7 month old

[fedupmum2023]

Hey everyone, i’ve just came on for abit of advice really, my 7 month old is point blank refusing weaning of any kind, he doesn’t put any objects to his mouth other than maybe a pillow or blanket but food wise will not entertain finger foods or purees, weetabix, baby rice etc not a thing and turns his head away from it all. He is my 3rd child after 10+ years (crazy i know lol) i remember my other two children being on two meals a day by 6/7 months but this one is very frustrating lol i’ve tried to so hard with having him try things but he just won’t and i have people nitpicking in my ear about ‘how he should be eating by now’ and ‘oh my baby eats toasts and meals etc’ usual stuff, i generally don’t think hes ready myself or has some kind of sensory issue. Its actually making me depressed but i think its because of the pressure from others. Is anyone elses child having problems with feeding and how are you navigating it? Thanks for reading 😊

Introducing your baby to solid foods, sometimes called complementary feeding or weaning, should start when your baby is around 6 months old. At the beginning, how much your baby eats is less important than getting them used to the idea of eating.

Keep at it, you got this. Ignore the pressure from others.

Definitely ignore the others. They will get there. I haven't met many adults that survive solely off milk.

It's your job to provide food, it's up to him if he tries it or not.

If he's refusing sooon feeding I'd put a bit of what you're having on his tray and let him throw it on the floor explore it and just clear away when you've finished eating.

There's no race and he will get it eventually. Even my spoon refusing, uber-fussy DD got there in the end

How have things gone today @fedupmum2023?

Hey @CadyEastman still not any further from when i posted but we have a doctors appointment today and im going to speak to them about it in case there could be another potential problem etc, funny enough my daughter offered him abit of ice lolly yesterday and he seemed to want to keep licking it lol so we’ll have to see how we get on. I’m going to keep trying though with weetabix, i tried him on a lumpy puree and he threw up after one spoonful

If he's not putting food in his mouth and he doesn't like lumpy purée, I'd stick with smooth purée for now but maybe add a little variety?

There are some good suggestions of smith purées for babies here.

This guide from the Caroline Walker Trust has some good suggestions of first foods to try and also some finger foods.

If they're still not picking up food in a couple of weeks I'd ask for an appointment with your HV, fill in the 8 month Ages & Stages and ask her to score it for you.

It's perfectly ok if they're scoring grey in a couple of areas, that's expected

@CadyEastman thankyou! I’ll defo check them out, the doctor has put him on dairy free formula as a trial due to constantly having diarrhoea and when i questioned him on weaning my son he said he wouldn’t worry about it as its a not a race of who can get their baby go eat first and he’ll do it when hes ready etc hes suggested to keep trying but no dairy until we know whats happening with maybe a potential allergy! Thanks again :)

I'm DF as well so if you need anymore suggestions of things to try him with, just give me a shout.

Has the GP referred him to a Paediatric Dietician yet?

@CadyEastman no not yet as he wants to trial the milk and if his poo issues clear up then he’ll be referred!

Had the GP said how long they want you to trial the milk for before they see you again?

@CadyEastman they are giving me a call on the 11th of july xx

i really wouldn’t worry, just keep offering different things, have baby sit with you for family meals etc.

Hello

My daughter didn’t eat anything for the first 2 months of weaning. She refused to open her mouth for the spoon (on the odd occasion she did she’d spit the food out) and she would play with finger food but never actually eat any of it.

I gave up after 2 months making anything specific for her and just started making evening meals that were suitable for her, and pureeing where possible. She ate the purées straight away. Finger food ones she still didn’t eat but at least it kept her entertained while we ate. It was another month at least before she would eat anything for lunch and some finger foods. And another month before breakfast and even now (11 months) she will only eat berries and fruit for breakfast. And some days she eats next to nothing at all - she just doesnt seem hungry.

It still stresses me out but I’m trying not to let it worry me as much. If you just share your food rather than making separate food it seems like less pressure. Also I found my daughter eats more in the evening, so try different times of day (not sure if you’ve just tried breakfast).

@Natpat81 thankyou! Yes we are managing a few spoonfuls of fruit purees but no interest in finger foods at all! Hes just an absolute milk monster but yes the doctor said he’ll get there when he gets there so im not going to stress out lol

Hello, just to update you that my daughter had her first full day at nursery yesterday and she ate everything (3 meals) apart from the weetabix ( they gave her toast instead). And I had given her banana for breakfast so she actually ate 4 meals yesterday. She’s never eaten more than 2 before!
This has given me some comfort that she can eat if she chooses too, and presumably the peer pressure helped!

Hello, I could have written your post 18 months ago. My son is dairy intolerant and wouldn't put any food in his mouth and projectile vomited when he did. I also worried alot as my now 5 year old daughter was so keen to wean she grabbed a spoon out my hand at 5 months old to help herself to some food.
With my son I gave up with purees etc and bought some dairy free yoghurt. I used to give him one of those silicon spoons which is very soft on his tray and also put a bit on his top lip that he sometimes would lick off. Slowly he started to have yoghurt by opening his mouth slightly so I could put a little in. He then began to like that and we very slowly moved onto smooth purees (often mixing it with yoghurt- sounds gross but he obviously liked it and it made him more willing to try it). Now at 2 years he's a very tall sturdy toddler who wants to eat everything, although unfortunately still dairy intolerant. Try not to worry, easier said than done I know!! Petites filous do some dairy free ones and they are very nice so might be worth trying those.

@Sazzlehead honestly its been an absolute nightmare, i’ve said from him being weeks old that he was intolerant to his milk but no doctor listened (even showing them pictures of his poo) but as he was ‘gaining weight’ and meeting milestones they weren’t interested but here we are at nearly 8 months old just starting hypoallergenic milk! Yes i’ve told my partner i want to get some dairy free yogs and start building it up from there, i can’t put anymore pressure on myself its sending me wappy lol hes enjoying a couple of spoonfuls of fruit purees and thats good enough for me! Its just the pressure from everyone else that got to me and the comparisons but he’s in his own race so everyone else can 🖕🏻 lol i think because my other two were so good with food and were on two smalls meals a day by 6 months i had the same hopes but no hes shown me that he is indeed different 😂

I had exactly the same, my husband eventually came with me to the docs as no one was listening.
What formula has your little one been put on? This guide is helpful for the different types - we went through 3 different types before ending up on neocate so dont be afraid to go back to the docs if the formula doesnt solve the problems to begin with. https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:0ee677ac-5f33-45e2-a5f4-91fa5f8dd658
Yes it's completely his own race and by 1 years old my son had caught up and probably eating more things than many other children. You need to watch the baby race bluey episode😊puts it all into perspective

Hey! He is in nutramigen 2 but i don’t think its working too well, a couple of symptoms have cleared up which was the excessively smelly wind he was passing all day and his stomach has gone down but he still has loose bowels and its making him so sore! I think he’d benefit from going onto a completely free from all milk like a soya milk.. we have a follow up on the 11th so i will speak to the doctor about it, thanks again! Xx