Ok, so I dont know what to do now!

Ellie was doing GREAT on her jar food, and was eating A TON of it. But then she all of a sudden started to refuse it (I never used any new flavors) and only wanted whatever we were eating. So I thought, ok, thats fine, I just have to figure out what she can eat.

Well now, she wont eat either her jar food or table food!!!! :duh I dont know what to do! Has anyone else's baby gone through this? She is 8 months old and I am freaking out because she seems to not be eating all that much anymore (like 1/2 or less than normal) and I dont know why. I dont want to force food on her though, but I feel like I am because she just WONT eat!

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!! :beg

i did that around that age, my mom said... turns out, i wanted to feed myself.

try giving her the spoon or letting her hold her food on her own, see if maybe thats the problem?

My feeling is she will eat when she is hungry. If you get really worried take her to the dr and make sure she isnt getting sick

Reagan did the same thing and she wanted to feed herself....so we let her...mess and all

Ahhhh. I didnt realize she wasnt self feeding yet. Let her try it herself

i did that around that age, my mom said... turns out, i wanted to feed myself.

try giving her the spoon or letting her hold her food on her own, see if maybe thats the problem?

I tried that last night and this afternoon and she still didnt like it.

I just put the food on the spoon and handed it to her and she would fling it until pretty much all the food was all over me :mumble then chew on the other end.

And when she would put the right end in her mouth, she would make all these funny faces from the taste of the food, like it tasted horrible. But its all the same stuff I have been feeding her :dunno

Fix her a plate and let her eat with her hands.

Fix her a plate and let her eat with her hands.

She doesnt quite get how to get it from her hands to her mouth :giggle she will keep it in between her thumb and index finger and just suck on it until its mush and all over :lol She wont let go of it to put it in her mouth.

She doesnt quite get how to get it from her hands to her mouth :giggle she will keep it in between her thumb and index finger and just suck on it until its mush and all over :lol She wont let go of it to put it in her mouth.


But she's gotta learn. And doing it is the only way

is she teething or going thru a growth spurt. Jacob wont eat much of anything if hes teething. My doc said that as long as hes drinking plenty of fluids and eating some than its okay.

There is only ONE thing I can actually get her to eat and get her to eat it almost every time.

Its certain fruits, like mangos, peaches, and those really really dark sweet plums.

She also likes the cinnamon raison granala jar food, but wont eat that every time. And she likes chicken peices, BUT only sometimes. And pasta, but ONLY certain ways. I tried to just boil some pasta and put a little butter and cheese on it and she didnt like it. Then I gave it to her with a little left over marinara sauce and she liked it. But we wont have marinara sauce on hand every day kwim? that is my problem. I just feel sooo limited because even the things she seems to eat EVERY time I give it to her, its never a for sure thing with her :dunno

is she teething or going thru a growth spurt. Jacob wont eat much of anything if hes teething. My doc said that as long as hes drinking plenty of fluids and eating some than its okay.


she has one tooth and I think her gums are getting ready for another because they keep swelling up. But we thought that was the problem at first and we started to give her teething tablets like 20-30 mins before we fed her and it didnt make a difference.

But the other reason why I am concerned is because I dont think she is getting enough liquids because she hasnt had any interest in her formula for a while. We give her 4 8oz bottles a day, but she only drinks maybe 20oz of it. I try and give her water but she just likes to spit it out all over herself :dunno

But she's gotta learn. And doing it is the only way

Ok, so encourage her to feed herself more with spoon and with her hands?? I will have to try that more often.

But what do I do when we are out some place like a park on a playdate or something and it runs into lunch. I dont want to let her feed herself like that and make a huge mess there. Is there something I can give her to eat while out that she might like??

As for her not eating and teething. If their gums hurt they wont want to eat anything because its sore and hurts too much.

Jacob goes thru that ALOT!!!

As for being out somewhere and lunch comes up, try a dry snack to hold her over till you get home or some type of simple fruit or something.

As for her not eating and teething. If their gums hurt they wont want to eat anything because its sore and hurts too much.

Jacob goes thru that ALOT!!!

As for being out somewhere and lunch comes up, try a dry snack to hold her over till you get home or some type of simple fruit or something.

Ok cool! :thumbsup thank you!

I know she likes nutra grain bars, so I will just make sure I have one on hand at all times :giggle That girl eats a lot normally, so I am always freak out that since she hasnt had much lately, that she will just all of a sudden want to just chow!

woops! :blush double posted!

Tandis was self feeding a lot by 8 months, so I'm sure that's what she wants too.

As for not having marinara sauce on hand, why not make some and freeze it in ice cube trays, then dump those in baggies. pull one out, use it and she'll eat her pasta.

Most babies will eat baby peas (as small as you can find them in the freezer section). They are sweet. DONT use canned, they are not as sweet and don't have the same nutritional value. Overcooked.

Part of it is probably teething, but if she's hungry, she will eat. Let her learn to feed herself.

As for being out and not wanting her to make a mess of her meal, Try to be home for mealtimes. It's hard for kids to eat in unfamiliar places sometimes.

I used to give Tandis cereal puffs and nutrigrain bars (the lowfat yogurt kind, as the other kind has way more sugar) if we had to be out and about. If we were at a restaurant, he would have some of the appetizer we had. He loves calamari. :wink

Tandis was self feeding a lot by 8 months, so I'm sure that's what she wants too.

As for not having marinara sauce on hand, why not make some and freeze it in ice cube trays, then dump those in baggies. pull one out, use it and she'll eat her pasta.

Most babies will eat baby peas (as small as you can find them in the freezer section). They are sweet. DONT use canned, they are not as sweet and don't have the same nutritional value. Overcooked.

Part of it is probably teething, but if she's hungry, she will eat. Let her learn to feed herself.

As for being out and not wanting her to make a mess of her meal, Try to be home for mealtimes. It's hard for kids to eat in unfamiliar places sometimes.

I used to give Tandis cereal puffs and nutrigrain bars (the lowfat yogurt kind, as the other kind has way more sugar) if we had to be out and about. If we were at a restaurant, he would have some of the appetizer we had. He loves calamari. :wink

Thank you!

yeah I think I am just going to work on letting her feed herself. I wil have to strip her down for lunch and dinners :giggle

And the freezing the marinara is a good idea! I never thought of that! I will have to do it!

Yeah the yogurt ones are the ones I have, but they are hard to find now. I got lucky with the ones that i got!

And the calamari huh?? can you give seafood to babies? I never knew you can, if so, then that would be GREAT because she would probably love it!!

To be honest if she doesn't want to eat then she probably isn't hungry.. maybe she just isn't hungry at the time you guys are eating. try changing up her schedule. that might make a difference

Some not-as-messy foods you can start giving her are: (cut up of course)fishsticks, chicken tenders, bowl of peas(smash them once with your thumb first), macaroni and cheese, basically any pasta, scrambled eggs, any diced fruit, broccoli with parmesan sprinkled on it (just the 'treetops').. there's a lot more I was giving Tandis, but I can't remember it all right now.

Yes, fish is(should be :puzz) fine for her by now. Calamari was a total accident! He reached for it and CRAMMED it in his mouth before we could stop him, but ever since then, if we go to a restaurant and DONT get it, he flips out on us. Kind of limits our choices. :lol

Oh and I have to tell you: there's bibs you can get at Walmart by the bottles that are plastic, huge, and have a pocket in the front to catch food they drop. BEST BIBS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! Get at least three. You will use them until she is sitting in her own chair. The only reason Tandis doesn't use them anymore is because they're too hard for him to get into his chair with. (He has his own table and chairs that he eats at)

Thank you ladies for your help! I will have to try those foods and the bibs Schaele!

She did ok on her breakfast and lunch today :dunno

breakfast was about 3/4 a jar of stage 3 banana pudding and cereal and an 8 oz bottle. Lunch was about 1/3 a jar of chicken lasagna and applesauce with cereal.

Kids go thru MANY phases. Heck Ethan ONLY ate oatmeal and crackers for like 3 months straight and still gained weight. They will go thru picky phases and then eat again and go thru it again. Sometimes something they loved they will later reject etc.