6 month old not taking to solids

[babysanfrancisco]

Hi - I started my ds on a few simple purees when he was about 25 weeks. He's going to be 29 weeks this Saturday and we are going nowhere fast. He doesn't seem to want anything I try him with. The best we've done so far is with fruit purees, but even then he won't open his mouth for them really and we get into a right mess because he's always batting the spoon away and turning his head and pursing his lips or blowing raspberries.

I don't mind mess, but it is becoming so frustrating watching him clearly not enjoying food. Plus, he hasn't been gaining weight much so that's on my mind too.

Has anyone experience of this? Any tips for getting him more comfortable with solids? I'm not panicking (yet) because I know that milk is the most important thing diet-wise for the moment. But any help would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

xx

[hunkermunker]

Babysanfrancisco, yes, DS was like this. He wasn't really interested in food till he was closer to eight months. He also slowed down weight-gain-wise between five and 12 months (having piled it on until then), but I had him weighed again today and he's increased a little bit (he's 13.5mos now).

Just relax about the food intake - he should be getting most of his nutrients from milk for the first year anyway. Also, as he gets older, he'll be able to self-feed himself - try offering him batons of steamed carrot and broccoli florets to play with at mealtimes. DS has always had pieces of food to eat and has never had the problems some of his peers have with lumps/texture - he was self-feeding sandwiches at 9 months!

Please don't worry - he will eat, but he will also pick up on you worrying - and the last thing you want to do is introduce fretting into the food equation! There's enough time for that later on when all he wants is turkey twizzlers because his friends have them

[Fran1]

Sorry if i'm stating the obvious, but are you making sure his bottles aren't too close to mealtimes?

Do you eat at the same time as him?

Try giving him a tiny amount of his meal in a small pot and let him play around with it whilst you eat whatever you're having. Then everynow and then offer a spoonful.
Watching you eat is very important so he feels comfortable with food, and also it means less attention on him.
And you could try finger food with him now, just watch carefully to ensure he doesn't choke.
Offer toast, bread, strips of cucumber, celery, carrot and other vegetables and fruit cut in strips so he can hold them easily and gnaw at the ends (doesn't matter if he doesn't have teeth, and can in fact be helpful if teething).

HTH

[ja9]

my ds is now almost 9mths. i had the exact same situation as this. one day at about 7 mths, he just clicked into the whole solids thing. for the previous month, mealtimes were a nightmare. i paniced slightly as i had left solids until he was 6mths and heard that if you do thiss, that you need them to progress more quickly onto lumpier foods etc.

my advice: dont panic, try and stay chilled about it, dont make mealtimes a big stress & make sure you're feeding him at optimum times ie not when he is tired and grumpy anyway.

hth

[NotQuiteCockney]

My DS2 was like this. It took 3-4 weeks before he really took an interest in solids. During that time, he'd work on finger food, but I don't think anything went down.

He's 7.5 months now, and although he doesn't eat loads, he copes very well with finger foods. He'll tolerate purees if they have meat or lentils in them. Fruit purees are not acceptable.

He will try anything I'm eating, so I let him do that, as long as it's something I'm happy for him to eat (not too sweet or salty).

I strongly recommending not worrying. Offer purees if you like, but not more than once a day, if that. Try finger foods. Let him eat whatever you're eating. Banana is a good finger food, as are baby rice cakes, or bits of peeled apple or pear.

[Fran1]

Be careful with banana as finger food.

I know you can become overcautious with these things. But i attended a first aid cause where the instructor told us banana is one of the easiest things to choke on as its mushy texture is easily inhaled and will block the airways and again because its mush is not easy to bring up again once inhaled.

Don't mean to scaremonger just thought i'd let you know! She recommended the best way to give banana is in very thin slices and keep close eye.

[NotQuiteCockney]

I just supervise pretty closely. DS2 tends to gag, but has yet to choke.

Breadsticks change to mush easier, I guess, as does pear.

[beansprout]

Am having exactly the same. Ds will be 7m this week but we have still only had a few spoons of pureed mush, and that was only this week. Yesterday he threw up his mush so it's slow progress. I keep telling myself he will eat when he is ready!

[Fran1]

Yes but they will dissolve notquitecockney, whereas banana is a very different substance and will sit in the windpipe and i was told it has caused far more deaths than any other food types.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Fran1, that's what I meant - the other two dissolve easier, so are no doubt safer.

I had heard that peanuts and carrots are the biggest choking risks, but I'm sure bananas do it too. I'm probably overly relaxed, but as DS2 has managed well with a wide range of foods so far, I don't tend to worry too much. He gags, and he spits things out, but he hasn't choked at all so far.

[Fran1]

Oh i see now, sorry misread your post!!!

Yes i was always relaxed with dd, but you have to get to know your child don't you. I have looked after some children in the past, that could choke very easily.

Its a nightmare isn't it cos if you listen to all the advice, your child best not eat anything really!

[ja9]

about banana. i had no idea... oops.

[babysanfrancisco]

Thanks for the replies. I think one of the problems is that I am feeding him too close to his milk feeds. Problem is that he is bf so we're on a three hourly cycle for feeding, so if I leave it too long after his bf, he's tired and grumpy ready for a nap and won't be receptive to a solid feed.

This morning I put him in his highchair with a rice cake, finger of toast and a bit of puree on the tray for him to play with while I ate my breakfast next to him. He chewed the rice cake and spat out the bits, threw the toast on the floor and ignored the puree!

Tonight I tried him (at the time he should have been having a milk feed so he was hungry) on some butternut squash and he totally refused it. Switched to a jar of banana/apple puree and he polished off half a jar. I think he likes sweet stuff.....

Hmmmmmm......

So what do I do? Give him fruit because it's more likely he'll eat it? Or keep up with the varied stuff in the hope that eventually he'll come round to the idea?

Thanks again!

xxx

[babysanfrancisco]

BTW, Fran1, that's a bit scary about your banana fact. Will have to watch out for that.
x

[babysanfrancisco]

Oh, and also - how insulted do I feel that he'll eat stuff out of jars, but not all the homemade stuff I've done. I've got a bloody freezer full! Only got the jars for emergencies/out and about....

[NotQuiteCockney]

I'd mix things. Keep trying finger food, keep trying homemade. I wouldn't offer jar food generally, or maybe mix it with homemade?

And at any rate, it's not worth getting stressed about. He'll eat. It just takes time for him to figure things out - I don't think DS2 understood what food was for for quite a few weeks. And even now, if he's hungry, I'm pretty sure it's boob that he wants.

[Papillon]

my dd did not food until 10 months.. even then it was a slow road.. now she eats fabulously... very healthy and hearty diet

[Fran1]

I think in one of the Anabell Carmel cookbooks she talks about mixing fruits and savoury foods together.

It was a long time ago i read this, but i think she was talking about babies don't have preconceived ideas about which foods "go" together, and that there is no harm in mixing foods you'd find weird. It encourages their love of favours.

So maybe you could mix some of his favourite fruits with some vegetables and see if he likes that.

As others have said, i think it is most important to not worry, as this really rubs off on children. Children will not starve themselves, you know hes getting all he needs from milk, so just let food be a fun playtime more than anything!

[californiagirl]

We started at 6 months and DD was not much of an eater until 8-9 months. She hated rice cereal and didn't think much of most purees, we were thrilled if she ate a whole tablespoon. She was slightly better with finger food but not much. Then one day it just clicked. Since she was 10 months she's always been "such a good eater" at daycare... She likes her food with gusto, though. Pickles have always been one of her favorites. And the first time I got her to eat rice cereal I mixed it 50-50 with carrot ginger
soup with lots of ginger.

[bigdonna]

if he prefers sweet things try putting savoury on back of spoon and sweet on the front he will taste sweet first .its all going the same place.have you tried parsnip and apple this is sweet and sweet potato.

[icklelulu]

My baby is the same!Started him on solids at 26wks now 29wks and will not eat anything off a spoon!Likes cheese on toast, sticks of cucumber, peaches,anything he can hold but just wont eat anything off a spoon which can be frustrating sometimes!I was really worried at first but it all takes time!

[NotQuiteCockney]

You know, you can just skip the spoon food - I gave up on it. It's called "baby-led weaning", and (I think) Unicef is pushing it.

My DS2 is now 8.5 months, and we just don't do spoons. He does fine with finger foods, and I've managed to avoid the bother of moving from smooth purees to lumpy purees to solid food, by just starting with solid food.

[trixabell]

my dd was similar - I left it later to wean, nearly 6mths, but she wouldn't have anything much - except yogurt. I just kept trying some simple things at the same time each day - if she didn't take it that was that - eventually after about 4 weeks of this time amounts she started to eat - now she is good - and actually eats the things I make - I too had a wonderfully stocked fridge of things she wouldn't eat - I used to say to her - here is some lovely apple and pear that you won't eat!! then one day she had pea, parsnip and carrot and it was yummy!!!!

Best piece of advice was - if she's hungry she'll eat - up until then she just wasn't hungry -

also a health vistor told me that sometimes breast feed babies aren't hungry as bottle and it can take a little longer.

[Pupness]

Having real problems with ds - he loved all his first tastes and didn't refuse a thing. Now he hardly eats a thing apart from peaches and ready brek at breakfast. You get so worried that he is not getting enough brain food as the books say all sorts of things that they should be getting certain proteins etc. I find myself uping the milk amounts to make up for the lack of solids just in case. Not sure if this is the right thing to do as dh thinks he will always think that milk is there as a standby and he can refuse whatever he likes. Made cauliflower cheese which he loved first time 'round but flatly refuses now!! Help!