7 Month Old on Food Strike!!

It's perfectly fine and normal to give her formula if she goes off food awhile. Some babies don't take to solids until a year or older. She could be teething, or changes around her could be throwing her off. A few times mine was teething, once he had a virus, and when we travel or change his schedule he doesn't eat as much solids. I give him formula or milk with a dropper of vita-sol if he's being finicky. He's a year old now. If he doesn't have other "sick" signs (fever, tiredness, congestion) I wouldn't worry.

My doc always told me that kids, even babies, will know how much they need to eat. They will go up and down. Feed her at the normal time, just make smaller portions for a while and follow her lead. Don't worry unless she starts to lose weight.

Are you pureeing them? If so I would just try steaming the veggies and cut them up small so she can feed herself. My daughter is going through the same thing but she will eat if she can feed herself. It might just be a control issue.

She may be bored with the food selections, try introducing new types of fruits and veggies and if she has the teeth you can even try little fingerfoods. My daughter would hardly touch solids when she was 7m, and my doctor fussed and fussed at me, but as soon as I tried finger foods we became an eating machine. I think she just didn't like the texture of the super-purred stuff.

Some children do this. You just have to keep on trying.

Hi J.,
i read your article on your 7 month old baby going on a food strike. I wouldnt worry too much about it. Maybe shes not ready for whole food yet.i have a 7 month old grandson. Hes very healthy, and so far will eat anything hes given. However, hes mostly still on second food babyfoods, and formula. When i tried to give him a little bite of mashed potatoes, you would have thought he ate a lemon. Ha.ha. I just assumed he wasnt ready yet. I just try little bites of different things trying to expose him to whole foods,and suppodesly they have all the nutrients in formula and babyfood that they need. I understand your concern, but i wouldnt worry, just try to give her a little at a time ,and i believe shell adjust when shes ready.i think your doing a great job! My daughter didnt really start eating whole foods until she was 8 or 9 months. Ther all different. Hope i helped some.have a good day!
C.

My daughter was similar to Brit's... she hated anything on a spoon. I think it was an early independent streak. :-) She would either nurse/have a bottle of expressed milk, and then I'd just let her play/eat a variety of finger foods at her high chair. Some made it in, some made it on the floor. Cherios and those fruit puffs were great pre-made foods. I also steamed a lot of veggies and fruits to almost mushy (if I could squish it with my finger, she could squish it with her gums) and cut them in little bite size pieces. Broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots, pears, apples, plums were all really great. We were very fortunate that she was at a daycare where her food didn't have to come from a sealed jar because by 9 months she wouldn't touch pureed food, and it's only recently that she'll eat anything brothy or soup like (at 2.5).
Hang in there and just keep giving her options. She'll probably turn around soon.

Hi J.! I have an 8 month old who does the same thing. She eats a little bit occasionally, but not consistently. Sometimes I think it's related to her having cold symptoms..sometimes a stomach ache...but sometimes there are no other symptoms..she just won't eat the solids. My pediatrician told me that since her weight gain is steady, she's getting her calories from somewhere. Whether it's from formula or solids...so not to worry. He told me to just keep offering it...be consistent in offering. This has been going on for about 2 1/2 months on and off. She used to eat great. Then she went to only eating her cereal mixed with a fruit for breakfast. Lately she hasn't even eaten much of that. I keep fixing the lunch & supper, offering her some. Sometimes she might even take one bite. Sometimes, she drinks about 1 oz. of milk then I switch it out real fast & give her a bite food to get her going. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I am wasting gobs of food, but I'm still offering. As long as your baby is gaining weight, you shouldn't have to worry too much. Every now & then I slip her regular table food that I am eating, and she always tastes that, so I'm going to slowly increase that with textures & consistencies she can tolerate.
Good luck!

At about 7 months our kids seemed to realize that they were eating different food then we were. So we started feeding them the veggies or mashed potatoes or pizza crust that we were eating. This seemed to help. Our kids also liked to feed themselves at this age. Does it make a difference if she holds the spoon herself? Good luck.

A lot depends on how often she's eating. At her age, she should be on 4-5 feedings a day, preferably 4. Three should line up closely with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The fourth should be before bed. Her bottle should be about 8oz. or so. Do not feed between meals. She'll eat when she's hungry.

As long as she's gaining weight, don't stress about it. I know it's hard. Every child needs a different amount of food. Our twins ate everything they could get their hands on, our daughters eat like birds. I thought they were going to starve, but they're fine!

At 7 mos, and up to age 1, your baby is getting all of her nutrition from formula. Do not substitute baby food for formula. The only real reason to feed babies other food at this age is so they can develop a wider variety of food preferences. Of course their taste buds change and so do their preferences over time. None of my three babies would even eat baby food. they all waited until they had a couple teeth and then they went straight to solid food. Until then they were solely breastfed. All were healthy, developmentally advanced and happy.

As long as your baby is growing and developing normally, you might consider waiting to reintroduce baby food. Once she is pulling up and grasping, she can eat certain finger foods. By 8 - 10 mos, most pediatricians will OK feeding her yogurt (whole milk only until age 2)like yo-baby.

I wish you well. It sounds like you are a wonderful, attentive mom. I know that you and your daughter will figure out what is best for you.

Blessings,
D.

I am sure its just teething or something and once she gets done with that stage she will be fine. Just keep offering it to her!

It could be teething.

But, both my boys did this at this age. They both refused to eat the baby food.

Instead of pureeing the food just give it to her chopped real small, and let her feed her self.

Even if she doesn't have a lot of teeth she can still chew it.

My youngest did, and he did not get his first tooth till the week of his first birthday.

J.,
My now 10 month old son did the same thing around that age and it was due to teething. It is very common for baby's appetites to diminish some during teething b/c their gums hurt and they just don't really feel good. Perhaps try putting some orajel or other numbing stuff on her gums prior to feeding time and see if that helps. Also, do wait until she is pretty hungry, but not just starving. I wouldn't cut back too too much on the formula b/c the bulk of babies nutrition in the first year comes from formula or breastmilk. HTH.

Babies between 6 months and a year need about 32 oz of formula a day. Any less and you're going to short them necessary nutrients and calories needed for proper development. Before a year solids are more of a taste and learning experience as the calories in table and baby foods are not dense enough in calories to be replaced formula or breastmilk. You may try feeding solids before giving formula. If that doesn't work, let her take control of the spoon. Get a splat mat. Try finger foods by overcooking rice, making mushy carrots, mashed potatoes (thinned with formula or water not cow's milk yet), yogurt (the milk proteins are broken with fermentation), stewed apples or peaches or pears, and well cooked pasta. Well cooked beans, unseasoned and slightly creamed are good too. If you're worried about choke hazards you can get a mesh strainer feeder in the infant section of most Target stores. These are good for teething as you can put ice cubes or frozen formula or breastmilk in for them to suck on and not worry about choking. All of the foods above should be soft enough to get through the strainer anyway. I forgot to mention ripe avocado. It's dense in calories and high in the fats babies need. Cherrios and the quick dissolving Gerber snacks are a good low mess way to let your baby self-feed. Just NEVER put food in the bottle. It's a choke hazard and doesn't help build self-care skills. Feed foods with a spoon or let her feed herself with a mesh feeder or her fingers or a spoon.

Until 1 y/o, breastmilk/formula bottles are the most important. It provides all of the nutrients that a baby needs.
Eating solid foods is a learning process. Give her time, she will come around.
My 10 month old is now eating foods that she wouldn't accept at all even a month ago.
Patience is key. You don't ever want to force a baby to eat, it could cause eating problems later on. A healthy baby will eat when they are hungary and refuse food when they are not.
I have used the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and it totally helps you understand alot about a baby that is learning to eat. It is centered around making your own baby food too, so you may get some new ideas.
Good luck,
T. S