Baby will not eat solids. Advice please.

[secchick]

DS will *not* eat solids. He was EFB and is 6.5 months and we started introducing them almost a month ago. I thought at first: Oh, he's not ready, no big deal, we'll try next week. The first few times we tried, he accusatorily looked at me like I was trying to poison him. But NO luck. If some accidentally gets in his mouth or if he licks some off his lips, he will make a face and will eventually swallow, but it's impossible to feed him. He presses his lips firmly shut and violently shakes his head from side to side. He even makes his fussy "I don't want to do this" sounds with his mouth closed. Sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas, pears, cereal or no, it's all the same. He will literally eat maybe 2 real spoonfuls in half an hour, even when he's hungry.

I am now regretting waiting so long to introduce them (DD was eating a whole jar by now). The ped said that if he still won't eat in a month they'll have to deaden his taste buds?!?! (Which I am pretty sure I wouldn't do) But DS *only* wants to nurse. I thought I was making a better decision about delaying solids since he was doing so well on BM, and I know he likely would have refused solids had I started them earlier, but I am so kicking myself now.

Anyone BTDT and have any advice?

[pastrygirl]

Why the rush to eat solids? Babies live on breastmilk or formula for the first year, any solids beyond that is just for fun, not for real nutrition. I tried to get my son to eat solids at 6 months old, but he refused "real" food until he was 13 months old. He would eat some of the jarred foods before then, but wouldn't eat anything that I prepared. I hated that stress and spoon-feeding for seven months, so I'm not going to do it with this baby until he's reaching to pull food off my plate, LOL!

Some babies just take longer. At 6.5 months, I wouldn't panic. ETA: I thought the recommendation is to wait until 6 months, anyway. I've never heard of anyone starting earlier than that?

[bubbaray]

Deaden his taste buds? WTF is THAT?? Seriously! No WAY would I ever consent to that. Even if he BF to a year, its not like it will harm him, KWIM?

My DD#2 was kinda like that for a couple of weeks, then was fine. I'd stop trying and try again in a month.

Or you could give him finger food like Cheerios to try. Apparently, if they can pick it up to eat it (finger pinch grip), they can swollow it.

GL!

[KrisM]

My DD didn't want anything to do with solids until just past 9 months. We offered every week or so and she was not interested.

I would switch doctors if mine told me to deaden his taste buds. What is that??

Solids are for practice and he will get there.

[slworld]

The ped said that if he still won't eat in a month they'll have to deaden his taste buds?!?! (Which I am pretty sure I wouldn't do)

OMG, what does that even mean? Are you sure he was not kidding? No BTDT advice but I have read several posts about solids just being for practice in the 1st year. As long as he is nursing well & gaining weight, that should be fine. You can keep trying every few weeks to see if he is ready but don't force.

[cdlamis]

Deaden the taste buds?? What is that? Sounds like a way to force nutrition without any enjoyment of food or eating which is what its all about at this age anyway (the enjoyment and experience).
I have been in the same boat- DD#2 did not want anything to do with solids until 8 months old. She was breastfed and I started her on solids at 6 months- everytime I would put food in her mouth, she would let it sit there with this odd look on her face. She finally started eating at 8 months and is a great eater now!
Good luck- I know its hard not to worry. Ignore the pediatrician or find a new one! :)

[egoldber]

Many kids are simply not ready for solids yet at 6 months. Sarah was happy to eat solids at 6 months. Amy was not really ready until after 8 months. And then she basically skipped baby food and went right to table food in about 6 weeks.

All kids are different. He's not ready now, try again in a few weeks.

And seriously your ped? I'd be finding a new one.

[twowhat?]

DON'T WORRY!!!! My girls are EBF and they started solids at 6 months...they would not eat more than a bite or two of the tastiest pureeed fruit! Don't worry, and don't push it. They do NOT need solids for nutrition quite yet...your milk is plenty! My girls didn't really start eating significant amounts of any solids until 8-9 months. They are totally healthy.

Just keep offering a bite or two a couple times a day if you like, but don't fret if he won't eat it!! Really!!

[arivecchi]

And seriously your ped? I'd be finding a new one.:yeahthat: What the heck is that???? DS1 loved solids right away. DS2 - not so. He is more into it now at 9 months but did not really want solids at 6 months.

[stillplayswithbarbies]

There is no reason for him to have solids yet. Breastmilk is all the nutrition they need for the first year.

I don't even start solids until 9 or 10 months. My older daughter was eating jarred food by 10 months, but my younger daughter wanted nothing to do with them. At just over 11 months she started feeding herself cheerios and now at 13 months she eats everything we eat, feeding herself.

If I were you I would back off and try again in another month. If he still isn't interested, try again a month later.

[Snow mom]

We started solids a bit after 6 months and DD wasn't eating an average of one serving a day of solids until after 8 months (and at that point she was mainly self feeding.) At about 10 months her interest in solids really took off and now I worry that she's getting too many solids. You absolutely did nothing wrong in not offering solids before 6 months. She'll eat them when she's ready. I would stop trying to push the solids. Offer every few days but as soon as the mouth stops opening and the head turns away the meal is over. I would be looking for a new ped pronto.

[JBaxter]

Every kid is different. DS1 eat everything and anything early DS2 you couldnt even force a spoon in his mouth till at least 8 months. He was way slower in accepting solids. Dont worry. Try again next week.

What are you trying? None of mine would eat rice cereal. They went to fruits and veggies.

[happymom]

DD did not start liking or eating solids until 9 months. I was under pressure from her pediatrician from 4.5 months to be feeding her solids because she was underweight. I posted here a few times about that actually- it was a very stressful time for me because the ped. is saying she MUST eat solids, and DD would simply refuse (she would eat some applesauce or pears once in a while). And as you see, you cannot force a child to eat! Plus, I was worried about creating a negative association with food...Now I regret worrying and stressing about it so much because the bottom line is, when your DC is ready, they will eat! As long as the child is gaining appropriately, its no big deal. As PP's said, keep offering every few days, but dont force- its simply not necessary or worth it.

Hope that helps! Good luck.

[Katigre]

DS will *not* eat solids. He was EFB and is 6.5 months and we started introducing them almost a month ago.
100% normal. I firmly believe that solids should be baby-led. Parents are responsible to make healthy, tasty food available for their child starting about 6 months old (there is no reason to introduce it before that age). The baby is responsible for eating or not eating, tasting or refusing. As long as there are no underlying conditions (sensory disorders, oral motor delays) then babies will start eating some food by the time they're about a year old - some sooner, some later. Until a baby is close to a year old breastmilk or formula should be the basis for their nutrition. Other food is for practice in chewing, swallowing, taste and texture but not to fill them up.


I thought at first: Oh, he's not ready, no big deal, we'll try next week. The first few times we tried, he accusatorily looked at me like I was trying to poison him. But NO luck. If some accidentally gets in his mouth or if he licks some off his lips, he will make a face and will eventually swallow, but it's impossible to feed him. He presses his lips firmly shut and violently shakes his head from side to side. He even makes his fussy "I don't want to do this" sounds with his mouth closed. Sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas, pears, cereal or no, it's all the same. He will literally eat maybe 2 real spoonfuls in half an hour, even when he's hungry.
That's absolutely normal and not a cause for concern. I have never spoon-fed my daughter purees, the only puree she's ever tasted was applesauce she fed herself with a spoon this past month. She is a chubby, healthy, happy baby who feeds herself food once or twice a day - sometimes just a few bites. Her nutrition comes from my milk (and if she wasn't breastfed, her nutrition would come from formula).

Saying 'baby isn't ready yet - we'll try again later' means that the vast majority of babies are ready between 6-9 months to start enjoying eating. And some even past that (my son refused all solids until he was almost 11 months but is a great eater now at age 3. My daughter wanted to taste food at 6 months).


I am now regretting waiting so long to introduce them (DD was eating a whole jar by now).
You did not wait 'so long' to introduce them. You introduced them right at the recommended age (6 months) and your baby is saying 'not yet'. Follow his cues - he's telling you that for a reason. Some babies who firmly uninterested in solids do that b/c they know their body's aren't ready to digest them yet. 6 months is the minimum time to start, not a 'must start now or they will wither away!' deadline.

If a baby refuses to eat solids, trust that it is for a reason (ranging from allergies to immature gut to just not being ready yet). You need to trust that he knows what his body needs and will eat solids when it is developmentally ready to process them. 6.5 months old is wayyyyy too early to be concerned that there's something else wrong making him refuse to eat or to consider something drastic like deadening taste buds (shame on your pediatrician!).


But DS *only* wants to nurse. I thought I was making a better decision about delaying solids since he was doing so well on BM, and I know he likely would have refused solids had I started them earlier, but I am so kicking myself now.
It is wonderful that your DS only wants to nurse. The calorie and nutritional content of breastmilk is far superior to any pureed fruits/veggies he might be tasting (Comparison chart of breastmilk and various baby food solids) (http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/babyfoodcalories.html). I am always shocked when I see 6 months olds eating a whole jar of baby food b/c neither of my kids have done that so to me it seems abnormal (just like to you it seems abnormal that he just wants to nurse and doesn't want food).


Anyone BTDT and have any advice?
Wait for him to show interest in shoving food in his mouth. Don't pressure him to eat - he will start when his body is ready. Your milk is the perfect food for him. If he sits with you at meals, give him a cup and fork/spoon to play with and put a few soft pieces of food on his plate to play with (like a very juicy pear slice, steamed green bean, or kiwi slice). Then don't make an issue of it. Sometime in the next few months he will pick it up and put it in his mouth. Then he'll probably spit it out. And he'll get more and more proficient and feeding himself and experimenting with different food as he gets older. By the time he's a year old he'll probably enjoy food and you'll look back and realize he was just going at his own pace.

Some babies learn to walk at 9 months, some learn to walk at 15 months - both timelines are perfectly normal and one isn't 'better' than the other. Same with readiness for solids - some babies are clawing for food at 6 months, some aren't interested until 11 months. Both are normal and putting pressure on the baby or yourself in this area will only backfire.

My favorite reference for starting solids is www.babyled.com, the book revolutionized how I approach food with my babies. This Kellymom.com page is also an excellent, evidence-based resource - http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/index.html

[KarenLud]

What a great post and so glad to hear that what the OP is going through is so normal! We are having similar issues here and DS is 6.5 months. I was feeling tons of pressure from the ped to push the solids right at 6 months and when he didn't take I felt like a failure! Anyway..just sending an appreciation to those of you that posted with your stories and to OP for posting it-sounds like everything is normal and for sure it's what we are going through over here at my house.

[Melanie]

My son wouldn't either. I decided to wait until he had teeth to introduce solids, my way of thinking was that it was an indicator that his body was ready with all the enzymes to properly digest food (not meat yet, though). Well at about 9 months with no sleep and no teeth I gave in to try them. He still wouldn't have anything to do with it! At 11 months he got teeth and started eating crackers, veggie burgers, fruit, steamed veggies, you name.

No worries, BF is all your baby needs right now!

[jren]

Agree with all the previous posts. Some babies just don't like the "mushy" stage. My DS never ate baby cereal or any pureed foods, just wouldn't take them. Once he could have real table food, he loved it. He also likes things to have some flavor/spices (I don't use salt, but other seasonings like fresh herbs).

[catpagmo]

Just wanted to chime in here, and say that we are going through the same thing. DS just turned 8 months, and still will not eat much. He just wants to nurse, also. I've tried sweet potato, apples, pears, and he wants absolutely nothing to do with any of them. The ped has been telling me to get DS on solids since he was 4 months, which I think is crazy. I decided to delay solids until he was right around 7.5 months.

I'm glad I came across this post. It's very helpful to read that others are going through it, too.

[cono0507]

I wouldn't worry about it. I tried solids for DD at 6 months and she completely refused all solids until she was 12 months old and then she finally started to eat and pretty much went straight to table food. At 2 years old she's slightly picky but eats pretty well. And she's 95% for height, 50-75% for weight. I bet your DS wil just eat when he's ready. :)

[jent]

I have totally BTDT-- I could have written your post when DD was 6.5 months. I also stumbled on the baby-led approach while looking for help, and figured I'd give it a try, since nothing else worked. The idea is to offer your baby foods, and let them "practice" with them. Start with very soft, single ingredient foods (eg, I began with things like bananas and avocados). Put them on your baby's tray and let him grab them, smoosh them, and maybe even put some in his mouth. Let him progress at his own pace.

For me & DD, the best thing about this approach it really helped not feeling like I was pushing the spoon in her face. She didn't eat very much at first, but once she did, she took off. She is still a great eater to this day.


The ped said that if he still won't eat in a month they'll have to deaden his taste buds?!?!

I have never heard of this, and think it's quite possible you misheard your ped. The biggest medical concern with not getting solid foods is not getting enough iron. If your DS is still not eating much solids by 9mos, they should check his iron levels, and if necessary, he can be on an iron supplement. But "deaden the taste buds"? Crazy.

[Melaine]

After googling "deaden taste buds" the first link I am pulling up is this thread (creepy, huh? I hate when that happens) so I tend to agree with pp that (hopefully) the OP misheard the Ped.

[twowhat?]

After googling "deaden taste buds" the first link I am pulling up is this thread (creepy, huh? I hate when that happens) so I tend to agree with pp that (hopefully) the OP misheard the Ped.

Maybe the ped has a strange sense of humor? Still, pushing solids at that age is not something I'd want my ped to do. Sometimes I wish I could go back and do it all over again and just skip purees entirely! My girls were never that interested in purees and became FAR more interested in eating anything at all once they could pick up food and feed themselves.

[secchick]

OP here. Thanks so much for all of the advice and support. I feel so much better now. I have asked his daycare to lay off the purees for a couple of weeks and I will at home as well. And when they do try, to just see what happens and not force him. I don't wan't eating to seem like a punishment to him when he so clearly doesn't want to. I will start with tiny pieces of appropriate foods on his tray and just see if he's interested and let him explore. I don't think his pincer grasp is good enough at this point to be effective, but we will just try and see what happens.

As for the ped deadening the taste buds, I was not at that appointment, DH was, but he swears that's what he said. And that the Dr. said to bring him back in in a month if he still wasn't eating. But this may also have been due to the fact that at first, DS would literally gag when he got any food in his mouth. He would retch like he was going to vomit any time anything touched his tongue. Fortunately he doesn't do that anymore, but he's also much more practiced at keeping the spoon out of his mouth now.

[Snow mom]

The wretching sound is a normal response of a baby to prevent choking. Babies are born with a reflex to push foreign objects out of their mouth. If your LO still has the tongue-thrust reflex this is a sign that they probably aren't ready to be eating solids. This chart is helpful: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html. Sounds like you have a good plan in place now.

[kdeunc]

This sounds just like DD. She was EBF until 13 months and really didn't eat "solids" until 9 or 10 months old. I tried at about 6.5 months and she had some reactions to rice cereal and baby oatmeal (vomiting for hours!) so we backed off and offered food occasionally, avacado, bananas etc. She really could take it or leave it. She hated purees. Now at 15 months she eats everything that is not nailed down! :) She has always been on the large side so my ped really had no concern about her solids, said breastmilk was obviously working just fine for her. I am sure that your little one will eat when he is ready.

[KHF]

I seriously hope that your DH misheard the ped. That's crazy. DD didn't eat much until she was around 9-10 months old. She just was not interested. She ate purees for about 3 weeks (homemade ones, so not too smooth) and went straight to single ingredient solids from there.

DS wasn't interested till around 7-8 months and now he's doing well. He loves finger foods (he's 10 months now), and prefers them to the baby food, though he will eat it as well. My two kids were on opposite ends of the charts. DD was tiny, DS is huge.

Don't worry too much about solids, as the PPs have said they are just for practice. And as long as your DC is healthy, that's what counts. If they're pushing it out, they're simply not ready yet. Also, we skipped cereals with DD and went straight to sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocadoes. Rice cereal tastes like wallpaper paste.

[brittone2]

I never understand what docs expect parents to do with a child not ready and unwilling to eat solids? I mean, force-feeding with a spoon is certainly not setting a child up to enjoy eating solids, and when peds act as though a parent not feeding/child not eating more solids is a major issue, it just stresses everyone out unnecessarily.

Like many PPs, my DS hated to be fed purees. We started around 6 months but honestly he didn't eat much of anything until more like 8-9 months. And at the time yes, it did stress me out a bit. The most he ever ate of a puree in one sitting was maybe half a (small) jar of food. Around 8-9 months he started eating more variety but only in very small amounts. He really preferred finger foods around 9-10 months and went mostly to that. He still ate only very small quantities (good variety though) of food until he was like 13+ months. He's a thriving 5.5 year old now ;)

DD didn't like purees and we went w/ more of a baby lead approach with her. She ate mostly finger foods around 8-9 months and we pretty much skipped purees. She ate more quantity wise than DS by far, but probably much less than many peds try to "prescribe" for their patients. Neither has "deadened" taste buds by any stretch. Mine just weren't ready until later in their first year.

[alirebco]

I agree with everyone who has posted thus far, but just wanted to add our experience. We started DS with food at 6 months but he hated it. Wouldn't open his mouth, wouldn't swallow, made funny faces, etc. This continued on till he was about 8.5 months old. Some babies just are not ready right at 6 months or 7 months or 8 months. Just remember food before the 1st year is just for practice!

If you constantly force food, this will cause issues later down the line. Just try feeding him once a week and if he doesn't like it, back off and try the next week. Plus, feeding solids is a PITA anyway :)

[willow33]

I'm so glad I came across this thread. DD is 7 months and is really not interested in solid foods at all. I offer once/day during our dinner time, but she only really opens her mouth maybe two times and then she's done. I just recently came across those Baby Mum Mums and she LOVES them! I think she just hates the pureed stuff and may go straight to finger foods...which I am fine with. It was good to read similar stories and really helped me relax about it all. Thank you!!

[DrSally]

IMO, you're FINE! My DD didn't really take to solids until 10.5 or so months. We offered at 7ish months b/c I wanted to start at 6 months adjusted at the earliest to keep her gut "virgin" as long as possible and b/c allergies run in the family. She only ate a bite or 2 here or there until about 10.5 months. The ped said by 12 months she'd have to be eating or go to a feeding clinic :rolleye0014: eventhough her growth was fine.


There is a wide range of when babies accept solids. Up until 12 months, their diet should be primarily BM/formula anyway, so I wasn't going to worry about it until a year. There are many, many moms here and on other boards (MDC) who's babies didn't start solids until around 10 or so months, so your baby not eating solids at 6 months is no big deal, IMO. Some peds would tell you differently, but I think that's their personal opinion. My first ped was shocked, shocked I tell you, that DS wasn't on 3 meals a day by 5.5 months (he hadn't even started solids). I asked her how she expected that to happen with the AAP recommends *starting* solids at 6 months. She just gave me her personal anecdote of how her kids were eating at 4 months.

ETA: Whatever you do, I would NOT "deaden his tastebuds", whatever that means. Eating is supposed to be natural, why in the world would your ped ever suggest something like that is beyond me.

[AnnieW625]

Some babies just take longer. At 6.5 months, I wouldn't panic. ETA: I thought the recommendation is to wait until 6 months, anyway. I've never heard of anyone starting earlier than that?

We started cereal at 4 mos. old a couple of times per week. I stopped breast feeding just shy of four months so maybe that's why he suggested it. Once she got that then we tried veggies. Veggies aren't an easy thing to start with so I don't know why it's recommended to do them first. What about trying yogurt? We did that at 7 mos. I think and DD loved it. I would also just go back to rice cereal with water. We tried it once with formula and DD didn't care for it at all (but drank formula with no problem!).

[secchick]

OP here again. As it turns out DS is 8 months now and *is* eating some. We started just offering the puffs to see if he would be interested in a different texture and he loved them, but initially lacked the motor skills to feed himself so we would hold them and he would shove his mouth on our hand or grab my hand and pull it towards his mouth. We also tried the freeze dried apple bits. After a couple of weeks of that, we tried purees again, and he does eat some now. For the first time a couple of days ago he ate almost an entire jar of stage 1 organic bananas, but usually it's more like half a jar max once a day or so. He's not crazy about veggies. Now I can put a few puffs on his tray and he can get them to his mouth himself, though he lacks a reliable formal pincer grasp and they usually just stick to his drooly hands until he licks them off. He still makes a face when we feed him purees, but he opens his mouth and swallows and doesn't clamp his mouth shut and violently shake his head anymore. He eats much better when DH tries to feed him purees than when I do, probably because he still strongly prefers BM and knows that I am holding the good stuff out on him.

[DrSally]

Ah puffs, every baby loves puffs. If you're interested, the Happy Baby puffs are organic and 1/2 the sugar of gerber.

[jent]

Glad to hear things are improving! The hand-feeding thing is similar to what DD used to do, too. I remember at the time Cheerios seemed so big and hard compared to those puffs... my friend suggested breaking them up & wetting them a little & it worked great. Cheerios have sugar too but IIRC less than the puffs.

[secchick]

Thanks for the rec on the Happy Baby puffs! I wasn't thrilled with the nutritional info on what I had, but didn't see anything comparable in the organic baby food section of the grocery store. Amazon subscriptions has the 6 packs of the Happy Baby ones for approximately $15. I will also try out the veggie puffs too, but so far, if it isn't comparable to BM in sweetness, he won't eat it.

[arivecchi]

Just as an FYI, DS2 got evaluated by an EI team and they suspect some of his delays with food (he still needs everything mashed up at 10 months) are probably related to gross motor skill delays. You may want to look into that too.

[firsttimemama]

My son didn't get into solids til 10-12 mo
And find a new ped. That is just bizarre.

[firsttimemama]

My dd is 26 weeks old and I have been trying to her wean her for 4-5 weeks. She was a poor feeder with her milk and barely took the min amount per day so was advised to start weaning her.
However, she seems to hate everything and won't even open her mouth! She has now increased her milk intake to about 25oz per day which is way more than she ever had before. She even starts screaming on her way to the highchair! She is starting nursery in a couple of weeks so I am geting really worried now. She has had a couple of sessions there this week and they managed to get her to eat a couple of spoons but they said they've never seen a baby eat so little.
I try to be really encouraging but always end up in tears because she won't eat anything. I don't know what to do next. I have given her a huge variety of things to try but she looks like I'm trying to poison her every time.

Please has anyone got any advice???

My advice would be to contact La Leche League and not to wean unless you want to. Often women are told to wean their children for various reasons when it is not truly necessary. It doesn't sound like your child is ready for/wants to eat solids.

[wimama]

Glad that things are improving. Solids are just for practicing eating at this age, he gets everything he needs from your BM.

I just wanted to add my DS hated the stage one solid food jars. I had to thicken them with cereal to get him to eat them. My son just hated anything with that runny texture, he did much better with stage 2 foods. I also made a lot of baby food and thickened it to the right consistency for him with baby cereal. And, my DS only ate baby cereal if it was mixed with a bunch of some other type of baby food like fruit, veggies, yogurt.

[DrSally]

My advice would be to contact La Leche League and not to wean unless you want to. Often women are told to wean their children for various reasons when it is not truly necessary. It doesn't sound like your child is ready for/wants to eat solids.

:yeahthat:

[Babymakes3]

My ds was the same way! He wouldn't eat anything off a spoon or that i tried to feed him until like 9 months so we EFB'd. I could give him small pieces of soft fruit like banana, grapes, kiwi, melons, etc as well as gerber puffs. If he could feed it to himself he would eat, just not anything off a spoon. My ped told me not to worry about it breast milk is all he needs at this point anyway! He eventually did it so don't panic and my gosh dont let anyone touch his tastebuds! Yikes!

[sarahsunshine]

we just started solids around 6 months too and at first, he didn't really like it at all. i also was getting worried, but now that he's seven months, he is liking it much more all of a sudden. just like kids develop at different rates, that's true for solids too. we just feed him a little about twice a day, but don't push it. i also think they're fine for a while without food and just with BM. have you tried different textures or temperatures? good luck! : )

[MizMojoLaveau]

Glad to hear that it is going a little better. I am having the same problem. Started TRYING to introduce solids @ 6 months. Just now having interest in some thicker foods (mashed banana, avocado, small pieces of bread) at 7.5 months. DC hates the purees and I also have to thicken them with rice cereal for any hope of it getting eaten. I think DC will just start on chunkier foods rather than the purees. It got so frustrating that I made a pact to attempt to feed solids once a day and, after about 1.5 months, it started catching on! Bananas are still iffy, though. Who ever hear of a kid that didn't like bananas?!