Cereal started today

[jojo2324]

Well, I don't know what I was thinking, that maybe Gannon would just take to that spoon like it was a part of his body and lap that stuff right up? HA! He couldn't be more disinterested...Now I feel like there's something wrong with my kid. How can he not want to eat? I made two batches as the first one was a bit runny. But he wasn't into the second one either. Granted it was the first attempt, so obviously he's going to react strangely to it. But still...There is a little boy who is five days older than Gannon and he's already eating meats! I don't know how healthy that is exactly. (His mother started cereal when he was three months and moved quickly from there.) I don't want to push him, but I am so fixated on him starting solids, and it seems most others started months ago. I suppose I should enjoy his babyhood while he's still in it. Sigh.

[twins r fun]

In my expereince, it took awhile for my boys to like solids. Actually it took 1-2 weeks for them to tolerate me putting it in their mouth and even longer for them to "like" it. By like it I mean, not spit most of it back out. I had to drop cereal and try jarred bananas and sweet potatoes before we got anywhere. Then we went back and picked up cereal. I know how you feel-you're all excited to start your baby on this new eating adventure and it's a big disappointment. They could care less and it's a huge mess and takes up a lot of time for almost no results! He'll get it though and it will be fun! Just keep trying.

Nicole

[egoldber]

Every baby is different. Go slowly and you'll be fine. I found that the cereal had to be pretty thick before it wouldn't just run out of Sarah's mouth. Remeber that the concepts of moving food from the front of their mouth to the back and needing to swallow it are new skills that they need to develop and learn.

HTH,

[parkersmama]

Is he excited about solids? I mean, is he grabbing for your food? Crying because bottles or nursing isn't enough anymore? Doe he eye your food with relish and follow your hand to your mouth with his eyes? If not, he may just not be that interested. It's been my experience that when a baby is really ready for solids they eat them with relish and hardly spit any out! It does take a while to get over that tongue-thrust reflex and different babies are ready at different times. With my first, I started solids just after he turned 6 mos. and he enjoyed them right off the bat. With my second, he seemed ready around 5 mos. and I finally gave in and gave them to him around 5 1/2 mos. I know that people are really anxious to give solids to their babies but I swear it is such a pain! If I could get away with it (meaning the baby would let me!), I'd only breastfeed for the first year! Solids mean messier diapers, more dishes, dealing with messy cereal flake boxes, having to pack up baby food, spoons, bibs, etc. every time you go out to dinner or on a trip. UGH! I hate it! LOL! If he doesn't get the hang of it quickly, just wait another week or two and try again...he'll definitely gobble it down when he gets ready! Good luck!

Denise
mom to:
Parker, 9/1/1997
Wesley, 3/9/2000
and #3 (a girl!) due 4/29/2003

[Karenn]

I'm right there with you Joanne! I've been "trying" cereal with Colin for a couple of weeks now and he won't have much to do with it at all. He'd take a spoonfull and make a hilarious yucky face and refuse the rest. I've tried mixing with breastmilk, formula, and water, and no luck. I tried a different brand and got the same yucky face. A couple of days ago, I finally broke down and tried pears and he gobbled them up. (Of course he instists on feeding himself with the spoon!)
Good luck!
Karen
Colin 6/18/02

[nohomama]

Lola hated cereal, period. The first food she latched onto was bananas. If I were you, I'd continue to offer him cereal for the next 4-5 days. If he starts to become interested, great. If not, try something else. We introduced new foods every 5-7 days and it took several weeks before we found something Lola was interested in.

Take your time and take your cues from Gannon. Is he interested in what you eat? When Lola started reaching for our forks we knew it was time. She didn't start on solids until she was between 6-7 months. Feeding solids is not a race. As a matter of fact, the longer you wait the less likely Gannon will be to develop food allergies. He WILL eventually be interested in eating solid foods.

You doing great Joanne. Don't worry!

[jojo2324]

Well, he tracks EVERYTHING and he grabs EVERYTHING, so it's hard to tell if it's interest in food or just interest in general. I really can't do anything without him putting out his arms, hands and tongue. He's just discovered my hair and his pop's glasses, so it's getting to the point of painful. And anything he comes into contact with goes straight to his mouth. So, yes, he is grabbing my fork and trying to put in my mouth, but he could do the same with the cat's tail.

I tried again this morning with no success, so I suppose I will keep it up over the next few days. I know that eventually he will be ready to start. I guess I am the eager one for now.

[newbelly2002]

I have a couple of questions along the same vein.

We started Dante on solids on New Year's Day (he was 5 months exactly). Because of allergies on my side of the family I had planned to wait. But while we were visiting friend's, our friend's 20 month old "cooked" a pot up for Dante on her new pretend stove and began to "feed" him with a spoon. We said "aww isn't that cute" and then Dante lunged for the spoon, opened his mouth wide and took the whole thing in. We mashed some bananas up right then and there.

Since then he has enjoyed them non-stop. He holds the spoon himself (Daddy's been teaching him to hold the bottle on the sly, I just found out!) and takes in at least 6-7 spoonfuls.

The problem comes in that delicate issue so many have mentioned. The poor boy hasn't had a poopy diaper in over 3 days. We mentioned it at the doctor's (see another post for my thoughts about her!)who said that babies can go upto a week without a problem. But Dante really seems uncomfortable. Joanne, you ran into this about a month ago--not with solids--right?

Any thoughts about what food to try next that might loosen things up down there?

Paula

[egoldber]

Fruit (but not bananas obviously)! Or fruit juice. Many peds recommend just a little bit of prune or apple juice. Make sure it is very highly diluted (3 or 4 parts water to one part juice) and not very much. Usually about 2-3 ounces total will do the trick.

HTH,

[Magda]

Bananas seem to clog up Connor, too. Apples and peaches seem to move things along. We have't tried prunes yet.

For all of you who's babies don't like cereal . . . have you ever tasted it? (rice especially) I think it tastes like paste. We usually mix some fruit ot veggies into the cereal.

Elaine

[egoldber]

It definitely depends on the brand. I always thought the Earths Best cereals (and all their cereals sort of taste alike) just taste like smooth, plain oatmeal. Some people like plain oatmeal and some don't. :) Whenever I mix anything with Sarah's cereal she refuses to eat it! She likes it totally plain, LOL!

I did use Beechnut cereal once when I was traveling and I did think that was pretty nasty. I also used the Gerber barley cereal occasionally, and I didn't think that was too bad. But I use Earths Best almost exclusively. It doesn't cost any more than the other cereals if you can find it.

[spu]

We're going to start the twins on solids next weekend (Else is having a double hernia operation and I didn't want her to get all gassy or have a reaction if we started solids now...) I'm thinking of starting them on either a sweet potato, an avacodo, or a banana. I'm concerned about the constipation too. As it is now, they poop about every 3-4 days (and then look out!!) My babies sound alot like Gannon -- looking very interested, putting the spoon in their mouth. So we'll see what happens.

For mixing the prune juice incase they get constipated, can it be mixed with the food that they are eating or is it best given by itself?

I was getting alot of pressure from almost everyone about starting solids at their 4 month mark but once I decided to wait til after the surgery, I felt a whole load of relief. They'll be 6 mos then. Here's something I read from LLL's Womanly Art of Breastfeeding:

"A trend toward feeding solids earlier and earlier in infancy developed and took hold in the United States. A spirit of rivalry and competition arose among mothers (and sometimes doctors) to have the biggest baby who ate the most foods in the largest quantities at the earliest possible age. The baby food industry promoted and encouraged this trend. Mothers were led to believe that there was an advantage in giving early solids."

It's funny because the more I talk with you all on these boards, the more reassured I feel about our decisions!!

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[nohomama]

Lola had a ton of trouble with constipation when she was REALLY young. Since Dante's older I'd try diluted prune juice first. It was among the things our ped recommended but I was wary since Lola was only two months old. Make sure you get juice that doesn't have any sugar or other crap added. If that doesn't move things along in a day or so, you can try a couple things that all involve shoving something up his bum.

A rectal thermometer is often all it takes to get things moving. Lola's large intestine didn't respond to that, so we quickly graduated to a well lubed pinky finger, then glycerine suppositories (pediatric size). The suppositories did the trick. We dubbed them "our little magic rocket ships." Man, the !@#$% just poured out of Lola. Daniel and I were nearly in tears we laughed so hard. The stuff was thicker than the consistency of toothpaste and Lola clearly felt better once she'd been "unplugged."

HTH,

[AugBaby]

I was always wary of using prunes/prune juice. I've had my own bad experiences of eating one prune that was super-strength or something and ended up paying the other way. Pears, plums and most of the "p" fruits get things moving. Sweet potato works for us, too. Good luck!

[daisymommy]

I was told to give Joshua green vegetables (such as green beans or peas) to help with constipation from the rice cereal. Or, if he would take it, to mix 1 tsp. prunes into 2oz. water in his bottle. The funny thing is, when I used to put rice cereal into his bottle earlier (as directed by my Ped. to help keep the reflux down), it made him constipated. Now, everything is, well...runny and green. Yuck. Not like diahreah (sp?), just looser. Strange.

Also, for a few weeks Josh was loving eating cereal. He would grab the spoon out of my hand and shove it in his mouth. When I tried to take it back to "reload", he would cry like a banshee! Then, we went on Christmas vacation at my inlaws home, and he gave up all interest. Each spoonful of cereal was spit out as he blew "rasberries", and cereal would go everywhere. Today I bought some Gerber rice cereal with bannanas (dry flakes) and he lapped up an entire bowl! I guess he likes it! I know you're supposed to wait on that mixed flavor cereal, but after getting up EIGHT times last night with Josh (four of those times to feed him), I decided I had to get some more substance into his belly to help carry him through the night. Hopefully now that he is responding again to solids this will help.

[jojo2324]

"Paying the other way" LOL

We were also told to give Gannon some prune juice for constipation. I was also wary. It was a 3:1 mix and completely useless. He put up quite the fight! It's not like I blame the kid. I certainly am not an avid fan of prune juice and all its wondrous effects. Eventually we resorted to a rectal thermometer and some suppositories.

[jojo2324]

Just wanted to continue the story...He has been slightly more receptive the last few days, but I just hand him the spoon and leave a little pile of the mush on his tray and let him go to town. Yesterday I added a touch of applesauce, but it all still fell out of his mouth.

Oh, and can someone explain to me what the big hurry is and why I'm so eager to get this kid on solids? I changed his diaper yesterday and seriously thought about leaving home. Permanently. Or at least until he can use the toilet himself. PEE-YEW! He didn't get that much cereal in, or at least I think he didn't. But it was enough to be horribly offensive to my nostrils. :)