Pls help – 10mnth-old suddenly stopped accepting the spoon and only eats crispy snacks
Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice or reassurance from parents who may have gone through something similar because I’m getting really anxious.
Our 10-month-old had recently been eating spoon-fed meals (purees or mashed foods) twice a day. I wanted to gradually cut one bottle feed and introduce a third meal, but before I got to that, from one day to the next she completely stopped accepting being fed with a spoon.
Now she wants to feed herself, which I understand is developmentally normal, but the problem is she currently seems able to eat only crispy corn snacks. This has been going on for six days now.
I’ve tried offering foods she could pick up and eat independently, but either she doesn’t like them or she doesn’t seem to know what to do with them:
Eggs in different forms – no
Cheese – no
Steamed vegetables – not really (yesterday she ate a few very tiny pieces)
Small pieces of meat – yesterday maybe three pea-sized pieces
Fruit – hard no
Toast – chews a little but doesn’t really eat it
Toast with butter – absolutely not
Right now it honestly feels like she only knows how to eat crispy corn snacks (like the ones in the picture) and my husband’s toasted gluten-free bread.
To make things more frustrating, I also can’t seem to teach her how to drink from a straw. I’ve tried every trick I could find and she just doesn’t seem to get it. That’s especially discouraging because she clearly wants to do things by herself now, including drinking.
I’ve read this can be a phase, but I’m really struggling with anxiety over it. If you experienced something similar, how long did it last? What helped?
She currently still drinks 4 bottles of formula (around 800 ml/day), drinks other liquids well, and honestly she seems hungry. No fever, no illness, no signs of teething (she already has six teeth).
I don’t know what to do. I’m also losing my own appetite over this. I feel like if she doesn’t eat, I can’t eat either. I’m trying really hard not to pressure her and for now I’m not even bringing the spoon to the table.
Has anyone been through this?