Keep going until they eat something or give up?

[Luxgilly]

Hi

My daughter (now 4.5) was BLW and it was pretty successful. She always tried everything we gave her so she had a pretty varied diet. She's fussy now but we're not worried.

My nearly 11 months old is being BLW and it's not working out so great. He seems really fussy and will refuse to even try things.

My question is, should I keep offering him food until I find something that he'll eat on that day or should I stick with what he's been offered. If he doesn't want it, then tough?

Thanks

[pirate_han]

Our rule is - you don't have to eat what's offered but if you choose not to then there is fruit or yoghurt only (if you don't want either then it's tough). We don't comment if she doesn't touch her dinner, frustrating as it is I feel giving it attention gets us nowhere.

I try to make sure that either the lunch or dinner on offer that day is something I know she likes and then I don't feel like I am depriving her!

[ChristmasGift]

I was lucky that my LO was quite willing to try new things (less so now though!) but at that age milk still formed the bulk of her diet so I went with 'if you don't like what's on offer tough' - never any alternatives. Like p_h I'd make sure at least one of her 'meals' was something I knew she'd eat. I also found that if I kept on offering things eventually she tried them. I remember with boiled eggs, she refused even to look at it on her plate the first few times, let along touch it. I never said anything about it or did anything to encourage her to try it but just continued offering them once or twice a week over a few weeks and eventually she tried it and loved it!

[Monochrome]

11 months is still pretty young. My LO didn't really eat much at all until he was 1, and many things he loves now he didn't really take to at first. Until he was 1 it was still about exploring and getting to grips with using his hands and mouth while his main source of calories was milk. I just keep offering things even if he's not had them in the past, but I tend to offer him a mixture of things each meal including some things I know he's had before. Sometimes he surprises me and goes first for the new thing or the thing he's never taken before, whereas sometimes he'll just have what's familiar and leave the rest. It's really variable, depending on his mood and how hungry he is.