7 month old baby not interested in food...

[icurgnmum]

Hello, I'm new, but hoping someone on here will be able to offer me some advice / help as I'm so stressed out over weaning. My daughter is 7 months (and one week)! old, started weaning at 6 months. She was exclusively breastfed until then, never took a bottle. Tried the traditional home made puree route - she wasn't having a bar of it. Tried Ella's kitchen purees, finally she would take something, but having achieved a state where she'll eat a reasonable amount of only 3 flavour of this, or any sweet thing, we seem to have stopped. She's not really bothered about food at all. I was advised by HV that I was giving her too much milk and to cut out feeds in order to make her hungry in order to motivate her to eat. Also have been told to give vitamin drops. She detests these and it has been very difficult to get the foul tasting liquid into her, so I haven't been bothering. Questions I have are - 1) do I need to give vitimin / iron supplement? She's having 4 or 5 feeds from me a day, I'm not prepared to drop any more. I am taking pregnacare supplements and have a good diet. 2)i'm now offering her breadsticks, pasta shapes, carrots, cucumber, rice cakes, toast etc every meal time - I put it on the table and let her do exactly as she pleases with it all (so it all goes on the floor) - is this a good idea? 3) For those of you who are BLW if I choose to go more for this route can I be confident that she'll be eating before I go back to work (when she's 1 year old)?? Sorry - bit of a rant... it's just all my peers are shovelling in the puree and having no issues, and my child seems to be the only one who isn't interested. I'm sure she'll get there eventually it's just that I'm scared I'll end up with a child who only wants to breastfeed at a year old, which will be somewhat problematic given that I will be returning to work 12 hour shifts. Any advice welcome. Thanks.

I would say not to worry as for the first year milk is their main source of nutrition, a few healthy tastes of a variety of foods is ok for now. Don't worry about quantity. An old trick, but if you eat or pretend to eat her food first, might that encourage her? they do love to copy.

Now, on another matter:

"shovelling in the puree".

Please don't say this - the BLWs use this awful term a lot to describe a perfectly normal, traditional way of weaning a baby. I am feeding with purees, but there's certainly no shovelling involved!

Thanks for responding. Firstly I apologise as clearly I have caused offence with my terminology; I was not intending to be either judgemental or derogatory in any way when I said that my friends are "shovelling in the puree", indeed I would dearly love my baby to be eating some of the many purees that I have prepared and have copious amounts of in my freezer. I have no issue whatsoever with the puree route, in fact this is what I have been trying to do since my baby turned 6 months and the only reason I am on here asking for advice / help is that my baby isn't interested. I don't have any view that any one way of weaning is superior to another and I am only asking about BLW because the traditional route isn't going as smoothly as it seems to be for everyone else I know. In all honesty pure BLW isn't something I really feel very enthused about (now I've probably offended someone else), but I need to find a way to get my child to eat more than 3 flavours of puree and to get her interested in food full stop. Does it have to be either / or? Has anyone tried a combination approach?

Hello, BLW folk say "food for fun until they're one" - your baby will be getting all the nutrition she needs from your BM, so carry on as you were with that, and offer finger foods as you have been doing at every meal. IF (and it's unlikely) she's still not actually eating much by 1yr old, you can always move her onto formula feeds when you're at work.

Have you read this book on BLW? Well worth the £6 and free postage, I was dreading pureeing for DD and as soon as I started this book I felt really excited about it!

One thing it does cover is that all babies get enthusiastic about solids at different times. I always try to remember that my DD is a PERSON and think how I would feel - so if she doesn't really fancy solids yet, trying to force it will be unpleasant for both of you.

I am no expert having only been BLW for 6 wks or so, the MN Aitch has a fab blog here - blog link at top right which is worth a look at, she might pop along later with some advice - or there is a forum you can access if you register on the BLW website too.

Sorry the MNer Aitch!

Having exact same prob with six month old ds. He won't touch purée so going down blw route. Am a bit nervous but just bought gill rapleys book which is meant to be good.

As for vit drops, I was advised to give them to ds but he won't take them either! He is bf so not too worried. Good luck!

Firstly, relax. Your baby is really very young still and it's amazing how quickly they change and pick up feeding between 6 and 12 months. DS1 was BLWed and only really "got" eating at 9 months, now (at 2.8) is such a good eater, he eats anything and is good at trying new foods too. So take heart! I'm now BLWing 7 MO DS2 and it feels like it's going slowly but week by week his dexterity is improving and he's swallowing more at each meal. Just keep offering food and keep everything lighthearted. I much prefer to see eating before 1 yr as "learning to eat", building up skills, rather than eating for energy and nutrition, as your DD will be getting that from your breastmilk (and there is no need to try to cut down on this yet!). Have a look at the BLW long thread for meal ideas and support. It just takes a little extra thought about how you can adapt what you eat so that your DD can eat with you. For e.g. tonight me, DS1 and DS2 had a pork and veg ginger & garlic stir fry, DS2 sucked the life out of some pork strips and had a good go at the veg (cut into chip-shapes to help him) and the noodles!

DS would not eat until he was about 10 months. He's now (2y) the best eater ever. He would eat anything!

I had a very similar experience. I did BLW because I couldn't 'get' my DS to eat anything and (especially with the support available on here) it made me relax and not panic about the amount I fed DS.

It can be stressful seeing friends' babies enjoying food (or even just opening their mouths for spoonfuls of food like my DS never would!) when your own rejects it (mine used to finger food across the room at times!), but it will work eventually. Now age about 15 months, puree-fed and BLW eat pretty much the same.

I'm one of the only people I know who did BLW. A few friends started BLW then started 'topping up' with purees, others combined purees and finger foods, so I think however it works for you is the best route to take.

Most importantly - try to relax.

Thankyou so much, it's just comforting to know that others have been through same thing. My gut feeling is that she'll eat more when she's ready to, but it really is so hard (I guess more so with the first baby) not to feel as if things aren't moving on when I'm comparing her to peers who are enthusiastically wolfing down the purees and clearly enjoying their food. I know I shouldn't compare as they're all different, and part of me really admires her strength of will!! I will have a look at Gill Rapley's book. I think maybe I'm just expecting too much too soon, not helped by the HV telling me that the reason she won't eat is because I'm feeding her too much milk, and that she 'should' be eating food with lumps and having vitimin drops or she'll have iron deficiency and won't learn to speak....etc etc.. it's so hard then not to feel the pressure and the last thing I want to do is try to push her to eat if she doesn't want to, or make mealtimes miserable for her. I guess we'll just continue to throw some food around and I'll offer some mashed up stuff / puree and at some point something will click. Will have a look at BLW thread too. Thank you all!!

It's a relief to see all of this on here. My daughter is eight and a half months and still much more interested in playing than eating...Actually, I think on many days she eats nothing at all other than milk, though her poo has changed so she must be consuming something. I don't have a HV or anyone like that, so I am really wondering if I am being negligent. I have tried to do BLW and so have not give purees, but surely even in BLW she should have the chance to try something sloppy if she wants? I have tried holding a spoon of food in front of her, but she has no interest in putting it in her mouth. I'll try to get the book and read online, but any tips gladly appreciated!
icurgnmum, I'm glad I am not the only one worrying about this!

I'm sure there must be lots of people whose babies are not that interested, or should I day not interested YET.. it's just when you don't actually know any then you feel really alone with it all. Helloitsme - I'm not sure that my HV has really helped me that much, other than taking dd to get weighed every few weeks, all I've really come away with is confusion and stress - that said, I'm sure it depends on who your HV is - after all, I guess they must have seen it all and then some!

Tell your HV to sod off (some are really useless). Keep offering the breast often. Your LO will pick up solids when she's ready.

I second the be wary of telling your HV if you wish to try BLW.
One HV told me he wouldn't get to taste any different textures, WTF and went on to take it as a personal attack on her mother who had purree fed her
Another when I said my LO loves strawberries said not strawberries my dear, try pears! It later turned out my BIL is allergic to strawberries so she was right to be wary.

Keep up the breast, try different things, eat with her, maybe off the same plate, and relax.

Funnily enough, and I don't know if it's because I feel a bit less panicked, we had a good day today - I just stuck a load of stuff on the table and she actually put most stuff in her mouth before chucking it - so she tasted broccoli, tomatoes, carrot, rice cakes... and having all this food to play with seems to make her more enthused about eating in general so she ate some reddibrek for breakfast, some puree at lunch (the exact same one which she totally spurned yesterday)and a new flavour puree at tea time, plus yoghurt... all this and full breast feeds too... I'm hoping this is us turning a bit of a corner. I have to say, it was really, really lovely to see her exploring and tasting and putting things in her mouth of her own accord. Also she actually had a little giggle when I put more puree in her bowl and sat there with her mouth open waving her hands about. I know tomorrow could be a different story again, but I do feel a bit reassured now. Thanks again to everyone for their wise words!

Sounds very much like my BF 7.5month old DD. HV has given me grief for still breastfeeding during the day. She seems to think starving her of breast milk is the best way to make her hungry.

Over past few weeks she's getting better with BLW and a good half of what I give her ends up being eaten. Copying me really helps, especially if she thinks she's stealing my food. Also found a good way to use my lovingly created purees - spread them on toast! Then suddenly my DD doesn't think they are evil after all!

Good luck!

Glad to hear you had a good day.
If you worry about how much she has eaten the only way to really tell is in their nappy!

My 7 month old is also not very interested in food. Sometimes she will put it in her mouth and sometimes not. I am mainly trying BLW but I do sometimes try to spoon feed her. Neither are very successful! I know with BLW you are supposed to just let your baby "get on with it" but I do sometimes put food to her mouth and hold it for her. Sometimes she shows no interest but other times she will actually try food this way. I am trying to stay calm and just keep trying. Thanks for posting this thread - helpful to know others are experiencing the same!

Hi

My DS has off days but is generally a good eater. Think sometimes if his gums hurt he goes off food, so this could also be a factor.

Well today I went for coffee with a friend and ordered some toast and me, my friend and dd all sat and ate toast (ok - she chewed it and spat most of it out (baby, not friend), but did eat some) and it was all very civilised. I tried to sneak a home made puree in at lunchtime today, among the fun finger foods, but she sussed it and declined. She was very receptive to the Ella's kitchen spinach one I then offered though. I am starting to think that maybe I'm a dreadful cook..

Actually, it's just more likely that the amount of added sugar in commercial baby food is winning her over.

Ha ha.
Think that all the Ella's Kitchen ones are fairly sweet and much smoother/uniform texture than my homemade purees. DS likes most of these too.

DS is also hit and miss with homemade stuff. I've copied some Ella's Kitchen ones successfully, as they show the proportions on the packet- e.g. he eats my lumpier version of brocolli pear and peas.

He also really likes homemade macaroni cheese (with various veg too), and haddock and courgette in cheese sauce which has a really strong flavour.

He quite likes homemade beef and tomato stew and minestrone soup.

He hates homemade chicken stew (no tomatoes), homemade cottage pie and salmon, carrot and potato mix.

Interestingly I tried Ella's kitchen beef and chicken ones and he didn't like these either (secretly quite pleased so not just my cooking!!).

So I think if I add cheese to things, especially cheese sauce they go down well. Tomato sauce things are also accepted.

Think he is not keen on meat and not sure if this is taste related or the texture of pureed meat.
He also doesn't seem to like the texture of mashed potatoes.

I have added some of his favourite Ella's kitchen puree (brown one with squash, apples, prunes and carrots) to the disliked cottage pie and salmon mix and it made them more acceptable. Useful to get some protein into him.

Sooo I'm going to keep going introducing homemade stuff most days, but make sure there is always an back up option he likes so eating is enjoyable (e.g. a yoghurt, toast, Ella's kitchen puree). The aim is to move DS forward to eating a wider variety of foods without putting him off the eating experience.

Also offer a variety of finger foods with each meal and nibble these alongside him.

Could have written that OP myself. The only thing my 7mo has the hang of, only just, and is interested in is breadsticks. I've put countless delicacies in front of him and on a spoon but nothing doing. I'll have a look at the BLW chat for finger food ideas.

I think in our case he can see his 2 older brothers feeding themselves and wants to do the same

With all due respect, if your baby is having 4-5 breastfeeds a day, then of course they are not going to be hungry for solids. From 6 months they need the equivalent of 18-20oz of milk a day, including that in food (I realise you a bf so it is difficult/impossible to monitor but a yoghurt=2oz). Food IS important after 6 months and the government guidelines of "food is fun until one" is misleading. Nutrients from food are important. Iron in breastmilk is not complete and protein is essential. I have to say, that I agree with your HV on this one - sorry.

I too sympathise, my 6-month son has so far rejected carrot, sweet potato, banana (I didn't know it was possible not to like banana), baby rice, parsnip and avocado. Great day today though - he gummed his way thru 3/4 of a strawberry! Except now I find out he shouldn't have had strawberries at all.

TBH I thought it was important to introduce foods from 6 months as that's when the baby's supply of iron ran out?

It's not that I didn't agree with my HV, what she was saying did make sense, but it's hard to cut feeds out when baby's not eating; I ended up feeling that I was starving her into it, which of course I wasn't, but it's an emotional thing I guess. As a healthcare professional myself I understand how important iron / protein is which is why I was so stressed about being told to cut the milk down before she was really eating.. the limited range of fruit and veg puree she was taking didn't seem like much of a substitute for milk in terms of calories and nutrients, and I couldn't get the vitimin supplement into her without a real stuggle. I'm now still doing 4 feeds a day, but seem to be fitting them in with meals one way or another - the eating has improved anyway. It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one whose child doesn't like homemade purees. Bizarrely enough - after weeks of offering homemade sweet potato, butternut squash etc and having it all flatly declined, I today offered some roasted sweet potato wedges and she picked them up and ate them (well, stuffed it in her mouth repeatedly and actually swallowed some). She also seems to like tomatoes. The whole breastmilk / iron thing seems to depend on whether you ask HV / GP or breast feeding counsellor - I've had different views from different folks. I have no option to do anything other than breastfeed, formula not an option, so will have to get iron rich foods into her diet as soon as I can - but as we're only just beginning to broaden our range of foods it could be a while.. but trying not to worry too much about it. If you ask La Leche League they say that although breast milk is low in iron, the iron in it is very bioavailable (easily absorbed) so that's what I'm telling myself. There's always Ella's kitchen spinach puree...