Solid Food Dilemma

Dear K.,

Try mushed up avocado. It's the perfect food - high fat, high chlorophyll, high water. Stay away from alot of grains and fruits as they are too high in sugar. Coconut milk is the closest thing to Mother's Milk - the only other substance that has MCF or medium chain fats. Try a little coconut oil with some of the less acidic grains like quinoa. These are just some quick ideas for you.

At 6 months he needs purees only. Are you breastfeeding?

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Hi there. I agree with some of the other posts, especially the one about waiting until your little one's digestive system is ready. I've heard that an early baby may not be ready until a bit later.
Although I haven't started solids yet with my son, I've been reading a lot! I've read that avocadoes and sweet potatoes are good first foods; I plan to make my own food and keep them additive free, so perhaps you could mash a ripe avocado up or cook some sweet potatoes and food process them (and remove the stringy bits). If you make it yourself, you should also add a bit of milk/formula to make it more soupy. The allergy wait rule may help too to be sure he's not allergic or irritated by any particular food. Hope this helps:) Good luck, and I look forward to hearing how it goes!

Hi there,
My son was not premature but did not really like solid foods until about 9 months. We continually tried to offer him food from 6 mos on and he really did not want any part of it. They say that babies are not ready for food until they have teeth. I kept that in mind and did not put pressure on myself or him. And seeing how you little one was premature then it might take a bit longer. My son did not get his teeth until 7 1/2 months. As long as they have their standard formula or breast milk then they'll be fine. I would just keep offering with out stress about the result.
R.

K., all the foods you're saying he has problems with are the things I'd start him on normally. I started with farex only for several weeks. Then I added stewed pear to the farex. Then after I'd done that for several weeks I then went on to watery vegetables like squash and choko and zuccini then I moved up to harder vegies. The thing is because your baby was premature you'll probably find his system is younger than his actual post birth age. I always introduced a new food at breakfast that way if it didn't agree with my kids I had all day to deal with it rather than all night! Given though that he's premature I'd see your local clinic nurse to guide you through as ideas have changed alot over the years. I was 6 weeks premature in 1970 and the first things my mum gave me other than formula were vegemite diluted in water and egg yolk... definitely not recommended today.

How premature was he? With a premature baby, you determine when he's ready to do things by his *due date*, NOT his actual birthday. (Because at the time of his actual birthday, he should have still been safely inside you!) So, if you would normally start solids at 4 - 6 months, but your child was born six weeks early, you wouldn't start him until he was 5.5 - 7.5 months old. I think his irritable digestive system is telling you he's not physically ready for anything but milk yet.

Which doesn't help your concern that milk alone isn't doing it for him any more. How is he showing you that formula alone isn't enough?

Hi K., my suggestion would be to try brown rice cereal for babies. I have found it in health food stores,also have you tried mixing a bit in his bottle. I started my son on brown rice formula, avocado,plain keifer (milk like yogurt) and banana. He did well especially liked the keifer in the beginning. It is very easy to digest and is loaded with probiotics which makes digestion easier.The brown rice cereal is also easier to digest. Good luck

I Katilyn, I know they always say to start with rice cereal, but my son had a hard time with it in the beginning so my pedi told me to give him oatmeal instead. It was easier to digest and much easier for him to pass, as he was always constipated. Also applesauce and prunes were the best baby food for him for the same reasons, and after a month or so he was ready to move on to more. Now he eats everything! Is your baby spitty or gassy?

Hi K.,

You can research food intolerances and food allergies.

Your child might be intolerant of grains. My eldest son and I are. I'd also check the ingredients. I noticed that corn (starch/syrup) is frequently added to jarred baby foods.

We now follow the Cave Man/Paleo/Neanderthin diet and we're doing much better - No dairy, grains, legumes, processed sugar. I do a lot of cooking now but we're all a lot healthier. My husband thinks I'm a much better cook now too. My children's pediatrician is upset about it but I've told her, Eskimos didn't eat those things and they were very healthy until Europeans showed up with their unhealthy diet. A person can also be intolerant of foods that are healthy for most other people. Everyone has their own immune system (that is what tells your son's digestive tract to dump) and genetics, so everyone isn't the same.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Hi K.,

Rice is the the easiest food to digest. When raw rice is cooked with alot of water for about two hours or more it becomes porridgelike. The ratio of rice to water would be 1 to 3. If you have cooked rice, you can boil water and then pureed it with the rice. It can be flavored with a little salt.

Good luck.
C. C

Hi K.,

Are you breastfeeding or bottle feeding? If you are breastfeeding, I would not worry about food yet. You can breastfeed for up to one year without compromising your son's nutrition. Some sensitivities will go away when the baby is older, others will continue.

If you are bottle feeding him, you will want to very carefully introduce one food at a time (well, this is true of breastfeeding too, but you have more time if you are breastfeeding)

The easiest foods to digest are pureed whole veggies. If you are able, purchase organic veggies such as spinach, carrots, squash (winter or summer), tomatoes, etc. If you have a blender, you can simply blend any of them except the winter squash with some water until it is completely pureed. Then warm it gently and feed it to him. The raw veggies will give him enzymes that cooked veggies do not have, and may help his digestion.

You may try gently cooking these veggies before pureeing them, if you wish. If you cook them, use steam, as it preserves the most nutrients. Do not microwave them.

Another thing to watch out for are the common allergens: wheat, dairy, eggs, strawberries, corn, apples, nuts (strawberries and apples, I believe, are because of the high pesticide content... I have not heard if choosing organic helps). If you are breastfeeding, you will want to check your own diet. My children were allergic to dairy through my milk. I had to eliminate it completely.

I know I wrote a lot. If you would like to learn more, feel free to email me personally at ____@____.com

H.

K.,

I do not know a lot about premature babies and the development of their digestive systems, but have you thought about delaying foods for another month or 2~this may give your sons digestive tract time to mature a bit. Your pediatrician may also have some suggestions too! Hope that this is helpful!

What a neat name, Zoren! My son was extremely picky for years and had trouble with textures. If you put him on Reliv nutritional products (there's a special kids formula), he will get excellent nutrition and get tremendous immune system support and disgestive improvement. They are patented and Reliv is a research-based food science company. They've been around for 20 years, are publicly traded on the NASDAQ (so they are an open book), and have received many honors. The products were developed by Dr. Ted Kalogris and they are tested and refined by a team led by Dr. Carl Hastings, who developed ProSoBee and Enfamil baby formulas and also supervised the Weight Watchers food products. I am an at-home mom who works as a Reliv distributor so you can contact me for more information. I can have you talk to as many parents as you want whose kids had similar issues, and there are many conference calls you can listen in on, for both kids' health and adult health. My phone number is ###-###-####. Love to talk to you! Good luck!!

Although it's been awhile since I had a 6 month old, I know I always started with rice cereal, which seemed the easiest to digest. Initially I mixed a little with the formula and made the hole in the nipple a little larger. Also, applesauce was the first fruit and easiest on the tummy.

Though babies may appear ready to eat solids, their digestive systems aren't ready to handle them until 6 months. You said your baby was born early so you need to adjust his age. When he is 6 months adjusted you should start him on these solids. I have 4 preemies and learned my lesson well with my first 2 (twins). I didn't adjust and they had digestive problems and now have food allergies. My infant son just turned 8 months yesterday, he was 2 months early so he's now 6 months adjusted and ready to start foods.
Hope this helps!
M.

Have you tried only one food at a time? It might be one thing bothering the baby. Y ou should give each new food introduced a week to see if the baby might have a reation. My son had a reaction to squash. I found that out because it was the only new food introduced at the time. One you know what is bothering him/her the you should stop giving it. Maybe you already know this but I thought I would let you know. If the problem persists then you should really contact your doctor. If not sooner.

My son was allergic to all glutinous grains until he was *three*. This is a little longer than usual but it is extremely typical for babies to not handle grain as a first food. Six months is also early to start feeding much at all; come to find out, the babies digestive track lining is still developing for more than a year after birth and the ability to digest grains is pretty much last to develope. To give a baby grains that the child cannot yet digest can actually cause future irritation. Cow dairy and soy are also just about as difficult to digest. Go figure! What do many doctors try to recommend but what main stream commercial food industry recommends - grains and cow or soy based formula! The best first foods, and found this to be true myself as well as reading it, are sweet potatoes, pears, plums, rice, carrots, peaches, moving to apples and bananas, and grains and dairy and beans come way, way further down the line. Good luck! I know it is hard!

I always stared my babies with barley cereal. The recommened rice didn't agree with my children. I recommend introducing vegetables like squash, green beans before fruits as they ae less sweet. Applesauce is a good first food to try also, just choose one without sweetners.
Good luck! For when he gets older I highly recommend Ellyn Satter's book Child of Mine feeding book or How to get your child to eat, but not too much.
Best of luck. Mom of four ages 10, 8, 5 and 2!

I would recommend waiting on the solid foods if he is having a problem. His digestive system is still developing, and since he was premature, he may be delayed in his digestive development. It also never hurts to ask your doctor what he/she thinks as well. If you want to continue to offer him solids, I would stick with gentle foods. Avoid the iron-fortified cereals, because iron can be binding, which can lead to constipation. Try bananas, avocado(you'll have to prepare this yourself), maybe carrots and squash, and avoid gassy foods such as green beans. I hope this is helpful.

I am 30 years old with three kids ages 4 yrs, 2 yrs, and 4 months. I also have a background in nutrition and worked as a nutritionist for WIC for 1 1/2 years. Good Luck!

Hello, K.! Even though your son may enjoy the experience of eating, his digestive system may not be ready yet. It takes a while for them to develop all the necessary enzymes to propperly digest solid food and since he was a premie it might take just a little bit longer still. The APAs guideline of not starting foods before 6 mos doesn't mean that you *have* to start food then, just that you should try not to do it any earlier. Waiting longer is just fine. I waited until each of my kids were really ready and for none of them was that time 6 mos: my oldest started at 8.5 mos, my middle child at 10 mos, and my youngest is almost 7mos and clearly not ready yet.

Be patient. I'd suggest taking a few weeks off and trying again, slowly. If he still has a hard time wait a little more. This is an easier option than dealing with allergies, but if you begin to suspect food allergies you'll need to go even more slowly and record all meals and reactions.

For now, try taking some time off. The formula will provide him with the calories and nutritian he needs right now and give his digestive system a little longer to mature and get ready for solid foods!

K., the very EARLIEST any baby should be introduced to ANY solids is six months, minimum. Before that, introduction of solids actually damages the gut.

If the child is premature, the MINIMUM EARLIEST date is moved up accordingly. If your child, for example, was four weeks early, you need to cut out ALL solids and wait until he is seven months old to start introducing them very slowly, one at a time.

I agree with many of the other responses. My full-term 6.5-month-old has similar issues and is sensitive to many foods. I only intro one food a week.

I'm short on time right now, but this might be helpful as well: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html