Feeding My Baby

My son was exclusively breastfed for the first 13 months...He found absolutely no interest in ANY foods until then....My daughter on the other hand was taking foods at around 9 months, she continued nursing until 20 months when she weaned herself....Maybe he's just not ready for foods yet....One thing I have learned is that when the milk isn't enough to sustain them, they will begin eating....I hope you find this encouraging....Also, my son breastfed more often than my daughter since he wasn't eating food...I never minded and now that they are five and three I find myself missing the nursing days!! They just grow so darn fast!!!

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Hi--My kids are 11 and 14 and I know trends and thoughts change, but I always started with cereal (rice) mixed with breast milk or formula. I am sure the allergy factor in your family greatly affects this. I breast fed both kids for 1 yr. Started solids at 5 mos with both. I exclusively breastfed until starting solids. Anyway, perhaps you should try cutting the squash with expressed breast milk?
It is texture of foods that 'weirds' the babies out, not the taste in my opinion. I also introduced veggies before fruit and did not 'hide' food in fruit in order to get the child to eat it. With my first child, my son, I went full-throttle with commercial baby foods. With my daughter, I did not because I feel commercial baby food is a racket. I was sick unto death of those annoying little jars!! With my daughter, when introducing a new food, I would cook it and throw it unseasoned into the blender or whatever to puree it--but not liquify it--and feed it to her. I would then freeze the pureed food in ice trays and kept it in the freezer in a ZipLock bag. I would just thaw in MW cubes of food when it was time to eat! The only commercial baby food I used initially was cereal. She graduated to real oatmeal and cream of wheat quickly. She NEVER had a problem with food texture because of it. Whatever we were eating, I would just not season heavily (some of it) and throw it into the blender.
Just keep trying with your son. Perhaps a baked unseasoned sweet potato may be more palatable than the squash for an introducton food...Whatever you introduce, cut it with breast milk first.
A little about me...I am a 20 yrs of experience Maternal/Child RN. I now work full-time but worked weekends only befroe kids started school.

1 mom found this helpful

ALL babies refuse to eat new foods. It's a new thing for them, and the flavors aren't exactly the best taste for them. Keep trying to feed him the squash for a couple days and make it entertaining. Try to get him to laugh and smile, but don't be sneaky. I would make "airplane" noises and say "here comes the plane, open the hangar" and make the "plane" fly into the "hangar". Both of my boys loved that! Try some infant rice cereal too. Both of my boys liked to try new foods mixed in with the cereal; even though they didn't really like the cereal by itself, they were more willing to eat the new foods mixed in. Good luck and don't fret, it's normal!!

Rice cereal and give it time are probably the best things to try. I started my breastfed child on food just after 6 mos and he was at least 9 mos old or older before he ate regularly, but now he loves everything including squash and lots of green veggies. I just let him set the pace and now I can pretty much feed him anything and he will try it. He is 18 mos now. Don't let it stress you out, my ped told me plenty of bf kids don't eat solids till after a year. Good luck!

Our little guy loved Avocado. We just mashed it, and he ate it right up. The good fats and high calories only required that he have a few bites, and then he'd be full. I breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, then gave him that as his first food. It was recommended to me by a lactation consultant. I think the only thing I had to watch was making sure the avocado wasn't over ripe- otherwise it can turn stringy and wouldn't be easy for a baby to eat. Hope that helps!

Mashed potatoes and rice cereal are both pretty 'neutral' flavors, textures, and allergen free foods. Mix with breast milk to whatever consistency 'goes down' the easiest.
Always keep in mind that with EVERY child-rearing issue, even the 'professionals' disagree with each other! When it's all said and done, your own judgement should be the reigning factor as long as you have your child's best interest at heart!

Instead of mashing the squash try pureeing it. Cut the squash in half, remove the area with seeds (easily done with a spoon), turn the squash facing down (shell facing you) on an oven safe dish that will be able to hold liquid, cover squash and dish with foil. Turn oven on 375-400, place squash in oven for 30 minute, and check on squash. You will know its ready when you put a knife through it and it goes all the way smoothly. If it is not ready (all ovens are different) come back every 15 min. until it is. If all water is gone and bottom begins to turn dark brown, take it out.
The water the squash produces will be used to smoothen the puree. You can use an electric food mill or a hand blender (my favorite). Scoop out some squash and place it in the food mill. Put some of the squash liquid on top (for consistency) and puree, or into a bowl and place the hand blender in the bowl and puree. Add more liquid or squash for desired consistency.
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Do not do this for the potatoes. For some reason it comes out like a paste instead of like a smooth mashed potato like I thought it would. But you can do this for sweet potatoes, but you will have to add purified water to it since it does not produce its own liquid. You can mash the white potato with unsalted butter and water.

Good luck and Good Bless,

Hi Katrina,
I have a 5 year old and 2 year old. I breastfed both of my babies until they were 2 years old. My first baby didn't want anything to do with food until she was about 13 months old. She became really into food at that age and liked a huge variety of things. My 2nd baby loved food by about 7 months.

I just wanted to let you know that all babies are different. And I nursed both of them whenever they wanted to. Both were very healthy! If your little guy just doesn't like butternut squash - then try another food that other moms have suggested, but if he refuses to eat, please don't stress out. As long as you are still nursing, he is getting a lot of nutrition. A wonderful supportive community for nursing mamas is La Leche League.

I am a bit surprised that none of the previous responses talked about breast milk being a complete food. The idea that babies must eat at a certain age and when it isn't appropriate to nurse, etc. etc. is very traditional, conservative thinking. If you live in the Triangle area of NC, I recommend calling the Women's Birth and Wellness Center at ###-###-#### to get more current, alternative support.

I would keep offering it to him. If he doesen't want it that is fine. If he goes through a phase where he wants only the breast, then I would do that too but always offer the fruit and veggies and when he wants it, he will eat it. I wouldn't freak out over it. Just go with the flow. Make sure you take your vitamins so he will get the nourishment that he needs to grow and for brain development.

I could not feed my little one cereal because he could not handle it. There is a great book called "Super Baby Food" I made all of my son's food. It is super easy. However, the first food for him was avacado - it has tons of great stuff for anyone. My son is and was a picky eater. I found that when starting on solids, I would thin the food to almost a soupy consistancy with breast milk. It made the food a little sweeter and still gets the nutrients from the breast milk that would typically be substituted with solids. Once he can get the soupy stuff down, gradually thicken with more food and less milk. Good luck- Oh, some foods my little one just flat refused to eat at all. If he won't take the squash, switch up and change the consistancy then try again later! It takes a lot of time and patience. He will get it! Good for you for nursing keep it up!

Sweet potatoes are good. All 3 of my children loved them. Keep trying with the squash. He may be getting used to the texture. It is good to wait a week between new foods. 1 because of the allergies and 2 for him to adjust to the taste.

It often takes babies many presestations of a food for them to "decide" if they like it or not. I would stick with it a few more days, swiping it on his mouth if he won't open his mouth. You may also want to try either bananas or pears next. Breast milk is sweet, and the fruits have a little more sugar. Try to stay in the same color family (applesauce, sweet potatoes, carrots). Mixing rice cereal with your milk is another option. He has never had anything like food in his mouth before so it does take saome babies a little while to accept it.

If you are breastfeeding he is getting all the nutritients that he needs from you. It is actually recommended to delay the introduction of complementary foods (ie. solids) until 9 or 10 months if there is a history of allergies in your family or if the child has reactions to any complementary foods given. Closing his mouth is his way of telling you that he does not want the food. A wonderful book to read about this is My Child Won't Eat by Dr. Carlos Gonzalez. You could probably check the book out of your local La Leche League library if you don't want to purchase a copy.
Just remember that your breast milk will provide your baby with the nutrients he needs...it was not until formula & artificial milk came about around the 1930s that mothers started giving babies solids so early, because they were not getting the nutrient rich breast milk.

I have to say that my daughter never learned how to latch correctly, so I pumped for 7 months. I have inside/outside/year-round allergies, and up until the point that she got breast milk, she didn't have any issues. Almost as soon as she didn't get breast milk, she started with a runny nose that lasted for 6 weeks non-stop. We talked to the doc, who prescribed an allergy med, which she's been on ever since (she's 4 1/2 years old now). If I knew then what I know now, I would have continued pumping.

As for not wanting certain foods, I've learned that it can take anywhere from 15-25 tries before a child decides they like something. I don't remember waiting a week before trying something new; I was thinking that had more to do with food allergies. Do you have any allergies to food? I do not, so that really wasn't a concern for us, and we would try something different on a regular basis.

Good luck!!
D.

There is a book that I use and absolutely love. It is called "Super Baby food" by Ruth Yaron. The cover of this book says "Absolutely everything you should know about feeding your baby and toddler, from starting solid foods to age three. Includes more than 350 quick, easy, delicious and nutritious recipes and thousands of money-saving and time-saving child care and kitchen tips. Highly recommended by new moms and dads!" It has a lot of interesting information but the part that I like the best is called "feeding your super baby." It goes month by month on what foods to introduce to your baby. Also in this book it gives suggestions on preparing and storing home made baby food. This book is full of great information!

My baby girl LOVES sweet potatoes and that's always a favorite of hers that I can go back to if she doesn't like what I'm trying to give her. She's 10 months and it seems that she's just now starting to get really picky. Good luck!

I am from the old school. When my daughters were babies,now 27 and 24, I introduced them to a little cereal and mashed bananas before they were 6 months old! Sometimes, we as mothers, have to use common sense. Milk does not always fill the baby up. If the baby is waking up every 2 hours for a bottle, the baby is still hungry and the milk is not satisfying the hunger. At almost 8 months, I feel like the baby should have already been introduced to several foods by now. Try mashed bananas or apple sauce, or any baby dessert that is a little sweet, along with any vegetable you are introducing to your baby.

I have severe chemical allregies so eating any sort of food that is not home grown or organic is always a risk. I was very worried about my daughter and thus far she has been OK. I started her on "solids" at about 6 months old. I started with organic mashed bananas and she loved them! They are also a low allgery risk. The next week I added home-made organic apple sauce (just peeled, cooked apples finely mashed) and, again, she loved them. Her 3rd food was sweet potatoes. Remember, kids can be picky and change their minds at a moments notice. Maybe take a break from the squash for a day or two and he might go back. After the 3rd food, I started adding new foods every 4 days or so, so long as they were conisdered a low allery risk.

Good luck!

My sister has an 8 mo. old and she too did not like being fed food. My sister realized that her daughter liked to feed herself. I guess some babies are either more independent or just don't like the spoon being placed in their mouth. She likes the food on her high chair tray or on a spoon but only with her holding it by herself. This of course is a bit messy and takes awhile, but it works for their family. I also would stop with the squash and try mashed bananas. Most babies enjoy bananas and they seem to not be very allergenic. If your baby dosen't seem interested, don't panic, there is still time and he will eat when he is ready!! Hope this helps!

My husband is a pediatrician...he says you can safely try a new food every four days. Most babies have a hard time going from milk to food and you just need to try several days in a row until (it took my little guy about three weeks before I could get him to take more than one swallow). Don't force, just try again the next day, and the next, and the next.... Try rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula first. The consistency of the squash might be what is throwing him. After rice cereal I tried sweet potatoes. I baked them and then put them in the blender with a little water to make them a smooth consistency. He liked this a lot better than the rice cereal! If it became too runny I just added some of the powdered cereal to thicken it up. His second food was the squash-which he loved! Most new foods I have tried have been met with resistance the first few times! Don't give up! Now my little guy eats everything...when he wants to!

Did you start with rice cereal?

Yes, you should wait to try to feed him something else. Allergies may take a few days or more to show up so if he has a reaction then you know to what food cause that will be the only one he has had. My kids always liked sweet potatoes really well and mashed bananas. I hope this helped. M.

You could try carrots,peaches,pears,or mashed potatoes with butter. I have learned that babies like really bland foods when they first start eating. So maybe if you tried the food with no seasonings he might like it better.

The other thing is he migh not be ready to eat. Both my boys refused any and every type of food until close to 9 months. The doctors told me to try feeding only fruit, and I was finally successful at getting them to eat more than two spoonfuls at about 8 1/2 months.

They are both hearty eaters now.....so I guess some kids just prefer to nurse than eat, my boys did and they are and have always been very healthy.

If you are worried about food allergies, I would definitely start with rice cereal. I have 2 boys ages 5 and 2. My oldest was allergic to eggs his first 3 years and my youngest is allergic to oats and citric acid. With both of mine, the symptoms did not occur until after they had eaten the food about 3-5 times. A rash showed up around their mouth almost instantly when the food started to bother them. With my first son, we didn't think anything of it and continued to feed him the same foods. The rash was really bad, but his pediatrician blamed it on chapped skin from teething. He kept getting severe sinus infections and was put on breathing treatments because his cough was so bad. I finally took him to an allergist and as soon as she saw him, she knew it was a food allergy. I stopped serving the bad foods and he never got sick again. I was much more cautious with my second son and picked up on his allergies immediately. Listen to your doctor and introduce the foods slowly. Start with bland foods as it will help increase their taste buds and watch out for any rashes around his mouth.

I breastfeed and waited until 6 months to start baby food with my first and I like to never got him to eat food. I started my daughter at 4 months and she has not stopped eating yet. I am not sure what you are allergic to but I would try maybe apples, pears, or bananas. Something with a little sweeter taste to it. I really think if he were allergic to something you would know within the first day or two. Maybe steer clear of the things you are allergic to. Good Luck!!

A. M.

Butternut squash has a strong flavor. I would try starting with a rice cereal made with breast milk. Start with it fairly thin and then work on thickening it up. Once he gets that, then try introducing him to other foods such as carrotts and butternut squash. Bannanas are also good. You can even put them in his cereal.

Maybe you could pump some breast milk and mix it w/some rice cereal. Hawaiian delight was a favorite of my breastfed baby girl. :)

K.,
Good job on the breastfeeding! My daughter is 9 months old now and I have breastfed her since she was born. I started her on solids when she was 6 months old. I made rice cereal from brown rice. It's really easy to make. Send me a message if you would like the recipe.

It took her several weeks to get the whole eating thing down. But now she eats 3 times a day and eats lots of veggies, fruits, and grains. Ironically, bananas, which are normally a favorite fruit for breastfed babies, did not go over well with her. She loves them now, but it took 2-3 weeks of trying. I have read that it can take 15-18 tries before a baby will like a certain food. This is not unusual.

However, I agree with some of the other ladies; butternut squash has a strong flavor and may have intrigued him for a few days and then been too much. Try some rice cereal and oatmeal for a while. Then you may want to try acorn squash, which has a milder taste than the butternut squash. You do want to wait 5-7 days before introducing a new food because of allergies, especially if you have allergies in your family.

A really great book on introducing solids, which I have used, is Mommy Made...and Daddy Too! Home Cooking for a Healthy Baby & Toddler. They recommend using store bought cereal, though, which I did not do. But they have a very easy to follow plan for introducing solids and what foods should be introduced before others, etc. It's a very encouraging book too. Even though you have started your son later, you can still follow the order of introductions.

Good luck!
A.

I started my breastfed baby at 5 1/2 months. I gave her rice cereal and only once a day. It takes awhile for them to understand how to handle the spoon and to realize that they are actually eating. It's a big change fron the breast. Give him time. He will get the hang of it.

I was told to wait 3-5 days between intoducing new foods. I was also told that rice cereal is the least likely thing a baby will have an allergic reaction to.

Try mashed banana. I wouldn't open my mouth for squash everyday, either.
:)

The Academy of Pediatrics actually suggest breast feeding for 12 months and the World Health Organization suggest two years. So you can exclusively breastfeed and not start solids until later on. Some babies are ready to start solids earlier (6 months) then some babies. It can take up to 10-12 times for a baby to acquire a taste for something. Have you tried avocados, or mashed bananas? You may also want to nurse him first then try feeding him solids, so he is not so hungry that he gets frustrated with trying something new.
Good luck!

I started both of my kids on rice cereal at six months. That's generally considered to be the easiest on their little digestive tracks until they get used to solid food. Having said that, however, while my son quickly learned to devour rice cereal, my daughter objected strongly to any solid food and we had a hard time getting her to eat anything solid for the first nine weeks that we tried. Then, one day, the lightbulb went on and she started eating everything we gave her and asking for more. So don't give up -- just keep trying!! By the way, both of my kids LOVED sweet potatoes! I would buy regular sweet potatoes, cook them and whiz them up in the blender or, once they had a few teeth, just mashed them really well with a fork. (Sweet potatoes are also supposedly one of nature's most perfect foods -- lots of important nutrients.)

Hi Katrina, What exactley are you allergic to. Usually babys 1st foods are cereal, preferably rice, it is usually most tollerable. I am a natural foods chef, and mom to a 3 year old boy. You definetly want to introduce foods slowly. Has your baby nursed for the past 3 days? My na me is M..

I would try something a little sweet to get him eating again, like sweet potatoes. Ask your doctor about apple sauce, too, or mashed pears. Pears are usually one of the very least allergenic foods and should be okay to introduce.

I started with Rice Cereal. Then we went to vegetables. My son's very favorite was sweet potatoes. I couldn't get him to eat any kind of fruit until he was about 13 months. Now he eats just about everything. You do just have to keep trying it over and over. If you have given it a couple of days and he hasn't had a reaction, I would stop a day or two and then try something different. What about toast and breads? My son loved the biter bisquits from wild Oats. We started them around 7 months. He liked zwieback toast, too.

When my daughter first started eating "food" the only thing she would eat was smashed bananas. A friend told me to try them b/c they are sweet like breast milk and it worked. We slowly moved on to other foods from there. Hope it helps.

Well, it is is VERY obvious - try giving him something other than butternut squash!

bananas are a fav of most babies, but he may not be ready for solids yet. it is normal for it to be more like 8 or 9 months before a breast fed baby is really ready for solids. you may just want to try basic rice cereal, or wait a little while before trying solids again.

I don't have much advice to offer except to refer you to a great website called kellymom.com. I find it to be the best resource out there. Especially the forum section, where you can talk to other moms. There is a whole board dedicated to just allergies. I think you'll find exactly what you're looking for there. Best of luck to you!

Hi -- It might be a simple as he just doesn't like it. :) Has your doctor OK'd rice cereal? That was the 1st food we gave our son and then moved into carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, etc... Carrots are pretty sweet and he might take to them well. My son has allergies to nuts and eggs and I found a lot of great advice on this website: www.kidswithfoodallergies.com The forums there have sections for feeding infants and can help you figure out other ideas too.

Hi!
I have the same exact issue (multiple food allergies run in the family and I have buku food allergies). I can tell you that it is super important that you do not start a new food yet! My food allergies are to wheat and corn, but were not diagnosable until my early 20s. The thing is, looking back, I was have very subtle symptoms almost all my life. It had just been chalked up to colic and being difficult. When starting babies on a new food, it takes 10-15 times for them to get "used" to the flavor and textures. I was concerned because my son would sometimes talk his cereal, sometimes not (we're in to week #2 on cereal), but it is important to keep on trying. If you are really desperate, I would trying thinning the squash down with some water so its a little thicker than his favorite consistency of cereal. It is often the texture and work of getting it down that throws off a kid. Good luck and if people are pressuring you to blow off your doctors advice, don't. You are doing the best thing possible to give you son a leg up on good health. If your doctor didn't mention it, fruit is usually the first thing a baby reacts to. My family has been pushing apple purees and bananas and it is NOT a smart thing to do. If you are interested in a good resource, there's a book called 'Living with Food Allergies' by Betty Wedman. It is out of print, butt most libraries have in stock. Hope this helps and relieves your mind a bit!

Most start with cereal before giving fruits and veggies. The cereal can be easier on the tummy and get him used to the new textures and flavores. I'd try rice cereal or oatmeal first for a few days, then maybe mix a little squash in with the cereal, and then move toward the straight veggies.

As an allergy sufferer myself and my son (3 1/2)has a load of food allergies (8 so far) I sympathize. I had to take dairy and soy completely out of my diet for 18 months with my son. Bananas, rice cereal, sweet potatoes - All thinned out with pumped milk - were favorites of my kids. Just be patient and keep trying at each mealtime (YOUR mealtime that is) just a few bites or tries. Both of mine initially objected to the texture (at least that seemed to be the problem) so thinning it out until they were used to the flavor change helped. After they got the idea with those 3 foods I was able to start putting less milk.When he has the interest he'll try it - it's best not to force the issue - it will just make you crazy. Two months from now you won't be able to scoop it in fast enough.