My son spits out all baby food and rice cereal. I can't tell if he just isn't used to it or if this is part of his reflux issues (he spits up a lot of formula in spite of being on a reflux medicine.) In fact, the doctor suggested we go on solids now as it should help his reflux. Any ideas on how to encourage him to swallow?
He just may not be ready yet. If he's not swallowing, that's a good indicator I think that maybe he's just not there yet (which is perfectly normal btw-- mine was 7+ months before he was ready). Thinning the food to the consistency of a liquid might be the best bet.
You might try pushing the spoon in his mouth a little further so he has no choice but to swallow. I had to try that with my oldest. He didn't like the cereal because it didn't go down fast enough. When he figured out that he needed to swallow what was in his mouth, and I didn't give him the option to spit it out, the feedings got better.
my babys at fist spit all rice cereal i try mixed cereal and they like it and 1 month later i try again with rice cereal and they take it
i have to mix the cereal with water they don't take it with formula
hope it helps you
He may not be ready yet. I would wait a week and try again. If he doesn't do it then... repeat wait a week and try again. You should just try with the rice cereal until he gets used to that and then move on to other things as suggested by your ped.
My daughter was nursed, so I had less concern about her getting enough/too much to eat (they self regulate much better with breast feeding) . . . but I did not start solids at all until around 7 months and even then it was slow going until a year. I would back off a little bit on the food since his behavior is resisting.
Have you tried Oatmeal cereal? My daughter will eat the rice cereal, but not very well. My sister suggested switching to oatmeal and it's a whole new kid. She loves the oatmeal. Also, she spits up the rice cereal but not the oatmeal. I started my daughter on cereal where it was practically liquid and slowly made it more and more thick. Maybe you can try thinning out the cereal. My mom used to put a little sugar on our cereal. I haven't had to do it, but she said it worked like a charm to get us to eat.
The reason they are not starting babies on solids until later is to make sure they can swallow. He has to be able to shove the food to the back of his throat. We fed our babies earlier like 6 weeks but not they wait til 7 mos. Maybe too he just does not like the texture. IO have a preemie in my day care and is 3 and still spits out the pulp of food. All we can do is keep trying. Good luck G. W
You should try to make the rice cereal very thin - close to what he's used to having in the bottle... but a tad bit thicker. Also , do it in small doses on each spoon.
If he continues to have problems... talk to your ped. about him not swallowing. There may be an issue with his swallow coordination (not likely, but it's not out of the question either).
Your ped. may order a swallow study to be done on your son (just a live xray to see how he swallows food) -- or he may refer you to a ped. GI doctor and he could order the swallow study.
Chances are your son just needs more practice and more time to get used to the "foreign" objects being pushed in his mouth. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for them to be completely OK with eating baby food.
