Struggling with Solids

Updated on July 29, 2007
J.S. asks from Saint Paul, MN
4 answers

Hi everyone,

I have a baby who will be 8 months in a week and a half and I am struggling with getting him to eat. I have a book called "Super Baby Foods" which I used with my older son so I have a good list of new things to introduce each month, but it isn't really helping because I can't get him to eat from a spoon. All he wants to do is chew on the rubber coating on the spoon. He doesn't seem to really swallow the food either, he just holds it in his mouth and eventually some comes out and some goes down.

He is teething, and two teeth are in on the bottom, I was hoping that once the teeth were in he'd be more interested in the food, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

We started solids at 6 1/2 months. I expected that by this point we would be making some progress but I am really at a loss as to what to do next. He will chew on large things he can hold, but gags whenever he gets a little piece in his mouth. He likes to chew on rice cakes, or other crunchy things (I held some apple for him once - he liked to chew on that) but his gagging makes me so nervous to give him anything that could cause him to choke.

I am looking for advice! Anybody who's baby was a late starter on solids, any good ideas for helping him learn to eat from a spoon, or ideas for things he can feed himself are greatly appreciated!

Thank you!
Jess

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B.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

Technically for the first year of their life they only need breastmilk or formula they donot NEED solids.

I'd back off and try and again in a month or two when's he's more ready.

With my daughter I just occasionally gave her a bite or two of what I was eating and she thought it was so cool and a special treat and was excited. When we would go to a restaurant she'd want what I had and actually taught herself how to drink from a straw at around 8mos. or so. I was never big on baby food, daycare gave it to her but I didn't like the whole babyfood with a spoon thing. I just went straight for whatever she was able to do herself. It's not like she picked it up over night or anything but she got it and we both preferred that method. I did cheerios, mashed potatos,jello,pudding, applesauce,mandarin oranges, french frys, biter bisquits,spaghetti stuff like that. I think it's just my daughter's personality because she's still like that has to be independant and do it herself.

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M.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

Have you tried a Munchkin fresh food feeder? They are great because kids can self-feed without the risk of large chunks, thus choking. Here is the sight http://www.munchkin.com/products/detail.html?section=devS...
They are sold at babies r us and other baby stores/ departments. My son loved frozen babyfood cubes in these when teething. Fresh fruit works well too. Best of luck!

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M.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi, J.. I have a son who is now 5 yrs old but had a terrible time with choking on food. Whatever it was, even babyfood would make him choke so bad sometimes he would throw up. I asked the doctor several times, he said some babies just develop the habit & tongue movements later then others. The doctor we seen, said not to worry & don't force it if he is choking. Feed him anything that doesn't make him choke, & keep reintroducing the babyfood.

My son didn't start eating babyfood regulary until he was about 9 months old, and once he started he didn't stop! After he started he loved it! I hope this gives you some encouragement, I know it can be rough. If only we had a manual to go by!! Good Luck!

M.

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F.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

My daughter did not want any baby food, she gagged on anything with baby food texture. At 11 months old she started eating small pieces of regular food. Pediatrician said not to worry, as long as baby is healthy and gaining weight no need for anything other then breastmilk or formula until they are over a year old.
Another suggestion: Pediatricians are recommending starting with vegetable baby food to prevent a sweet tooth. But some babies really have a hard time with veggies so a trick I learned with a picky daycare baby is to find a fruit they like: applesauce, pears, peaches, or banana baby food. Once you find something they will eat, you can start mixing it with the veggies, gradually adding more each time. Applesauce and peas baby food mixed together is not really appetizing to me but picky babies with eat it better then peas alone and each time you can add more veggies to the mix until eventually (days or weeks later) they are eating veggies alone. Good luck and be patient, they will eat when they are ready!
F.

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