6 months and sudden refusal of solids

[adifferentwoman]

My baby daughter started on solids around 4 and a half months. After a couple of weeks of learning how to swallow, she did 4 weeks of good eating - opening her mouth, swallowing happily, experimenting with different flavours etc. All of a sudden, she's gone on strike - after 2 mouthfuls of any food, we get the mouth clamped shut, head shaking, crying and sometimes hysterics. I tried shovelling the food in when she opens her mouth for the bottle, but this is leading to more distress. She's happy to eat off my finger when I'm eating, but this does not give her large enough quantities. Plus I need to start cutting down the 5 milk feeds a day - any ideas?

"I tried shovelling the food in when she opens her mouth for the bottle, but this is leading to more distress"

no shit. how would you like it?

she's 6mo

it doesn't matter if she eats loads, or nothing at all one day

milk most important at this age

if she's enjoyin something, offer her more

if she isn't, stop

please don't make food an issue like this. how very stressful for you both

the mind boggles at "After a couple of weeks of learning how to swallow"

o m g

Hi,

I had a similar situation with my little boy, don't stress out about it or make your little one stress out, just keep offering the milk feeds and the solids, she'll let you know when she wants to drop the milk feeds by herself. If she refuses her solids offer her something else, if she still refuses then let her get on with it, don't force her or she will start to hate the experience of eating - she won't starve and all her nutrition is coming from the bottles anyway, it'll just be a phase and nothing you can do will change it anyway so just relax and enjoy it - I'm sure in the coming months she'll have many more of these phases and you just have to let them get on with it.

how large a quantity do you think a 6 month old needs? follow her lead, let her eat food off her own fingers. no need to worry about quantities, that's what milk is for. please no more shovelling it in...what's that teaching her about food?

you don;t need to cut down her milk feeds at all

the recommneded weaning age is 6 months, so a lot of babies are only just being introduced to solid food at this stage.......

forcing her or tricking her into eating is not a good idea

milk should be the pirmary source of nutrition for the first YEAR. food is a compliment to the milk

she does not need to eat 3 big meals

try leaving finger food on her highchair tray to nibble whilst you all eat, let her lead the way

she is a 6 month old baby

she does not need to nor should not eat like an adult

babies do not eat the same amoutn of food everyday, they have hungry days and less hungry days

thanks for all your comments, but the dietician we see because of a milk allergy when she was younger has advised me to cut out 2 of the milk feeds within the next month, hence my point about quantities and the pressure i feel.

did the dietician say why?

Very helpful, constructive posts there, Tutter...

I would echo what Lulumama says. Follow your baby's lead. My little boy is 6 1/2 months and definitely has hungry days and not so hungry days. If he starts getting upset or fussing over his food, we leave it. It's no big deal and the last thing I want is for him to develop a negative attitude to food.

I can understand why you might feel pressure for him to take a certain amount of food but if you're feeling stressed, baby will almost certainly pick up on that and have bad feelings around food.

yes, why cut out 2 milk feeds? and replace them with what? if your child has a milk allergy, then surely they need to drink equivalent amounts of a lactose free formula?

Thanks Georgiegal. I actually didn't come back to this thread after the last time because I was so upset about one person's non constructive comments. I was stressed about the feeding to begin with, and then made to feel even more rubbish. Well, since then, we've had a couple of successful days..mostly when there's more than 1 person eating with her. When it's just me - even I' being chilled about it - she just seems to refuse. Her milk intake also reduced but I think she was teething then. Still feel at my wits end as finger food is making her gag and bring food up and most meal times are still making her cry. Not sure what else to try....Re the dietician...think it was just a guide, so we're going to try dropping the 11pm feed as she's cutting that down herself anyhow.