I Am Going to Be Breastfeeding Forever! Any Ideas to Get Baby Eating Solids?

When my daughter was a baby, she also needed more than just the bottle and I gave her rice cereal & she would vomit everytime. My friend told me to give her oatmeal. I went out and bought the variety fruit & cream oatmeal and she loved it. She ate that for years. When she got to the fruits and vegetables she ate those, but I continued to give her oatmeal, but only for breakfast.

T.,

Some babies are breast babies, and some are food babies. They all have their preferences, and aren't overly concerned with yours.

You can try two things, each opposite, but will work depending on your baby. First, try feeding your son solids when he is really hungry. Some babies are less picky when their tummy is rumbling than they are after they've nursed and aren't really desperate for a meal. Some babies respond to this REALLY badly, though, so it is trial and error.

If that doesn't work, try the opposite. When he gets hungry, nurse him a bit to take the edge off his hunger, like do just one side. Then sit him down and give him fruit or cereal. These babies are just ravenous at meal time, and since eating is harder than drinking, they get frustrated going tiny spoonful by spoonful. They want to gulp.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but which pattern works is really dependent on the baby and his temperament. What you want to make sure to avoid is separating the two by only an hour or so. Then, he's truly full from nursing since he had a full session, but hasn't had enough time to build up his appetite again.

Not all babies adapt to solids at the same time. He may just take a little longer to grow accustomed to taking in and swallowing something that's so much thicker, and tastes so different than his accustomed meals. Don't lose hope, they all eat eventually, and when he decides he likes to, you will be AMAZED at what he packs away!

Jess

I have a 5 month old that is on the larger side as well, he is about 20.5lbs, and when i began giving him cereals and jar foods i would mix breast milk in. at first the mixture was mostly breast milk, and i progressivly made the mixture more food than breast milk as he adjusted to it. he is eating baby food atleast 2x daily along with the breast feedings, and as i increasethe baby food i decrease the number of breast feedings. i am new to the group, and hope my experience can hep you in someway

In my thoughts if baby is still pretty young. Don''t worry about them nursing so much still. they need all they can of breastmilk, it's the best food for them right now. They will start eating solids at the time that is right for them. With my youngest I would put bananas, broken on his tray and if he ate them fine, if not, fine too. A LLL leader told me that bananas is the best thing, closest to breastmilk. It's a great first food. Plus it's natures convient food. the baby cereal is too high in iron and plus it's the wrong kind for babies digestion system.

all the best.

Holly

Hello T., I had two big babies myself both 9pd 6oz. My daughter thou was a breastfeeder baby. She loved to nurse and for hours at a time. When my milk dried up I thought she was gonna starve because she didn't like to bottle feed. I had to start mixing solids with tring the bottle. Try healthy foods like homemade french fries (get a string fry cutter thou), also you can cut carrots with this cutter, sweet potatoe fried were a huge hit with both my kids. It also did wonders for me now with them being 5 and 6 yrs old because I don't have the fights about eating the veggies. They love them. I hope this helps. Sincerely Kim

I had similar issues with my little boy and it was very frustrating! What I did was mix stuff with some breast milk and give that first before offering the actual breast. As he took to that I gradually switched to straight food and eventually he took to it. For my son it was a matter of getting use to the new texture and learning to swallow a thicker consistency of food. I hope this helps.

Has your husband tried feeding him? My daughter was fine eating for me (she was breastfed as well) but my mother could never get me to eat solids when I was a baby. I am allergic to dairy so my mother had to breastfeed me until I was 2. Apparently I gobbled food right up for my father. You might want to try that. Remember he'll eat when he's ready!

Kate <><

first, as far as i know, until a child is one, the eating of solids, is for fun, and practice, not for the majority of their caloric needs (breast milk changes in quality to adjust to the needs of your child!) yay for you for going as long as you have, and for keeping it up. but for foods, i'd say get to simple puree's that are of things you eat... an inexpensive food mill or (what i have) a press kind of strainer thing, makes a great item for mashing potatoes, apples into warm apple sauce, anything like that. mushing up soups etc. let you lil'n try and feed himself too, that will make it more fun for him, my girl loved well cooked peas at that age. always made me nervous, but was her fave!

try not to be stressed about it, as that will be a turnoff for baby. all children have their on timeline for when and what they like. go for mushy things like squished bananas and the like. if it's taste, make mashed potatoes or bananas or anyting with expressed breast milk. i think you get the idea. experiment, but just let your lil'n progress as nature intends and everything will be just fine!

a lil about me, i have a 3 year old, who just self-weaned! she was down to a feeding every few weeks, it's been almost two months now and it never even comes up anymore.

Firstly, I've SO been there and done that with the forever feelings. It IS hard. If he won't take a bottle, have you tried other ways of getting liquids down him? Eyedropper, cup, sippy cup, my son always like mini dixie cups, even a spoon. Your breast milk has all the iron he needs, as well as every other nutrient, for his first YEAR of life! Lots of children (around the world) only get breast milk for their first TWO years, and this is FINE. You can ADD calories, but he's getting all the nutrients and water he needs, rest assured.

Secondly, you need to take breaks. Dads, grandmas, sitters, neighbors, aunts etc. are all capable of doing some solid feeds, or cup feeds or whatever, for a short while. Go out and see a movie, take a short hike, go drink tea at starbucks. Give yourself a bit of time to be YOU. 6.5 mos w/no break due to feeding is HARD.

Thirdly, he's not actually going to go to kindergarden with the breast in his mouth LOL! He's going to take to solids eventually. I've heard that children need to be introduced to foods 7x before it's NORMAL for them. So keep offering, don't force, just let it happen. He'll get there. I PROMISE!!! ~~~HUG~~~

Lastly, the kinds of foods I used for my kids were squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots initially (steamed, smashed and strained), nothing at ALL added. The textures are funky, and it will take some getting used to for them, but you are RIGHT - he is too young for any of the solid foods. He will choke on them, they are not safe. GOOD INSTINCTS! :D Just keep working with what you're doing, keep the foods simple, and he'll take to them ... or you'll start him on kentucky fried chicken lol! Good luck mama!

Wow, what a big baby! He weighs about as much as my 10 month old! (Well, actually, Aidan weighed more last month but he had the stomach flu last week and still has a cold). I think that babies should eat food when they're interested in what you're eating. Isn't that one of the indications that let the doctors know when babies are ready? Besides, when your son is 8 months old, he may be more interested in finger foods (although he probably should have some practice eating things with softer textures, but you can always let him eat baby oatmeal with his hands at that point). Aidan has eaten oatmeal with his hands becuase he no longer eats from a spoon. Actually, my co-worker's daughter didn't take to the spoon at all. She had to be hand-fed or something weird like that. Oh! And you should introduce your son to the cup/sippy cup so that it won't be as difficult to wean him. Make him think it's a toy or something and that you couldn't care less whether he drinks from it or not. Aidan was getting supplemental bottles of soy formula when I wasn't pumping enough (I work full time and pumped until he was 8 and a half months old, but when he was about 4 or 5 months old I wasn't pumping enough milk), but now he's off the bottle and drinks from a sippy cup while I'm gone. And don't worry, you won't be breastfeeding forever. Eventually one of you will get tired of it!

T.,

Sometimes babies avoid foods due to allergy or because they have a minor difficulty handling solids. At 6 1/2 mos, it is not necessary to be giving babies solids when they are exclusively breastfeeding. He just may not be ready. Readiness for solids depends on a baby's ability to sit up by himself and bring food to his mouth. Trying whole foods instead of processed jarred food and baby cereals may entice him when he's ready. You can go to kellymom.com and search starting solids in the search box about halfway down on the left; this will give you many resources. Good first foods could be baked sweet potato, advocado (ripe, tho not overly so), brown rice mixed with breastmilk. Feel free to contact me if you'd like further info. you're doing the best for your baby by conintuing to breastfeed which is likely all he needs just now. You might consider going to Danbury's La Leche meetings and get input from other moms and the support you need.

B. L, Rn, IBCLC

T. my little guy is six months old and 19 pounds I am nursing him he does great during the day got him eating three solids a day. But at night different story I am still getting up three times a night to nurse him. I am wondering when will this stop. He really likes sweet potatos, and really took to solid foods. your son does not ever like oatmeal maybe put some apple juice in the oatmeal.

I think your son will be fine. Maybe just introduce rice cereal w/ breastmilk mixed in for now. Enjoy this time with him while it lasts. It will be over before you know it. :)

till 1yr solids are just for practice, and breast milk has more cals than baby food does.

I nursed my son until two months before his second bday so i feel you. but i also have to tell you that right now he's two months shy of his third bday and up until this point has Never been sick. anyway, did you try mixing your breast milk with oatmeal? (the baby kind) let the consistancy stay really thin and feed her that after she's nursed so she's not So hungry that she gets frustrated cause its not coming as fast as the milk does. Good luck!

You are right, he needs more food than milk now. Milk will be still very importans, but babies cannot get enough iron from milk alone.

My children never took to baby food either, but they loved home made food. Preparing your own baby food is not that difficult. Would you like recipes?

He will take to the solids when he is ready. My daughter who is a healthy (getting ready to turn 15) year old, did not start solids until she was almost a year old. My 4 year old started everything a little sooner than his sister, but he again was close to a year before I worried about it. If he is 19 1/2 pounds at 6 1/2 months old, it sounds like he is getting plenty of calories. Breast milk contains all the nutrients he needs, provided you are eating a healthy diet. Occassionally try a smashed up banana or steamed veggie. Remember natural raw foods will have more nutrients than anything pasteurized or processed.

Have you tried pumping and adding the cereal to your breastmilk. Maybe he just didn't like the taste of the cereal. Your breastmilk might make it a little more familar. Some babies don't like the consistency of baby food. Since your a SAHM (not that I wanna add more work to your already crazy work load), but have you ever thought about making your own baby food. Try carrots, cook the snot out of them and then mash them up with a fork. Maybe add a tiny bit of sugar to make them sweeter. The same with peas, apples...you name it. There are cook books out there just for this purpose. This way you can make it as lumpy as you like and it's more like real food.

My son is 18 months old and we breastfed (4 times a day) until about a month ago. I had to have a CAT scan done and we had to wait 48 hours before nursing and just decided to continue with weaning- otherwise I think he would have nursed till he was 18 years old! So I understand what it is like to feel like you will breastfeed forever. My son has always been a good eater, however, I made a point to always eat with him. He sat down to eat his solids when we were eating our meals and snacks. Babies are so curious and want to emulate everything you do. So although you may not be eating mashed green beans, he still gets to see you EAT. Also, i never gave my son the jars. I made my own food, which was very easy. Whatever you are making for a veggie for dinner or whatever, just put some aside (steaming is much better at retaining the nutrients and don't add any seasonings- do up yours after his). I put it in the food processor and voila! Baby food (you may need to add a little water or breastmilk to make it more watery). A good trick that I used to use too, on a day when you have time, make a whole bunch of baby food. I would do one food at a time then spoon it into an ice cube tray. Once it froze I would remove them (you may need to let it thaw a bit to remove easily) and put them in a plastic bag labeled with the date and take out a food cube when I needed it. Let it thaw or put it in the microwave (not too long) and it's ready! I also suggest that the Gerber stuff is not good for any babies, especially one who is not eating their food. It has so much sugar and junk that is not good for baby. Babies who are used to sweet things before the blander or more savory, will probably not take to food well. Hope that helps!

Our daughter was(and still is) the same way. She's 9 months now and still breastfed(Idon't think she'll ever give up the breast!). When we started solids at 6 months she wasn't really interested, she took maybe 1 or 2 baby spoons at each meal. At 6 1/2 months her ped told me to increase to 3 meals a day. She did not like fruits at all, but she loved her veggies, especially the green ones. We would mix a little fruit with oatmeal and add veggies, this way at least she was getting a little of each. Of course we introduced each new food about a week apart to check for allergies. She is just now starting to eat more. I also found that the gerber puffs are a great snack. Isabelle loves them and they dissolve almost immediately, but they are not a substitute for a meal, they just don't have enough nutrition(but they are a good source of zinc and iron). You may want to try using number 2 and 3 baby foods, they have a more interesting taste, for example Earth's Best has apple cinamon oatmeal and sweet potato cinamon bisque, of course you have to introduce the ingredients individually first and thin them out with breastmilk so they are a consistency that is appropriate for your son, we have had success with that. Isabelle had a hard time with wagon wheels at first, but it didn't take long for her to become an old pro. What I don't understand is how she can eat so little and stay so big?! She has always been in the 95% in height and weight! Breastmilk must be superjuice! lol Actually it kind of is superjuice. I hope this has helped, Good Luck!
G.

Although breastmilk should be the bulk of his diet - after 6 months babies need more iron then from milk (before 6 months they have stores saved up from be fore birth - and formulas add iron to them already).

I would suggest trying to make your own baby food! It's easy and simply. I recently borrowed a book from my library called "Blender baby food" and "Super baby food". The bledner book is great because the only appliance you need is a blender to puree baby's food (i havent read much other the other book yet - but so far it's also a really good baby food book). Also - you can use just a fork to mash bananas (no cooking required!).

My daughters were not big on jared baby food or the baby instant cereals either. They started on cut up tables foods around 9 months. good luck!

For the 1st year of life, all babies really need is breastmilk or formula. That is where they get their nutrition. Baby food is just for practice. So, you will probably have to wait for him to show interest in solids.