I Can't Do What the Doctor Is Asking...

Little ones have to learn to eat from a spoon and it can be hard for the first couple of weeks. One trick I found worked with all three of my little ones was to dilute the baby food with formula, or breastmilk, until it's consistency was very very liquid, they were less likely to spit it out that way. After they started taking the diluted baby food I'd put less and less formula (or bm) in the food every time I'd feed them.

It's not at all unusal to have this problem, sometimes they just won't eat from a spoon. Don't stress about it too much, if she still won't eat try again in a week, eventually she'll get it.

Sometimes it takes a while for the little ones to get the hang of eating. However, here are a few things to get started. Start with Rice cereal. It seems to be the blandest. If you are using rice now, you might try oatmeal as it may be the taste. The biggest thing to remember is to thin the cereal out so it is almost watery at first. (use whatever you are feeding: formula, breast milk, etc as the thinner). As she gets the hang of almost drinking it you can start making it more solid in consistency. Keep trying a few times a day so she gets used to it in your feeding routine. Hope this helps.

I have three boys and all of them were different but my last didn't relaly get the whole swallowing thing right away - we got the head turn the spitting out the just generally unhappy but with time he got it - I started with cereal with fruit - its a little sweeter not much but just a little - really the cereal reminds me of eating book paste - once you start them on veggies she might start to like sweet potatoes or green beans - just keep trying - I can understand til waiting til she was 6months but give it a serious try - this too shall pass and she will be eating before you know it.

Hi S.,
I know how it feels. My youngest did not want any food either, he only wanted to be nursed. I didn't push it because he was at a healthy weight and he eventually started eating food.
Good luck!
C

My advice is to continue trying to feed her and she will eventually get the hang of it. The longer you hold out, the harder it will be to get her used to the different textures of food. Are you feeding her just cereal, or have you tried any vegetables or fruit? Are you breastfeeding or bottle? If you're bottle feeding, you can try mixing a little cereal in with her bottle and buy one of those nipples that is cut in four directions. Some doctors will tell you not to do that, because the baby could choke, but if you're holding your baby and feeding her, that's not going to happen. My son didn't care for cereal either, and I was breastfeeding, so I just watered down a little juice and added some cereal to it in a bottle and got him used to the texture, and then eventually I was able to get him to eat the cereal. I always mixed the cereal with white grape juice because the doctor told me that the vitamin C helps their body absorb the protein or something better (it's been 6 years so it's hard to remember). I just remember that the cereal didn't taste very good to me if I mixed it with formula or water, so I tried juice, and he absolutely loved it! Or you can try bananas or applesauce. Every baby is different, so if she's not ready to eat solids yet, then don't worry about it. She might not be ready until 9 months. As long as she's drinking enough formula or breast milk, water, and juice, she should be fine. That's my advice. Hope it helps. Feel free to email me with questions if you want. :) Take care.
~N.

My daughter wanted nothing to do with food until she was between 9-12 months old. She was perfectly happy with her formula. She was always a good weight and happy - so I wasn't concerned. All babies do things at their own pace, so do not let it stress you out. If it is making you crazy, try every other day until you see results. If her weight is good, I wouldn't worry about it.

While it's a good way to ease in to solids, cereal has limited nutritive value. It's basically empty carbs. So, if she won't take, it, you can move on to better tasting foods like veggies and fruits to see if she is more willing to take those.
Good Luck!

P.S. This came up at my Le Leche League meeting last week. They said you should keep trying every few days. Are you breastfeeding? If you are, you don't need to worry about her getting the nutrition she needs because breast milk is all she needs for the first 12-18 months. It's just good to start the solids so that she doesn't become picky later on. But as long as you are trying and she is still gaining weight, don't worry too much about it.

The doctor is right... if a 6 month old is having difficulties eating, she's needs to do it more. She needs the practice. It takes practice to move the food from front of mouth to back of mouth. During that practice, most babies gag as they learn... the food touches back of throat by mistake and they learn. If you withhold food (what I see alot of moms doing!) it's just dragging the problem out longer. You might also want to try chunkier food. I have no clue where this idea came from that babies need super-smooth puree food. Both my kids hated it... they would just spit it out and look disgusted (at like 4-5 months). I started just fork-smashing soft food the rest of the family ate (noodles/pasta, milk-soaked cereal, veggies, shredded meat, etc) at like 5 months and they ate with no problem! All my kids were feeding themselve 'finger food' (which is pretty much any food, even lumping oatmeal) 100% of the time by the time they were 7-8 months. Oh... none of my kids had a single tooth before their 1st birthday... teeth have nothing to do with food-readiness (contrary to what alot of parents in this company believe) since only molars are used for chewing and they don't usually come in until the 2nd or 3rd year.

Just like with sitting up, crawling, and walking it takes practice. The reason your dr. is telling you to try twice a day is to get practice. The more you try the more she will learn just keep trying. And it will be messy babies are messy but they clean up easily.