9 Mth. Old Refused to Eat Solids, Any Ideas?

I am one of those moms who my kids did not eat solid food till a year. My first was bottle for a year then my second was nursing. At 7-8mo I would try but they had no intreast in any type of food, either child. I would keep trying but I never pushed it. They did take to it when they were 11-12mo. You say she plays, and sleeps better when eating solids. What time does she eat solids? Does she eat an hour befor your dinner and then you try to give her more an hour later? She may not be hungry. She gets her main nutrients from you for the current moment and when she is ready she will eat, but on her terms. At 10mo we had to force bottle food down my childs throat bc MY DOCTOR told me too. She was losing weight and that was are option bc she refused to eat solids. Unless your doctor says she needs to eat more bc she is losing weight, give her a lil time.

I say "let the baby drive." She'll let you know when she's ready. There is no solid food that can match mom's milk, and she can live on mom's milk (or formula) for at least a full year. (The only extras you *might* need are iron and vitamin D - and "Poly-Vi-Sol with Iron" has both - it's available in the drug store. Check with your pediatrician, or even better, a lactation consultant.)

When I had a consultation with a lactation consultant, she mentioned that her second baby REFUSED all solid food until he was WELL over a year old. Since she knew that he was getting the best possible nutrition from her milk, she just shrugged and said "Well, that makes my life a lot easier." So she put away the spoons and jars of baby food and waited until he started yanking food off her plate at dinner time.

No need to get desperate - relax and know that you have everything she needs - mother's milk does change as she gets older and it is designed especially for her at this age. (My baby started taking food off my plate, too. Babies know what they need - let them do the "driving".)

My son is identical. He would not take ANY baby foods. He likes "big" people foods. He will eat peaches...only off a real peach. He will eat plums ... only off the real plum.... I wait until the fruit are nice and ripe, then peel the skins off. I make sure there are a couple ridges to get him started and he goes to town!Gagging is a normal process for learning to swallow.. but my son had a tendency to do it when I gave him foods he didn't like. The next food he started eating was bananas. I would squish a little off and put it in his mouth. He loves the Gerber Sweet potato, cherry and banana puffs. He is 7 months old, and HATES baby food. I think it is a texture thing. My pediatrician was shocked that he LOVES hummus and baba ghanoush. She said I should be careful since there is more than one ingredient.. but he has been eating them for 10 days now with no problems.. and absolutely goes crazy for them! I realize my son is odd.... After I got him eating these, he started to eat Yo Baby yogurt with fruit and cereal. I know he is not the poster child for how it "should" go.. but he really needed more food as he was starving in the night, so I just started letting him taste my food when he showed interest. I am able to seneak in a few other bites of baby food in between bites f his hummus, etc. He gets mad when he realizes I snuck one in, but I get in some other fruit that way.. one bite at a time! (PS. We tried rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, bananas, squash.. and every other baby food fruit/veggie combo they make!)

Have you tried the Baby-Led Weaning approach? My 7 month son would absolutely refuse anything pureed and fed to him on a spoon, but give him something that he can pick up and feed himself and he downs it! And he's exclusively BF too. As long as the food you're giving is soft (like ripe bananas, peaches, or cooked apples and veggies) and your daughter is sitting up on her own, she might like having control over what goes in her mouth. Even more solid things like certain cereals that dissolve in the mouth (cheerios, plain puffed rice) are good. We've found that giving our son control, and feeding him when we're sitting at the table eating has been very successful. He's even started eating baby oatmeal, as long as I put the cereal on the spoon and give it to him, he puts it in his mouth! A messy process, but fun to watch, and then there's not battle to switch to solids from purees, and no battle to have them learn to feed themself!

I personally would stop all together for at least a month. It sounds like you is gaurding you and this could certainly turn into a eating problem in the future. You can stop it by not forcing the issue now. You have plently of time. She is getting what she needs from you! If she hasnt had any juice yet, I would give her 1oz to 4 oz of spring water. You seem to know about good food so I am sure you know to stay away from juices with high fructose corn syrup or artifical sweetners in them:) Have you evey tried yobaby yogurt? If not, when you try again, go for it. It has a really smooth texture and may be of her liking. Please be careful adding any type of sugar or flavoring to her babyfood in the future. You want her tastebuds to develop a true taste for the food, not a sweetened version. Good luck to you guys and good job being a great mommy:) She will thank you in the future;)

I would not worry about it. She is getting EVERYTHING she needs from you. My kids never did baby food and they are the best eaters now. They are both extremely healthy and are perfectly fine. Maybe pump and give her bottles? Or start her on the Fruit Puffs. Maybe she just does not like baby food.

Hi A.,
I definitely would not shovel it in as she cries, as that can create real long-term food issues. My son did not like food, until he could do it himself. We did do some baby food, but I would have to put food on the spoon and hand it to him to let him do it himself. You said you strain the food to make sure there are no lumps. I have known several of babies who would not take pureed food. Maybe instead just try to cut food up into little bits that she can pick up and eat. I found with my son the best thing I could do was find food that I could set in front of him in the high chair and walk away. As long as I was not involved (and therefore there was no pressure or power struggle), he slowly started picking stuff up to try. Now, at 16 months he is a great eater (again, as long as I don't get involved and just put healthy options in front of him). Unless your doctor says there is a problem or that you have a reason to be concerned, please just know that this can be perfectly normal. Relax, you are a great mom! She might just need to do this on her terms. Don't pressure, if you can at all help it :-).

My son did this same thing...he had terrible acid reflux. When he started refusing all solids my doctor sent us to a speech therapist who specialized in feeding issues. She help us so much and it was a relief to have the help. I know this can be really frustrating. I would not wait. My doc told us that it is not really all that common for babies to be refusing foods at that age and that is why we saw the therapist. It is texture that they shy away from and my son just needed help "desensitizing" this mouth to except different food types.

Don't worry!! My second baby didn't even taste baby food until she was 9 months old (just nursed) and even then, she just sampled little bits until she was a year. Then she started getting more interested, and by 14 months, ate a little bit more, volume-wise. She's a very healthy eater now; she just took longer to get interested. Plus, she was getting all the nutrition she needed from breastmilk. Forcing the issue is more likely to cause a problem later, than just keeping up with nursing sessions for now. Good luck!

Have you contacted your local La Leche League? My mother was a leader and I think they might be able to give you some good advice.

It is the texture that takes time for some baby's to adjust. Have you tried putting it in those bottles that are for baby food. They have a nipple just like regular bottles so it helps them transition better. I have 3 kids and I have had to use this with two of them and it really helped them get use to the texture.

Some babies refuse foods because they have allergies. I wouldn't force them. With no history of allergies in my family, I have lots of children with allergies. I have one that didn't eat solid foods until she was almost two. A baby can survive on breast milk alone for up to three years believe it or not. Check into La Leche League for more information, they have the most accurate and reliable information on all things baby. There is also no reason to puree foods. She should experience the different textures.

And just to let you know my first was the same as yours, no problems. Then the second came and was a totally different story. And each time it was the same, totally different. In a few weeks I will have my sixth and I will have to start all over again.

Good luck. If you need more info you are welcome to email me.

A. of www.amyandsimonblog.com

my dd was not bf but she did refuse babyfoods, but she loved yogurt and bananas and soup! It's messy, but she still loves it, and they do make the healthier soups with less sodium and such, or make your own! also, it may help not have her starving at dinner time, she may be more willing to try something new.