Do I have to do this?

[Mom2katiebug]

Okay...I know I have to, but I guess I could use some words of encouragement.  DD doesn't like solids.  I thought maybe we were getting somewhere when she ate a "bowlful" of rice cereal (probably 1Tbspn) and then some more that I made up.  She even ate some applesauce that meal too.  But that was it.  We've been giving it the good college try for over a month now and we're not making any progress. 

She seems to like finger foods, so I got some diced carrots, peaches, apples from the Gerber Graduate line (for toddlers) so she can pick them up and pop them in her mouth but they come right back out too. 

And my gripe is that feeding her is consuming my days.  Between bottles (which she's too distracted to eat properly) and then our futile attempts at solids an hour later...squeeze a nap in (I never thought I'd say that sleep is the easy part?!?) and start all over.  When I run my errands on the weekends, I can be gone from home for 6 hours or more...a bottle I can do in the carseat, but should I attempt the solids too?

Suggestions?  Words of encouragement?

[tylersmommy]

Casey, I clearly remember those days! I remember thinking that this is NOT what I'd envisioned with solids...everything I read talked about what an adventure it was, have fun with it, and that sooooo wasn't the case. We started Tyler at 6 mo and it took him a full month before he'd open his mouth for more than one bite of anything, and I think we'd tried about 8 or 9 foods multiple times by then. It was really frustrating. Then one day, out of nowhere, he started eating. Just like that. And once we brought out the finger foods, he really got into them. He couldn't hold them at first so we had to feed him from our fingers, but that was all he wanted. He seriously went from stage 1 purees to finger food...maybe that's where your DD is heading? At first, Tyler spit out anything slippery too, but crackers and toast worked well for his first finger foods. Have you tried those yet?

As for out and about, I'd definitely do solids on the go. Just pack up an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack if it has to stay cool and get out of the house!

After awhile, I stopped spending so much time trying to coax Tyler into eating solids. I'd try for a few minutes, and if he wasn't opening his mouth or we were obviously getting nowhere, I'd cheerfully end the meal. It saved my sanity because the longer I tried, the more frustrated I got, and I'm sure he could pick up on that.

Hang in there, I know it's hard!

[Mom2katiebug]

She eats teething biscuits, toddler banana cookies, vanilla wafers, toast, french fries (I wipe off as much salt as I can)...do you see a trend.  I think she's a carbo-girl!  I just didn't think that was enough variety for her.  Like I said, I bought the diced fruit and veggies to see if that would work and they promptly came back at me.  Is bread foods, 2 fruits and 2 veggies enough?

I guess with so much else to do in a day, I wonder why I should take the time to even offer them.  Maybe I should just put a spoon near her mouth and if she opens then I'll do the solids.  If not, we'll skip it.

tylersmommy - I agree.  But there's so much that isn't what I envisioned...silly me!

[tylersmommy]

Maybe I should just put a spoon near her mouth and if she opens then I'll do the solids.  If not, we'll skip it.

That's pretty much what we ended up doing and it saved us both a lot of stress. Since formula and/or breastmilk should still be her main source of nutrition, it's really not a huge deal if she doesn't eat a lot of solids. Same goes for variety too...if she's not eating a lot of fruit and veggies for the time being, that's okay, just go with the flow. The all-carbs diet is pretty common and, like everything else, it will pass. Sometimes you can fool a carboholic by coating fruits and veggies in crushed cheerios to make them more "bready" and we used all that leftover veggie puree as a spread on Tyler's toast and sandwiches. She won't turn her nose up at fruits and veggies forever!

[Lucysmom]

Casey -

My dd is older than yours (1 today actually!  ) and she is also a carb lover.  I have had limited success with her in terms of fruit and veg.  With carbs, they tend to kind of melt in their mouths, KWIM?  So I think the whole mouth feel of other foods is a bit overwhelming for our dd's and they don't quite know what to do with a piece of food that is not "dissolving".  I have had a little bit of luck with watermelon and bananas.  You could take banana and cover it in crushed Cheerios and she might like that.  I am hoping that she will grow out of this extremely picky eating, but right now I am just happy that she is eating at all.  You can also try spreading purees on anything she likes to eat so that she is at least getting a bit of fruit and veg.

One thing to be careful about, with dd eating lots of carbs it can lead to gas and constipation.  Too little fiber and too much fiber (as is the case here) can both cause constipation.  Dd has had some bad bouts of constipation and gas.  When that happens, I stop feeding her carbs and pray that she will eat a bit of fruit puree.  Or I will spread prune puree on bread and pray she eats that.  I do find that prunes really do the trick for her. 

Good luck.  I feel your pain!