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I’ve always been told food before one is just for fun??? I wouldn’t worry personally. My second liked to chew food but spit EVERYTHING into his bib forever. It was gross and I have no idea how much he ever actually consumed. But he continued to be a tall healthy kid! And eventually he figured it out. They need milk more than table food so I would be really hesitant to cut nursing at all.

Yeah I wouldn’t follow that advice. Like others, food before one is just for fun. My LO was juuuust starting to get into eating solids consistently around 10 months ish and I didn’t force it. We just kept offering and he eventually took to it with no issues. Babies learn about food by playing with it, spitting it out, throwing it, etc. So I would consider that normal and would still nurse him as you have been. I think following the guidelines of baby has to be on solids by 4-6 months, night weaned by whatever, etc. Is kind of ridiculous when every kid is so different. I also don’t think your child will ‘learn’ to eat solids or they won’t get to nurse...I don’t think it’s possible for them to comprehend that or even know what consequences are? I would keep offering but just do what you’re comfortable with in terms of the night weaning too. (And my kid was a preemie in the 5-10th percentile for his whole life)

That seems like some weird advice!

I'd give him lots of options (bites of everything you eat) and then some puréed stuff if he didn't eat much. And BF whenever he wants - he's a baby!

I would find a new doctor, actually - that is terrible advice. He's only 9 months, he has lots of time to get the hang of food. If he wants to feed himself just offer what you're eating, he'll try it. If you're worried about gaining weight maybe try putting some fattening things ON the bread - avocado spread, butter, hummus - get some different tastes on there?

Wow, at 9 months I'd most certainly still be nursing or feeding formula first, and then meal. I wouldn't worry too much about what they're eating or not eating at this age.

@MsBAM: We are still in the thick of it. LO is 15 months now so we've been working with EI and a feeding specialist for about 3 months (but he's been sick a ton this winter which has slowed us down). He only started accepting a couple foods (yogurt and green smoothies, of all things!) in the past 2 months, and he started attempting to eat crunchy baby snacks on his own in the past month. He still won't eat things like bananas or bread (he can't actually chew). Your baby is already doing better than my 15 month old, which is why I think he is doing fine. (Fwiw, this is my 2nd baby and my oldest wasn't eating much at 9 months either but she was eating a ton by 12 months).

I definitely would not follow that advice. Withholding milk from a 9 month old is wrong imo.

My DS literally didn't not eat solids before he was a year old. Like, not one bite of anything. He would never eat any kind of baby food, puffs, NOTHING. He was exclusively breastfeed and weighed 16 lbs 14 oz at 12 months and he was perfectly healthy.

Food before one is for fun and for learning. breastmilk has everything he needs!

I have found that pediatricians aren't the best resource when it comes to feeding babies.

They are NOT a one-size-fits all deal when it comes to eating. Some are ready and more gung-ho earlier than others and it's ridiculous to give such stringent rules to mothers who know their children best.

My son went almost completely off solids from 9-12 months. It freaked me out, obviously all the recommendations seemed to be that he should be moving towards getting the lion's share of his nutrition from solids over this point - but he preferred to nurse especially since he was teething like nuts that whole time. He just couldn't stand to chew. And you know what? I let him nurse on-demand, day and night. He gained appropriately and I continued to offer solids and he'd take what he would take.

At 12 months, he started eating better gradually. However, he's been sick every couple weeks this winter - colds, stomach bugs, and what we're pretty sure was the flu. When he's sick, he wants nothing to do with solids and goes right back to nursing almost exclusively.

Guess what? He's fine. Here in the US we don't tend to be a very baby-friendly culture and for whatever crazy reason try to expedite the transition to eating like an adult when their gut microbiome isn't even fully developed until 2 years old. Yes - 2. YEARS. OLD.

So, mama- nurse away, do what you feel is best, and toss that advice aside.

I'd find a new pediatrician. If they're actually concerned about your son's weight I'd think they'd want to make sure his getting as many nutrients as he can through breastmilk, and then whatever comes from solids is a bonus. Before 1, my pediatrician said to always offer breastmilk first, then solids, because she didn't want DD to fill up on solids and refuse breastmilk. She also said solids just once a day was totally fine at 9 months, and to work toward two or three times a day by 12 months. Food before 1 is just for fun.

A 9 month old isn't going to understand that he has to eat what's offered or else he doesn't get to eat at all, and that's just cruel. I think if you refuse to give him milk if he doesn't eat his solids, he'll be even worse off in the weight department.

My DD barely ate one "meal" of purée and some crunchy baby snacks at 9 months. She just wasn't super into solids and was still nursing like 7 to 8x a day. It's only been in the last month or so (she's 13.5 months) that she's really started eating most of what we eat, and getting 3 meals a day of solids. We kept offering and she'd sometimes try stuff, sometimes not, and it was fine, and eventually she got the hang of it. But if I'd relied mainly on solids at 9 months, she'd have starved.

@MsBAM: yeah, that med student needs some serious feedback because s/he doesn’t know sh*t about infant feeding and is giving out really terrible advice!

Keep offering foods (both puréed and table if that’s how you roll) and keep feeding on demand. Baby will get the hang of eating in his own time and as long you’re offering good variety then you’re golden!

Like others have said, that seems like terrible advice! DD2 is 9 months and just started eating table food a couple weeks ago. She wasn’t interested at ALL before then. We didn’t push it as DD1 was the same. She’s now 3.5 and an excellent eater.

Our doctor is also a lactation consultant, and has said more than once that a lot of pediatricians are pretty uninformed about breastfeeding. Apparently they get something like four hours of breastfeeding training throughout their entire time in medical school. So, apparently a lot of them are pretty clueless. Your breast milk does change composition to have more fat in it as baby grows, so that is the best nutrition! Obviously if baby isn’t eating ANY food by close to a year you probably would have to work on encouraging it, but what you’re describing sounds totally normal.

@MsBAM: I just told my husband this story. I didn't tell him it was a med student, and he asked how old your doctor is (with the assumption being that an older doctor might not be up on current research). When I told him it was a med student he was SHOCKED. He said that is contrary to literally everything he has ever learned, and was wildly inappropriate advice.

He reiterated that food before one is just for fun. Keep offering variety, but if your baby doesn't want to eat any of it don't worry about it. Sit with your baby, enjoy meal times, and try not to worry about it.

If you are concerned about weight gain for some reason, you can offer higher fat foods (peanut butter or butter on bread, full fat yogurts, avocado- smoothies can be an easy place to mix in lots of foods like this).

At 9 months with our children we were primarily giving them breast milk. They would nurse before each meal (and then whenever else they wanted). We give them whatever we are eating (we never did purees, but if you prefer that, go for it!).

Playing with food is part of learning about it- exploring textures, tastes, how it feels when you squish it- thats all GOOD. Not bad.

If you are interested, my favorite resource for food related parenting advice is https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/
it is full of really incredible, evidence based advice about food.
We follow her method (for the most part) with our children. My kids are both somewhat picky, but I would consider them to be mildly adventurous, particularly given there ages. But the best part of following her method has been I don't have to worry about food. I just don't. I give them whats for dinner, they eat if they are hungry, they don't if they are not. I always include something I know they WILL eat if they are hungry. Thats its. No power struggles. The med students advice seems destined to set up an anxiety-ridden, power struggle between you and your baby. Food doesn't have to be like that!

I'm so sorry you got bad advice- especially from someone who you expect to be able to trust. Its so hard to make these decisions as parents, and doctors giving bad advice just makes it harder.
Hopefully you can make a decision that feels better to you. I'm impressed and so proud that you listened to your gut and fed your hungry baby. GOOD JOB!

@MsBAM: my kids loved straws and smoothies at that age! Some Greek yogurt, water, avacodo and banana would be good - I usually had berries too.

My LO is 8 months and we are taking it slow. At first “I felt behind” because people around me are feeding their 4 month olds full meals. I realized LO will go at his own pace. He’s trying different puréed foods and it’s going well. I also give oatmeal and baby cereal. I nurse and that’s his main feeding. I’m learning that all of this is just for fun “before one”!!!!!!