10-Month Old Refuses Solids

My 7 1/2 month old daughter just went thru the same thing. She didn't want to eat anything for 3 weeks. She cut two teeth and now she is back to her normal eating patterns. I just continued to nurse her. She did nurse a little more than usual. Good luck! I wouldn't try so hard to get her to eat, just offer it to her and let her decide if she wants to eat. She is getting plenty of nutrition with the amount of milk she is drinking.

Hi T.,
My daughter totally stopped eating baby food around 10 months also. She only wanted what we were eating and she wanted us to sit at the table and eat with her - - we had always tried to feed her at a "reasonable" time and then we would eat after she went to bed... Once we started sitting down for a family meal and she saw that she was eating what was on our plates, then she ate much better.

I agree it could be teeth. Do not nurse or give her a bottle until AFTER she has eaten. Offer foods at regular times, like when she first wakes up, instead of straight tto formula or breast milk, give her solids. Mix with the cereal the breast milk or formula.

My son gave up baby food at this age and wanted what we had. So try scrambled cheesy eggs, diced up mini waffles or mini pancakes, fruit, yogurt, even cereal without milk. Lunches can be diced up sandwiches, cooled off mac and cheese, diced cheese, yogurt, pizza diced up.
Just keep offering things. Put it on her high chair and let her explore it herself. Make sure she is hungry.
Teething can cause pain and chewing hurts sometimes. Give her some natural teething tablets if she is slobbering a lot and has a lot of redness on her gums. She can show signs of teething way before teeth appear. Or try tylenol 30 minutes before your meals.
Keep offering it, they do go through phases and you just have to not quit trying.
Do not give her goldfish unless she eats something substantial. She will not starve, she won't. 30 oz at her age is a lot and enough to keep her full of nutrition, so encourage feeding solids first then liquids second.

My daughter did the same thing. Her doctor told me to cut back on the breast milk...Replace some of the breast milk with food that has calcium,iron and protien in it. Also, you may want to stop giving her breast milk at night and replacing it with bananas and rice cereal. Making baby cereal up with fresh juice or fruit would get my daughter to eat a full meal before bed.

I nursed my daughter until she was 27 months--and she was not very interested in food until she was weaned. I mean, she would eat some--but her appetite picked up REALLY dramatically after we weaned. You might try cutting back on bottles and seeing if that helps. Good Luck--it is tough!

Seriously, you cannot coerce a 10 month old. Teeth may be the issue..Try making yogurt popsicles, offer frozen bagels, or even shaving a frozen banana with a veggie peeler. I know you are tired....but hang in there. This too shall pass!

Up until about a year, solids are more of a practice than anything. Offer them to her before offering her milk. Try offering milk (pumped breastmilk or formula) in a cup, too, so she can learn to drink from a cup (skip the sippy part, though).

One quick note: until she's a year old, still be aware of possibly allergenic foods: eggs (esp whites), cow's milk, peanuts (wait till 2 years), tree nuts (ditto), wheat, and some other foods should not be introduced until a year (or close to it at least).

Just a quick thought--if she's teething, she may not want anything near her mouth. Check her gums and if she's getting new teeth, try some Tylenol 1/2 an hour before offering her something cool and soothing. Maybe yogurt?