My Son Is 14 Months Old and Refuses Food.

hi~
Yes I have worked with kids just like your son. Please know that although it may feel like it, you are NOT alone.
Some suggestions are:
1) Make sure you do NOT force feed him
2) Try your best not to feel overwhelmed/stressed during meal time (he will feed off your stress (i know easier said than done - I'm sure this is VERY stressful for you)
3) place a food that you are eating (that is safe for him) on his tray (without ANY expectation that he will eat it).
4) let him play in food and get messy – this allows him to learn the properties of food (smell, feeling, sight)
5) offer foods he eats and try to expand within the same food area (e.g. if he eats pureed banana try banana pudding or yogurt. You can also mix banana with another smooth fruit).
6) when he is screaming and refusing – ignore his behavior (turn your head as he is yelling, count to 10, turn back and offer “first lick cereal than banana” using a matter of fact (non-emotional) voice
7) encourage him to touch new foods to cheek/lips (WITHOUT expecting him to eat it) – cheer/provide positive feedback when he does this. Then encourage him to lick it, then eventually bite it (this may take 10-20 exposures before he bites a new food)
I find that some kids (typically the ones I work with) who are severe picky eaters will not eat even if they are hungry. If you do not see an improvement (e.g. decreasing bottle and trying to increase foods using above strategies and he still is not increasing his intake) you may want to consider asking your pediatrician for an occupational therapy or speech therapy referral for feeding. It is MUCH easier to work on feeding issues when they are younger verses older.
Remember encourage him, praise him, and even though it is hard try not to show him your stress.

I hope that helps!Good luck!

I would definitely cut down on the bottle feedings...I don't know how many bottles he is getting a day but don't let him satisfy all of his hunger with the bottle.
Have you seen those net contraptions that they have to feed children with...they look like a pacifier but instead of the rubber nipple it is a "net" that I assume they can eat soft food out of. I googled "net baby feeder" and it took me to a Sassy Teething Feeder. Most of all you need to try and not react to your sons pickiness...offer him food matter of factly...and if he doesn't want it...don't worry about it. Believe me he will NOT starve!! Look at this is a "phase"....this too shall pass!!!

I would get rid of the bottle, or if you do not want to get rid of the bottle cut it down to one in the morning and one in the evening. He is never going to be hungry if he is on a liquid diet. Have you tried pancakes, french toast, waffles, chicken, carrots, pasta with butter if he doesn't like sauce. Also give him utensils, most kids love to use utensils to try to feed themselves. Just put some food on a fork and let him be. I would continue trying different foods and try not to show your frustration. Trust me when he is hungry he will eat but not if he is filled up on milk bottles. Children will never starve themselves. I would put the food in front of him and then leave him be, if he throws a tantrum just take him out of his highchair and let him be. Maybe when he sees he is not getting attention or his bottle he will begin eating. In the meantime do you have him on a multivitamin? If he is off of his formula just milk is not going to give him a balance of what he needs.

I am so sorry you are going through this!

If he's healthy in his weight, I would try reducing some of the milk.

Also, I agree with giving him some of the food you are making for meals - cut down to size for him. Don't expect him to eat it, but offer it up on his plate. Let him play with it and SEE YOU EATING IT. Say things like "Dad isn't this good?" Also, give him something you KNOW he'll eat. The bottom line is meal time is meal time. He should sit in his highchair until the family is done eating. Don't cater to the foods he likes or you will be doing this for the rest of his life. But my main point is, he should be served what you are 'making' for dinner, and expected to sit through dinner. I wouldn't PUSH him to eat, but at his age, more just tasting, playing, and not throwing a fit at mealtime.

If you don't see any headway after a month, I too would contact the ped about getting him some therapy for his food aversions.

I am not saying you're one of these people, but I do think sometimes we overcomplicate things. We give kids too many choices. Or we cater to them too much. Try to keep it simple. Maybe he just needs to be exposed to what you're eating more, be allowed to "play with it" and try it out before he really shows an interest. (I'm already doing this too with my 4 1/2 month old...he sits in his chair while we eat. He gets fed, if he doesn't want to eat, he still sits there and plays. It does seem to help him to eat better when he watches us eating. I am trying to 'teach' him that we sit together and eat at mealtimes...not play.)

What about trying "dips". My older kids LOVE dipping food into ketchup, yogurt, applesauce, ranch, etc. Maybe you could puree some bananas and use that as a dip? Also, my kids will eat anything with cheese on it. I have 3-4 cheeses in the house at all times. We call grated Parmesan "sprinkle cheese" because they want to put it on everything. I buy packages of Mexican or Italian blend shredded cheese at the grocery store and we use those too.

I hope it's that simple!

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You might really like the book "My Child Won't Eat!" published by La Leche League. You could find it online from their Web site at www.llli.org or on Amazon.com or even borrow it from your local LLL group for free. It's a terrific, reassuring, medically accurate resource that will help you feel confident that you can skip the mental gymnastics when it comes to feeding your baby. After all, he isn't "broken" like the rest of us and will not continue to eat when he is no longer hungry--it's OK to honor his cues of fulness. Best wishes!

My child had real problems with textures so your child could have some of this. There are also children with Sensory Integration Disorder who have trouble with one or more of their senses (sometimes hearing, sometimes touch, sometimes taste, sometimes a combination). My friend solved this with her son, as well as got a lot of excellent nutrition into him, but giving him a delicious and balanced nutritional supplement called Now for Kids. It's available on line but your first purchase is thru a distributor who will help you get started and give you great support - no charge for this. The product was formulated by Dr. Carl Hastings who was on the team that developed Enfamil and ProSoBee, so he is an expert on children's nutrition. The product is designed for kids up to 12, and then then can go into the adult products from the same company. It makes much more sense to use a synergistic and highly absorbable complete product than to try to play "Kitchen Chemist" and start adding citracal or vitamins or whatever to different food products and then hope for the best. You can put Now for Kids in milk or water, in a bottle or a sippy cup. I would start to transition your son off the bottle and put things in a cup for him.

At this point, your son may have some inflammation or other "allergic" reactions going on in his digestive tract, due to imbalance. The Now for Kids will address this as well. I'm not saying he has true allergies, because there are very few of those - they are usually the result of a missing nutrient preventing full digestion or processing of "trigger" foods. So part of the reason he may be refusing food is that it actually upsets him or causes pain.

I'd be happy to help you more. Just email me.

I hate to say it, but listen to your mother ;-) My son was the same way and I thought he'd never eat! I obsessed about it, but there was nothing I could do. My advice is to not force it on him. Keep offering different foods. My son just turned two, and he's still very picky, but he's eating way more than he did at 15 months.
I've found that recently, if he sees everyone else happily eating at the table, he'll want to try a bite. That said, he rarely sits still at the table and I often have to give him bites as he runs past! This may not be a healthy way to eat, but I get a lot more into him that way :-)

Yes we have been thru this the first year. My granddaughter the first yr would drink maybe 4 ozs 2 times a day by the time she was 1. This is the problems we have now.. NOW 2 yr old granddaughter who has sensory integration disorder with feeding/eating disorder ,with small motor skill problems and malnutrition and test 2 times in the last 4 month positive for fecal fat that is where her body DOES NOT ABSORB FAT. This sensory problem really has a effect on ALL HER SENSES. We will be going to Cincinnati Childrens hospital to a feeding clinic to see how they want to handle this. The docotrs here 4 different specialist want her to have a feeding tube but my daughter wants a 2nd opinion. She has birth to 3 since she was 10 months and they are really helping her too.. SO THAT IS WHY WE ARE GOING TO Cincinnati to feeding clinic TO GET HELP WITH THE Feding/Eating Disorder.. HOPE THEY CAN HELP US.. Hope you do find out your problems. WE ALSO HAVE OT,PT,Nutrionist thru Birth to 3.

First off he may just be full and doesn't want to eat??? OK, Now, my son who is now 15 is one of the Pickest eaters in the world, I think he didnt eat much but pnut butter, plain chicken(if I chopped it fine, ) bananas, peaches, plain spinach leaves raw and broccoli raw..I tried using my blender and making my own purees (and sometimes with fruit purees I added gelatin to make it more appealling and he ate that alot,) and it was great for some things, mostly fruits and veggies, Also a juicer works really well cause I make lots of healthy juice blends that he does like! Be sure you try everything yourself, experimenting with different types of blends in the juicer is fun anf good for the whole family, also on a side note.... some of those store bought purees are terrible, be careful especially of pureed meats they are not very tasty! Also I added pediasure to his diet after he was 18months, which helped alot BUT.. be not afriad, as picky as my son is still.. he is a healthy well adjusted freshman in High School of normal wieght! Also, side thought he may just be teething so much that chewing actually hurts!!! P.S. Your mom is probably right!!!