7 Month Old Doesn't Eat Food!

My mom said I didn't eat food until I was 8 months old. Just keep trying but don't stress over it. There's too many other things to stress about. I did with my son, but he just wouldn't have it. Now that he's a little over a year, I can't keep food out of his mouth. If she's healthy, she's fine. She'll eat when she's ready.

Try mixing some baby food with the rice cereal. That is what I did with my daughter and I gradually added more food and less cereal until she was on just food.
G.

My little boy didn't eat solids until he was about a year old. Every baby progresses at their own pace and as long as she is nursing well, she's fine not getting solids. I tried many different foods/textures....and he refused them all....until he was ready!! Now people are constantly amazed at how much he eats :) (He's 2 now.)

Breastmilk should make up the vast majority of her diet until she is about a year old anyway, so don't worry mama! She'll eat when she's ready. And believe me , you will know when she's ready when she leans over and grabs food off your plate!

Oh and you won't miss out on her liking vegetables etc if you don't introduce them early (something I was told by one mom)....my son loves his veggies and fruits....even eats soybeans and lima beans!

Hang in there mama!

I wouldn't worry about. Until they are 12 months old, solids is more about experimentation and learning than it is nutrition. If she is nursing well, then she is getting all the nutrition she needs. Different babies are ready for things at different times. When she's ready, she'll eat food.

Why are you trying to feed her solid food at only 7 months. Your baby is not eating solids because she does not need them yet. She is getting all of the nutrition she needs in the breast milk. I did not feed solids until 12-14 months. Your child will have less illnesses and a better immune system on breast milk with no other foods. When you do start solids the easiest to digest are fruits and vegetables. The most allergenic foods are the grains, which because of the allergenic nature would be best left till later.
Sincerely,
B. S. RN CCM

Most kids I've known followed their teething pattern (including my own kids).
They generally want to 'suck only' until they start getting teeth, and then the teething itself causes them to want to bite, thus facilitating the move toward more solid food.
I say relax :o) All kids are not created equal, contrary to many docs and parenting books...and that makes it kind of confusing sometimes! lol Your baby will be just fine.
What a good mommy you are for being concerned ; )
Blessings,
H.

I have three daughters and none of them approached learning to eat the same way. My oldest didn't get her first tooth until she was a bit over 10 months. She, however, LOVED oatmeal. She would eat it any time. The first few times of any new food she would spit the food right back out until she got used to the new texture and taste. Some things she never really learned to like. She was such a huge fan of orange vegetables that I ended up mixing meat and fruit with them so that she would eat the other things. The second child only liked bananas. I could not get her to eat rice cereal, oatmeal or any other baby food for quite some time. I had to mix anything that I wanted her to eat with bananas. The third child just had to roll with the punches. I don't really remember if she had any issues with certain foods likely because dealing with those things was second nature by then. The interesting thing is that my "banana girl" (now 6 years old) is the one most likely to try new foods now. As long as your daughter is nursing and not losing weight, she is getting the nutrition that she needs. Help her enjoy this time of discovery. Don't stress. What she doesn't like this week, she might love next month. Also, if you are not doing it already, you might want to try to introduce the baby food first and then nurse. She will be hungrier. If she is too fussy to do that when she is hungry, possibly try to give her enough milk to calm down, then feed. Good luck!

give her mushed up table food. baby food is processed and bland anyway

she doesn't need food for nutrition at this point. she gets everything from nursing except maybe iron.

HI THERE J.: My advise is Do Nothing. Two different children, two different eating patterns. Perhaps if you have time. an ancestor saerch. Maybe great grandma on your husbands side was a small appitite.anyway, That's how I see it.

This same thing happened with a friend of mine and her son. She finally gave up with the baby food and began feeding him the dissolve-able Gerber Graduates snack foods and bananas at around 8 months. He is now 11 months old and eats great. He loves soft fruits and avocados and little pieces of turkey and ham. He just really didn't like baby food. He would gag and spit it out. And as if that wasn't clear enough, he would stick his hand in his mouth and scrape out any remnants. But once she started giving him "real foods" he was fine.

She may want table food-my younger daughter (now 22 mos) only tolerated baby food for about a month and my 1st daughter like your son was off baby food by 8 months (and didn't get teeth til she was 9 mos). Try things like mashed potatoes, yogurt (Yo Baby is a good one for wee ones) cottage cheese, mashed bananas and peaches. Just because she doesn't have teeth doesn't mean she can't chew-you don't chew food with your front teeth anyway!! You may also try the baby oatmeal which my kids preferred-add some applesauce or bananas to get her on some new flavors. You know it won't go on forever so don't sweat it, if she's still nursing often she may just not be that hungry-when you begin to wean her you may notice her being more interested in foods.
God Bless!

Hi J..
I can only share my experience with a very similar situation with you... My son nursed very well (he also started teething at 3-4 months) and by 7 months I had even given up rice cereal. He just wasn't interested in much "food". I tried making my own organic food, too, so that the tastes were fresh. He would nibble and try foods, but he wasn't eating meals. We nursed successfully for 16 months and he was close to a year old when he did start taking interest in more solid foods.
The good news is that there are some resources here in Tulsa for you to look into if you want to feel confident that your daughter is getting the nutrients she needs. Natural Lullabies at 81st & Harvard offers a baby nutrition 101 class. They have a professional who specializes in this very topic come educate parents about baby health and nutrition.
I wish they would have been offered while I was going through the same thing. It can be worrisome when you just aren't sure that baby is getting the appropriate nutrition. My son will be 3 in October & he has great eating habits now, but I can relate to your concern. Good luck to you in finding what fits best for your family.
V.

Kids are just different. As long as she's growing I wouldn't worry about it.

Good Morning J.,

I can appreciate you being concerned...Some kids just get their teeth earlier than others...Seeing she don't have teeth and she won't eat baby food maybe she is wanting what you and the rest of the family wants...What I use to do is mash up my food and gave it to my three kids and they seem to eat it good...I would suguest is that you mash up her food and see how that goes...Best of luck to you my friend...She will eat when she can adjust...
G.

Have you tried making your own food? It tastes so much better. I can send you some more information if you are interested. I recently taught a class on the topic.
My youngest did not want to eat at first either. Same story with teeth...older one had them, little one did not. At first, we kept trying different food until we found something he liked and gave him as much of that as he wanted until one day he decided, "Hey, this food stuff is pretty good!" Now he gobbles up every bite. Bananas worked for him.
Make sure that his food is pretty watery and very pureed at first. He can probably handle a little more, but keeping the texture close to breastmilk makes a smoother transition. Also, be sure to wait 4 days between introducing new foods to watch for an allergic reaction.
Most importantly, be patient and don't force anything. Turning dinner time into a struggle will just make it harder and harder. Give her time to develop those needs and tastes. And the other moms are right....if she doesn't eat food until a year it won't hurt her. Breastmilk/formula is the primary source of nutrition the first year. Anything else is just a perk. :)
Best of luck. She'll be fine!

Why not just continue to give her the rice cereal, but start adding just a tiny bit of other types of food INTO the rice cereal. At first, just enough to barely taste it, and then gradually add more and more as you go along. That will get her more used to the new tastes while continuing the texture she is so used to. Really, babies can feel the textures of food just the way we can.

I would introduce only one new food each week. Yeah, seems boring to us, but babies don't like a lot of new sensations thrust upon them daily. They have to build up to liking things - an acquired taste kind of thing. Also, this keeping it to one new food each week will also help you to know if she develops a food allergy - you will right away know what to avoid from now on.

Don't give up, she will eventually start eating most of what you give her.

Also, don't worry that she doesn't have teeth yet. I know some children who didn't get any until after they were a year old, and they have perfectly normal teeth now.

she is getting all she needs from you, so she probably doesn't really need it. babies can thrive on breastmilk alone for a really long time. have you tried making your own food or are you using jars? my son wouldn't eat anything from a jar. not one bite, but wolfed down homemade baby food. it's really easy. Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is great.

my son was the same, basically shes not ready yet. enjoy the baby moments and try again later:) my son finally start to eat about 14 months old and hes still nursing.

Hi J.,

Your baby is getting all of the nutrition she needs from breastmilk until 1 year as long as she is nursing well.

After much research, I waited to begin my kids on solids until they were showing all of the signs of readiness. My son didn't start until he was 10 months-old and my daughter at 9 months.

There is a lot of good information on the LaLeache league website.

Also, I made my own baby food from just boiling veggies and putting in the food processor. I think the website I used for ideas was www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Good luck!
K.