Author Topic: 7 month old NW with solids  (Read 2108 times)

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Offline Gillian C

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7 month old NW with solids
« on: December 28, 2015, 02:13:24 am »
Hi,

We're really struggling to introduce DS to solids.  He just turned 7 months old.  About a month ago, we started feeding him what we had read were "easy" foods, and he loved them.  He caught on quickly and was eating about an ounce a day (he would have eaten more if we let him!).  But, about 3 days later, he started waking at night (he had been STTN since age 4 months), for increasingly longer periods of time.  He started with 1 hour, and increased up to 3.5 - and he was NOT happy about it - crying, fussing, screaming...  But calmed instantly when he was picked up.  After about a week, we stopped solids, and he started STTN again within 2 days.  We waited a week, and tried very gradually introducing solids again, but again, after 3 days, he was waking up very unhappy for 1-3 hours.  He was constipated for 3 days, but we seemed to fix that.  This time, we kept him on solids for 2 weeks, varying things we thought could be a problem, but nothing seemed to help.  2 days after stopping again, he's back to STTN.  ???

We tried:
-feeding him at dinner time vs. feeding him at breakfast
-feeding him immediately after being nursed vs. feeding him while he was hungry
-feeding him less
-adding in very ripe bananas at every meal (and they cleared him right out, but it didn't help at all!)
-just feeding him one food for an entire week (rice cereal)

We started him with avocado, then sweet potato, squash, oatmeal, rice cereal, ripe bananas, prunes, and pears.  Each was introduced after an appropriate 2-3 day window.  No particular food seemed to make things better or worse.  (Oh - we even tried a bit of yogurt, having heard that it helps with the gut bacteria and digestion, but that didn't change anything either!)

Extra information, in case it helps:
-he was EBF until 6 months
-won't take a dummy
-already a good crawler and pulling to standing
-no teeth, doesn't seem to be teething
-no evidence of reflux on BM
-generally calm and happy during the day, even with his NW, so the solids didn't seem to be affecting him during the day?
-fell asleep most easily on his right side (and during/after a NW, this was the only lying down position he wasn't crying in)
-we haven't changed our daytime routine in all this time

Any advice you can suggest would be greatly appreciated!  He wants to eat, and sits in his high chair eagerly expecting food, but I don't know how to approach it!

Thanks!
Gillian

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2015, 11:20:35 am »
Hi there
Sorry to hear your LO is having a hard time of it at night :(

I would suggest offering a small portion of solids only at breakfast time, so it's WU milk as usual then roughly 1hr later a solids breakfast.  For the rest of the day only milk feeds at the usual times.  for breakfast I would offer a small portion of one food along with drink of water, offer a top up BM if he wants one (my assumption is you are still BF).  I would stay with that one food for several days (which I don't usually advise simply because if it is a constipating food there is nothing to balance it with) or if you are concerned about possible constipation introduce 2 foods but stay with those, possibly sweet potato and prune.
Keep a record of any increased irritability or wind in the day, bowel movement changes, and if he STTN or not.
If you decide to change the foods offered I would keep it at breakfast time.

Giving solids at breakfast gives him all day to digest and get the wind moving before night sleep, it would at least help to clear up whether it is a digestion/wind problem in the night.

Also - are all the foods you offered pureed?  Some times I feel there is a lot of air trapped in puree foods, just that I noticed when I home make soup and whizz it, or milkshake, it is full of air.  I didn't make purees for my DS so I can't fully comment on how much air there might be in puree.  If you have been using a whizzer/blender I suggest stopping all puree for now to see if this could be the culprit. Instead of puree, offer finger food (a steamed baton/wedge of sweet potato for instance or oven baked, dry, is easier to pick up on the outside and still lovely and soft on the inside, soft ready to eat prunes I gave my LO from 6 months, I helped him pick up or hold it whilst he gummed on it) or if you are really not keen on finger food use a fork to mash down the sweet potato instead of a blender.

It's hard to work out what's going on so I think there will need to be a bit of patience whilst you try these few things out - it probably feels like you tried absolutely everything already.


Offline Gillian C

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2015, 17:55:35 pm »
Thanks so much for your reply!

We'll give it another go.  We had been doing just breakfast, and we stayed with rice cereal and ripe bananas for several days, approximately 1-1.5 hours after BM.  I hadn't given him water or offered more BM after solids, so I'll start that.

About half of his food was pureed - sweet potato and squash, but everything else was either strained or mashed (or baby cereal), but then it was frozen and thawed as needed.  I hadn't thought about air trapped in his food!  I like the sweet potato wedges idea - I can cook them tonight and offer him one in the morning.

I hope this gets sorted soon - he really seems to enjoy eating!

Thanks again,
Gillian

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2015, 18:34:36 pm »
We had been doing just breakfast, and we stayed with rice cereal and ripe bananas for several days
OK, so if this was the only food you tried for several days possibly one of these is the problem, maybe, maybe not. If you try a different food for a few days and neither of these, we might be able to work out it was one of those things.

I hadn't given him water or offered more BM after solids, so I'll start that.
LOs must always be offered a drink with solids to ensure they don't get dehydrated and to avoid constipation.  I'd suggest water in a sippy cup or straw. The top up of BM is optional, if your LO won't take water in a cup then I'd definitely offer the BF.

I wouldn't have thought freezing and defrosting food would be a problem but how about you try not doing that for a little while. Freshly cooked and kept in a sealed tub in the fridge over night.

FX for you


Offline Gillian C

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2016, 16:53:35 pm »
Sorry for the long delay before an update - we were away then a nasty bug swept through the adults!  Hopefully all better now.

Feeding update:
DS really enjoyed his single baked sweet potato stick, but I'm not sure how much he ate of it.  And he definitely nursed well afterward.  No sleep disturbances!  We kept with that for 1 week, and then added a bit of plain yogurt.  This morning, he had a bit of yogurt and a bit of apple sauce.  He was not enthused, but with the small amount he ate, I doubt it will disturb his sleep at all.

I know it's going to be a matter of trial and error, but when do you suggest that we can try increasing his solid intake and/or feeding him closer to dinner?  He has started EW recently, and we're wondering whether BM isn't enough anymore.  (He is closer to a 1-year-old in size, and very active, crawling all over the place!)

Thank you so much for your help!  It's such a relief to know that he won't be heading off to college unable to eat solids! ;)

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2016, 21:37:10 pm »
It's such a relief to know that he won't be heading off to college unable to eat solids! ;)
Ha ha, yes that's the worry we all have a 7  months :)

If he liked the sweet potato stick why not offer a bit more of that and then try another finger food rather than the yoghurt and apple sauce he was not so keen on?  Whilst I don't encourage 'picky eating' (just refusing food until a certain food is offered) I do also think it is helpful to observe.  The theory (although I never read the book) of BLW is that LOs will instinctively know which foods they 'need' to balance their nutrition and which foods may not be so good for them.  I'm not 100% convinced by that but I really did see it to quite a good extent with my own DS.  He never looked all that keen on yoghurt (but was a keen eater and would try most things) and actually I worked out it caused a reflux flare up, it seemed he knew even before/as he ate it.  He was also reluctant to try rice and the few times he decided to give it a go he vomited, he still can't eat rice now (almost 5yo).

Some LOs this age still get a night feed, it is not at all uncommon, if he is waking earlier to get his morning feed a bit sooner but otherwise not having a night feed I really wouldn't worry about him being 'hungry', the EW might be routine based too.
Make sure all milk feeds are as much as he wants.  Your breast milk is all he needs and the best thing for him, if you are concerned at all about supply or if he is getting full enough you could post on the BF board for some support (I'm no help I'm afraid).  Milk will keep him fuller for longer than solids, it has more nutrition, fat and calories.  The focus for nutrition and growth is on milk before 12 months.

I would think that if you've had these trials for a week+ you can increase a little more now and see how it goes.


Offline Gillian C

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2016, 19:40:45 pm »
Good to know!  We'll keep experimenting with finger foods and mashes and see what happens.

I shouldn't have posted that there were no more night disturbances - for the past 2 nights he's been up for more than 2 hours, but I think it's because of a cold.  Who knows.  Always a fun challenge!

Thanks for your help.

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2016, 23:04:49 pm »
I wonder if the cold symptoms might be a food reaction symptom.  It would be worth you noting this cold down in your food record just in case.

Sorry he's poorly.


Offline Gillian C

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2016, 14:25:31 pm »
Duly noted!  But we're pretty sure it's a cold - we visited family over the holidays and they all had colds, and he definitely has a cough and a very stuffy nose, with lots of sneezes.  Classic cold symptoms, and we hadn't introduced any new foods to him when he started showing symptoms.

Once the cold clears up, we'll have a much better idea of how the solids are going!

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Re: 7 month old NW with solids
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2016, 18:45:14 pm »
Hope he's better soon x