Starting Solid Foods Advice

Updated on January 20, 2008
A.S. asks from Centerville, UT
21 answers

My daughter is 7 months old and has been eating solids for a month now. She has never liked cereal but now she will barely take it with out a fruit mixed in. If I give her the fruit will I create a sweet tooth or is it ok to mix them? On top of all of this she does not really like her vegtables. Do you have any great tips for how to get a fussy easter to eat?

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A.P.

answers from Enid on

lol A. ... dont worry about creating a sweet tooth with the fruits....its great to mix them in fact i'm a mom with a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old and let me tell you i mixed the fruits n veggies just to get them both to eat lol... i had the same problem!!!! in fact i finally had to start about the age you were at giving them both table food even against the drs advices and mine are both fine now!!!!!!
I am a stay at home mom of 2 and i love the both the indoors and outdoors and i live in pond creek ....

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A.C.

answers from St. Louis on

Babies have more taste buds for sweet rather than bland food(breast milk is actually sweet). As long as you have introduced the foods in isolation and know the baby doesn't react to either one, mix in some fruit (or leave out the cereal). Also, it takes about 15 introductions of a food before a baby, or anyone, will make a decision about whether s/he likes it or not. Just keep at it! Good luck!

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S.F.

answers from Topeka on

I couldn't get my daughter to eat her cereal either unless i mixed in some of the Gerber Hawaiian fruit. Dont worry so much about giving her a sweet tooth early. In my very humble opinion, do whatever it takes to get her to eat. As she starts eating more and more, then you can introduce the veggies. Now I'm not saying tank her cereal with high-octane sugar stuff. I simply saying a little bit of sweet isn't going to turn her into a raving maniac. Oh by the by, my little angel is now 25 and is doing fine. I've raised 2 boys and they had the same thing; however, they continue to eat me out of house and home. They are 23 and 19!!! Good luck! ~s~

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L.J.

answers from St. Joseph on

Some babies don't like bland foods. As a pediatric occupational therapist who has worked with many a child with feeding issues...I would recommend adding garlic powder, cinnamon, and other spices to bland food. Some children just need added sensory info (more flavor) and then they eat just fine!

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S.K.

answers from Rockford on

My daughter (7 months) has just started eating solid foods when she was 5 1/2 months.
She loves cereal..mixed with anything, fruit or veggies as long as it is mixed with breast milk, which naturally gives the cereal a sweeter taste. Plus, cereal mixed with the fruit and or veggies gives everything a milder taste. She is not thrilled with green veggies, but will just about eat anything else. Although homemade is best, we all don't have the time. Plus, there are some pretty interesting combinations at the store (pear & Pineapple, corn and squash, sweet potato & corn, etc..). I figure, as long as she is eating a wide variety of foods she is doing fine. She has the rest of her life to learn to love green beans and peas. My oldest daughter (10 years old) hated green veggies as a baby, however now she loves ALL vegetables. There is no way to predict what they will like. Follow your instinct and you will do fine.

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S.M.

answers from St. Louis on

Are you trying Rice cereal or oatmeal? My son never liked rice cereal... but he LOVES oatmeal. I mix it with fruit sometimes. I don't have much advice on the whole fruit/veggie issue. My son is no picky eater. He loves both. I started him on fruits and now (14 months) he would prefer veggies I think. He loves green beans. Also, try the sweeter veggies (the yellow ones... squash, sweet potatoes and corn, mixed veggies) more often. That might help. Good luck... I know it's frustrating!

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A.K.

answers from St. Louis on

I believe in the past few years they have begun selling the cereal with fruit mixed in it already, so I see no harm in adding fruit or fruit juice to the cereal. I did that for all three of my boys who are 11, 8 and 6. My sister did it with her girls who are 25 and 23. They all seem just fine and don't have extreme sweet tooths!

Vegtables are harder. Some brands taste better than others and homemade tastes different too. I bought pre-made baby food for my oldest and youngest. I made my middle son's baby foods. I taste tested them and they tasted much better. But just like with adults and older children there are some vegtables you are never going to get a child to like and sometimes you have to wait a few weeks or months before they are willing to eat them. A childs likes and dislikes change often and for no reason.

Good Luck!

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S.E.

answers from Oklahoma City on

i am a stay at home mother of six, including 2 year old twins. i also babysit another toddler and an infant during the day. let me pass on to you the advice my pediatrician gave me. eating is a battle you WON'T win with small children. including babies and toddlers. you have to find what they will eat and what methods work and roll with it. my twins went from eating themselves to death, to not eating at all. you can try to rotate foods your baby really likes and foods your baby is not very fond of, every other bite. ex. i would give my girls a bite of something they loved, then quickly a bite of something they didn't like. they didn't even realize what i was doing and they were getting an equal dose of the foods they needed. you should also know that it can take more than 10 tries for a baby to accept a new food. their taste buds are hyper-sensitive and the only taste they get for several months is milk, which doesn't have much taste to it. good luck and remember, eating is a battle you won't win. babies WILL eat when they are hungry.

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J.P.

answers from Tulsa on

If she really doesn't want a certain food, you can stop giving it to her for about a week and then try again. Sometimes they just need a little time to be without something and then their tastebuds may decide they like the food later. Also, it is good to have a balanced nutritional diet, and not to have a picky eater obviously because it's hard to fix for a picky eater, but you can at least rest assured that alot of necessary nutrition comes from the things she will eat because most foods have it all (if that makes sense). I don't think you make a child a sweet tooth by giving them fruit--fruits are very important and healthy. But definately encourage each vegatable occasionally.

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A.P.

answers from Tulsa on

I am a mother of 3, and my newest daughter, who is almost 7 months old, started off on the wrong foot as well. I decided to start her on fruit first at 4 months old, since that's what the doctor recommends and we had bananas at home. As a result she did not want to eat anything but fruit for a while. She didn't like veggies either, but the more persistent I was the better it got. I even tried mixing bananas in with her veggies and slowly slimming off the amount. Just keep giving it to her, she'll come around. The doctors say you have to try 17 times with a food before they can actually reject it. I now have 3 kids who eat most anything, including their veggies!

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G.N.

answers from St. Louis on

Its ok to mix the fruit with the cereal it wont give them the sweet tooth, if it helps them eat the cereal and get the nutrition they need then u do what will work.

The thing I did with my son when he wouldnt eat the veggies put a little bit of veggies on the spoon first then put the fruit on top of the veggies, it helped my son eat the veggies.

Good Luck

G.

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D.C.

answers from Tulsa on

Try not to get her started on fruits too much. Go through the all the vegetables first. That is how my mother told me to do it. My son is grown now (23) but when he was a baby I would take whatever we ate for dinner and blend it up. Everything from macaroni and cheese, green beans, carrots, aspargus, and mashed pototoes and pour them into a ice cube trays and freeze them. Once frozen I put them into ziplock bags and then when he was ready to eat I would just defrost them and heat his food in the micro. It sure tasted a lot better than those jars of baby food from the store. Have you ever really tasted them? They are nasty. Give that a try. Just don't season them too much. Use that Morton Lite salt and black pepper. Then once you go through all the vegetables start her on fruit. But feed her the veggies first even when you are giving her fruit. Good luck.

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S.B.

answers from Wichita on

Honestly, I am a stay at home mother of one. My son didnt like the oatmeal cereal, but he liked the rice one, he liked it mixed with fruit though. I dont think your going to create a sweet tooth at all! My son was that way, honestly at that time in his life, he didnt like anything but greenbeans when we did start solids. You can also mix her veggies with the cereal, and maybe that will help. Or if she can have thicker foods go up to the next step in foods, my son didnt like the the thinner veggies, but he did like the step 3 ones. Hope tha helps. Blessings!

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D.G.

answers from Joplin on

You can try to get her attention to a toy or what ever and then slip a spoon of food in. My daughter-in-law does that and it works out great for her. She gets more food down while she is not totaly focused on the food itself! Some babies just are not good eaters. Don't force what ever you are doing.

A.S.

answers from Kansas City on

It's OK to mix in fruit. Keep pushing the veggies every day though, even if she doesn't like them. It takes time for them to get used to new flavors. Try starting with the orange/yellow veggies like squash & sweet potatoes (not corn, they can't digest corn yet), then move on to the green stuff.

I mix cinnamon and other fun spices in my daughter's cereal to get her used to more complex flavors. At dinner time I used to mix in onion or garlic powder, sometimes even curry. You can also mix these spices in her fruits & veggies to try and make them more appealing.

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J.H.

answers from St. Louis on

Mix sweet potatoes and squash with the cereal. I know it sounds gross to us but it will help with the veggie consumption. I don't think mixing the fruit is bad, fruit is good for her too. I always fed my babies fruit first and I had no problem with a sweet tooth.

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K.S.

answers from Oklahoma City on

You didn't mention if you were breastfeeding or not, but if so and your daughter is not that interested in food than it could mean she is just not ready to start solids yet. A breasfed baby does not require solids for the first year so there is no rush if they are not ready.

My breastfed son didn't get interested in solids until he was 10 months-old and my daughter at 8 months. We waited until we saw all of the cues to start them. www.kellymom.com or the La Leache League, www.lllusa.org are great resources.

We started on veggies for both kids and they never liked that stuff in the jar and so we just steamed veggies and then mashed them up. Very simple and you do not get all of the "junk" you get in the commercial baby food jars.

I hope this helps.

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T.F.

answers from Tulsa on

Hi A.-

Im a child care provider and currently have 5 under the age of 2. I have three babies that are about your daughter age. When babies start to learn to eat solids, my advice is always the same., introduce veggies first. i always mix the cereal with formula and i put in a little veggie. I dont advise starting fruit until all the veggies are introduced. You can then get a feel for what she likes. Or if you have already started fruits then i would feed her the veggie first and fruit for "dessert". No worries, just take it ond day at a time. In the beggining dont worry if she doesn't eat everything. That is normal. Good luck and have fun with learning her likes and dislikes.

I hope this helps
T.

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C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

Fruit will not cause a sweet tooth. Trust me, I have triplets and sometimes all I can get them to eat is fruit. I am just thankful that they are eating something healthy! There are sweet potatoes that would be good to try. My boys love, love, loved, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Those are the milder veggies. Peas are also good because they dont have a harsh taste like other veggies. Just go slow and remember a baby has to taste something more than 10 times to really know if they like it or not. So if one day she doesnt want something dont think that she hates it or wont eat it on another day. Just try to give her a variety of different foods and dont be afraid to try new things.
Good luck!!
C.

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T.Z.

answers from Topeka on

When I started my daughter on solids I found that she was much more interested in foods that I made at home. For veggies I just steamed them until they were soft enough for her to mash with her gums. I think she liked the fresher tastes. When I wanted her to eat fruit I would either steam it or just puree some in the blender (ie. apples, pears, peaches, plums) or mash up a banana. Then we hit a spot where she wanted to feed herself so I started putting small pieces out for her to pick up and eat herself.

As for the cereal, I believe that as long as your daughter is eating a variety of other foods, she doesn't need the infant cereal. It is important to include grains in her diet, but you could do that with pasta, bread, oatmeal, or even something like cream of wheat. My daughter did not care for baby oatmeal, but loved (and still loves) adult oatmeal. I just prepare it without sugar and use fruit to sweeten it.

Some advice that I remember getting when I was worried about early fruit causing a sweet tooth, was that if your child develops a sweet tooth for fruit, so much the better. Fruits are very healthy choices for snacks.

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M.B.

answers from St. Louis on

It's ok to mix the fruit with the cereal, I did the same thing with my son when he was younger and had no problem with a sweet tooth. You might want to try different flavor cereals to see which ones she likes better. As for the vegetables, you might want to try fresh or frozen vegetables, cook or steam them and then process in food processor. this work with mine and honestly tasted a whole lot better than the jar food.

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