Help Feeding a 7 Month Old

My DS hated baby food too. He absolutely turned his nose up at the baby cereals, all of 'em. He sort of ate pureed table food, but much preferred chunks, even at 7mos. They were tiny chunks, to be sure, and very soft. He just couldn't tolerate the texture of purees, then or now. He's not picky taste-wise and will eat anything.

Try different flavors: mashed avocado, mashed banana, mashed beans, etc. And don't stress :-)

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try rice cereal miexed with formula and pears (sweeter). Also try sweet potatoes and other veges by themselves. A fresh mashed banana is really good too. My baby loved food at 4 months old, and didn't want much to do with baby food after 8 months old, so I started putting everything we eat through the baby grinder -- he loves real food. Just keep trying, and until he does start eating more solids keep up the breast milk and/or formula.

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It really sounds like to me that he is not ready for food. I chose not to feed my son anything but breast until after 1 year, then he went straight to bits of our food a very little bit at a time. He is a very big boy and never had any growth issues. I would just say give him time, don't worry about the standard time frames!
S.

Being 8 weeks premature can have major impacts on a child and your son may not be close to ready to eat solids. If he is growing adequately on milk only, just back off and let him grow. Keep monitoring his developmental milestones. Were you referred to early intervention in the NICU? Were you given any info on development in preemies? I recommend the wonderful book Parenting Your Premature Baby and Child (2004): the website is www.parentingyourprematurebaby.com. My daughter was 16 weeks premature, by the way.

take care, S.

Relax, at this point solid food is more for fun and introducing new tastes and textures, it is not that importnat for nutrition yet. Just keep trying a little bit at a time, if he just has 2 teaspoons of food that is a sucessful feeding. Don't give too much cereal, it can cause constipation, just do some simple fruits and veggies at first, you can even sprinkle on some spices like cinnimon, nutmeg, basil, parsley, ginger, etc. to make his food a little tastier, some babies don't like baby food because it is so bland, and some research suggests that an overly bland diet may increase the likelyhood of food allergies. In a month or so you can just start feeding him table food, just watch him carefully and make sure it is mushed up or cut up teeny so he will not choke. Good luck!

being born early could have everything to do with this. also, a refusal of food COULD be a sign of allergies. if baby is not showing signs of readiness, try again later. "somewhere around the middle of the first year" is a good time to introduce solids, but that does not mean that every baby should be taking solids at 6 months. remember also this is just an introduction phase, so teaspoons of food at each "sitting" are all that should be expected, even until age one. . . even if your older one was a "great eater" or your experience with him was different. good luck, and try not to worry too much about it.

Because my daughter wanted to eat like us at 5 months I broke down and started feeding her solid foods then. My son however was a different story. I tried feeding him some rice cereal at 6 months and he was not interested, I just kept up the breastfeeding until he was interested. I started him around 7 1/2 months, and by then he was interested and ready. Maybe he's just not ready yet for the change. It doesn't mean he won't be soon. Also I have had more luck with grinding up the food we are eating then baby food. Hope that helps

I had problems getting my daughter to switch over to solids also. So I continued to breastfeed her and focused on feeding her solids one meal a day at her "happiest (i.e. most cooperative) time" of the day. Also, I breastfed her before eating so she was getting enough food (a trick our peditrician didn't tell us until a few weeks of struggling with her food). In the end, she started eating foods when she was ready (not when everyone else told us she should be ready). Maybe when your soon sees that his big brother enjoys "big kid food" that will motivate him to have some himself.
Best of luck,
M.

My baby was like that, I just continued to breast feed, and didn't give her food until about 12 months. She just wasn't interested. Some are just not ready for food yet. My child is 4 years old now and way above ger age mentally and physically very strong.

My daughter was born on may 1st onher due date and still only eats about 1/4 of cereal mixed with mashed bananas or pears or applesauce a day. They are just trying things out and I am not worried as she is growing great and is interested for the ifrst little bit and seems to like it. Even when I make more cuz she ate it all she wont eat much more than that. My sis in law has 7 kids and they don't really eat any solids untial 9 months to a year and her kids are healthy and good sizes too. her baby was was 20 lbs. at 7k months old. good luck

Try table food. My little guy weaned himself VERY quickly off of baby food b.c he wanted to feed himself.

S.

You might really like the book "My Child Won't Eat!" It's pretty new--published just last year, I think. It's published by La Leche League, and they are really picky about editing and content. You could order it online at www.llli.org or even borrow it for free from your local LLL group. It's got a lot of info about transitioning to solid food.
At seven months, he may not be ready for solids and that's OK. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies breastfeed exclusively for their first entire six months, and then at last until they are one, even after solid foods are introduced. They used to suggest starting solid food such as rice cereal at 4 months of age, but now all solid foods are discouraged until Baby is 6 months old to prevent allergies from developing. So your little man is still pretty little to worry much about food.
Best wishes!

Hi M.,
My son was born 2 months early and wasn't into eating real food either. I was agonizing about it! What I ended up doing was just staying with primarily with breast milk for a little longer and then trying again a couple of weeks later. It worked and now he eats pretty much everything... Another idea is to just add some rice cereal to a bottle of breast milk (or formula) to give it a little oompf.

Good luck!

Hi M.,
I have the priviledge of being the legal guardian to my beautiful 14 month old niece whom I've had since she was 5 months oldand who also was 9 weeks premature. It has been just the last 2 months that she has really started eating. They told me that this was very normal for a premie because it takes them a lot longer to figure out how to use their tongues to move the food to the sides of their mouths where they feel comfortable chewing and swallowing foods with texture. Be patient and keep trying it will come eventually. Good luck!

Don't rush it. Every baby is different. Signs of readiness: sitting up by himself, watching adults closely while they are eating- even opening his mouth as you do like he wants to have some, being generally interested in either eating baby food or putting finger foods into his mouth, being able to move food from the front of his mouth to the back (instead of pushing it all back out with his tongue).
As long as you are still breastfeeding and offering once in a while, he'll get there.
S.

I agree with others to not pay so much attention to his age but to developmental signs. Just watch for his interest.

Some babies don't do well with baby food until 8 or 9 months. And if your little guy was early, that could be even later for him. Don't push it. He will let you know when he is ready--they start grabbing your food and shoving it in their mouths! I wouldn't be concerned--some babies just take a little longer. That being said, make sure your doctor is not concerned--it is worth a phone call to see what he or she thinks. Good Luck!

Also--rice cereal is not the best first food. Try just plain fruits or veggies--I started mine with tiny spoonfuls of avocado. We had a little guacamole every night with what was left. But avocado, sweet potato or banana are generally recommended as first foods--before grains. And definitely stay away from any more allergenic foods until after one year--wheat, eggs, dairy, etc...

Just keep trying. Try real oatmeal, with the flavors like apple cinnamon or something. My son gave up all baby foods at 10 mos, wanted nothing to do with mush! He went right to whatever we were eating.
Try even scrambled eggs with cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed potatoes.
Let him have a piece of toast or teething biscuit to hold, more then likely it will go straight to his mouth to teethe on and he will get more the idea of that food is yummy and if you are really concerned, ask your Pediatrician for advice.
He may just not be ready, keep offering and it may take longer.

My baby wouldn't eat rice cereal either. I tried mixing stuff with it but he still hated it. We finally tried Cream of Wheat (look on the side of the box, they have an infant serving & direction info). He loves it!! I still feed it to him every morning and I mix a fruit in with it--mashed up bananas or I will blend up canned peaches or pears. If I use bananas to mix with it, then I will add an ounce of formula to thin the cereal down. If I do peaches or pears, then I don't thin the cereal down. That worked for us. You could give it a try.

Those two months can make a difference. Eating solids is like crawling, walking and talking...it is developmental.
Meaning children do it in their own time and in their own way.
My daughter had no interest in solids until she was 8-9 months. My son started grabbing food off of our plates and shoving it in his mouth at 5-6 months.
Many women breastfeed exclusively for one year. WE are lucky to be packing natures perfect food in our breasts.
Also a serving size for one year and younger is really small.
Might be only 1-2 tablespoons...not sure. I remember it being very small.

I wouldn't worry too much - he'll eat when he is ready :-) My little one loves mashed banana - just plain old mashed banana without anything added to it. When he doesn't want anything else that is always our go to.

I wouldn't stress about it at all. My daughter never ate baby food. At her 6 month appointment I went to the doctors very concerned but he told me that it wasn't a big deal. Some babies just don't eat baby food. So I just continued to breast feed only and as she got older she just went straight to table food. I know it's hard cause you want them to start trying new things. I did everything like you I even tried all the dessert flavors just to see if I could get her to eat something other than breast milk, but she just wouldn't do it. Still she was a very fat, healthy baby and by the time she was 12 months she was eating regular oatmeal, mashed potatoes and other things like that.