottom, otherwise it wouldn't exist. Perhaps this is where she is supposed to be.

IMO pedis try to push formula and blame breastfeeding for poor weight gain far too often. Seriously, what breastfed baby - after drinking warm, sweet, wonderful breastmilk - is going to suck down formula - not so sweet - after 9 months of just breastfeeding? I don't doubt that she refuses. She's not used to that coming out of her bottle! I'm not knocking formula, it's just not at all what she's used to, so why would she drink it?

If she's not crying or indicating hunger to you, chances are she's not hungry! One thing you might think about is making sure she's getting enough hind milk, which is all the really great fat. Make sure she empties your breast entirely to ensure she's getting that.

I found that my breastfed children were not interested in baby food at all. They wanted to feed themselves. So I diced up very ripe banana, sweet potato, and avocado (all great first foods for breastfed babies) and allowed my babies to pick them up with their little fingers. They liked eating much better this way. www.kellymom.com has said similar. At 9 and 10 months they really just want to feed themselves, and don't want mush and puree. My kids ate very ripe (or well cooked) diced food before they ever "mastered" baby food. At this age, it's ok to try - with lots of supervision.

I also read a book, endorsed by La Leche League, called My Child Won't Eat! by Dr. Carlos Gonzalez http://www.llli.org/NB/NBMarApr06p76.html that really helped me understand the way my children ate. My breastfed children were getting way more nutrition from me than from solids, so I "let go" a little.

As long as you are feeding on demand, baby is not hungry, baby's behavior hasn't changed (she's not sluggish nor lethargic) I think it's safe to assume that this weight drop could have a lot to do with her getting older. Honestly, too much solids could also cause slow weight gain!

Now if she's ALWAYS been in the 10th percentile and is still there, that doctor is crazy and she is just fine!

I'd also suggest talking to a LLL leader who can help give you some insight. Pedis just don't study enough about breastmilk. All their "growth charts" and info is based on formula fed babies (ever take a look at most of those charts? They're usually sponsored/put out by Enfamil and/or Similac!). The studies to find the norms were done on formula fed babies, so it's harder to say what's normal when a doctor has only used that. Here is a growth chart done by the World Health Organization for breastfed babies: http://kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/growthcharts.html

This is a page on kellymom about breastfed babies and their weight gain, and whether or not you need to increase it and ideas on helping you increase it if necessary: http://kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain_incre...

If you are breastfeeding then maybe she just does not like the formula because it is coming from a bottle. If this is the case then try pumping your milk and get her used to drinking your milk from a bottle once in a while so she can get used to that. I started giving my son formula at night trying to get him to sleep better but then my milk most of the time. I used whatever formula I found at the store or had a coupon for. Maybe she does not like the taste of the formula. I have read to at first mix some formula in with your milk and then increase the amount of formula until they used to the taste of it. as far as the picky eater thing mine has always been picky also and still is at 3 1/2. He was never underweight though. One thing is that if you start pumping you can see how much milk she is drinking too. I dont think her not eating much food at this point is a factor as long as she is getting enough milk. My husband would cream avocados and bananas together and my son loved that. I bought the cookbook FIRST MEALS by Anabel Karmal. We used some of the recipes so you might want to check out some similar cookbooks. Also I would try getting in touch with a lacataion consultant. I contacted Georgia Crowhurst ###-###-#### and she helped me with several issues. I also bought a Medela pump in style pump from her. She should be able to give you some advice even if it is just over the phone. I was frustrated because I felt when I was breastfeeding that the doctors I spoke with did not seem to be very supportive. I guess I expected them to make a bigger deal about my effort to breastfeed since you hear so much research about it. I felt most of them were nonchalant about it and that was another reason I contacted Georgia. Dont get me wrong I believe in doctors and they have a reason to be concerned with your babies weight but i just felt that they seem to want to take an easier way out with the formula. I seem to remember that at that age they should be drinking about 24 oz per day so I definitly think your first step should be watching closely how my milk she is drinking by pumping and bottle feeding her. Good luck!

10 % is low. I would take her to a different pedi to get a second opnion on her tummy. Also my son prefered "beech nut" brand over gerber. You can mix the formula into the breast milk. Put a ounce in at first then keep uping it durring the next few days untill you get 4 oz. hope she gets a little fatter! :D

I would suggest to buy the babyfood and mix the meat with the fuit and feed it to her that way. Also, give her the formula with a little bit of Kyro syrup (light corn syrup). It will be sweet and she'll drink it. Hope this helps.

Until 12 months of age her primary source of nutrients should be from your breastmilk. Just nurse as often as you can and keep offering her food. Try fatty foods like avocados. I would add flax oil to brown rice or whatever you can get her to eat. Kids are all different sizes she might just be small. Try not to worry to much and trust that you will figure it out. Good Luck!

Could she be teething? Stick your fingers in her mouth and rub her gums.. see if you feel anything.. She may like to chew on a frozen wash cloth.. Then see if she will eat or drink formula.. The cold will give her some relief..

I understand this can be very nerve-wracking and frustrating for you! Just a couple of things to keep in mind.
1) Growth charts are based off of formula fed children, which can vary from breastfed children. Here's a chart from the World Health Org.
http://www.massbfc.org/news/growthChart2.html
2) Somebody has to be in the 10% weigh catagory, not that it's a bad or good thing. How do you and dad compare to the general population?
3) Breast is best, and all a child truley needs at this age. It's really best to avoid power struggles over food, the child will always win.
Keep positve and most of all trust YOUR instincts. Is your child happy and thriving?

I fed my oldest daughter exclusively until she was 13 1/2 months. She wouldn't take formula or any solid food. I discovered later that she has a very serious allergy. I was told that some babies refuse anything but breast milk as a natural defense to their allergies. As far as weight, the way to determine if your daughter has a weight problem is to evaluate her weight and compare it to the percentile in her last visits. For example, if she was in the 90 percentile and dropped down to the 10 percentile then you definitely have cause for concern. If your daughter has always weighed near the 10 percentile range, then there is not a major cause for concern. Babies that are fed formula are heavier. Doctors are used to seeing heavier babies. I breastfed all three of my babies and they all weighed in at the 25% range. My favorite baby food book is Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. The book has wonderful advise on what to feed, how much, recipes, nutritional info., etc. Your doctor may just causing you to get alarmed unnecessarily. Good Luck!

I agree with the previous poster. Don't worry yet. Being in the 10% isn't something to worry about at this point. My son dropped from the 50% to the 3% in his first year of life. The pediatrician wanted us to watch it but he got over that hump and eventually leveled out in the 25% once he hit 15 months of age. He wasn't great about eating baby foods either. Try yogurt, try some solids (like those Gerber snacks that dissolve). Mash up fresh banana too. Play around with foods and see if it's certain textures she has a problem with. Strip her down and let her try to feed herself and play with her foods. It may not work right away but keep trying. If it gets to the point you are really worried, ask your pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric dietician. I know a friend of ours had to see one for her 12 month old and they had to add olive oil to foods she would eat. She's doing fine now. Kids go through these funny stages throughout childhood and just love to stress their parents! :) Definitely watch it but I can tell you that both of my kids had some texture problems until they were past 12 months. It's most likely a phase that she will eventually get over.