My son(11 months) has put on the only 2lbs from 6th month. He rejects almost every food. I tried the mushy food, chunky food, store bought food, cereal, steamed veggies, peanut butter, fruits .. but he rejects everything. He likes to eat only crunchy food like puffs, biscuit (not always though)
I am worried about his nutrition. My Pediatrician doesn't seem to have a concern as he thinks I am overworried.
Your pediatrician is not worried because your son is still a baby and food is only for practice at this age, not nutrition.
Keep breastfeeding or formula feeding for now, that's what your baby needs most for healthy growth and development. Your son's weight and progress must be just fine if the doctor's not concerned.
Our son was on the later side to take to solid foods - he was just in time to have a small cupcake for his first birthday.
Offer him healthy choices.
It can take a long time and many tries before they take to a new food.
I didn't rush it and if he wanted formula I let him have it - he wasn't starving.
If he's crawling/walking - they burn up energy quickly and really slow down on the weight gain for awhile - so if your doctor isn't worried then I wouldn't worry either.
He doesn't need solid food, but he does need solid nutrition. I cannot believe a pediatrician is content with 2 pounds of weight gain in 5 months. Get a new pediatrician.
Take away the solids for now and put this child on formula perhaps with added nutrition from a reputable children's nutritional product (not just something with fillers and additives). Work with a specialist to choose wisely.
Maybe he has a texture issue, maybe he has sensory problems, maybe he has a swallowing issue, I don't know. But stop overwhelming him with nutritious solids, absolutely take away puffs and biscuits, and get some better advice from medical professionals.
Did you know that up til at least age one your child only NEEDS the nutrition in breast milk or formula? All foods he eats is taking away room that he needs for his formula or breast milk. It is complete nutrition, it has all the vitamins and minerals he needs for brain development and his growth.
Give him a bottle first all the time. He might not be gaining weight because he's not getting the nutrition he needs out of the foods he's being offered.
Not trying to say you aren't doing a good job. You are, but he needs to have formula or breast milk a lot more than most kids his age are getting.
He's not ready for real food yet. This is totally normal. One of mine wouldn't eat any solid food at all until 14 months. Then he would suddenly eat anything.
Solid food at this age has no nutritional value anyway, so don't worry about it. Make sure he's getting the breastmilk/formula he needs for his nutrition. Give yourself and your son a break from trying solid food for a month, and try again after he turns 1.
If he's 13 or 14 months old and still won't eat anything, then I agree with the others - get a referral to a feeding therapist. But your child is not even 12 months old yet, and every single recommendation is that all nutrition come from breastmilk/formula until at least 12 months of age, and you are not there yet.
ETA: Weight gain between months 6-12 is on average 1.75-2.75 ounces per week (per Kellymom.com). So, over 20 weeks (5 months), 35 ounces (2.1 pounds) is considered to be within the normal range - on the low end, but normal. So I don't think that there is a reason to panic about 2 lbs of weight gain - especially if it's been slow and steady throughout the 5 months. Now, if he gained 2 lbs between August and October, and no gain at all in Nov and Dec, that is very different and a cause for concern. Otherwise, your ped is happy and as long as you continue to give him solid nutrition in the form of breastmilk/formula, I do not think there is a reason to panic. https://kellymom.com/bf/normal/weight-gain/
well, stop waving all those different foods under him. he's probably getting confused and overwhelmed.
food choices are great, and a variety of food is smart momming. but not when there's a frantic underlying message of ' YOU MUST EAT' which your son is doubtless feeling.
up his breast milk (or formula) and let his appetite mature at its own pace.
you're barely out of the starting gate. you'll have MUCH bigger and more real stuff to worry about before too long.
;) khairete
S.
Good advice below, but he may need feeding therapy if it continues.
When my son was your son's age he was exactly like yours -- he preferred crunchy foods and refused all sorts of bread (regular bread, croissants, bagels, muffins, English muffins, and even pastries, cupcakes, cakes, and donuts!). He was picky and a poor eater. His weight percentile dropped once he began solids.
I spoke to my pediatrician who was also like your pediatrician and wasn't concerned so I took my son to the regional center and spoke to someone who told me about feeding therapy. I went back to my pediatrician and asked for a referral for occupational therapy. When he was 16 months, he began working with an occupational therapist who specialized in feeding and had 2 one-hour sessions a week for 52 weeks. It helped tremendously. My son's issues were a combination of texture aversion and weak muscles in and around the mouth/jaw.
Please go back to your pediatrician and request an OT assessment/referral if he continues to reject food.
Maybe what you need to ask for is an evaluation from a feeding specialist. It sounds to me that your son doesn't like textures, and it is IMPORTANT to deal with this early on so that you don't end up with a kid who won't eat. I had a friend whose son was like this. He would throw up trying to eat foods. He couldn't even eat pizza. He ate french fries, pancakes and waffles, yogurt that his mother put amino acids in because he wasn't getting them, tons of milk and a little fruit juice with Citracel because he was always constipated, candy, certain fruits, and that is it. No vegetables, no meat.
The longer you go without getting him help, the longer he will dig into the sensory problems with foods in his mouth. There are people who can help. If your ped won't give you a referral, find another ped who will.
I had a chart of what to introduce/when and it might only be a tiny spoonful at a time, well in between milk/formula feeds so good and hungry. If I filled them up with snacks (like Cheerios) then they wouldn't be hungry (Puffs can really fill them up).
Only when a food was well established, did we move on to another. But again, it might only be a few tiny spoonfuls. Even adding a little pureed fruit to cereal helped sometimes. It takes a while to get it established. I wouldn't introduce a ton of new things. I think then you run the risk of having problems and not knowing what food did it.
I also held back on PB until over a year - not sure what recommendation is now.
Pediatricians don't think moms over-worry, they just will let you know if there's no medical concern - so relax, realize your baby's growth is fine and just take it at your baby's pace :)
