11 Month Old Doesn't Want to Eat Anything but Snacks

iknow it sounds cruel but i wouldn't give her the snacks except for at snack time . Sit her with you to eat and if she dosen't eat take it away and if she is acting like she is hungry give the same thing back she will eat. She won't starve herself. I went through it with my son at the same age.

A... i have an 11 month old who eats everything.. when there is something she does not like i eat it in front of her and make a big deal about how good it is.. you can try that.. normally when i am done she wants to eat it too.

I think you and I have the same little girl! Mine seems to eat better when she's not at the table. I have given her cooked peas right out of the fridge in a little bowl for snack, and she'll sit on the kitchen floor and eat the whole bowl-which she wouldn't touch at the table at lunch! (she's 18 months) For a few months every day when she woke from her nap I gave her a graham cracker, and then I thought it would be better to give her something that had nutrients, so I tried the peas and she ate them, she also loves cheese, or diced strawberries.
Cheerios are good for her they are whole grain and very little sugar or sodium and yougurt is good too so at least she's not wanting just junk (that comes later-ha.)
You probably just need to stop offering the cheerios at meal times...just like with my toddler, this is what we're having for dinner tonight, you may eat it or not, but you may not have anything else until you eat dinner. If you make her soemthing for dinner don't give her anything once she stops eating what you've made, she's smart, she knows the cheerios are coming so why keep eating this other stuff. And if she stops eating after a few bites and you don't offer anything else, don't worry-she won't starve, she's got a very little tummy. If she acts like she's hungry an hour later try giving her a few more bites of her dinner.

I had the same problem with my now 15 month old son. He went on a hunger strike for a while. I just kept offering him different food until he was no longer hungry. Be careful though, about the snacking thing. Try to make her eat in her highchair and not running aroung the house with food all day. It's hard, and I still struggle with it because sometimes he just won't eat a whole meal in his high chair. I just role with it and eventually I forget about one hurdle because another one comes along!

Hi A.,

I would just not offer her the Cheerio's or other snacks. If she is hungry, she'll eat the food you give her. She won't go hungry for long.

Good Luck, D'Anne

My son does this too. I eventually figured out that if you give in, you train them to manipulate you to get what they want.
Now... if my son rejects the food, I simply put it aside and wait until he's ready to eat it. Eventually he'll be hungry enough and eat what I serve. I no longer give in to his snacks requests until "snack time"... which consists of raisins and cheerios or something of the sort.

It's working! It's working!
Please let us know what works for you!!

Also, regarding vitamins... I would NOT recommend a vitamin from the drug store, Wal-Mart, Target, or such. If you choose to do a vitamin PLEASE go to a local health food store and ask questions about whole food vitamins with zero synthetic ingredients. The quality is FAR better than what one of these other places have to offer!

I am a health and wellness educator and vitamin/supplement specialist.
Hope this info helps!!!

My little girl is 2 1/2 now and she has gone through this same phase twice between one and two-years old. Our doctor also recommended the PolyVysol with Iron, because our daughter wouldn't eat any meat. During her phases we simply let her eat as much or as little of her food while she was at the table in her chair. The only thing we didn't let her do was snack all day in place of eating meals at meal time. We didn't make it much of a fight, and she got through the phases without any health or emotional problems. She is 2 1/2 now and eats balanced meals most of the time. I wouldn't worry too much unless you see health or behavioral problems popping up.

11 months old????----YOU'RE THE BOSS...........
PLEASE don't allow her to CHOOSE......
IF you tell her that's what needs to be eaten FIRST-----FOLLOW through........
Had a DAY CARE for 25 years--------
With Lots of LOVE----THEY KNOW AFTER A WHILE "WHO'S THE BOSS".....

I would keep trying other foods, even if it is just one bite or so. You might let her have something off of your plate...kids love eating what Mom or Dad is eating even if they have the same thing on their plate! Eventually she will start eating other things, but Cheerios, yogurt, and goldfish are okay healthy, so just keep trying!

A.,

Take comfort. A lot of children that age go through little phases of eating only certain things and sometimes not eating much at all. My oldest son did this and our pediatrician said to just keep trying other things and try to keep it healthy so they aren't eating cheetos and other junk food. You are very lucky she is eating such healthy snacks. The other thing he told us is to buy a vitamin for infants called PolyVysol with Iron. I think it is made by Enfamil. I found it with the vitamins at the pharmacy. I would just be patient and slowly introduce new foods to her and she will grow out of it eventually. The good thing is that she is still getting some good nutrition from the snacks she eats. The vitamin should help with anything she is missing. It is stinky and doesn't taste good but it is so worth it. I would reccommend asking her doctor before you buy and give it to her, though. Hope this helps.

sounds like you have gotten LOTS of advice on this one. My son is the same age and he simply doesn't want to sit long enough to eat. So, I put finger foods in front of him while I am feeding him and cram a bite full in every once in awhile while he is trying to get something else in there.

The finger foods I have tried are cut up bananas (he won't hold the whole thing and eat it but will eat a few bites cut up), peas, tofu (which is wonderful and easy for them to eat), cooked carrots. Well, I can't think of any other finger foods, my brain is blank.

I just feed him till he's trying to get down and then I try again around 30 minutes later and he will usually eat some more.

My 13 month started that too, so here's what I did - meal time is meal time - he eats what we eat, no extra special food - if he doesn't eat it, then he doesn't get anything until the next meal except a sippy with water. It took 2 days and now he eats full blown meals anything I put on his tray including raw veggies from carrots and squash to broccoli. Don't worry one day of not eating much is not going to cause them to wither away to nothing.... we now work in snacks as well, but if he doesn't eat his breakfast or lunch then he waits...

I have 4 children(either grown or think they are) ages 21, 19, 16, and 14. I thought this type of eating was weird with my first child also. My ped. told me that children normally crave foods that have what their body needs(i.e., certain vitamins, salt, sugar,etc). She said that as long as I offer them food groups that they should have everyday along with whatever it was that they were wanting, they should be fine. Later, I found this to be true with all of my children. They would want certain snacks, so that's what I provided along with other things to go with them. Also with the Cheerio's and goldfish, these are foods that they can feed themselves and it seems to be more of an indepence thing than being hungry. I found with the cheerio's that you can get them to eat almost anything-like sprinkling the cheerios on top of applesauce and they'd get a cheerio with each bite. I know it's messy, but try letting her feed herself in the high chair occasionally. If she'll eat a variety of foods like that, then it's probably more of an indepence issue. I started out with foods that they like(like the yogurt) and would then introduce foods that they could manipulate with a spoon(mashed potatoes, apple sauce, cranberry sauce-anything that will stick to the spoon). The goldfish could be sprinkled on thicker types of soups like cream of potatoe, mushroom, chicken, etc. My kids all went through a phase of just snacking, but I found that if they were at the table for regular meal times and had to sit with the rest of the family while they ate, it didn't last long. Hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy the different experiences that you have while she's at this age. They're grown before you know it.

R.

Dear A.,

I know this might sdosund cruel but if you want her to eat a variety of things and not just junk food or cheerios and yogurt. then what you have to do is not give in and let her have them. I know you don't want her to be hungry but when she realizes that you won't give in and give her the other stuff then when she gets hungry enough she will eat the other baby food. YOu can have the things she likes there and tell her if she wants them she has to eat the other first and don't give in. We had to do this to get our girsl to eat vegtables and i usually went in the other room and cried but didn't give in and within a couple of weeks or less they ate the nutrious stuff first and looked forward to their treats after.
Hope this helps. I am 47 next week and have raised 2 beautiful daughters one is now 27 and a new mom (my first grandbaby ) yeah. the other is 25 and they are both great kids that will eat about anything or at least try new things because of doing that when they were young.
God bless and enjoy your baby they don't stay little long.

G. m.

I think it is fortunate that she will try most things that you offer. This is such a time of expirimentation for your child. Continue to give her the other foods to try. Sometimes a child needs to eat something several times before they will decide that they like it. She will eventually venture out and expand her diet. Is she still drinking milk? She should get protein, etc. from the milk. I would always offer other foods before her "three favorites" and maybe not let her completely fill up on the favorites. It sounds like you may already do that. Good luck!

When Jeff was little I had a Doctor tell me not to feed him between meals because he would not eat at meals, he told me when he get hungry he would, and he did. I would see that she has lots of good food around but not give her any snacks for a while , when she is hugry she will eat the good stuff. She will contine to play you if she can.

Hi A. - Grandma Pam here.

I have a 3-year-old grandson who LOVES eating everything I give him. When he was under a year, I cut up fruit into small cube size pieces and let him have at them. I did have to peel his grapes so he would not choke. I also cut up small pieces of steamed broccoli and carrots with a bit of sea salt.

I also gave him a one-ounce serving of the high quality protein shake I drank for breakfast each morning.

I also developed an absolutely delicious and yet healthy salad dressing that I would let him dip small cut up pieces of veggies in. He LOVES salad now and will eat all veggies.

I highly recommend removing as much packaged processed foods from your little girl's diet as possible - check the ingredient list and I am almost positive you will find things like propylene glycol in many of them. Propylene glycol is an ingredient they make anti-freeze for your car from. To learn more, send me a private request. I have a wellness center in Oklahoma City and teach seminars on nutrition and the role of eating the right foods and getting rid of the wrong things.

Grandma Pam

Your daughter will eat what you give her. Since she will receive little or no nutrition from cheerios goldfish, don't give them to her. I did not feed my children any solids to my children until after the first year. They were completely breastfed until about 14 months. Then I gave them fresh fruit, and veggies first because they are the most digestible. Grains are the hardest to digest and very allergenic therefore they should be introduced later. Avodado, banana, berries, peaches, pears, and other fruits are great finger foods. Also fresh steamed veggies. Remember you are deciding your childs future health by what you feed her when she is young. Junk food has no place in a growing child's diet. Disease is prevented by alkalinity, and the alkaline foods are the fruits and veggies. Almond milk is also alkaline. Grains, meats and dairy are all acid forming in the body and therefore engender bacterial growth, and illness. Therefore a balance leaning towards the fruits and veggies is very important. Carrots are especially alkaline. Your child won't starve...she is just controlling you by outwaiting your fear that she won't eat at all unless you give her what she wants. You will need to use some tough love at this point because you have introduced her to foods that she really does not need in her diet. Try the fruits and she may very well like them! She will thank you for it when she is older and healthy because of your food choices. Remember who is the Mom and who is the child.
Sincerely,
B. S. RN CCM

My daughter went through the same phase around that time. We had to start not offering her anything except what was for the meal. When she refused the food, we would set it aside and wait for her to fuss for something to eat. Then we'd offer her the same food she turned away earlier. I know it sounds mean, but the doctor said as long as she was eating enough throughout the day to equal 1 meal she would be fine. She also said that if we let our daughter dictate what she ate (which is exactly what she was doing) that we were doing her harm because she wasn't getting a balanced diet. It only took a week or so for her to realize that we meant business and she started eating normally again. Stay strong and know that you are doing what is best for her health. Good luck!
J.

She eats them because you offer them.... Offer instead some other types of food. She won't let herself starve! I'd offer several types of vegetables or fruits, just in case she doesn't like them. But if she doesn't eat those, then too bad. You may be filling her up with the snacks.

The yogurt is good, but I have a friend who let her daughter dictate early in life what she wanted to eat (yogart and peanut butter) and now Rebecca is 21 and her diet is quite limited.

M.

Hi A.,

I've found what works for my two boys is a nibble tray full of fruits and veggies and also dips like Brianna's poppy seed dressing(sweet but healthy) or honey and peanut butter. Might not want to do honey until she's over a year, but you get the point. I've noticed that when I allow my kids to graze throughout the day on the veggie and fruit tray they eat more fruits and veggies instead of just at one sitting, like at lunch and dinner and they act better too because they stay full. You know kids get really fussy when they are hungry. Foods like apples, avacados, boiled eggs, peaches, kiwi, cheese, bananas, broccoli, carrots all pack up well too in pastic baggies for the kids to munch on while your out. It keeps their little hands and mouths busy. All the while they are training thier taste buds to like these healthy snacks. Another good bit of info is that it's been proven by scientific research that overtime the child is creating cellular memory for good foods like fruits and vegetables. A good source of information is at www.askdrsears.com. He's a great doctor and has 8 kids of his own! i hope you will have success...all of the suggestions were great!

Good Luck!
A.

The one thing I could suggest is stop offering her snacks. My son did this, and my mom told me to stop offering him the items that I knew he would eat. She said it would break my heart when he cried, but over time he would eat what I offered because he was hungry. And HE DID! It was just hard when he fussed and then cried. I just had to keep telling him that "this is dinner, if you don't want to eat, that's fine, you can be hungry. If you want to eat, this is dinner. " And No negotiating. It sounds harsh, but she's probably trying to push her boundaries with you, just like my son did with me. It will be hard at first, but over time she will see that you mean what you say, and she will learn to eat new things and aquire the desires to try more.

Try and get some single serving corn, green beans or peas and give them to her and let her feed herself with them. Maybe that will help since they are small. Have you tried the dehydrated corn and other snacks in the baby/toddler isle?

I think she might be a little young to try to feed herself.

But my son, who is now nearly 22, went thru stages of wanting to eat only a certain things. For a while, it was nothing but instant oatmeal, then another time it was just peanut butter toast. As long as she is eating healthy things, I wouldn't worry. It could just be a phase she is going thru. Maybe something with the texture of the other food is putting her off and wanting her to stick with familiar food items.