Why won't baby eat??

 Today has been a tough day. Baby D has a miserable cold and has barely eaten all day. That's understandable for today, but it got me thinking about previous 'no food' phases and how tough they are.

Eating solid food is a game for babies. 'Food before one is just for fun'. We start weaning at 6 months and take such delight in our babies' development, look look, he swallowed some!! I'm sure I'm not the only one who called my dear husband to the changing table to present him with 'proof' that our baby was really eating!

But we must remember, until their first birthdays, our babies get most of their nutrition from their milk. So if they decide to spend a week throwing their meals to the dog, don't freak out. It's ok. It's normal. D is a breastfed baby and feeds on demand, so I definitely noticed him increasing his milk feeds during those times. This is where our little mantra kicked in; baby lead the way, baby lead the way. A healthy baby will be fine, and these phases are perfectly normal. They don't last forever.

You may worry that baby won't sleep unless they're full. I can't speak for all babies, but I can tell you my experience. D wasn't a great sleeper. (I'm being very diplomatic with that last sentence!). The first night he slept through was when he was 8 months old, after a big dinner of stew. He's a big fan of stew! So there began a few weeks of desperately trying to entice him to eat so I could make him sleep. It didn't get me far. I couldn't MAKE him eat, I couldn't MAKE him sleep. No matter what I wanted him to do, it didn't matter. D wanted to take his time, figure out what this eating business was all about, and still get some milky mama cuddles at night. That's his developmental curve. He's just over a week off his first birthday now and he still wakes at least once probably every other night.

Even now, we can go a week here or there where all I hear is splat splat off the side of his chair, and it is frustrating. I don't experiment much those weeks. After spending a day following recipes and carefully creating meal ideas, it's hard to watch the dog enjoy it while baba laughs! So I just cook for myself and DH, and keep a salt free portion for the little man. If some gets swallowed, bonus! If not, well, tomorrow is another day.

Today my baby ate two spoons of yogurt and one mandarin segment for breakfast, a few chunks of chicken and half a potato from his soup for lunch, and nothing at all at dinner. Tomorrow he is staying with his granny and he'll probably eat her out of house and home!

Every day is a new day, every experience is a new experience. Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't, most of the time it's absolutely nothing to worry about. If your baba is not sick, they're just setting their own pace. So follow their lead, take a big deep breath, and have a cuppa!