8 months old doesn't care for solids - when do I start to worry?

[Goldenrockymandolin]

DD will be 8 months next week, she started weaning at 5.5 months. She has never shown an interest in food, will literally put anything in her mouth as long as it's not edible.

We started with BLW, she was very excited at first, smiling and shrieking, but of course didn't eat much because she was just starting out. Fine. No gagging or anything, just unable to swallow, which is normal. We tried purees but she was not interested in spoon-feeding. Fine. Then gradually she started showing less excitement and interest and began getting upset very quickly. She always eats with us, but of course mealtimes have become more disruptive for everyone at the table because of all the crying and screaming.

I've tried to keep really chill even though HV seemed concerned and said to reduce milk intake, which based on everything I've read is a no-no. She's 91st percentile, big, strong, etc. No concerns there.

Then early December she started showing some interest, she even had half a pouch of puree/pot twice, got very excited. The last time she ate was three weeks ago at the airport on our way to the grandparents'. And ever since, she literally won't have anything. At most she might munch on something for a couple of minutes, then will get really distressed (she doesn't handle frustration very well, just in general). We have tried the high chair (two kinds), sitting on our lap, giving her puree (both store bought and homemade), giving her same soup we're eating, bread, different kinds of vegetables, meat, omelette, porridge and even fish. Maybe she'll be interested for a couple of bites if you're eating that same thing, but after that she'll start crying.

She's bottle fed, still on 6 bottles a day (but she's not a bottle drainer, sometimes she'll only have half of it, ~120mls, >160mls during the day is rare), she feeds twice during the night, hence the other two bottles, which are the largest feeds as well. We were slowly night weaning her by reducing the amount offered, but have put that on pause given illnesses on all fronts, holidays away from home, etc, her sleep has been all over the place so we've just been giving her whatever she wanted/needed.

I know there are babies like this, which is why I'm not too concerned, but of course there gets a point when we should start worrying.

Have you had a look at Solid Starts on instagram/on their website? They have loads of tips and resources that might be helpful.

How close to mealtimes are the bottles of milk?

Hi, thanks for responding! It really depends, sometimes almost right after, sometimes 30 mins, sometimes an hour, sometimes right before she needs a feed... we're not the most structured, especially now that we're staying with family, but then she's never been a baby to stick to a schedule either.

To be honest, I don't think it makes any difference. If she's hungry she wants milk. If she's not hungry, she doesn't want anything. She doesn't really understand that solids are food.

I'd start swapping a bottle for formula in a cup with the meal, especially those ones she's having right before good time.

I bf my 3 so could be different. But 2 of them weren't that interested in food at 8m and one would be distraught unless I bf them before offering food - if they were hungry they wanted milk not solids.

Could you have the bottle/a cup available at mealtimes so your DC can choose what to have and how much of each? I'd go with blw style foods - stuff they can feed themselves rather than you having to do the work

I was more interested in my DC enjoying and exploring solid food rather than simply replacing their milk feeds. I appreciate there seems to be more pressure to get DC off formula than breast milk.

My D's resisted most foods until he was 8 months. Then I gave him a bit of peach and that seemed to be a turning point. From that point onwards, he ate well. Maybe it could be as simple as finding a taste your dd loves. That might switch her onto the joys of eating. In the meantime, I'd try to be as nonchalant as possible at mealtimes and keep everything as low stress as you can. I appreciate this may be very difficult.

Have you tried offering her foods she can hold? Banana, pear, sandwiches, toast, hard-boiled egg, that kind of thing.

I agree with PP about trying putting it in a cup through the day and I'd also try offering solids an hour after milk. That way she's not upset from being too hungry but she's not so full that she's put off trying solid food.

I definitely wouldn't give solids straight after milk if she's already disinterested in solids, she won't have the motivation to eat or the opportunity to learn that food fills her tummy too.

I totally get wanting to be flexible with timings, but having at least a loose schedule for meal times might help her to improve

Have you tried not giving milk when she's hungry and giving solids instead? Then only offering milk after a feed? That's what the HV advised with DD1 and it worked.

Yes, she gets extremely pissed off, she doesn't handle hunger well!

We'll try the cup, she's just starting to be able to hold and drink water from her free flow cup without help (she LOVES water, I suspect she could live on it 🤦🏻‍♀️).

Yes, we started with finger foods! She tolerates ('like' would be a strong word) corn puffs, cucumber and used to be ok with toast soldiers but has gone off that lately. She has also tried broccoli, carrot, sweet potato fries, steamed apple, banana, mashed and whole (very ripe) pear, orange, omelette, boiled egg, porridge, various purees, fromage frais and yogurt, mozarella, emmental cheese, homemade oat cookies, rusks, and likely more stuff I don't remember. She has a preference for savoury foods, so can't be bothered with fruit purees in general, didn't care for the fromage frais either (it was the 'no added sugar' kind).

I mean, there IS some schedule, we have meals roughly at the same time every day! I think the issue is more with her patterns - she wakes up at different times every day (now it's starting to slowly regulate again) and therefore naps at different times, hence also feeds at different times every day. Her naps also vary quite a lot in length. We'd gotten to a place of some predictability at around the 6 months mark (before it was just madness, she's one of those babies that don't sleep well, cry all day, yadayada) but of course holidays, new people, illness... well, you know the drill, it all went out the window.

My son wasn't interested in solids either until he was 12 months.

It seemed every other 6 month old around me was eating 3 meals a day and everything else but my son was still not interested.

I worried about it and stressed so much.
Looking back I really didn't need too. He started being interested when he was ready.

He's 5 years old now and has a great appetite and varied diet. So it hasn't done him any harm starting solids a little later.

Remember the saying "food before one is just for fun"
All the nutrition will come from milk.

Just keep offering food and if baby eats or touches it then great - if not just take it away and try again another mealtime.

I found it helped when in the mornings I stopped giving milk first thing - instead I would offer something like weetabix and milk. Get him used to the fact that food would also help hunger! But it took time. But at 12-13 months he was eating solids and it just gradually increased day by day.

So don't worry, baby will get there!

Can you still get baby rice? When my eldest 2 were babies you still weaned at 4-6 months, and generally the first thing you tried was baby rice as it was bland and tasted of the milk that they were familiar with. Maybe something like baby rice or porridge made with formula would be more appealing as she enjoys the taste? Then once she realises that food is not the enemy she might be more willing to try other things?

@greenbirdsong

did you feed your little one with spoons or let him eat himself? Struggling with weaning here at 8’months hate it x