8 month old who only wants to breastfeed - anybody been there?

[Canna]

Oh, yes. We started solids around 7 months and DD wanted nothing to do with them until around 10 months. She thrived in that manner, just as your DD is, and at her 9 month (or was it 12 month?) appointment tested fine for iron (not anemic).

They really will eat when they are ready. Your DD is not that old! We just tried solids about once a week or so up until she started to eat more enthusiastically around 10 months. I just didn't want dinner time to be stress-time.

Around 14 months, my DD again increased her solids intake. Now at 27 months she loves a variety of foods, eats adventurously whatever we are having, and is perfectly normal (if not usually good) eater. She still nurses several times a day at this age, too.

I found the book My Child Won't Eat! to be an interesting and reassuring read. Now I can't believe all the time that I totally wasted stressing out over this issue. In retrospect it was totally not a big deal.
http://www.amazon.com/MY-CHILD-WONT-...6920607&sr=8-1

[billysmommy]

Benjamin is almost 1 and is still take it or leave it with solids. Some days he will eat tons and some days all he wants to do is nurse. For example: yesterday he nursed when he got up, ate a jar of EB peaches, bananas and oatmeal and 2 handfuls of Cheerios for breakfast, nursed for mid-morning snack, lunch was a cut-up banana (ate the whole thing) and the Gerber puffs (he is addicted to those :) )and finished with nursing, nursed for mid-afternoon snack, dinner was a jar of EB sweet potatoes (he would eat these all day long if he could) and a container of YoBaby fruit and cereal yogurt. He still wakes up to nurse 2-4 times a night for about 10 minutes each time.
Today he nursed when he woke up, had 4 Cheerios and 1 spoonful of EB apples and blueberries for breakfast and has only wanted to nurse since then. He did have a handful of Cheerios while I was picking out his pictures today but he was really just playing with them and most ended up on the floor. I will offer him some sweet potatoes at dinner as he never refuses those.
He's very different from Billy who was eating pretty much all solids at 1 and only nursing before bed and in the morning.
He's gaining weight and is a very healthy happy little boy so I don't worry about it. Now if he's still like this at 3 :)

[August Mom]

DS was like this. I had grand plans of making homemade babyfood for him, but DS skipped babyfood all together. We tried various cereals, homemade babyfood, jarred babyfood, etc. and he wouldn't eat any of it. He would clench his mouth closed and turn his head away. I was stressed about it, but the ped kept reassuring me that all a baby really needs nutritionally during the first year is breastmilk. Other foods are more for tactile experience rather than nutrition. So, I stopped stressing and stopped trying to get him to eat babyfood all together. DS went straight to eating some finger foods like dry cereal/crackers around 10.5 months or so. Interestingly, I noticed that he was much more receptive to eating regular table food when the time came than the other kids in playgroup who had babyfood. DS always liked meat and that seemed to be a struggle with the other kids who were used to having all their food relatively smooth.

Try not to worry about it. Personally, I would stop offering it for awhile. If you want to try again in another month and see what happens, go for it, but you don't have to and your DD should still be fine from a nutrition standpoint.

Good luck.

[Tondi G]

Maybe she doesn't like to be fed and would be happier with fingerfoods!

Gerber puffs
cheerios
soft chunks of fruit
soft cooked vegis
soft noodles

My DS's both would never eat meat from a jar. Both had meat from soups that we made for dinner. chicken soup and we would take little pieces of thigh meat and they were thrilled. With my first we took the thigh meat and pureed it with some broth and some of the carrots. My DS gobbled it down. Both of my kids were not totally thrilled with jarred food and moved to table food fairly quickly.

Good luck

~Tondi

[mamicka]

I wouldn't sweat it if I were you. DS1 didn't eat more than a couple goldfish a day until he was *completely* weaned at 15 months. & we started introducing solids at right around 6 months, so it wasn't because of lack of exposure. He never had any problems with anemia & wassn't a big meat eater.

DS2 weaned a bit earlier (13 months) & started actually eating solids a month before that. He was, & is, a *huge* meat eater but tested positive for anemia for about 6 months straight. He still has lower iron than you would expect given his diet, but the ped isn't concerned.

I think when it comes to eating, there's only so much you can do.

Allison
Surprise #3 due 7/07