Refusing Solids STILL at 8.5 months

[HelenD]

DD is still not interested in solids. Or at least, the solids I'm offering her.

I've tried the Earth's Best cereals, their jarred food, homemade butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, etc. and she's just not interested. I occasionally get her to eat some food, but it's never much and never consistently.

She loves teething biscuits, but eats them such that I'm now really worried about her choking on them. (I've got the Earth's Best Wheatless teething biscuits) Our peditrian has given me permission to try some really soft finger foods. She liked the Gerber melt in her mouth wagon wheels, but wouldn't even try peas (and the mushed peas are the one food I've had some success with). She is also very interested in what is on our plates and takes a grab at that whenever possible.

She is EBF and is not showing any signs of developmental delays (she has the pincher grasp, is crawling, can use a sippy cup fine, etc). She is growing fine, she eats well, 3 5.5 oz bottles a day at day care (between 7:30-4) and then nurses at least 3x when she's with me (before daycare, right after, then right before bed). I've suddenly started having problems keeping up with her in terms of EBM production, but that's an entirely different post.

My questions are this:

How worried should I be? I find myself worrying about her iron since she's not eating the cereal much at all. I'm also worried that this is some type of development delay, but she does seem sometimes to understand about eating, and as long as I let her glide the spoon into her mouth herself, she's fine with it. But she's just not eating much at all (in terms of solids).

Since she's so interested in solids, what should I try feeding her? I've been trying all the baby "firsts" foods without much success, should I continue, or just move on? My instinct is just to move on and start with things she can control (soft finger foods), but I'm very unsure as to what to feed her.

Any advice or suggestions are very much appreciated.

TIA.

[Momof3Labs]

Have you tried Cheerios? That was one of Colin's first finger foods, and he loved them! It sounds to me like she is interested in solids, just not "baby" food. Some kids are like that! Try offering her tastes of your food and see what she goes for. You'll have to watch her more closely for allergic reactions (since you probably won't be able to follow the 4 day rule).

[Marisa6826]

We went right past baby food and onto people food almost straight away. Sophie just wasn't interested in the baby stuff. And for what it's worth, it doesn't even taste that good to me (we had Earth's Best too).

Try regular food that you're eating. Mashed potatoes, a few teaspoons of broth, Cheerios soaked in EBM, applesauce, smashed baby carrots (put them in the microwave with a spoonful of water), yogurt, cottage cheese...

The only absolute "nos" are peanut butter (or any other nuts except soy), honey, and berries.

I was afraid of the choking hazard with the teething biscuits too. I tossed them after she got one caught in her throat. The dogs, however, were very happy with their "goodie".

I completely remember how stressful solids were to me. You will get the hang of it!

-m

[Laurelsmom2002]

DD was not much into solids either until she could feed herself, I resorted to ELMO on TV to distract her so i could sneak foods into her( I know call HRS) If she's grabbing off your plates i think finger foods are able to be used at this time- She loved( and still does) puffed rice- I don't think one can choke on them w/out really trying,
Maybe bannana chunked up- and close supervision, I have heard of choking w/ that one.
Maybe mix her cereal into yogurt- dd would eat yogurt until she puked at that age
They say BM is adequate nutrition for the first year, but its hard not to worry when its your baby
HTH

[puppymom]

Our DS isn't wild about every solid food we've tried, but does seem to consistently like bananas and avocados. Sometimes he's in the mood to be spoon-fed, other times we use the mesh feeder b/c he wants to feed himself.

I would not owrry about it at all if she is EBF. You can always ask your ped to test for iron; shouldn't be an issue until around 12M.

[kijip]

Sounds like she is just not down with baby food. I would try to give her cut of pieces of soft food from your plate. At 9 months, Toby was pretty much having most everything we ate (except for lettuces, hard things and allergy concern items like shellfish and corn). One big favorite was yogurt. Good luck!

[diekatze]

My DS wasn't crazy about solids either. He loved cereals but didn't care for it after a months or so. I started to add fruits, yogurt to the cereals and he started to like them again.

I've also noticed with DS that he likes the solid(vegetable jar) better when I mix it with beef or chicken broth that I prepare at home and freeze it in the ice cube tray, then just regular water.

He also LOVED his cheerios at the beginning. He still likes them but not too crazy about them. I am avoiding Gerber finger food(fruit star shape) or fruit jars because they are soooo sweet.

He also loves plain cooked rice.

Also with solid food, my DS has periods that he refuses all solids then when I offer then again in couple days, he will take it again. I heard that it's not the amount that really counts.