This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may earn a commission if you make a purchase using these links at no extra cost to you.
At one year old, your child is starting to fully transition to eating solid foods. Since family meals are a time for the entire family to get together and enjoy their meals, you would definitely want him or her to sit down and eat during that time. But you can become frustrated if your 1-year-old creates a fuss at mealtime and only wants to drink milk. Moms in this type of situation often wonder, “What to do if your 1-year-old won’t eat anything but milk?”. Baby fussing when eating solid food might occur for a variety of reasons. Here is everything you need to know.
Why 1-year-old won’t eat anything but milk
1. Sensitivity of food texture
Your 1-year-old can be sensitive to different textures of foods, which could lead to either taking the food in small amounts or not taking the food and causing a fuss. Your baby is still in the developmental stage at this age where testing boundaries is typical. They are learning how different food textures feel, which can be challenging for parents to understand because we are used to the texture now, but your baby’s brain is telling them something completely different. Because of the unfamiliar texture, your infant can reject mashed food when presented with it and instead prefer to drink milk.
2. Your little one is in the process of transitioning to eating table food
Each baby is unique, and every child’s transition to eating solid foods is definitely unique as well. Additionally, most parents are unaware that it takes some time for a baby to smoothly transition from baby food to solid foods. Some people become fixated on purees and mashed foods, or even refuse them altogether, sticking instead to their familiar milk or formula. This is all normal and to be anticipated. It’s important to introduce solid meals gradually throughout this transition.
3. Letting your little one graze on food throughout the day
Allowing your toddler to graze on food throughout the day may be a viable solution due to their sensitivity to food texture and the process of transitioning to eating table food, and you may not have any other choice at this time. However, if you allow your child to take a few bites of food periodically throughout the day, they won’t ever get hungry. Your child would eventually stop learning how to eat solid meals as a result of this. Your child would prefer to drink milk over solid foods. To teach your child how to eat at meals, it’s crucial to break the habit of grazing on food.
4. Avoid food grazing
If your 1 year-old won’t eat anything but milk, you should ensure to avoid food grazing. Although this might be a present solution, it would not help your little one. Avoid allowing him or her to graze on snacks or other foods in between activities so they’re really hungry when they sit down at meal time. It only takes a few pieces of snack for a toddler to refuse their next meal. You can give a little snack as compensation after meal time to encourage your child
5. Feed meals in small portions
Make some tiny changes to the meal to divert your child’s attention from refusing or fussing during mealtime. Making sure the food is cut into little portions will help your child eat the food provided for them more readily. Don’t push food too hard and try to keep portion sizes small. Serve extremely small pieces at first, then wait a few seconds to make sure your baby doesn’t suffocate on the food. When offering your child vegetables that seem hard, you can soften them by boiling them for a short while in very hot water.
6. Eat with your little one
Your child can concentrate on eating when mealtime is enjoyable for them. Even if your child is making a fuss and refuses to eat, you can still sit down and eat your meal for a short period of time while they watch you. Simply concentrating on the meal creates a pleasant experience, which will gradually encourage your child to participate. In order to help the child relax and eat some food on their plate, you might also try talking to them for a little while.
7. Offer solid meals before milk
The amount of milk your baby takes should change as they become older. You should give your baby breast milk or formula between the ages of 6 and 9 months, followed by solid foods. From about age nine months, foods can be introduced before breast milk or formula. This enables your kid to spontaneously switch from formula or breast milk to only eating solid foods by the time they are more than a year old. Offer solid meals first as a reward to enable a seamless transition and to stop your child from fussing.
8. Have a feeding schedule
Your child should eat four to five meals a day, plus two nutritious snacks, starting around the time they turn a year old, and around the time they begin to walk. Additionally, you can give your child one or two cups of milk per day because milk is a crucial component of a healthy diet. Don’t let your child eat too many snacks throughout the day because this may cause them not to become hungry when it is time for solid meals. Your little one only needs a few snacks during the day before they start to fuss during meal time
Conclusion
When it comes to feeding, you need to understand your child in order to ensure a good feeding habit. There could be a number of reasons why your toddler isn’t eating yet and wants to drink a lot of milk. Highlighted above are some of the reasons why your 1-year-old won’t eat anything but milk, along with recommendations for getting him or her to start eating solid meals at mealtimes.
