Straight to finger foods?

[Mom2Miri]

My DD is almost 8 months and still refuses solids. She clamps her mouth shut immediately, pushes away the spoon, and just completely refuses. After a month of trying rice cereal I gave up on the allergy testing thing and tried to give her oatmeal, applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes, even EBM on a spoon....all with the exact same grimace of distate followed by a clamped mouth. I've tried different spoons too. She loves to use clean spoons as a teething toy but that's it.

I've been reading Ellen Satter's book and have tried not to push her. Of course I'm getting a lot of pressure from family and friends. (She also refuses the bottle and sippy cup.)

Yesterday, I was eating an apple and Mirielle crawled over to me with her mouth open. So I let her lick it. She grimaced but came back several times for more. This is the first time she's showed any interest. So any suggestions on what I should do now? Keep at the cereal or can she go straight to finger foods at some point? Or??

Thanks for any suggestions or words of encouragement!
Helen & Mirielle 2/25/03

[nathansmom]

Nathan has been the same way. I also read Ellen Satters book and decided not to push him. He always wanted to eat what I was eating. I finally gave in and he does fine with the finger foods. I just feed him whatever I am eating with some things being off limits.
Here are a few of the foods I feed him.
grated cheese
yogurt but only if I add crunchies
I let him help me eat any fresh fruit I am eating.
rice cakes
canned carrots actually almost any canned veggie
canned fruit
shredded turkey
shredded chicken
Gerbers wagon wheels
Fig Newtons
Graham crackers
pita bread
rice
noodles
toast

Nathan also won't do a sippy cup. He prefers a cup with a straw or just a cup like mom.

HTH and email me if you'd like more suggestions. My mind is drawing a blank as to what else he eats.

[lizajane]

don't worry too much. i just took my 7 month old back off solids. he likes to eat, but his tummy can't tolerate anything. so we won't be doing any solids at all until 9 months. finger foods sound like a good idea for you. one friend used to let her son dip his cherrios into purees so that he would get some fruit/veggies when he refused the spoon.

[August Mom]

I can totally relate. DS refused cereals and all babyfood (homemade and various store brands). I finally gave up on pureed foods and introduced finger foods. Once I saw that DS was able to swallow finger foods without choking, I introduced more variety. My ped was a source of encouragement as well. He kept telling me that all a baby NEEDS during the first year of life nutritionally is breastmilk (or formula) and that in other countries, there are no aisles of Gerber products. That really reassured me. So, don't force the issue. Just go with the flow and follow your baby's lead. Try not to let the reactions of others bother you. I just said "Justin doesn't eat babyfood" and moved on. BTW, DS wouldn't take a bottle either and didn't master the sippy cup for awhile. I guess he just loves his mommy. :)

This whole situation was really hard for me. If you need to talk about it, please PM me. She will eventually eat!

[Mom2Miri]

Thanks for the ideas and encouragement! I really appreciate it.

Helen & Mirielle 2/25/03

[C99]

Thanks for posting this! I was just about to post a similar query. Nate recently stopped eating all the jarred/soft foods and will only eat "hard" foods: teething biscuits, Cheerios, a cored and peeled apple, etc. He did love rice cereal, his dad's oatmeal, and mom's yogurt for a good month or 2, but now just refuses to take anything that comes off a spoon!

[McQ]

Apples and fruit??? How small do you cut these? Or does the baby need teeth? I'm just afraid of him swallowing them without chewing.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[puglucy]

ditto to Allison's question. DS hasn't liked *any* baby food after the initial applesauce, but then he eyed my raw apple slices today. Is uncooked fruit ok? Can they really handle finger food w/out "mastering" purees? (prob. a very silly question, but i guess I'm very brainwashed @ "baby" foods) . . .

Lucy\r\nAlex 3/18/03