8 mth old refusing all solids

[hermykne]

hi, my dd started off on solids quite well but now declines and firmly shuts the mouth. she had progressed to some finger foods but they just go to the floor.
shemhas 2n teeth and is not upset with them and shes taking the advised amt of formula,

will she come round and should i just keep offering? she refuses her fruit until i force it in as i know she likes it and does eat it.

any ideas?

hi hermykne
My ds is only 8 months old so I'm no expert. I'm sure somenone else will come along with better advice but until they do ...
has she been like this for long? If it's just a couple of days I wouldn't really worry - maybe she's just going through a stage and it won't do her any harm not to eat much for a few days if she's still drinking the right amount of milk. My ds is really fussy some days for no real reason but the next day is back to eating like a pig again. Sometimes he just refuses stuff he loved before - no idea why!
Could she perhaps be a bit ill with a sore throat or something like that? Again my ds refused to eat at all when he had a sore throat but it took a few days after he refused to eat for other symptoms to appear.
Just my personal feeling (I know how frustrating it feels when they spit out the food or turn their nose up!) but it's probably not worth pushing the food on her in case she keeps it up as a bit of a game. It took me ages to start doing this but now I just offer a few times and if it's refused, just take it away and wait for next mealtime - nasty mummy!

My dd is also 8 mo. She hasn't quite got the concept that she needs to open her mouth in order to eat. I find that it helps to make funny noises and get her to laugh and then when her mouth is open I put the spoon in. She loves the food once it's in there, it's just a matter of getting her mouth open. Also both her and my ds (at that age) like a bit of variety within a meal. For example, I mush up potatoes with courgettes, olive oil, garlic, lemon and salt for the main meal and then a mushed pear for desert. I might also give her a piece of bread to hold in between spoonfuls. And I always give her a sippee cup (at 8 mo. she can use a tommy tippee one with handles and soft spout on her own) with water (or fruit juice if she's constipated) and I make sure that she drinks lots during her meal.
Having said all of that, I think that at that age most of their important nutrients come from the formula and/or breast milk.

thanks for that info, she actually ate today,
shes been like this for 2 wks since we were on holidays and cut 2 teeth,
i just have visions of my sister whoi was night mare with food i ended up eating it so we could leave the table.

thanks again

My dd is now 9 mo but was doing just the same for about 4-6 weeks till this week. She was refusing solids, batting spoonfuls of food all over the place, but drinking plenty of milk.

However, in the last 2 weeks:

1. she has started crawling (so is probably much hungrier because of the extra exercise);

2. she has cut the top 2 teeth, which seemed to be hurting a lot for quite a while before they appeared; and

3. we were on holiday in Greece - tried her with jars (she usually has home made food) which she didn't appreciate and survived on nothing but milk, bread, bananas and yoghurt.

Now we're back from holiday, she can't get enough home cooked food and everything is OK again. I should think refusing solids is just a temporary thing, but we did find it helpful with ours to give her a crust of bread to occupy both hands so she couldn't push the spoon away, then pop the spoon into her mouth just as she was opening it for a bite of bread.

She will come round. Just keep offering - she may refuse peas today but it could be her favourite food in a couple of months. For your sanity, avoid offering one thing after another at mealtimes to try to tempt her to eat. If she won't have what you're offering, leave it and try something else at the next meal. Don't beat yourself up about it (I speak from experience having done exactly this !). Best wise words said to me when I was stressing about this were along the lines that it's not just food which nourishes babies. very true. Good luck.

circe and tomps thanks for your advice, she is back at the beginning - ie carrot pureed, but i copped onto the bread crusts as a distraction which worked.

my dd loves her food but if she is flagging I sing the banana splits song in a squeaky voice and pop the food in while she's laughing.

She's 7 mo btw

the bANANA SPLITS ARE SO POULAR, ITS AMAZING THEY ARE NOT ON TELLY,
MY DH LOVES THEM