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Babies Fussy Eater I have a tough time every time it comes to feeding my 11-month-old daughter her 3 meals of pureed food. She needs to be carried around by her dad (or grandparents) while I spoon feed her. Lately, she has learnt to spit out the food, struggle, cry and throw a tantrum - basically do something to get her out of eating. We have to constantly distract her with new things/toys/sounds. She refuses to sit in a high chair as well. As she grows bigger, it is getting very tiresome to feed her. Is this normal? Will she eventually grow out of it? Are there any other methods I could try? Other than that, she is intelligent and developing normally, but a hyper active child, who is only still when she sleeps.

Answer

Answered by Dr Yong You are currently facing two problems with your child. One pertains to the method of feeding. It appears that she has become accustomed to being fed while being carried. The other is her refusal of food.

The latter may stem from a variety of reasons. She may not like the taste or texture of food. This often happens even with their “favourite foods” that they seemed to enjoy just a few days earlier. She may be ready to move on to food with coarser texture. The other possibility is that she feels that mealtimes cut into her playtime. And perhaps being carried is now perceived as stifling her mobility.

Perhaps you could try a new approach. Place her on a high char and offer her a spoon. This will encourage her to try and feed by herself. However, you should continue to feed her at the same time. You could also try giving her slices of apples to gnaw on. This will allow her to hold the apple and take it to her mouth. Similarly, her water could be served in a sippy cup with a lid. She can then drink by herself with minimal spillage.

The timing of her feeds may not be in keeping with her needs too. Perhaps you could delay her lunch by half an hour and refrain from giving her milk or snacks 1-1.5 hours before that. This will ensure that she is hungry enough to enjoy her lunch. Some babies, however, are snackers, taking small but frequent meals. If your daughter falls in this category she may prefer a snack at around 10am followed by lunch at 1pm.

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Jamilah Samian and Ahmad Fakhri Hamzah

Jamilah and husband Ahmad Fakhri are professional trainers, Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioners and authors. Jamilah has written Cool Mum Super Dad, Cool Boys Super Sons and, together with Ahmad Fakhri, The Groovy Guide to Parenting Gen Y and Z. The couple has six children.
Prof Dr Eric Lim

Prof Lim is the founder of the Kits4Kids Foundation. He has a PhD in Educational Management, Master of Education and Bachelor of Special Education focusing on special education, and a Masters in Psychology focusing on child psychology and counselling.
Dentist Dr Alida Mahyuddin

Dr Alida is a senior lecturer and specialist in Paediatric Dentistry at the Faculty of Dentistry, UKM. She is also the Visiting Consultant at the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, UKM Medical Centre, and a committee member of the Global Children Dental Health taskforce.
Paediatrician Dr. Hon Mun Cheng

Dr Hon is trained in paediatrics, infectious disease, nephrology and neonatology. The mother of two now practices in a private clinic.
Midwife Ann Ibrahim

Ann has been practising midwifery for over a decade now. Having completed her degree, she worked in Britain for a spell and then returned to her homeland Malaysia.
Psychologist Woo Pei Jun

Woo is a developmental psychologist who has studied and worked in Malaysia and the United States. Her areas of research have involved cross cultural issues related to eating disorders amongst Asians, mental health and behavioural problems amongst children and youth in Malaysia.
Fitness guru Debbra Lee

Lee is certified through the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) from Britain, with specialty certification in pregnancy and postnatal fitness by the YMCA (Britain). She has been conducting pre and post-natal classes for many years. She is the proprietor of Fit For 2 cafe, Kuala Lumpur.
Obstetrician / Gynaecologist Dr Ng Kok Chong

Dr Ng was a lecturer at Universiti Malaya. He is currently a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at private clinic. His sub-speciality is infertilty.
Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Yong Junina

Dr Yong Junina is a consultant paediatrician at Klinik Pakar Kanak-Kanak Junina, Mutiara Damansara, and visiting paediatric cardiologist at Darul Ehsan Medical Centre, Shah Alam and Hospital UKM. She is also a visiting lecturer for the department of ? paediatrics, faculty of medicine, UKM.