So I opted to wait until 6 months to start my son on baby food. At his 6 month well-check, his weight was leveling off and it was apparent that he wasn't getting enough calories for weight gain from just breast milk alone. He refused to eat his rice cereal by spoon, so I started mixing it in bottles of pumped breast milk. Now I am attempting to feed him stage 1 baby food and it is not going over well at all. He is quite content to just continue to nurse on demand! (In 1 hours time, I got him to eat 1 oz. of baby applesauce.)
Any tips or tricks to get him more interested in solid food? I'm looking for advice and words of encouragement. Thanks mamas!
We've kept with it, and he is slowly coming around. I think he was just put off by the fact that "food" came on a spoon instead of coming out of mommy! ;)
It's all trial and error. And I guess I just jumped the gun getting concerned that he wasn't taking to solid food as quickly as my other children had.
Thanks mamas!
1 oz is awesome for starting, I have three kids and i really don't think he is being stubborn, a tablespoon or two at a sitting is great at this age, my almost 7 month old can do maybe a half a jar of baby food in a sitting, plays around with bitter biscuits and puffs. Doesn't always want to eat solids everyday but it's a lot of work. Give it time.
First of all exclusively breastfeed babies to tend to level off their weight gain starting around 6 months. This is totally normal and natural and has absolutely no bearing on whether or not your breast milk is enough for him or not. Solids are for practice ONLY until a year of age so it should never be a fight to get them to "eat enough" some kids are ready early and some aren't ready until closer to a year of age. The more you push and stress the more your little one will fight it.
Now, skip the cereal all together. It has very, very little nutritional value and even less flavor. You baby is used to breast milk that is naturally sweet and the flavor changes depending on what you've eaten. You're child is already used to variety! Start with something like banana, avocado or applesauce you can mash it up with a fork and then mix it with breast milk or you can just cut the banana or avocado into chunks and let him have at it. If you really want to push purees just make your own. They will be much healthier, more nutritious and so much more flavorful then the ones in the store that have been boiled away into nothing and are mostly void of any real vitamins, minerals or nutritional value.
My son has never once had a single puree and he eats like a champ. He loves everything including meats and vegetables. His favorite being fresh peas! He is also breastfed on demand and given a sippy of water (or highly watered down juice) to drink throughout the day. He eats what we eat and has since he was about 7 months old. He would just get smaller pieces of things to avoid choking.
My words of encouragement would be to follow your infant's ques and to not force solids on him. An infant shouldn't be forced before they are ready and breastfed children can be perfectly well nourished and healthy on breastmilk alone for at least the first year.
My now 18 month old refused to eat any baby food. We started with cereal at 6 month. She would put her hands in front of her mouth to keep us from feeding her. After about 3 months of struggling to get her to eat any solids, I finally decided that she was ready to try letting her feed herself. I tried giving her cheerios and she loved them and then started eating other soft finger foods like peas and small pieces of banana. From that point on she was great eater. She preferred to feed herself and is just now starting to show interest in using a spoon. However, she still doesn't like any mushy or pureed foods.
Keep trying... =) I tried my 7 month old on rice cereal after exclusively BF and he hated it. He gagged and cried and was miserable. I'm waiting now. With my two previous children (I have 5 now) I exclusively BF for 12 months before introducing solids. They did fine and made the adjustments okay. With my 1st two, I introduced solids at 4-5 months and when they weren't ready, I just kept trying every week or so. They eventually got the right idea. I never had any of mine gag and cry like my 7 month old though. I'm not in a hurry. My kids were always healthy and fine at their check ups. I'd just keep trying every couple of days or so. He'll get there soon. It takes practice and adjustment. Good luck!!
What I have had t do with my kids is to make myself super animated and into a clown during feeding time to get my children to smile and laugh so that, when they open their mouths, I'd put a small spoonful of food in there. I also gave them bowls, spoons or washable toys to play with while they are sitting in their highchair during feeding time. This seemed to work for my kids. There were times when they didn't want to eat from a spoon and it was due to the fact that they were teething and it hurt their gums to bite down on the spoon.
Hope this helps.
My son was definitely the same way (with the bottle)... He would get extremely frustrated because food didn't magically pour out of the spoon. This spoon/bottle contraption by Nuby really helped!
http://www.diapers.com/product/productdetail.aspx?product...
But- it definitely took time and he was pretty picky... Even today (at 15 months) there are times when he cries for a bottle (especially when he's sick).
Anway, it's completely normal and you're doing everything right!
Updated
Do a google search (or amazon or diapers.com) for this-
Nuby Natural Touch SoftFlex Infafeeder
This really helped me with my son (bottle/spoon contraption)
One of my little ones didn't care for cereal until I started to mix in some yogurt (plain with no added flavors or sugars). We also tried lots of different jar foods. Who knows what might work for your angel, so keep trying :)
This probably isn't what you want to hear - but it sounds like he's just not ready. My 1st child wasn't interested in solid food until closer to 8 months, and even at 1 year old he wouldn't take anything with chunks. Then, one day around 14 months, he just started eating anything we put in front of him and he's a great eater to this day (4 years old).
My 2nd child, on the other hand, loved cereal starting at 6 months and already loves to eat pasta, cheerios, etc, at 9 months. Totally different from the 1st child.
What I've learned from this is that every child has his own schedule, and he'll let you know when he's ready to eat solid food. Offer something every now and then, and don't try to force it, because you'll turn it into a battle of wills/control issue, and you don't want that!
Don't keep trying for more than 10-15 minutes at the most.
If he doesn't like/want what you're offering, stop offering.
Oh! What kind of a spoon are you using?
Try some different types/styles of spoons.
Did you try any pureed fruit?
Or, instead of a jar, try mashing up some banana
and soften it with a little breast milk.
See if he likes that.
Try a little avocado.
Don't put the cereal in his bottle with him. Just keep offering it to him by spoon. He won't starve himself and he'll eventually give in.
My DD wouldn't eat stage 1 foods or cereal... so we tried some stage 2 and she loves it! She is only 6 1/2 months too, but prefers her food thicker and some (like bananas and avacado) she likes with little chunks in it. I would try making some of your own... it's a lot cheaper, and I imagine it tastes better. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ This site has awesome information, tells you what foods are safe to feed when, recipes, anything you need to know about feeding your baby. :)
~Also, my DD wasn't a big fan of applesauce... it was too strongly flavored for her or something... but she love love LOVES pureed prunes (the only stage one baby food she will eat, I don't bother trying to make it on my own)... Prunes are also great to help keep constipation away while introducing solids...
Hi, Mama:
Just want to know: What is the labelling about the baby being stubborn?
Just wait until he is ready.
Hope this helps.
D.
Kids, even babies, have growth spurts and plateaus . I would think this might just be one of those. In infants it doesn't last very long. I think your baby will start showing hunger signs again soon. Just encourage them to nurse more. If your milk isn't enough try formula. he may take to it better and still be able to get that complete nutrition until he is ready for table foods.
