Starting Solids - Allen,TX

At six months, solids are just for practice... not for filling the baby up or putting on weight, so your sister really shouldn't worry. He's not ready yet. In many cultures around the world solid food isn't introduced until at least a year so it's not like he's missing out or will be delayed if he doesn't learn how to get oatmeal now. Besides, breast milk is WAY more caloric than solid food. So if she's worried about his growth, the best way to help him gain weight would be to breast feed him more, not less.

It sounds to me like he might have a misalignment of his jaw. I know that sounds silly, but the jaw can be jammed out of place slightly from falling on the face or getting hit in the jaw. Try watching this little infant learning to sit and crawl...they take a lot of blows to the face and jaw. I specialize in chiropractic care for pediatric patients, and have encountered many cases where an infant won't open his mouth because the little misalignment creates muscle tension and pain when the jaw opens. I would recommend having him evaluated by a chiropractor to check his jaw alignment. The treatment is gentle pressure on the jaw muscles, which can relax them and allow the jaw to float back into it's normal position. If your sister lives here, I am located at Coit and 121, and could do a free, no obligation consultation. SpectorChiropracticDFW.com

I had a friend that her son would not take to a spoon until she stopped breast feeding and went to a bottle. Once she started the bottle within a month he took to the spoon.

We started solids with our daughter at 4 months under the same recommendation...she did awful but we kept trying two times a day. She finally is getting it at 8 months. Keep trying, every little bit helps. Good luck!

If the baby isn't gaining an appropriate amount of weight, she needs to breastfeed more, not try to fill him up on less nutrient-dense solids. He may not be ready yet. There is no rush to eat solids. They are for practice mostly for the first year. The current recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics is nothing but breastmilk or formula until 6 months. So, right now she feels very behind since its been 2 months, but really the baby is at the age to start solids now if he is ready. He may not be ready. Has he reached the physical milestones necessary for solid food? Here is some info from Dr. Sears on starting solids http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032000.asp

Breastfeeding and reluctance to eat shouldn't have anything to do with one another so I certainly wouldn't advise her to switch to bottle feeding in an effort to get him to eat a little bit of food, especially since he has weight gain issues.

She should nurse first, then offer some food (and I'd probably start with something like avocado bc of the good fat in there rather than rice cereal that is just empty calories with some iron added). If he's interested great, if not, move on. He'll get there and his reluctance at this age doesn't point to any sort of feeding issue and it really shouldn't have anything to do with his weight gain issues. This really shouldn't be a worry at this time. Following the baby's lead is a great way to go.

If she is having difficulty nursing effectively she should contact La Leche League or a Lactation Consultant who could help her sort out what the issue is.

I'd suggest she waits until at least 6 mos to start solids. As 1) he doesn't really need it (as suggested below) and 2) frankly, solids is a messy thing and why rush into more messes?! ;-)

My 2nd daughter took 2.5 months before she'd eat solids (so at 8.5 mos I finally had some luck). She also is exclusively breast-fed, as I couldn't get her to take a bottle. With the spoon and cereal she'd just push it out with her tongue. When she finally did start taking it I was already moving onto actual solids, and she enjoys feeding herself much more instead (cherrios, fruits, veges, toast, cheese, etc (all cut into pea size pieces). Just this morning I was feeding her yogurt with a spoon and she's still not a fan of the spoon.

On the point of not taking a bottle, I highly encourage your sis to pump and keep trying to bottle feed him with the breast milk every so often -- primarily for the sanity of being able to get away (from the baby) for more than 3 hours at a time!!! I'm now facing transition from breastfeeding to milk/sippy cup at 12 mos old and I fear my DD will have trouble with this.

ADDED: Is the doctor worried about the weight change? I think at 4 mos of age the percentiles aren't totally accurate, and perhaps the weight was taken wrong, thus the wrong numbers? My DD was 17% at 2 weeks, then 47% at 7 weeks, then 22% at 4 mos. I think it might be "normal" for it to fluctuate. I think that may be even more so for a breast-fed baby, as mom's milk is responding to the baby's growth (whereas formula doesn't chg).