Looking for Advice - Colton,CA

Two of my girls did not like baby food. so when We prepared food we would make some for them with out salt and spices and they loved knowing that they were eating the same thing as us. As for the juice we would water it down so that it would no be so acidic or strong. Hope this helps.

HI! Never fear! My 3rd daughter is now 11 mo and she did the same thing! She just wasn't interested in food like her other 2 sisters were. Basically, I bet your 9 mo old is going to go straight to solids (table food). Introduce him to soft things 1st...yogurt, cheese, little peices of bread, soft fruit. It could be that he just wants the real stuff! That's what mine did! About the juice, not drinking it isn't a bad thing. Juice has a lot of sugar. Good luck! I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND!!!

I understand your concern, but your son doesn't really NEED solids until after 1 year. Right now is a time to introduce solids and different tastes and textures. A great alternative is to make your own baby food. Just steam and puree whatever vegetables and fruits you want baby to try. A great book is SO EASY babyfood cookbook. Or give him what you're eating but put some aside for him when you're cooking before you season with salt and seasonings. That way baby is not getting too much sodium in his diet. And don't worry, your son will eat for the rest of his life. No rush to get him to eat now. My son didn't really like solids until after he was 1.

I agree with what the others have said. I have two girls. My oldest ate baby food for a while and then just decided one day she didn't like it. She was probably around 8 or 9 months. So, we just fed her what we could mash up of our own food. My youngest didn't really care for baby food but loved people food. So, we started feeding it to her. She was and still is a great eater.

My daughter never ate out of the jars. She had no interest at all in baby food. At around 9 months, I just started giving her whatever we were eating (especially any fruits and veggies) and she has been the best eater ever since. Obviously you have to be careful about them chocking, so steam everything to soften it and cut it into tiny pieces. Also, juice is not that great for them as it has too much sugar. My daughter is two now and I still add water to her juice and I limit it to only 1 a day. In the first year of life the most important nutrients are in either breast milk or formula. As long as your son is taking bottles all day, I wouldn't worry about his other food intake.

Have you tried pureeing the food that you eat? He's a little too young to eat everything you eat, but you could try sweet potatoe, apple, banana, pear, avocado, etc. Sometimes babies do better with homemade baby food. Maybe also try pureeing food for him that you ate when you were pregnant. Or, maybe he's going to be an early eater! Unless your doctor says otherwise, I'm sure that's OK. If he's ready, he's ready. Just stay away from honey, egg (yolk), and milk. As I'm sure you already know. :)

My daughter was the same way. She HATED baby food, so I fed her top ramen, mashed potatoes, over cook kraft mac and cheese. She's now 5 1/2, and extremely healthy. My son wouldn't eat baby food either, and when he was 4 months old, he crawled over to my daughter's plate of food, grabbed the bun off her hamburger, and started to eat it. My kids are healthy, they LOVE their veggies, and I go through a little over a gallon of milk everyday.

My daughter was like that too. I ended up just feeding her rice and soup. Funny thing is now she is two and I have to force her to eat "real" food now. All she wants to eat now is baby food. Go figure.

My 10 month old daughter didn't like baby food either. I think a lot of it was the tempture of the food. Warm it up a little. My daughter hates cold things, so I give her room temp water to drink with her meals. If that doesn't work, there are some reciepes on the internet for easy made baby food. You can also just cut up small pieces of fruit and feed it to him while you are eating. I was told by my baby's doc that as long as she is still getting breast milk (or formula) there is no real need to worry about what she does or doesn't eat.
If that doesn't work, smooch up what ever you are eating and feed it to him. (as long as there is not a lot of salt or sugar)
Good luck! ;)

A.,

Hello there, I thought I would drop you a line and tell you about my experince with my daughter who is now almost 5. When she was a baby she wouldn't eat any baby food at all, or any thing else for that matter if I tried to feed it to her, every time we would put a spoon up to her she would start to gag and act like she was going to throw up. She was still nursing at the time so I knew she wasn't starving. So anyway she would only eat what she could do herself so basically she lived off of cheerio's and little baby green beans, thing that she could pick up herself and things that I knew would go down easy she had no teeth, anyway she never did get over it and never did let us feed her, but today she only eats healthy food only fruits and veggies, she only likes water to drink. She doesn't even like cookies or cake, she may seem like she is picky to some people but really it is very easy to feed her just fresh fruit and veggies, she won't even eat them if they are cooked, and no dip of any kind. So anyway she has made all those choices on her own starting when she was a baby and wouldn't touch baby food, so maybe you could try just leaving some cheerios or soft green beans or another veggie just on his try and let him do it all on his own.

D. V

Fees your son what he wants. My youngest is 8 mo old and he eats the veggies and side dishes from whatever we have at the table. He will take baby food every once in a while, but he see's that everyone else is eating something different and he wants it. It's normal. The pediatrician says it is fine too. You just stay away from dairy milk since they're not supposed to have that until after they turn 1. Let him explore food.

I have a 7 month old and he hates his greeen veggies & meats ( baby food) he turns his head and will NOT open his mouth, so I take a spoon of whatever he doesn't like then dip it in a fruit he loves and he doesn't taste the yucky stuff.....allthough he loves fruits and yellow veggies. He doesn't like juice unless it is in a cup, no bottle. He will drink his formula from the bottle. I think since you are giving him table food, he would rather have that then baby food. I am no doctor, but thats my guess...Good luck!!

I made my sons baby food. He and I are both texture eaters. If it's the wrong consistancy, he won't eat it. I shared my food with him which he still enjoys. Also, don't be afraid to try new things. I made my son mashed mango, mashed zucchini, mashed anything, watermelon, cucumber, whatever. Also, Target has those food meshers that the baby holds and you put food in (fruit/ cooked veggies) and they chew on it and it comes out thru the net. I LOVE that thing. Or, I would cut anything I could into his bite size, put it in a pan and cook it just long enough to soften it to his needs. I hope you find somthing to work soon. I'm sure your son won't allow himself to get too hungry.

I know how you feel. When my daughter was a baby every jarred baby food came right back out at me. GROSS! I got so tired of wearing it that I stopped, until she had teeth. She didn't get teeth until she was 10 mo. I used to let her just gum soft foods, which she loved. Basically she went straight from bottle, cereal to whole foods. Juice isn't necessary for babies. My daughter wouldn't drink it either. She loved water, which is best anyway. I was called a bad mother by people because I stopped the jarred food. I then took her to her 6 mo. well baby. She was 95% in height and 50% in weight. Perfectly fine! I told all those people who critisized me to "Buzz Off." One of my cousins used to make her own out of whole veggies, in a blender. Maybe he doesn't like the taste and texture. Good Luck!
K.

A.,

The human race survived a long, long time before Gerber started putting pureed veggies in glass jars. Most baby food is really not tasty. You can try making your own *google homemade baby food* for recipes. My first child hated jarred baby food too. My second is really into it right now but I think that will only last until he gets a taste of something better. LOL

T.

Hi Adria,
What are you feeding him? I have a few tricks up my sleeve as i am a mother of a 2 year old girl who i nursed until she was 15 months old, but she is such a big girl that i also had to supplement with solids. I would always steam her veggies, and then puree them with the liquid from the pot that i steamed her food in to give her the maximum nutrients and then sometimes add a little organic chicken broth to it for some flavor. the other thing is that if you have a very "advanced" 9 month old, he will want to eat what you're eating, so make yourself some healthy pureed potatoes and mix in the pureed veggies with some very soft chicken that you can also add chicken broth to for more flavor, and let him eat what you are eating!! Kids love to emulate their parents. Another thing I have always given my daughter is plain oraginic whole mile yogurt with pureed mango or mango and pear mixed (as long as the fruit doesn't have seedy stuff in it like strawberries) and mix the fruit with the yogurt, it's really healthy for you and for him, and something he can eat without teeth!

Hope this helps. The first years of food are the most important. And will build the foundation for what kind of eating habits he has later, so if you have the time, try it out!

Good luck!

S.

They don't need juice, and it isn't really all that good for them. But my pediatrician said that we could feed our son whatever we were eating at 9 months. He encouraged us to feed him what we were having for dinner (within reason). Just make sure that you are giving them baby portions and bite size pieces. It is just fine. And don't worry if people stare, you are doing what is right for your baby.

Don't worry too much about it - just get yourself a baby food grinder and pulverize whatever it is that you are eating. My daughter rejected jarred baby food at 10 mos - she wanted to feed herself - so I just gave her soft foods in little chunks. Try pieces of avocado, tofu, cheese, fruits, pastas (I get the pastas made with lentils and chick peas for extra protein and fiber) and pick out the chunks from soups (carrots, potatoes, meat, etc.) Please look up foods that are not appropriate for babies less than 1 year old and also avoid choking hazard foods, but just feed him "real" food. He'll have to eat it eventually anyway!!

As long as he has his formula he is okay - and not starving if he is continuing to gain weight. I have 4 children and one of them did not eat baby food - he preferred table food - there is nothing wrong with skipping the baby food stage just so long as you make sure you are giving him a well balanced diet and that the foods you are giving him are NOT a chocking hazard.

Hi,
Dilute the jucies with some water. Full strengh juice might be too strong. Don't worry if he still won't drink it. Juice is not necessary for his diet yet. The only two things necessary for his diet at this point are cereal and formula. However, some babies are ready for extremely soft finger foods at 8 months. Just steam fruits and veggies so that they melt in his mouth. Rather than feeding him off of your plate, give your son his own. Just make sure that every thing is cut small and softened to the extreme.

Offering finger food is great for hand eye coordination. Fruits and veggies are not necessary until 9 months of age.

If he like to eat what you and your fiance are eating just mash it up really well and feed it to him. Feed him what he'll eat if your eating balanced meals then he will be getting what he needs as well. Besides have you ever tasted that premade baby stuff its gross, none of my children have eaten it either they just ate what ever we were having

hi, maybe your son just doesn't like the taste of baby food... you can get a food processor and just puree the food that you eat and maybe he'll eat that and you won't have to worry about it being to hard for him to chew or worry about him choking on it.

My son, now 11 mo. would not eat any babyfood, even home prepared ones. He has allergies and protien intollerance, so at first I thought these were connected. Finally I just started testing him, if he was not allergic to what we were having I just cut it small enough for him, and he was fine. He is now eating all meals with us, just modified a little! He still does not like juice or fruits, but he loves veggies. Having to cook around his diet has made me more aware of what the rest of us are eating too! We have gotten away from a lot of the pre-processed foods. I guess some babies just like a little more texture?! It's really not so bad that he doesn't like the juice and other "sweets", unusual but not bad! Good Luck!! and with the new one as well!!

Hi A.. I have 2 girls. Who are now 9 and 11 yrs old. But i feel like it was yeasterday that i had fed them baby food.Because till today they eat just like when they were small. My oldest one went through the normal routine of baby food jar food and then table food and last our kind of food. But when my younger one came along boy was i in for a run. She drank breast milk till she was 20 months old. And even then she refused. Any way, in all this time I started feeding her food when she was 6 months old. And she refused to eat the baby food, just like how i started with my oldest. At that time I was with my family, so it was 1 day that they were fooling around with her and gave her bioled rice to eat . Man !!!!!!!!!!,,,,did that girl went all out to eat that rice. And then from that day she did not stop for any thign inthe world. I was scared that she woudl choke or gag on the food that v eat. If that was all possible she would have been dead by now. So there you go . She is still alive and kicking . hahahha.All babies are differnt , and if they dont want to eat a certain kind of food they will not eat . My older girl loves meat's. Any kind , and till this day if i want her to eat a proper meal i have to cook meat for that day. On theother end my smaller one is a veggie girl. So dont freak out if kids do things out of the ordinary. They are made by god and have their own ways. So let them be and become strong individuals.
regard L.

Dear A.,

The other mommies know better than I do, and I am sure that they will tell you the right thing to do.

But, he is an individual and is telling you something the best way that he can at this moment. So try real food, and pay attention to not putting spices into it too much. Maybe you could put some fruit into the cereal so that it is tastier, bananas are good too. Oh, you know what to do.

Sincerely, C. N.