Help for 8Month Old That Suddenly Refused Solids for About a Month

My son didnt get teeth until after his 1st bday, and did the same thing. Have you tried Elmo's World DVDs??? Sounds bad, but thats still the only was i can get my son to hold still for 30 minutes so eat. He will seriously watch him all day!! Im interested to see what people say. I dont want my boy to be a total TV junkie!

Hi,
I would try to cut her bottles down by 1-2oz so she is not so full of formula. Our pediatrician told my friends to do this when they were having trouble with solids. Feed her solids about 1 hour after her bottle and see how this works. Try warming her food before serving. I hope this helps! Good luck! R.

My son did this when he was teething. He went back and forth with solids and mushed up food like babyfood. He is just now at 18 months back to chewing his food again. Poor thing. His mouth just hurt too much. Will she eat babyfood? Or just bottle? I would try feeding her the babyfood in the morning before her bottle. Then after her nap I would again try food before bottle. She may be getting all she needs from her bottle. You could try less milk and see if she is hungry but I wouldn't stress about it because bottle is all she really needs at 8 months. Just keep introducing foods and trying.

My toddler has gone through that phase a couple of times since she started eating solids at around 5 months. It pretty normal for them to go between eating a ton of solids and then not much at all. It's true that she doesn't need nutrients from solids yet, but I think you should keep offering just a little bit. She may not eat them, don't force it, but keep trying. She just needs the exposure right now.
If it keeps up for the another month, try to withhold her bottle for an hour or two before meal time to make sure she's hungry. For now, I don't think you should worry.

Stop feeding her solids. Seriously. Give it up for at least a month.

An 8 month old does not NEED solids. In fact, all babies under one NEED is breast milk (or formula when breastmilk for whatever reason isn't available.)

She's telling you she doesn't want them right now. Don't push it.

Hi,

I haven't been through this yet, but a bunch of the moms in my moms group have. Just keep offering the food and don't force it. It is just a phase and your daughter will get over it.

Remember that most of her nutrition at this point comes from breast milk or formula and the food is just for developing skills and experience.

Just one of the many things she will do to keep you on your toes!

It may be a tooth coming in. Try giving her different teethers to help the tooth come through. You can try giving the baby food either warm or cold, maybe the temperature will make a difference? They also have those neat net things you can put food in, maybe she'll like that. I have a 2 year old and an 8 month old son. It's tough!

Maybe she is working on teeth. My youngest wouldn't eat anytime he had a tooth coming in. Relax not eating solids isn't much of a big deal at this age until age 1 most of their nutrients and calories come from formula or breast milk baby food is just for fun and expierementing what they like and don't like. If you feed her the same types of foods daily she may be bored with it try to offer different things. mash up what you are eating cut your dinner up very small and offer her some to try off of your plate. She will eat when she's ready to.

L.,

There are several things you can try.

First different brands of baby food - if you are buying the food. My friend whose daughter refused as well ended up eating -healthy baby - I think it is called from Whole foods. The others - she refused.

Second try letting her feed herself. Give her a spoon, you have one too, and put a small amount of food on her spoon and help her to put it in her mouth if she can't do it herself. Sometime my daughter just likes to chew on the spoon while I get food inbetween her spoon going in and out of her mouth.

Sometimes the spoon doesn't work for us but the Gerber puffs, wagon wheels or lil' crunchies is what she wants in her hands and eats inbetween the spoonfuls of pureed foods I spoon in.

You can also try to start more table foods. By this I mean pastina - cooked with a little butter -when they are little older you can add an egg -after you have drained the pastina and the raw egg and butter return it to the heat and cook until the egg is cooked. I have a friend who has also added peas (these can be difficult because they can get stuck - this baby has eaten them for a while though), cheese and small pieces of chicken - her daughter loved it. Small pieces of mild cheddar cheese, YoBaby plain whole milk yogurt - add fruit on the side -(the yogurt with the fruit in it has a lot of sugar). Pieces of fruit cut up, banana, apple, pear. You can try hummus and 'spoon' it in with a small carrot -(she shouldn't eat the carrot until you have cooked it and it's soft enough- but always be right there just incase she has trouble with it). Small pieces of meat, mashed potatoes, couscous, Quinoa -you can get this at Trader Joes. It's a really great grain. Cottage cheese is another item to try, remember whole milk - til the baby is 2.

Of course you don't want to make meal time a struggle. This is one area that the baby is in totally control of and they let you know. Try making mealtime more social, eat at the same time as your daughter. Try giving her some food then you take a bite. Not paying 100% attention to her might help her. I think sometimes when people watch my daughter eat that she feels like she is in the zoo. Not a good feeling. T.B. Brazelton has a good book out called 'Touchpoints' and he talks about feeding and how you should not make it a struggle but it should be enjoyable.

Good luck and remember she will start to eat again,

L. M

Hi Lindsay, I had this problem with my son, my doctor said to put a larger hole in his bottle and put the veggies in with water or milk. You won't like the looks, I didn't either, but remember it all goes to the same place. When she is ready for finger foods that she eats himself, she'll be fine. No baby can resist the finger foods. Hope this helps, D.

If it's any consolation, I am having the exact same problem right now, and my son was born 10 days before your daughter. He was eating solids great, but has really struggled to enjoy much of anything this past week. The only 2 things he enjoys right now is yogurt at breakfast and cheerios. I'm wondering (if he is teething) if the cold yogurt feels good on his gums. Have you tried that? My son is still sleeping through the night, so I'm not really concerned at this point. I thought maybe he would start waking up needing to nurse during the night if he wasn't eating much at mealtime. I agree with others that you shouldn't worry too much about this. She will eat when she's ready. Keep offering her a variety of foods, but let her dictate the pace. Hope this helps!

I say...RELAX MOM..she is still very young ..and is more comfy with a bottle. I use to dilute some ceral in my sons bottle to keep him full. Dont worry this wont last for ever.8 Months is very young and if she has no teeth or is just getting some in Eating solids might be hurting her gums. As long as a bottle is filling her up, she is ok. Dont try to push solids to young. Nature and kids know when its time. You should keep trying but dont push it. she is still very young to just be chopping grown up foods right now. She will know when she is ready for this stuff.
Hey to her... pushing this on her...is like eating a Jar of pickles. Could you do it. she needs time to adjust to this stuff..she is still ...well ...just a baby after all.

trust me it all works out and soon she will be gobbling so much stuff you will wonder why she is eating so much. Give it time its still early.