5 Month who won't eat solids!

[Munchkinsugarpie]

On behalf of a computer-less friend who has a 5 month old baby boy, I promised I'd ask you wise owls for your opinions on the following....

Her ds just doesn't want solids. She tried them from 4 months old cos the HV advised it, ( he semed hungrier than his extra formula milk could satisfy). She tried all sorts of beginner appetising solids but he now simply refuses to open his mouth! He clamps it shut and even cries with his mouth shut.

She's gone back to ordinary formula in the hope it would leave him hungry, which it does, but he won't touch the food. The follow-up milk is no good either. Any advice?

I'm amazed at this as all 3 of mine were (and still are) guzzling gannets. I think if it were me, I would leave it a week or so to let the commotion calm down and then slowly start reintroducing the solids again - nothing too much, just the odd spoonful here and there, perhaps something a bit tastier ie. fruit purees instead of veg. Tell your friend to try not to get too stressed about it as babies don't tend to starve themselves. Persevere, she'll get there in the end!

If your friend is not fussy about putting her finger in the baby's mouth (the germs on her washed finger will be nothing compared to the germs on everything else babies normally shove in their mouths!), I'd suggest that after the weeks break as Chanelno5 suggested, she try feeding by putting the food on her finger and letting the baby suck it off. It may be that her son doesn't like the taste and texture of the spoon - it can be a bit of a shock after breast or bottle feeding. HTH.

I agree with Sis about trying to feed with your finger. DH started to feed ds with his finger and even now, perhaps when he is teething, dh sometimes feeds him from his finger (of course clean ones) and he is 13 months.

I agree with the time-off and then the finger with something that he might like (pear, apple ?)
This should not be a problem if her son isn't starving. A lot of children start solids at 6 months old... so nothing to fundamentally worry about.

Mashed bananas always got mine going. Both my sons started off on these and they still get through a big bunch each week. Apart from being very yummy, they are so slippery they slide down the throat before the recipient has cottoned on to what's happening. Just a tiny spoonful at first, though. I have cleaned up an awful lot of banana sick in my time.

Doesn't banana stain really badly aswell, it goes all black and yukky! Mine also liked packet baby food made with formula milk as the taste wasn't so different to usual and also you can make up tiny quantities as needed.

Baby rice and pear was what I started my ds off on (a GF favourite!). I agree with everyone else about waiting a while then trying a little food on a finger.

Thanks so much - sounds like good old fashioned common sense! I'll tell her tomorrow and see what she says...

Where would we be without mumsnetters, eh?

I had big problems getting my little'un to eat, even though he was starving, from about 5 months old.

We did eventually get him to take pureed banana mixed with babyrice and formula, but we had to give it up, as he became severely constipated.

Two things finally worked - the packet cereals from Farleys, Cow & Gate, etc, went down a treat. You can mix them so that they are very runny, and progress from there. The other was stewed apple and/or pear mixed with babyrice and formula.

The spoon we used also made a difference. We now use the little spoons from the Heinz Baby Basics range. The texture is much softer than the hard plastic varieties, so he doesn't mind it going into his mouth as much.

At the risk of repeating what's already been said, my baby is 5 months old today so I am exactly at this stage. He is obviously hungry and enjoys food but some days just won't open his mouth. There's no rush, at this stage all you're trying to do is to give them the idea that some food, comes on a spoon, needs to be 'chewed' and moved around the mouth with their tongue. They don't need it for nutrition yet, so tell her to try a little every day, at a relaxed pace and when the baby is not starving hungry and he will start accepting it eventually

If it's any consolation to your friend one of mine didn't start solids until 7mths and she certainly didn't starve. I found the advice from the HV very confusing: with the first child they told me not to worry she would eat when she was ready and I shouldn't push it. Two years later and number two had arrived the same HV told me I had to make her eat or she would die!! Thank god I was a bit more relaxed by then and didn't take it too seriously and at 7 mths she decided she'd give it a go.
If your friends son is okay on milk then don't make it a battle or everyone gets upset. Just keep trying different foods every few days and if he's not interested leave it for a while longer.

My baby was about 9 months before he really started having proper meals. You would know if your baby was unhealthy or not growing properly. I think the baby food industry pushes the 'right' meals at the 'right' age too much. Some babies don't need any solids at all till 6 months and so they are bound to take longer to get up to speed with 3 meals a day than others who wean sooner. I've yet to hear about a baby starving because it won't eat so there really is nothing to worry about.

My no. 4 son was an absolute pain to get to take solids. He started to lose weight - always a no-no for HVs, even relaxed ones like mine - and would only accept one baby spoonful of stewed fruit at best. He is now 10 months and still a pain to feed as he is only interested in real food - of the meat and two veg kind. It is still very hit and miss, some days he eats til he's sick and the next he barely picks at anything, but since he is happy and cruising, crawling etc I try not to worry too much. Good luck!

I wonder why your friend is so keen to get her baby on solids (HV's opinion excluded !). "It is recommended" that you start them on solids at four to six months and many people I have spoken to (midwives for example) have left it much longer. Maybe he is not ready. Perhaps also her anxiety is being picked up on (we've all been there !!) and if she left it a week or two and tried again and made a game of it he wouldn't be so stressed. My daughter (five months) indicated to me that she was getting ready for solids by waking in the night regularly when she had been sleeping through for months, watching the progress of food to our mouths and when I tried adding an extra milk feed instead she wasn't having any of it.