Late bloomer in the solids department-- is this okay?

[bethy]

My 7.5 mo. old seems to be regressing in the solids department.  We've been trying solids (just rice cereal) for a little over a month now, with very little progress.  He was a month premature, so I assumed it would take him a little longer to figure it out.  At first he was just uninterested and would eat, at most, 2 Tbs without really noticing that I was getting it into him.  Now he gags when we put any cereal in his mouth.  He breastfeeds 4 or 5 times a day and is sleeping 12 hours at night.  Should I take a break for a while?  Continue to offer it every day?  Offer different foods?  We tried oatmeal (caused a slight rash) and yogurt (thought it was even more disgusting than rice cereal).  I'm worried that he's already so far behind in learning how to eat solids, and yet he's thriving (he's 24 pounds already!)  Did anyone have a baby who was so reluctant to eat solids?  What worked? 

Thanks!

[Isom'smom]

Isom was not impressed at first.  He thought cereal was okay, threw up every time I attempted to get greens in him.  Squash and carrots worked, I geuss cause they were sweeter.  Heck, even try some fruit.  Don't get too caught up in the strict order that food are supposed to go in.  It's food, it's new, go have fun!

Crystal

[gthills]

Being a first time mom I read the "What to Expect" books and diligently tried introducing solids (rice cereal) at 6 months.  The way you described your LO's reaction/sleep/weight  is IDENTICAL (so indentical I laughed out loud when I read it!) to my little Eden's.  We moved twice between 6-8 months so I understood her taking a step back with solids. Since she was still nursing full time and thriving I didn't worry about it.  I had to come to terms with the fact that it's OK if my baby isn't all that interested yet.  She wasn't suffering (it doesn't sound like your LO is either) so it was more me wanting to be a good mom and making sure I wasn't slowing her progress.  After talking it over with some other moms I was reassured that it's not all that uncommon for some little ones to take their sweet time transitioning to solids.  So relax, count your blessings and enjoy this close time of nursing (it won't last much longer, even though it may seem like it's taking forever).  What happened with us is we just stopped cereals alltogether for month 7.  We were moving, transitioning, we had enough on our plate.  Month 8 we had a hunch that Eden might be interested in some simple finger foods (she was picking up dust balls and any other tiny specks on the floor and promptly shoving them in her mouth...that was our first clue :lol: )  Rice krispies, pea sized mild cheese bits, little shreds of bread...whatever.  Now in month 9 we've reintroduced the spoon and we start out meal time with something spooned (yogurt is a hit) while she's got her best appetite.  When that slows down and she's had enough we give her a couple TB of finger food.  Plain puréed veggies just get spat out but she really likes it when I purée some of our soup/stew (mildly spiced, but way more interesting to her palate than carrot mush).  Now we're working on recipes to get a balanced diet and slowly but surely it's working.  I just copied down some of the recipes in other sections on this fabulous site    Blessings to your and yours as you take it one step at a time!

Tara

[bethy]

Thanks for your replies.  It's good to hear that other babies have taken their sweet time in figuring out this food thing.  We're going to Mexico at the end of this month (yay!) so I think I'll take a break from solids for the trip (I don't want to be worried about purified water and washing dishes and spoons-- breastfeeding is so much easier!) and experiment with some different foods and read his cues in December.  I've been following the Child of Mine approach, and just expected him to be a little more interested in food by now.  I have to keep on reminding myself that loving someone means you have all the time in the world for them!

Thanks again

[CanadianMama]

Just wanted you to know that I have a friend who has two children who are 4 and 7 and both her kids were bf exclusively until 13 months and 15 months respectively...I know that is not the info you are looking for but she said her kids just flat out refused to eat solids and they were both healthy and their weights were fine and they are both healthy now too.  I think it's fine to go slow...babies should be getting all the nutrients they need from bf or formula so not to worry.

Janine

[hannahbannanasmom]

hello all,

first time posting messages in a few years!  I am going to have to get used to the lingo!! 

My daughter is a healthy thriving girl - she is 23 pounds and seems to be doing well by all accounts... She loves to nurse, however when it comes to eating solids, I can barely get her to eat anything.  We thought it was humorous at first when she would clamp her mouth shut and turn her head away, but now we are extremely frustrated... She hates rice cereal, will eat about 3-4 spoonfuls of oatmeal, and maybe some veggies (she prefers green beans if anything).  She has quite the gag reflex and will do this frequently while eating. 

She was a 21 days overdue, and is sitting, crawling, trying to stand up etc.  She is advanced in everything, but the eating!!  Any suggestions?

Thanks,
 :roll: