Not sure DS is hungry enough for solids?

[Andrea T]

Hi~

I just have some questions about solids.  We started introducing solids about a week ago, and have so far introduced rice cereal, oat cereal and pureed carrots for our 6 month old lo.  Up until this point, he's been EBF. 

I guess my question just is that he seems very very very disinterested in solids once they're given to him.  When he was about 5 months old, he would watch me and DH eat, and he seemed SO interested, and was grabbing to get our food, smacking his lips, etc, but we wanted to wait until he was 6 months to give him anything.  Now I'm worried that maybe we missed a window of opportunity by waiting until 6 months.  I know it's only been a week, but I'm just not sure if he's going to come along, and I'm worried that meal time is going to become a time he hates, so I really don't want that to happen.

When I try to feed him solids, he usually takes a bit of a bite, with a sour look on his face, then he extends his arms out and goes "grrrrrrr!!!!!!!" (kind of like the incredible hulk used to do in the movies, lol.)  He's clearly frustrated, and not happy with the situation already.  I try to let him take the lead,and feed himself, with a little guidance from me with the spoon, since I don't want him to choke/gag himself.

I thought maybe the problem was that he was still having about 2 NW's for feedings, and that maybe he was eating too much at night, so he wasn't hungry in the am (since bf has always been tricky in the am. also, I think because DS isn't hungry.)  So I re-read the solids portion in TBWSAYP last night, and Tracy says, Do not feed your 6 month old at night, or it will be hard to give solids because they won't be hungry for them.  So, last night, I thought I'd give it a try not feeding DS when he awoke.  I didn't have high expectations, but surprisingly, DS was able to settle when he woke up in the night with a little help from me, and he didn't bf, so that was great! (I guess I had maybe been misreading his hungry cues in the night).  Anyway, when it came time to bf this morning he didn't eat much, and solids he barely touched, I think a little got on his lips, but that was about it.  So maybe it's not a hunger issue after all??

Anyway, I know that bm is the main source of nutrition up until a year, and plan to keep bf-ing.  I'm just concerned that maybe somewhere along the line we've started a bad habit with DS with solids, or that we've made a negative association with them or something.....I just want him to at least be able to have a little bit of them!

Any suggestions as to what we could be doing wrong? 

Thanks,

Andrea

[Freya'sMum]

I think it really helps not to think of solid foods as food but as an edible toy so you offer milk as the Eat in EASY, and the solid foods as the first part of the following Activity, and he plays with it, and if you eat with him he watches you and sees how to do it and will eventually copy your hand and mouth movements, and he'll learn about the social, relaxed, fun aspect of eating without any pressure to swallow anything at all!

Introducing Solid Food the BW Way is a FAQ if you check out that section of this forum - it discusses this idea in more detail, and will hopefully reassure you that you actually don't want ds to swallow very much at all at present, you just want to offer him the opportunity to learn through play and experimentation as he grows, so will his appetite and his eating skills, and so he will want to, and be able to swallow more accordingly!

As an ebf baby, have you thought about adopting a baby-led weaning approach? There is a FAQ on that method of introducing solid foods too, and a Support thread should you wish to discuss it with other parents if you have any questions or queries,

Ax

[lilmonkey]

Andrea, don't stress too much about it.  My dd wasn't very eager at trying solids.  We (dr, OT, and I) tried everything to get her to eat b/c the books say so.  Well, after losing too much sleep over it, I made "mealtimes" a fun activity.  She got 99% all of her nutrition from bm and formula until 11 mos.  It wasn't until her pincher grasp got better and know how to grind the food with her gums that she began eating more.  Turned out she hated purees and anything baby-like texture food.  She prefers real food. 

I know it's hard not to worry but as long as he is growing and healthy he is getting enough to eat.  There is NO magic window that you have to introduce solids at such a date or else they will have a eating disorder. 

HTH

[*Nicola*]

I agree totally with the pp's.  Please don't worry too much about it. 

I have 2 daughters who been weaned really differently.  Ciara started purees at 16 weeks, loved everything, ate anything, ate lots, moved easily to lumps and bumps, then finger food and still at 5 eats brilliantly.  She refuses NOTHING

Callie on the other hand was introduced to solids at 6 months, wasn't particularly interested in purees, some days she seemed more interested that others, wanted to hold spoon herself, but was very interested in anything 'real'.  She will try anything at all so long as she can hold it Some days she eats lots, other days she just plays around with food.  The important thing is that she is able to do it at her own pace and that makes meal times fun and relaxed for her.

I really do think that babies do it differently and if we can suss out their preference, and follow their lead it will all fall into place x

[mum101]

Maybe it will take him a day or two to get hungry after not bf at night??

I wouldn't think he's got any issues with eating... just not that interested.  I clearly remember the look on DD's face when we gave her solids, she was very ho-hum about it all and spent a bit of time pushing it out!

It might be worth just persisting with only one food until he's used to it and likes it rather than several.  It takes up to 10 attempts to like and be used to a food.  Also you might find he only wants a teaspoon full each meal.  Do you add breast milk to the rice cereal? Perhaps he'll like the familiarity of some milk in it.

[Andrea T]

Thank you ladies for the encouragement:)  It's good to know that no one's baby is starving out there even if they don't have solids!

I usually add bm to the rice cereal we give our little guy, and this morning, I tried adding bm to the carrots I have started him on (bm and carrots....hmm...sounds gross!) Anyway, he's very anti-eating still, lol.  I really think it may have something to do with the fact that he's always hated being strapped into anything: car seat, bumbo chair, snuggly...and now maybe the high chair too I'm thinking.  He just keeps stretching his arms out and doing the grrrrrrrrr!  like the incredible hulk, lol.  I tried to make eating fun this morning, I just let him make a huge huge mess everywhere!  I didn't help him with the spoon, just gave it to him, and let him play around.  I don't think any food actually went in his mouth, but he did manage to stay in his high chair for maybe 5 minutes this time instead of the usual 1-2 minutes!

Any ideas on how I can make eating more fun for him?  I'm thinking of maybe trying to introduce some kind of fruit next, maybe the sweetness will get his attention???

Thanks for all the help so far,

Andrea

[*Nicola*]

Andrea,

it sounds like you have already made it more fun for him!  Having him there for 5 mins instead of 1-2 is great!!

Have you checked out the BLW (baby led weaning) thread/sticky?  I am wondering if it might suit your LO well.

x

[Andrea T]

Thanks Nicola -

I'm going to have a closer look at the baby led weaning thread, I think this is definately the way we're going to go, since I think DS wants to be in charge of things!  I think everyone will be happier if we just continue bf-ing, and whatever solids DS does manage to get into his mouth, then it's a bonus!

Thanks for the help,

Andrea

[*Nicola*]

Very welcome

Callie is very similar and wants to hold everything and put things into her mouth independently! 

[mum101]

hi, if he's reacting to being stuck in a chair, maybe you could try feeding him while he is on your lap for a short time until he's more into solids? Or put down on a plastic mat in the kitchen and give him some foods... (unless he's an early crawler!!)  Having said that though, I think the main thing in the long run is to not spend all of his meals trying to entertain him through eating.  I think it's a real blessing and long term solution to help him learn to enjoy food and not make it a chore - the mess he created today is a good thing, let him play and soon he'll realise firstly food is fun and secondly that it's not stressful or 'enforced' eating. 

[Andrea T]

Thanks Nicola and Charmaine~

I think DS did a 180 degree flip on solids yesterday and today - he's been eating like a champ!  It stated with dinner time last night, I just put some solids in front of him so that he could play while daddy and I ate, and he got really into it, since we weren't staring at him with spoon poised, we just let him do whatever he wanted.  By the end of the meal, DS was in stitches laughing so hard - DH was shaking his head and saying "nuh uh" and DS thought that was halarious.  Now, this morning, he ate his carrots really really well!!!!  Yay!!!!!

So thanks so much for the encouragement, I think we'll continue to do this, and I'm sure DS's eating is going to come along nicely 

So my only other question now, is how many "meals" DS should be getting at this age.  His routine is looking like this so far:

E 7:00am bf
E 8:30-9:00 solids - carrots with rice cereal and bm
S 10:00-11:45
E 11:45 bf only
- I don't usually give DS solids for lunch
S 2:00-2:30  - sometimes he's hungry again at this point, so I bf him, but I have to work hard to make sure he doesn't fall asleep nursing.....
Wake 4:30
E 5:30 solids - carrots with rice cereal
E 7:00 bf
S 7:30
df at 10:00 - sleeps through unitl morning!

So I guess my question is if I should be giving him solids at lunch, and then this would elimintate the bf at 2:00-2:30.....then I could bf again at 4:30 when he wakes up, and then at 7:00??  Or is there some other way that I'm just not seeing?

Thanks so much for all the help, 

Andrea~~