15 days and still hasn't swallowed a lick!

[lisi's mum]

sorry, only scanned replies but wanted to say that dd2 started solids at 6 mo (or a week shy of) only digested stuff at around 8 mo (ie not just spitting it out) and was at least 10 months before showing any real enthusiasm. Now as soon as she is even slightly under the weather she stops eating again.

Oh, and it's not like she's a fussy eater or anything, when she's feeling ok dh has even wondered if we're over feeding her!

[binxyboo]

Glad you are not worried.

To answer your real question, your lo sounds perfectly normal to me lol! It takes time. He has been used to receiving all his nutrition in liquid form up to this point, so they do have some adjusting to do.

Have fun and take photos of the messy stage!!

[MLK]

HAve you tried making it really really runny at first - almost like milk?

[mum101]

Hi, just wanted to chime in that Leobin wouldn't really eat solids for a long time. Refused a spoon (looked at us like we were trying to kill him), and even when we went to finger foods he enjoyed them but in terms of calorie intake he got pretty much nothing for another 2 months.

Since 8 months in particular he got the hang of it. 

So all in all it's taken from 6 months to 9 months for him to establish a good intake of food. All completely normal, just on his terms.  When he refused the spoon I sat down and thought about it - do I battle him to establish purees or do I let him do it on his own terms.  Now he understands more he accepts the spoon so I can feed him yoghurt easily   

FWIW DD started on purees and progressed quickly and happily, Leobin is just different.  He is messier but he takes me a lot less time. In terms of choking he rarely has an issue with coughing or spluttering, I think because he can control what goes in his mouth, how and when. 

[A pair of Charlies]

Mashimaro

Okay...trying to think back and just 'consulted' DH for a second opinion. The first week we did everything with EBM and / or with baby rice; really sloppy, milky, and tbh so grim that it made me wretch.

DH recalls that he thinks a third or half went down, the rest out or on the face etc. A few spoonfulls at most I think went down. Picked up overtime. I tried to not to stress and focus on 'enjoying the experience' but easier said that done. I don't think I achieved the not stressing everyday.

How much went down? Not entirely sure. A couple of teaspoons initially I think.

If you want, I can dig out exactly what I fed him for the first few weeks / month?

Other info: I had him in a high-chair. I tried to eat with him so it wasn't all him alone (even if it was a bit of toast). There was a lot of exaggerated eating by me: chewing, swallowing etc.

[Zoey]

DS doesn't have reflux.  At one time we thought he did (GP diagnosis), but then after seeing the paed GI it is MSPI that was causing all of the spit up and vomiting. Now that he is on proper formula he's okay as far as that goes - so no reflux issue.

We aren't going to go the BLW route, thought about it for a while but DH and I aren't comfortable with it - mainly the thought of choking, really.

I guess I'm giving the wrong impression with my question though.  I'm not trying to force solids or get them established, I know milk is most important, etc etc etc. I don't think it's an issue worth of seeing a hospital consultant paediatrician over - or at least I didn't, unless this is seriously abnormal.  I just am wondering what other peoples experiences are - did your children actually EAT the purees the first few weeks or just spit it all out?

Yes, after 5-7 days my son ate the pureed food we made.  He spit out things he didn't like - for example peas and green beans (I could never them a smooth consistency) and meats.  Once he got to a finger foods stage he liked most things we gave him.  We weren't comfortable with BLW for the same reasons you're not.

I didn't mean to worry you, or cause a problem.  When I read you initial post it seemed as though you were concerned that your child wasn't swallowing food after 15 days of trying. It seems now you're not concerned about the swallowing, just wondering when baby will stop spitting out the food.  All we can do on this site if post our thoughts and opinions based on what each of us would do for our child.  That's what I did, and I'm sorry it upset you.

I wish you much luck.

[Mashi]

Thanks all for the tips.  Today we did banana (second day of it) and I made it so there were lots of runny bits (runny banana does NOT look nice!) but also left some good sized lumps in.  I dipped to spoon into the runny bits to let him suck it off but then gave him a few chunky bits (not "chunks" per se, more like 3 or 4 mm in size) and he at least tried to gum them a bit and managed to swallow some. (Judging by tonight's poop, he swallowed more than I thought!  Ugh.) Also spoke to my sister who told me one of her kids (who has soooo many similarities to my DS, both touchy/spirited) was the same. She had to sit him in front of the tv to sort of distract him, otherwise it was a game -- blowing raspberries with the food, etc.  Not sure I like it as a long term solution, because I do want him to "get" the idea of mealtime but for now, it seemed to work.  Sort of no different to when I change him - he wants to grab the wipes, suck on the clean nappy, stick is hands in the dirty nappy sack, etc etc, but if I give him a toy to distract him, then he's fine.  So, the TV seemed to work a bit this morning - once the food was in his mouth he was concentrating on the tv (BBC Breakfast, at least it's educational! haha) he was more willing to swallow rather than experiment with what other things he could try with these bananas.   

Thanks for the tips, glad it's not just my LO who does/did this. I guess I just expected that for a little boy who was SOOOO excited to get food at first, that he would want to eat it.  Should have remembered that he's a pest like his dad who will always try to make something as fun as possible.  

[Mashi]

OK another question then -- when I read ppls "easy" for 6 month olds, I often see "breakfast solids, 3 ice cubes, lunch solids, 4 ice cubes + yogurt, dinner solids 4 ice cubes"  -- so do people mean that they MAKE this much food and just let their LO spit it all out, or are there babies actually eating 10oz of solids per day at 6 months??

[TDR'smom]

I would guess that is what they are offering and depending on the lo, they might eat it all or spit some out?!?!?

[mum101]

Leo hardly ate anything at 6 months, probably not even the equivalent of a cube of pureed food!

[mini me]

Artemis was also only on about 3 icecubes a day at 8mths old!!! Don't worry Mashi, he'll get there in his own time ... you don't see many 10yr olds still only drinking milk!! But seriously, I think some babies just love to eat and some don't ... like with the napping, like with the STTN etc ...it's just mine didn't like to do any of the ones which made my life easy at the time!! But she's wonderful now!!
I would make up a saucepan full and freeze cubes .. it was less hassle and less disheartening when they got refused day after day.

[Mashi]

Oh yes, I do make them and freeze!  Not going through that crap every day.

This week it has been banana and avacado because much less work. Gave him a banana to eat himself, LOVED it. Until it came time to swallow it.  Did you know banana leaves brown stains on clothes?  Sigh.

[A pair of Charlies]

I pureed banana for ages. Still do when he's a bit tricky at meal times. I sometimes add blueberries (heated up in a pan til they start bursting) or fresh raspberries.

Quantities - didn't do icecubes. Probably 3 teaspoons a meal....with fruit as an extra (a couple of teaspoons).

[judypdx]

Hiya! I logged on today and was just able to writeup a similar post.  My LO is just a 2-3 weeks older than yours and just GRIMACES IN DISGUST at everything I give her and spits everything out.(DH jokes it's my cooking).  Everyday I *still* try to feed her only to toss it out later - she eats about 1-2tsp for the whole day  :(and like you, I was surprised to see how much other LOs were eating on the sample routine.  Banana is her constant stable food as she likes to lick it in it's original form. If I try to puree it and feed it to her on a spoon, she'll have none if it. 

[Mashi]

Well I am glad it's not just me!   It's frustrating isn't it?  I have noticed the past two days that lumpy food seems to go down better with him (pardon the pun).  Perhaps because it is harder to spit it out and when he tries, he ends up swallowing it by accident?

Totally unrelated but while I have you all on here reading my thread anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyy -- I have a sippy cup dilemma. DS looooooves his sippy cup full of water.  Mind you, he hates the water he just loves the cup!  When he sees it he squeals with delight and holds out his hands. Takes it instantly, puts it right to his mouth (did from day one) and blows into it.  Then lets a bit of water pour into his mouth and raspberries it out. Does this until the cup is empty.  It's his favourite part of the day 

So -- dilemma: Do I let him continue thinking of drinking from his cup as a game that involves nothing other than spitting water everywhere?  Or, do I take it from him in the "it's not a toy" mentality?   If I do that, then he will never learn to drink because he will never get a sippy cup!  Today I tried to demonstrate (haha) how to drink, he watched me, and then proceeded to do his thing.  Talked to DH about it and he thinks that I should keep giving it to him every day after his meal and let him play so he can learn. Once he has shown that he knows what to do with it (ie/ drink) then if he plays take it from him and only let him have it to drink properly. Seems like wise logic to me, but not sure if that's the "right" thing to do.  He'll shoot me for taking BWers advice over his, but oh well, I've done worse