My daughter has suddenly decided not to eat anything but yogurt. Plain yogurt. She used to love rice cereal with applesauce and her favorite food used to be sweet potatoes. Now, anything that isn't plain yogurt (including her bottle) causes her to start SCREAMING. It's now 10:30 in the morning, and usually by this time she's had two meals. Instead, she's in her exersaucer, playing and laughing. There's been times she's skipped meals before, but, she's never gone this long without eating. Should I cave in and just feed her yogurt to her heart's content, or wait it out until she's willing to take her bottle?
6 months is still young and eating is new. Food isn't entirely necessary at this age (mine usually don't eat until well after 1 year but they also breastfed.) I wouldn't worry about it too much except that I thought that dairy isn't supposed to be introduced until after 1 year?
At any rate, I'd take the advice of some of these ladies and weather the storm.
I say wait it out until she is willing to take her bottle. Maybe some some teething gel or tablets on before you give it to her in case she's teething.
Almost all young children go through some kind of weird eating phase. You just have to keep trying to feed them what they need and hope it passes quickly. Don't give up.
As long as she's over there playing and laughing, she's fine. She'll eat when she's ready and you'll be there with bottle in hand. :o)
I can't remember where I read it...i think parents magazine, but I remember somethings saying that a child has to try to something at least ten different occasions before acquiring a taste for a food he/she doesn't like at first.
Maybe you could keep trying different food and mix them in with the yogurt.
Morning, J.~ My daughter is six months old too and has started having major issues with taking her bottle. It's not that she's not hungry, it's that she's in pain. Best we can figure is it's because she's teething. For one, her appetite has diminished because she feels bad. Secondly, I think sucking on the bottle hurts her mouth. Granted, this doesn't explain why yours won't eat her applesauce, etc. Have you tried heating it up? I know my little one likes the taste of her formula better if it's warm. Anyway, good luck and have a great weekend!
E.
Your daughter is still very young and is just starting to experiment with foods. I would NOT give in and let her have all the yogurt she wants. It is great that she will eat plain yogurt. Keep the extra sugars away as long as possible, this will help her be able to tolerate and even love healthy natural choices as an adult. I would offer her a new food each meal, like the applesauce or smashed bananas or sweet potatoes and if she refuses to eat them, walk away and leave her with them, she may make a huge mess, but she may just need to feel in control of her eating. She will somehow get a little taste of each food in her mouth and that will start to train her palate. If she still refuses, clean her up and end meal time. Don't give her a bottle. Also, always start meal time with about 2 ounces of milk in a soft sippy cup, I reccomend the Avent sippy's. This will get her body in full hunger and eating mode, then offer her the food. Later, at least 30 minutes after meal time, offer enough breastmilk or formula to fill her up. She will eventually eat when she is hungry. Her milk is giving her all the nutrition she needs, so don't worry, just set up good habits which include scheduled mealtimes, variety of foods and not eating until you are stuffed, but rather untl you don't want anymore or are satisfied. Many parents make the mistake of giving their kid whatever they will eat and then as older children, the adults can't make the foods they would like to eat or that are best for their kids because the kids are deciding to eat chicken nuggest and mac n cheese every meal. I had a friend who let her kids eat sugary cereal for every dinner because "they don't like dinner". She eventually learned that she was the parent and was in charge of the family's nutrition. My kids LOVE salad NO dressing. They prefer is to McD's anyday. Good Luck, Get the book by Sienfeld's wife, it's great.
My chldren went through that (I have three), I just weathered the storm and eventually they came out of it in a week or two on their own. I always figured it was just a down hill slump of a growth spurt, I did consult my pediatrician anout it and he agreed with me.
Don't worry, I hope that I helped.
I didn't even start feeding my daughter solids until she was six months old (my doctors orders) and then it was all low allergy foods like bananas, rice cereal, pears and applesauce. I wouldn't even introduce yogurt until 9-12 months of age. I would back off on the solids and go back to giving more bottles, the majority of the babies nutrition at 6 months of age should come from breastmilk or formula.
I'd check with your pediatrician to make sure this isn't more than a battle of the wills! I am not sure if she is getting all the nutrition a 6 month old needs from yogurt.
Good luck!
--P. M.
Keep trying to give her the bottle, it could just be a thing that she's doing. Give her some of bottle then go to yogurt and then back to bottle.
My mom told me that there were times that I wouldn't eat anything.
I'm not clear on something. Is this the first day she has done this? Or has she been refusing everything but the yogurt for a week already? If it's just today, hey, go with it. A day or two of it won't hurt her. But if this isn't just a day or two thing, then you need to talk to your dr about what is healthy, because, she won't get all she needs just eating yogurt. Most kids don't eat every thing they need each day, but over the course of a week, they average out getting what they need. So look at it from that perspective. She is too small still to only eat yogurt for more than a couple of days.
She is too young to be relying on "real" food for all of her nutrician. For the first year, she needs formula or breast milk for the bulk of her vitamins, minerals, and liquid to keep her healthy and regular. She is young enough for you not to stress over yogart being the only solid food she'll eat, but you can't let her refuse the bottle for too long-- unless she is willing to start trying to drink from a straw or sippy. Also, my 3rd child NEVER ate baby food. I would just give him teeny tiny crumbs of whatever I was eating for his solid foods. Also, if she is content and not fussy, I wouldn't worry that she is eating less overall. My son used to zip through a whole banana without blinking and one day decided a couple of bites was enough. Their digestive systems start to mature and they need less food because they can store more of what they take in instead of it all going right through them.
