DD hates solids - when can I introduce finger foods?

[jennifer_r]

It seems that lately there's been a number of others in the same boat as me on this board. So, hopefully, this will help them out too or they can share their experiences with me.

Anyway, we started DD on solids at 6 months; she is 7 months and does not like them at all. I actually took a week off from feeding her solids hoping that when we had a fresh start, she'd be excited about them. When she does get food into her mouth, she will swallow it instead of spitting it out, so that is at least one plus. I try giving her a spoon of food to hold and sometimes that makes it into her mouth (but not most of the time). We've tried bananas, pears, rice cereal (which we stopped due to constipation), oatmeal, carrots, applesauce, winter squash and avocado. She seems to like the bananas and the pears the most but still not opening her mouth for the food. It's typical for her to get about 5 spoonfuls in. I try to make it fun for her and not stressful - I always stop the minute she gets a bit fussy but it is frustrating, especially since I had every intention to make all her own baby food using organic ingredients.

So, with that said, do you think she is too young for fingerfoods since she is only 7 months? I'm thinking that maybe she would just prefer that instead of being spoonfed. She's had her two bottom teeth now for about a month, don't know if that makes a difference. If I start her on fingerfoods, what kind can I give her at this age - I would like to keep things "organic" and I don't want to give her food that will spoil quickly (like tofu) since she is so picky it would be a waste (and in tofu's case, me and DH don't really eat it unless it's mixed in with other stuff).

By the way, I can blame all this on my DH :) According to his mom, he was a very bad eater as a baby also. She couldn't get him to eat anything. This is such a different experience that I had with my son who ate everything in good amounts.

Thanks,

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif[/url] 7 months and counting!

[KrisM]

I don't know if it'll help or not, but finger foods would be fine. DS started at about 7 months. We started with Joe's O's, bananas, and avacado. The bananas and avacados are slippery and I find he could pick them up off my hand much easier than off the tray.

I found with DS, that having a little bit of finger foods made him much more receptive to stuff on a spoon. Also, sometimes, the finger foods came on my finger, rather than his!

[brittone2]

She may just not be ready. That said, I understand where you are coming from. My DS is 13.5 months, still nurses 8x a day or so and isn't big on solids. He never liked to be spoon fed purees much at all. I think the most he ever took was 8 spoonfuls before he'd clamp his mouth closed, turn away, swat at the spoon, etc. He still hates to be spoon fed although is starting to use a spoon a bit himself. It is more play to him than eating though, kwim?

I tried to keep a relaxed attitude about it and make mealtimes fun. I decided to introduce finger foods around 8 months. At that age, he would attempt to feed himself, but he didn't get much in there. He would pick items up okay, but then they'd often not make it directly into his mouth, would roll out, etc. That made it a bit challenging!

One of the 1st things I gave as a finger food was baked sweet potato fries (we also do mostly organic) sprinkled with some garlic powder. For him in the beginning, it seemed he did better with things that were shaped like a "stick" if that makes sense...it didn't require a perfect pincer grasp to get it into his mouth. He was always good about not taking too big of bites and is still good about that, so I don't worry much about choking. If he gets too much in his mouth, he just spits it out. So...some of the things he liked were sweet potato fries, cooked organic green beans, "stick" shaped slices of antibiotic/hormone free chicken sausage from Trader Joe's, etc. Obviously the "stick" idea won't work for kids who insist on jamming the whole thing in their mouths, but DS is always good about taking careful bites.

He still isn't huge on solids, but I'm not concerned as he doesn't have any textural aversions. He doesn't gag on them, he doesn't dislike various textures. He just doesn't eat much volume. But what he eats is very healthy, quite varied, and some days he eats 3 meals of solids (although not much at each sitting). Other days he basically eats no solids. I just make sure I continue to offer at least 3x a day. He likes things like hummus, which is funny. When he was 8-9 months he'd suck it down off of some pita bread if we were holding it and eating it ourselves ;) My ped was actually pretty supportive of it, agreeing I can't "make" him eat.

I'm not sure how your DD would do at 7 months, but we did start finger foods at 8 months. She may just not be a huge solids eater quite yet and that is very common. A lot of kids get more interested around 9 months or even as late as 12 months. My little monkey still isn't a big fan.

One other suggestion is trying the baby safe feeder (are you familiar?) It is one of those little bag-style feeders. DS started with that around 7-8 months or even earlier I think. He liked being "in control" of his food I guess ;) You can put a chunk of banana, some avocado...pretty much anything that is okay to introduce at the age they are at. That way you don't have to worry about choking and she doesn't have to deal with mush on a spoon ;) DS still uses the baby safe at times.

Once you do decide to introduce finger foods, other things to try are: Rinsed canned organic beans, ground hamburger, peas, thawed frozen blueberries (nice and messy!), strips of healthy whole grain bread, cooked organic zucchini spears, apple slices microwaved until soft, tempeh (DS seemed to prefer this over tofu), Wheat free O shaped cereal (Oatios), etc.

HTH

[californiagirl]

As long as you introduce finger foods by letting them pick them up themselves and eat them, you can do it at 6 months. Good thing, too, as DD would not eat purees until after she mastered finger foods. And she was never all that enthusiastic about babyfood -- we were doing great if she ate 5 spoonfuls.

At almost 13 months, she just ate about a cup of meatloaf and four strawberries for lunch, after nursing, and eating banana, orange (with the rind), canteloupe, a strawberry, a few pieces of potato, and a noticeable amount of my eggs for breakfast (we were out to breakfast with my father). And I have no doubt that she will fall upon afternoon snack at daycare like a famine victim, and an hour later will be nursing as if she hadn't been fed all day. So her early refusal doesn't seem to have meant much.

[mamamimi]

I give DS some finger foods. Oatios (organic cheerios) broken into at least half, puffed rice cereal (like rice crispies), sweet baby carrot that I cut into thin strips and steamed until pretty soft, I slice a banana on an angle and then cut it into strips and then cover it in crushed rice crispies (to cut down on the slippery factor). I'm planning on adding strips of pear to the list next.

I usually start with pureed food and as he becomes bored give him some finger food and then the sippy cup of water.

[damonlesli]

Jennifer,

Thank you so much for your post! My DS is in the EXACT same boat except he is 8 months old. I seriously could have written every word that you wrote. Looks like there are several good suggestions to try - thanks to all that responded!!! I now have hope that maybe my DS will actually "eat" something.

Just a side note, I saw today on the back of the Sassy "pantry organizer" box that there is a bottle that you put solids into instead of BM or formula. Suppose to help the transition from liquid to solids. Just wondering if anybody has heard of or used this product. Seems like a good idea but my concern is that maybe it could back fire. My DS might figure if we are trying to sneak solids in that way, that he may just refuse a bottle altogther.
Any thoughts about that...

Thanks,

Lesli

Mom to Brayden 7/28/04

[jennifer_r]

Good luck with your DS too! One thing is true, you've never seen a grown adult still on breastmilk or formula so our children will outgrow this; it will just take patience and creativity on our part.

Regarding the bottle, I am against those. I actually posted about it a few weeks ago when my Gymbo instructor suggested it to our class as an alternative and I was pretty upset about her giving out "medical" advice when she isn't qualified. Those bottles are "outdated" and babies should really eat solids either off a spoon or use finger foods. Also, it can be a choking hazard. I also doubt it's not going to allow the transition to be easier because it's still teaching them to suck from a bottle while giving them solids now is all about them learning to eat "like big people" (well, not as neat though :) ). I believe that many of the other BBBers on this board would agree.

Well, let me know if anything works. I think I am going to take a few days off and then try reintroducing them along with some finger foods.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_garnet_6m.gif[/url] 7 months and counting!