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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

8 months old - no solid s- no puree, no BLW, nada

48 replies

IpodMermaid · 01/02/2011 19:55

Have been trying to wean DS since he was six months. Started out with BLW - no joy. Totally uninterested in finger food. Also uniterested in our food. Tried homemade purees and shop bought stage 1 food, DS clamps jaws together, turns head away and gags and vomits any food I manage to get into his mouth.

It's upsetting both of us now and I don't know what to do.

Any advice gratefully received.

OP posts:
MoonUnitAlpha · 01/02/2011 20:05

Have you had him checked over by the GP?

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 01/02/2011 20:15

I haven't MUA, he's generally such a happy little boy, this is the only "problem" area. I will make an appointment tomorrow. I wondered if he was just taking his time and becuase he still has no teeth wasn't that fussed. He is hungry though as he's been taking an extra night feed.

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MoonUnitAlpha · 01/02/2011 20:18

I just thought from the gagging and vomiting, there could be something with his mouth that is making it difficult for him to eat?

With the BLW, what happened - would he ever reach for food from your plate if he was sitting on your lap while you ate? Does he ever reach for toys and put them in his mouth?

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 01/02/2011 20:26

He does have a crazily flexible tongue but I thought that would be an advantage for moving food around his mouth? He looks at our food and has reached out for food in a restaturant. He will very, very occasionally put food in his mouth but then quickly loses interest and certainly doesn't eat anything. With BLW, he just either ignores the food on his tray, is content just to mush it in his hands or drops it off the tray. Tried veg, fruit, toast fingers, rice cakes, strips of meat, cheese the works

Puts everything else in his mouth including toys, my fingers, hair etc.

I will take him to the doctor to ensure there is no physical reason why he wouldn't be able to eat. Unfortunately, I don't have a great deal of confidence in my surgery or I would have taken him sooner.

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MoonUnitAlpha · 02/02/2011 11:27

I think what I'd try in your position is just taking the pressure off completely - don't put him in his highchair, or give him any food. When you're eating just sit him on your lap and leave him to it, he might eventually take things from your plate?

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 02/02/2011 12:40

Thanks MUA. I have made a GP appointment for next week. I think I will take your suggested approach. I think I probably just need to hold my nerve with BLW.

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MamaChris · 03/02/2011 15:38

ds1 really didn't get food for ages. he wasn't interested, and I still remember a friend's mum forcing pieces of rice cake into his mouth showing me how I "should" be making him eat. he ate almost nothing until a baked bean off my finger aged 9 months. I wish I'd been able to just relax about it. he ate when he was ready.

you could also try letting him play with an empty spoon or few and a plate. he can bang, chew the spoon etc. then start handing him a spoon coated in yogurt. did this with ds1 to introduce yogurt, and it worked, but this was after baked bean success.

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 03/02/2011 18:53

Thanks MamaChris. I keenly await our own baked bean breakthrough. Did you keep offering DS1 his own food every mealtime or just wait til he swiped something from your plate? How quickly did he get food after he took the bean?

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MamaChris · 03/02/2011 19:18

he has never swiped from my plate and he's 3 now! I think after one bean, he proceeded to eat another several. (not sure if it counts as blw if the food is on the end of my finger, but he did start pulling my hand to his mouth, which was good enough for me). think we kept offering from our hands, and he slowly got it. he didn't go to 3 meals a day immediately, but easily by 11 months when I went back to work, so it definitely took less than 2 months, but I'm sorry I can't remember exactly.

good luck :)

AngelDog · 03/02/2011 21:49

6% of babies haven't reached out for foods at the age of 8 months according to this research which concluded that 'Baby-led weaning is probably feasible for a majority of infants'.

IIRC Gill Rapley mentions babies who don't get started on solids until 9 or 10 months, without problems.

Is he bf? There have been examples of babies exclusively bf until 12 months or even 2 years without adverse effects on their health.

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 04/02/2011 18:29

Thanks MamaChris - it is reassuring that he had it under control by eleven months, I think I can hold my nerve until then!

This afternoon, there was more than a passing flirtation with a slice of cucmber and a cherry tomato so we may be making progress.

AngelDog, sadly, I was not able to BF DS so am keen to get him onto food as soon as he is ready. I don't want to force feed him or turn eating into a trauma as he is so good natured and I don't want to be fighting him three times a day for many, many years!

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jollyma · 04/02/2011 18:44

Try doing some messy play to get him used to different textures. Cooked spaghetti, cornflour and water, pureed fruit, cornflakes in custard etc. Be prepared for him to make a mess and need a bath afterwards! Either sit on the floor with a big bowl or at the table with him on your knee. Put your hands in first and dont stop him if he trys to put it in his mouth. Think of it as play not feeding.

organiccarrotcake · 06/02/2011 17:44

Why couldn't you BF? I'm wondering if he has a tongue problem as you mention it moves differently to ho you'd expect. Tongue problems can totally scupper BFing so if you couldn't BF because he couldn't latch well, milk the breast well, etc (you may have had very cracked nipples/recurrent mastitis, failure to thrive) it might be linked and worth checking over.

It may affect how he manages food in his mouth?

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 07/02/2011 22:13

OCC He could latch very well but I couldn't produce enough milk for him. Traumatic birth, shit hospital experience, special baby care unit etc etc. I don't think his tongue is the problem but I will ask the GP about it on Wednesday. Thanks

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ApuskiDusky · 08/02/2011 11:09

Ipod, could you post back what your GP said when you see them tomorrow? Obviously every case is different, but we're going through similar at the moment and it would be good to hear what they have to say. My HV has not been helpful so far - saying its important to get him onto solids (we've had weight gain issues) but no suggestions on how.

Trillian42 · 08/02/2011 12:58

Also interested in update Ipod as 8 month old DD is refusing everything bar toast at the moment. Even that she only plays with really, though she gets very excited when she sees it!

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 08/02/2011 19:18

I took DS to the health visitor today to get him weighed. He's still a big guy! No weight issues. She has made a referral to the dietician and is coming to observe me feeding him on Thursday. She is annoyed that I didnlt take him sooner but I have never found them helpful on any subject.

Naturally, as a result, he licked some hummous from some toast tonight and also (unwittingly, he was teething) fed himself some yoghurt from a spoon. Maybe this is the start of solids??

ApuskiDusky and Trillian42 - even though intellectually you know they are getting nutrition from their milk, it's still upsetting when they won't eat, isn't it. will post after GP and HV visits.

OP posts:
Original poster
IpodMermaid · 09/02/2011 11:16

GP said he is absolutely fine and will eat when he is ready. He said we have been doing all the right things just to keep going. He did say however to cut back DS' milk quite a bit to `encourage hunger'. I had been doing that but obviously not enough so at 11am he's getting just 60ml poor wee chap!

He also noted that DS has a very large tongue! That and the gagging, he suggested might mean that he just can't quite co-ordinate moving food around his mouth just yet but that it would come. He said that feeding shouldn't take longer than 20-25 mins - if they don't eat in that time, they are not going to at that session. A bit different from the 40 mins mentioned in the BLW book.

So in a couple of words, relax and continue.
A bit different from the HV who said he wouldn't be able to talk if he wasn't weaned in the next month Hmm.

Hope this helps, will post after home observation with HV tomorrow.

OP posts:
Trillian42 · 09/02/2011 12:33

Well that must be a relief! DD is still mostly BF so can't exactly cut down her milk intake. Plus she doesn't take anything much in the creche either, although she drinks very little while she's there anyway.

ApuskiDusky · 09/02/2011 12:42

Thanks Ipod, glad the doc was relaxed about it. It is reassuring. I've effectively been given a 'deadline' for weaning because he's on prescribed hi cal formula and they want to take him off it soon, on the assumption that he'll be on 3 meals a day. Hope I can persuade the GP to prescribe for a little longer.

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 20/02/2011 21:19

Sorry for the tardy update. We had the home observation and as usual DS was interested in the food but not eating it. HV made me make up a big bowl of porridge and let him play with it. Fine. He still didn't eat any of it. She then shoved a massive spoonful in his mouth and he gagged and vomited. Excellent.

Like an idiot I told her what the GP said about his big tongue and she latched onto this as there was nothing else she could tell us. DS "not using tongue properly and not confident enough to swallow". So now we have a dietician referral and a speech and language referral. In the meantime, despite a touch of bronchitis, with a reduced supply of milk, DS has been "eating", putting toast fingers, big pasta shapes, chicken etc in his mouth. He uses his two new teeth as an anchor for the food and then pulls the food out to sort of scrape the food into manageable bits.

Another GP friend has told me that the dietician won't be able to tell us anything so am hoping that the speech and language referral might be more fruitful.

I still think he's just going to eat when he is ready. Wouldn't mind a whole night's sleep though! If you are interested I will post what the dietician says.

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MoonUnitAlpha · 20/02/2011 21:29

Has he been checked for tongue-tie? I know someone whose child really struggled with solids because of this, and had to move the food around his mouth with his finger.

LooL00 · 21/02/2011 10:35

DC3 has taken ages to get onto solids and I'm convinced that she didn't lose the tongue thrust reflex until 7m. Is this possible?Has anyone else noticed this so late?

not1not2 · 21/02/2011 13:55

wow I read your OP and had to check to see if I'd written it!!

I'm on here about to post for advice about my own dc but we had a very similar problem TBH it is kind of ongoing in that my ds did the gagging/vomiting thing which has now settled (18 months) but he just wont eat.

we saw our GP ages ago who thought it was because he is BF and suggested HV your recent post made me very glad I decided not to go to HV however that said I would be interested to hear what dietician and SALT say.

Just to put your mind at rest our 18mth old has a huge number of words, really chatty I think he is about to put 2 together any day now!!

(also very cutely goes up to other dcs at playgroup leans right in about 5 inches from their face and babbles away in complete gobbledegook so funny especially the look on his face when they don't reply)

Original poster
IpodMermaid · 22/02/2011 20:38

MUA - he's definitely not tongue-tied, he's been checked for this at various stages in his little life so far,

LooLOO, I think delayed loss of tongue thrust may be a problem for DS as food on his tongue, even quite near the front of his tongue, seems to make him panic and gag a bit.

Not1not2 - distressing isn't it. How do you get enough calories into him if he's still not eating?
I'm not too worried about the speech, he never shuts up! I asked at his sing and sign class whether signing could delay his speech and as he had shouted through the entire session, the teacher's response was "You don't need to worry about that!"

Will pass on anything useful from the specialists.

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