Meal inspiration

Hi all, My little boy has never been a massive foodie, since weaning he has some days where he will eat more than others but even on good days he doesn’t eat a great deal, bad days he will eat next to nothing. Now he is 12 months and having no formula, I’m really worried about how little he is actually eating. Today for example, he has had some fruit and half a bowl of wheetabix for breakfast, raspberries and 2 bites of a crumpet for lunch and 3 spoons of jacket potato for dinner with a yoghurt. I find myself offering multiple things because he doesn’t eat, but it doesn’t seem to be what I’m offering that’s the problem, he just doesn’t seem to want to eat. He is hungry for the first few spoons and then closes his mouth and turns away. Even things I knew he would eat he is now only having a few mouthfuls of and then doesn’t want any more. I’m looking for some inspiration of foods that you know your LO will eat, even on fussy days to offer more variety and also just some advice if anyone has gone through the same? I’m not really sure exactly HOW much he should be eating at this point, but a couple of spoons of food for each meal just doesn’t seem enough.

Show your support

It's so hard when they don't eat. My boy is hit and miss, I'd say 70% of the time he has like 4 mouthfuls and clams his mouth shut and crys. Other days he eats everything. I absolutely hate meal times coz I never know what I'm in for 😂 two meals though that he always eats is egg fried rice and this lentil dish which is an Ella's Kitchen recipe. Egg fried rice is just grated carrot, onion, spinach, peas and broccoli. You stir fry all the veg together then I added the cooked rice and broke some eggs into it, mixed it together and then added cumin. It makes a huge batch so I freeze it in portions so I can just quickly get something out for him if he's having a fussy day 😂 The lentil dish from Ella's kitchen is called Veggie bake with lentils... You might be able to find it online 🤔 x

Is he offered food to feed himself? Lots of little ones can reject being spoon fed at this age as they want to be more independent. Do you eat together at the same time? That can help as well. Sometimes I also just give a little toy which helps me get a few more spoonfuls in

@Lilly it’s so frustrating isn’t it and I try to hard to not show I’m frustrated because I don’t want meal times to become a big deal for him where he thinks I’m quite stressed so I’m smiling on the outside and crying inside🤣 that’s really helpful thank you, would you recommend the Ella’s kitchen book? Do you cook from it a lot? My LO currently has whatever we have for dinner, I just adapt it a little for him. I’ve never thought of cooking him a little meal just for him but I’d definitely try it, I’d try anything at this point!🤣

@CeeCee yess he is, if it’s a meal where it’s a lot of solid foods I just give him the plate but stopped giving him so much in one go as he started throwing a lot on the floor, I think he finds a large amount in front of him a bit overwhelming. I only spoon feed his breakfast as it’s mushy but I brought those self feed spoons from Amazon and if I give him the spoon he will put a few in his mouth then bangs the spoon/drops it on the floor. I am definitely seeing that he wants to be more independent, but he still doesn’t eat very much if he feeds himself💔 I haven’t tried a toy or a distraction, that’s a good idea thank you!

@Grace tbh I don't really now because we tend to do the same as you - most of the time he has what we're having as I don't have time to cook another separate meal but when I was still on mat leave I did use to use it more. Every recipe in the book he really liked and it does have some good ideas. This convo has actually made me think I need to go back to it actually 😂 I got it from Vinted for £2 - it's the purple one 😊 x

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌