8 mo dd has never eaten, is this normal?

ionesmum · 2004-11-22T20:07:01+00:00

My dd2 is 8 mo and totally breastfed. Although I believe that she was ready earlier I followed the new guidlines to wean her at 6 mo. She has never eaten any pureed food at all, except for three times when she gagged the whole lot up again. Now I am trying her with finger food but she isn't really dexterous enough to get anything. The hv has failed her 8mo check beacuse of this and my g.p is freaking me out with 'your baby will be picky' and 'your baby will be anaemic'. I had no problems with dd1 who was bottlefed and on 3 meals/day by now. Btw dd2 is well on her line for her weight and it otherwise fit and healthy. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this?

bonym · 22/11/2004 20:40

No experience of this but am bumping up for you

JPM · 22/11/2004 20:46

dd is now 8mth and had lots of problems when I first started weaning her. She also gagged and bought everything back up. Perseverence is the only thing I'm afraid.....took me a good 3/4 weeks to actually feel like she'd had a 'meal'. She's still not great at opening her mouth but I'm sticking to my feeding routine and she is getting used to it and now does not need any milk after her feed so I know it's all going somewhere (although she still looks like she's wearing it all at the end of mealtimes!)

emkana · 22/11/2004 20:47

I think this happens a lot with b/fed babies who are weaned after six months, certainly happened with my dd2, she never really ate anything other than b/milk for the first year of her life, and is only now at 15 months any substantial amounts of solid food. I've been reading about it though on some attachment parenting forums and apparently it's very normal and very common and nothing whatsoever to worry about!

emkana · 22/11/2004 20:49

Forgot to say, I did try every now and then with a spoon, but not every day, because it was obvious that dd2 didn't like it. Just gave her finger food when we were having our meals, and she did suck on things and played around with the food and occasionally something actually landed in her stomach

hunkermunker · 22/11/2004 20:52

Milk should still be the most important part of your baby's diet til they're a year old.

It sounds very much like your DD2 is fit and healthy - offer her finger foods and she will eat them when she's ready. That's how I'm doing it with DS anyway and he's developing well and happy. He's nearly eight months old and some days he throws everything on the floor, some days he eats things. I figure he'll do it when he's ready and am not going to make food a battle - I have too many memories of endless 'try it, you might like it' conversations over meals!

Why did your HV 'fail' her 8 month check? Was it because she doesn't take food from a spoon? I'd say don't worry too much about anaemia either, just make sure you're eating a balanced diet and she'll be fine. But if your HV has 'failed' a perfectly healthy child because she hasn't taken purees, she needs her head read!

Catbert · 22/11/2004 21:03

I find your HVs assessment in need of assessing. How completely crap is that?

My good friend's second DD was only just starting to accept a scrap of banana at 9 months. She just was NOT interested in solid food.

She is now a gorgeous skinny 7 year old who will come sleepily down the stairs at 10.30pm saying "Mummy, I think we forgot to eat tea?" after having actually consumed massive portions, plus seconds and pudding!

My own DD2 has surprised me by gagging on every piece of lumpy food I have given her, as weaning DD1 was a doddle.

mummytummy · 22/11/2004 21:07

ionesmum, was it the same type of food that you tried all three times, or was it completely different. Also, was it a jar, or was it home-made? My DD2 hates jars, but loves home-cooked and the powdered stuff, yet my friend's baby won't eat anything home-cooked, but loves the jars. It may just be worth swapping about a bit at first, and sometimes the jar stuff (for 4 month olds) is a smoother texture, which she may find easier until she's used to eating.

pupuce · 22/11/2004 21:16

There are babies who are weaned later... the only thong I'd say is all babies gagg... it's not a problem at all.... don't despair and keep trying. There are issues with babies who really struggle on solids because they do gagg and their parents panick and stop offering... see how you feel about it and if she is thriving on milk, it's fine.

aloha · 22/11/2004 21:22

Take no notice of your GP. In the 20s and 30s it was standard training that babies should be weaned at 8months - I've got the vintage books to prove it! Breastmillk is great stuff, and I'm sure she will eat eventually - just keep offering! She sounds a lovely healthy baby.

Original poster

ionesmum · 22/11/2004 22:38

Thanks for all this advice and reassurance, it is so nice to know we are not the only ones! I knew mumsnet would be the place to come! My hv is reviewing dd2 in a month, once she is eating something I think the hv will be happy. It's my g.p. who has really bothered me, not so much with her advice as her attitude - not dd2 might be picky/anaemic/have a sweet tooth but dd2 will. I shall just keep on letting her have a play with her food, make sure she watches us eating at mealtimes etc and not get fussed about it!

OP posts:

aloha · 22/11/2004 22:43

Good for you. Glad you are feeling happier. I think worrying mothers of perfectly healthy babies is a national obsession and the HV's favourite occupation
Yeah, she might be picky or have a sweet tooth.... she can then join the zillions of kids who are just the same - all of them weaned much, much earlier! Or she might grow up to eat everything in sight. It's all a big nonsense. If she's healthy and happy and so are you then you are both very lucky.

Socci · 22/11/2004 22:49

Message withdrawn

cardigan · 22/11/2004 22:51

If she's ok on height & head circumference charts don't stress. My dds have all been bf & dd2&3 didn't eat much when 8 months. Yoghurt, porridge & some bits of mashed food we were all having (that was ok for babys age). I just let them take their time - put a bowl in front of them, sit them on my lap & let them bf & try some other food if they wanted. Your dd will eventually notice what your ds does & will soon be eating her meal faster than him, trying to be more messy than he is etc!!! Your HV is talking pure rubbish - so many don't know about bf.

For you GP - After 6 months baby's iron stores are running low & breastmilk doesn't have enough in to meet all the growing needs - but this is a personal issue. Breastmilk isn't like formula in that we know the exact amount of the ingredients. If you dd is growing well this is an indication all should be going well.

Good luck

Socci · 22/11/2004 22:53

Message withdrawn

Original poster

ionesmum · 23/11/2004 11:32

Big thanks again to everyone who has relied. Dd2 is onthe 75th centile for her weight and the 98th for her height, so she's a big girl! When she was last weighed she had dipped to just below her line for her weight but not by much. My guess is that if this continues she will start eating more.

I am very lucky - I never managed the ap thing with dd1 although I so wanted to. To have it with dd2 has been so healing, and dd1 adores dd2 and my two girlies cuddled together is the best thing that I have ever seen! (Sorry, getting off the subject a bit...)

OP posts:

taramac · 23/11/2004 11:41

A friends ds had such severe excema(?) that she took him off all solids until she could figure out what was causing it. To my recollection he had very little 'real food' until he was @ a year. He was bf too and didnt seem to do him any harm - he's now taller than my ds and eats really well - less fussy than my 2!!

motherinferior · 23/11/2004 11:43

Aaaarrggghhh sodding HVs. My dd2 was deeply uninterested for a bit. Now she cheerfully ingests anything going (including me if she gets the chance to grab a boob).

pilotswife · 23/11/2004 12:19

Hello from Australia where it is perfectly normal! All my children were totally b/f until 12m and had their first food then. They were uninterested prior. Have never pureed anything....straight on to chops! All four are thriving and a very laid back maternal health nurse helped as my English mother freaked out! Don't worry especially as you say your dd is fit and healthy.

pilotswife · 23/11/2004 12:19

Hello from Australia where it is perfectly normal! All my children were totally b/f until 12m and had their first food then. They were uninterested prior. Have never pureed anything....straight on to chops! All four are thriving and a very laid back maternal health nurse helped as my English mother freaked out! Don't worry especially as you say your dd is fit and healthy.

pilotswife · 23/11/2004 12:19

Hello from Australia where it is perfectly normal! All my children were totally b/f until 12m and had their first food then. They were uninterested prior. Have never pureed anything....straight on to chops! All four are thriving and a very laid back maternal health nurse helped as my English mother freaked out! Don't worry especially as you say your dd is fit and healthy.

emkana · 23/11/2004 20:40

Socci - probably not, as I'm German and read a lot about weaning etc. in German ap forums.
Used to lurk on the uk parents ap forums. What other ones are there?
Where in the country are you?
Am always hoping that one day I'll meet another ap parent in the flesh!
(Don't get me wrong though - love my non-ap friends to bit, would just be nice to share tips with somebody)

lulupop · 25/11/2004 18:47

off the subject of this thread, but what is "attachment parenting"? sounds a bit strange, as surely all parents are "attached" to their babies?

emkana · 25/11/2004 19:26

"Attachment parenting" is a style of parenting where the baby is carried a lot, often in a sling or similar, b/fed, often waiting until the child will stop of his/her own accord, co-sleeping, sometimes baby-led weaning... that kind of thing.
I think it's called attachment parenting because the parents/esp. the mother and the child are particularly close physically in the early months/years, because of the carrying/co-sleeping/breastfeeding.

emkana · 25/11/2004 19:29

\link{http:/ /www.kellymom.com/parenting/ap-frame-of-mind.html\some sort of definition here}

emkana · 25/11/2004 19:30

some sort of definition here