BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Feeding Solid Food => Topic started by: traumafaerie on September 25, 2005, 04:46:17 am
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I'm so frustrated!!!! We introduced solids at 6 months with little success. DD will take a couple of bites, if that, then clasp her lips shut and turn her head - clearly a no. We have tried so many foods, some she will take more bites of than others, but still likely no more than 20 calories worth. Finger foods go over better, but more gets on the floor than in her mouth.
I have resorted to sticking her chair in front of the tele to distract her into not fussing while I push the mush into her mouth - in sort of a spackling manner. An hour of this and maybe 2 tbsp of food will get eaten.
I am so frustrated!!! She is still almost exclusively breastfed and I am starting to get a little hormonally loopy from having to produce this much milk for her -as well, she keeps waking up at 5 hungry. She has never taken a bottle or sippy, so I can't even supplement her with formula!
HELP!
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I had a very similar problem with my dd, and it's finally getting better. It's still touch and go how our meals will be. But I find she does better when I'm eating too. I'll start with the spoon and if she refuses, then I offer her finger food, and if that doesn't work, sometimes she'll take it off my fingers. She also eats better in a restaurant with lots of other people around and with other children - maybe because she watches them. :roll:
For a while, all she was eating was avocado and banana, with some bits of toast, but she's gradually eating more. I think you have to just keep offering. Are you doing the solids first? I found it helped to have a long break between bf and giving solids, so she'd be more hungry. When she's really fussy too, I might carry her around and offer with the other hand.
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Xavier never really liked the mushy stuff, and my niece (who is 11 months) never ate any. My SIL finally decided to give her regular family food and she eats that. Maybe your lo is one to skip the mush stage. Try some soft finger foods. I know for us, eating is much easier going now that Xavier eats finger foods and likes to feed himself, although sometimes he will tolerate us feeding him. ;)
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As I said, the finger foods go over somewhat okay, but she will still only eat a few bites.
She won't even consider taking those bites if she's hungry. I dont' think she equates solids with something that makes the hungry go away - it's just something to play with and when she's hungry, she gets mad when I try to make her 'play'.
Strange kid :)
I'm not necessarily interested in weaning, I just want a little balance, you know?
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My ds is 9 months and is still not that interested in food. I offer every day but usually only get a few bites in. He's in the 97th percentile and he's not anemic or anything...and actually it's much easier since we're on the go so much..I just feel like I'm withholding from him. His first word will probably be "steak" or whatever it is that he's waiting for.
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My dd never did do baby food. She's 10 months and just does finger foods, plus occasionally yoghurt from a spoon. I would just keep trying the finger foods and eventually she'll catch on. Until they're 12 months, they can be exclusively breastfed with no problems. My niece was 18 months before she really started eating solids!
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does she like yogurt or something cold?
sometimes when sam is fussy, i put fruit in fridge and he loves them cold. (may be he is teething and cold stuff makes him feel better).
cottage cheese is good to serve cold too.
and i think may be try different texture, like soft rice, tiny pasta shape.
recently instead of mixing everything together, i seperate them in the bowl. so, e.g. a portion of rice, portion of carrots, portion of green veg. then i feed sam one bite of rice, 2nd bite will be carrots, 3nd bite will be green veg, 4th bite may be a rice and carrots together ... so it will not be too boring to have 10 bites of same thing ... haahaaa.. worth trying !!
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I have been finding more and more sources that say that there is no rush to feeding solids. I understand you may not want to BF as much, but it is the best thing she needs until a year and even beyond. (So I've been reading, anyway. I am no expert by any means). Your milk has everything your baby needs. Solid foods are just for fun and practice during the first year. Don't worry about how much she eats right now. Breast milk has more fat, calories, and nutrients than any of the baby foods.
With my first ds, I formula fed him, and started him on solids at 5 months. He loved to eat. This time around, I am breast feeding my ds, and I've barely given him any solids. He's just not that interested. He's huge though, and very healthy. (6 mos old, 25 lbs, 28 1/2" long). I'm not worried about feeding baby food. When he's a bit older, I'll probably just give him what we're eating.
Here's some links that someone gave to me to learn more about breastfeeding and solids.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-how.html
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html
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Mine was just the opposite..exclusively bf'd and started solids eagerly at 5 mos. This one was both bottle/breast untiil 6 mos. then exclusivlely formula and he's not interested in solids. He sees a bottle getting made and get so excited!
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Also keep in mind that finger foods are concentrated foods, unlike purees, which contain a lot of water to make them a smooth consistency. If your LO only eats a few bites of finger food, that's actually much more you'd think, since it's all food and no water!
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I have a simmilar problem. My dd is 10 months and doesn't like much the solids, actually the salty ones.
She is also still almost exclusively breastfed, and now started eating fruits, but since she is 2 kilos below the weight she was supposed to be I keep on trying, but nothing seems to work she looks at the food and turns her little head... :roll:
I would love to hear some ideas about what could I do. :wink:
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We are in kind of the same boat. We started rice cereal at about 6.5mos, veggies and fruit at 7mos. We have worked our way up to a nice variety (squash, sweet potato, carrots, green beans, peas, zucchini, apple, pear, banana, peach, prunes, apricots, grapes, raisins), and she's always been a pretty good eater. We recently added cottage cheese and avocado, though she doesn't seem to care for those.
However, in the last week or so, she has started to balk at everything. She'll take a few bites hungrily, then clamp her mouth shut. Dh and I don't believe in forcing food, figuring if she's hungry, she'll eat, but we were in the ped's office last Weds, and she's started losing weight. At 9mos, she's only 15lbs.
How do I get her eating again?
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I would try some different foods if she's refusing the familiar ones. And if she's losing weight, I'd try high fat ones, like cheese, whole milk yoghurt, toast with butter, mashed potatoes with butter, egg yolks, bagel with cream cheese, etc. You might also try enticing her to eat by starting with some fun foods like goldfish, baby cookies, or cheerios, and then giving her the other stuff. Does she like to self feed? Kaitlin will almost never take anything off a spoon, but will self feed. What does the doctor say?
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The ped's office ran some tests to rule out infection (she's clear), but also recommended we start her on a high-fat, high-protein diet (we call it Atkins for skinny babies). We gave her whole milk cottage cheese and avocado the other day and are planning to introduce yogurt, chicken, and beans this week.
He also said we could put her on formula, but we've made it this far bfing exclusively, so I'd really rather not. He digestive system is very sensitive, and she is prone to constipation, so we have to be very careful about giving her a balanced diet and making sure she gets prunes or the like at least once a day. Formula can be very constipating, particularly the high-cal stuff.
She still seems receptive to finger food, so we are working to introduce more variety there, too. However, she has no teeth, so we are still limited to softer stuff than can be easily smushed or gummed. Mashed potatoes would be a good one, and maybe she'd eat cream cheese mixed with fruit.