Why is my 7 month old no longer interested in solids?

[littlefressia]

Hi everyone

I am brand new to Musmnet so sorry if I am asking something which has already been asked or if this isn't in the right place.

I have 7 months old (corrected age is 6 months) twin girls. I had a pretty difficult pregnancy and they were born early at 5lb15 and 3lb10- there was unequal placenta sharing hence dd2 was very small. She required major heart surgery at 2 weeks and was tube fed for a total of 5 weeks. Never took to breast (despite my trying for months) and has never had more than 100mls of formula in one go. She is on special high calorie milk with added powder to increase calories. Needless to say, her weight and feeding is a real issue. She now weighs just under 11 lbs. To make things even worse, she was daignosed with reflux at Christmas, but is generally doing better on medication.

We were advised to introduce solids early so at 5 months we gave her tiny bits of banana, baby rice, sweet potato. She wasn't massively interested and had really small amounts. About a month ago, we were advised to give her chicken, which we did (mashed with sweet potato and carrot) and she would have one ice cube a day. She has been having 1-2 ice cubes twice a day plus 'pudding' for the past few weeks. She enjoys cauliflower cheese, parsnip, potato, yogurt, banana, papaya and avocado. She has been noticeably more interested in the food I am eating- and has tried a few times to nibble the cracker or rice cake I am eating. Because of her size and her low volume milk intake (average in 24 hours is 350 to 400mls) we are still offering bottle just as often.

For the last week, she is completely disinterested in solids.She now won't even open her mouth for food and to get her to have 1/2 an ice cube requires a lot of time and distraction, even when I am offering the same things she liked before. I wondered if she might want something new/different texture, so tried her with some porridge, rusk and toast- but has shown very little interest in any of those either.

I am at a loss as to what to do, and am really fed up.

I would really appreciate any advice. Sorry for the long post btw.

Thanks

Teething? Got a cold? those can both put them temporarily off food. In which case go easy for a few days and she'll probably get her appetite back

But there is also the way that once they have learnt something new - rolling over, blowing raspberries or whatever - they do it again and again for days or weeks, then suddenly seem to decide they have had enough, and move on to practising another new skill.

Maybe your very clever baby has decided that she has 'done' the eating/being spoonfed thing, so wants to try something different - maybe time for some more interesting finger foods? My DS decided at around 7/8 months that he didn't like being spoon fed either.

Finger foods are a good idea. And it may help to know that It usually takes 3-4 months for babies to settle onto solids.

Also re reflux, have you tried avoiding dairy, as this is a major irritant. Check out cryingoverspiltmilk.nz - very informative website. You should be using a non-allergenic formula, such as Nutrimagen (I assume you are, since you've not said anything about current symptoms).

Oh, and welcome! And congrats on having twins!

my ds did this in the end i just sat him on my knee at dinner time with a plate of his food infront of me and pretended to eat it, after a while he wanted what i was "eating". the other thing i tried was leaving food on his tray with a rattle next to it and sitting side on, so i could see but so he couldnt tell if i was watching, he started bashing the food with his rattle and putting it to his mouth (should mention he was teething i dont just feed my child off a rattle lol) then he let me spoon feed him.
so long as she is still taking milk i wouldnt worry too much, more you stress the more they refuse to do what you want!!!
good luck

If you want more input, it might be worth your while looking at (or reposting on) the weaning board as there are probably people with babies at the same sort of stage there.

Thanks for the replies. She has got 2 teeth coming through but doesn't seem massively bothered by them. And she has been a bit snotty for the past few days.

She is on SMA high energy milk (don't think thats hypoallergenic) but her reflux symptoms have lessened a lot with Ranitidine and thickener (fingers crossed they stay that way).

Will try the rattle trick!

Thanks again