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What is he eating for his meals? My BFF's son wasn't getting much in for solid meals then I shared some different recipes with her and he's started eating like a champ.

My LO definitely has decrease in appetite when sick. Also with a stuffy or runny nose he doesn't take the bottle as well since he can't breathe. Your schedule seems really packed to me. It might be hard for him to stomach solids when he just had a bottle?

@irene: I try not to get too hung up on schedules... But I think at 9 months it looked a lot like your consolidated schedule that you are proposing. My DS has also kind of fallen off the growth curve a little lately. He is 10th % weight but you wouldn't tell by the way he eats.. He is really enthusiastic. I think when they become mobile, they metabolize quicker. I'm not to worried since his pedi is not. I know how stressful it is though. Take cues from your LO. If he is not hungry, he's not hungry, you know?

@irene: hmmmmm... Yeah I hear you... Ok first take a deep breath. Why don't you do what you suggested, do rice porridge for a while since he likes it. You can even try adding different proteins to it or mix in some purée like carrots.. And yeah,there is nothing wrong with bottled babyfood! Some kids just take a while to warm up to solids. And yes I had a lot of food rejected by DD even though DS is a great eater. I made all kinds of concoctions that went wasted.

@irene: oh no, I don't make fresh every morning, I'm a zombie in the morning! lol! I make a huge batch and freeze them in bulk. When she wakes up we nuke one in the microwave for her.

You poor thing- what a little bugger. Well, if he starts playing with it he might eventually begin to like it and then eat it? I've got nothing! lol!

@irene: Well she's never screamed like that, but it took her over 2 weeks to warm up to the frittata- now she loves it.

For puree's I make this squash casserole (without the topping, I can't have cheese, and we sub agave in for sugar) http://allrecipes.com/recipe/amazing-butternut-squash/. DH and I both eat it, and LO gobbles it up.

I'm making stewed fruit today too, apples, pears and peaches, cubed in a pan with some water and cinnamon, cooked until soft and then mixed up with the immersion blender.

I felt the same way with my now 16 month old. She (and I) HATED mealtimes from months 6-9 and even still now every so often. It came to a point where I thought she just didn't like anything going in her mouth. I was also super frustrated at the time and effort I put into her meals, only to have her reject them.

I do know that even with just a runny nose, she will eat much less than usual. I can tell that she has a hard time eating/swallowing because her nose is stuffed (even if I Nosefrida her prior). So I just suck it up and trust that she'll come around eventually. It's hard not to freak out about it, but I just tell myself if she is eating and pooping ok, she is ok!

She was in the 75th percentile as an infant and near the end of her 1st year went down to 10%... She's currently around 10% still, and our docs and I now just think she was "finding her curve". But to wait to see that was difficult for me, especially since my older child never had any of these issues.

I've also noticed that I tend to offer my kids food pretty often throughout the day. So I cut back on it to make them hungry for meals. If snack time is in order, it's in very, very small portions. By the time it's lunch or dinner, I want to see that they are hungry enough to eat. If not, I do push their meals back.

@irene: yah charlie got 4 bottles at that age. daytime bottles were 4oz, and night time bottle was 6oz, so he was getting about 18 oz a day?

@irene: What are the kinds of foods that your LO takes the most interest in? i noticed that my LO likes meat the best, so I make a lot of meatballs, meatloaf, type things. They are really easy for LO to pick up and chew, and the whole family can enjoy too. Plus convenient to freeze.

@irene: yeah I know that crappy feeling you get at the doctor's office. I know it was just my perception (sorta), but I felt like he was looking at me like I didn't feed my child at all! He had us return every month to track her growth carefully... That was good, but also very stressful for me. At Month 9, I had an LC plot her on the "updated EBF babies" growth chart. They assured me she was still doing ok even though the curve didn't look great to me. Luckily for us, her feeding got better at 10 months. By then she had sprouted 4 teeth, so I think that helped too. Is your LO teething perhaps? Also, just FYI, my ped did tell us that 16 oz of milk a day was the minimum. I think 20-24 oz is typical consumption for babies that age, but he kept asking me if I was producing at least 16oz of BM.

Oh and she'd pee at least 4-5 times a day with 1 poop everyday or every other, so I figured even if her appetite was very low, she was still making enough output at least.

@irene: Oh, friend, you poor thing. T-Mom gave some great advice. I don't have a whole lot of advice, but I can give you DD's eating "schedule" and hope that helps. I have found that she doesn't like purees much at all anymore and would rather have solid table food instead. She'll spit the puree all over us if she doesn't want it. I guess she's becoming more independent and wants to feed herself.

7:30 - Wake up, eat about 1 oz of puree and some puffs (any more than that and she's spit the food everywhere)
9:30 - 4 oz bottle
10:30 - snack (puffs or yogurt drops)
12:00 - 4 oz bottle
1:00 - 2.5 oz of purees or cut up fruit
3:30 - 4 oz bottle
6:00 - puree or table food (depending on her mood)
7:00 - 6 oz bottle (she's always a piggy at night)
Sometimes she'll wake up at night and need another 4 oz bottle

ETA: Remember, the guidelines are just that, guidelines. That doesn't make them hard and fast rules. Some babies will eat more than others, and even the good eaters will have times when they don't want to eat (ie: sick, excited). If your son seems to be fine on less food, then don't force it. He'll let you know when he needs it

Good luck!!!!

I definitely know how you feel Irene since I'm kinda in the same boat. My Lo was born small, at 3% and continues to stay there. The highest she got to was 15% at 2 months. At her 9 mths, she was only 14lb14oz (3rd%). Feeding her was always a challenge from day one. A 4oz bottle takes at least 30-45 min to finish. She eventually improved but she is now such a picky eater with solids. At her 9 mths, the pediatrician told us to cut back her formula to 16oz a day so she'll be hungry and eat more solids. It's so hard to limit her formula when she isn't eating a decent amount so she's at 18-20 oz a day. Her schedule looks something like this
730- wake up 5oz bottle
830 - 2-4oz yogurt, some cherrios. She's pretty much refusing everything else
930-nap
1130- lunch 2-4 oz of solids, 0-2 oz fruit
1:30 - 6oz bottle then nap
5 - dinner similar to lunch but she tends to eat more
7 - 8 oz bottle then bedtime

I know what you mean when you make all these yummy food for them but most of it ends up on the floor or the garbage. I gave up about a month ago and bought jar food. I still make food for her but use jar food occasionally so it doesn't hurt as much when that ends up in the garbage. She will be 10 months this weekend and only started to eat cherrios/puffs and let me feed her bits of food a week ago. I fear mealtime since it always seem to end in tears (both her and me at times). I also feel like crap when I read about moms with babies that live to eat.

I don't know if I have any suggestions for you, since I'm looking for some myself haha, but just know that you're not alone and you are doing your best. Babies will eat what they need and although hard to remember, it's nothing against you if they don't eAt. Hang in there and this too will pass (when is what I always ask my hubby when he says this to me hahaha...)

@irene: Well he looks happy!! She eats probably about 60% of what I put on her tray the rest end up in her lap or on the floor. It feels a little wasteful, but as long as she is eating until she is full and not fighting it I'm okay with it.

@irene: we started small amounts of cereal and purres at 4 months because it often helps with reflux andbc my son was never a big milk eater. Thankfully he really likes solids so we have given him 2 small meals a day since 5 months and just recently added a third. They are small meals though! We wanted to encourage the eating and our GI approves.

@irene: Yep! I cut them up, put them on a plastic cutting board in the freezer so that they firm up but don't freeze into a big clump, once they are solid, I plop them into a ziploc bag in the freezer and pull one out every morning.