Refusing Solids at 6-9 Months
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Refusing Solids at 6-9 Months
November 2002
I started my daughter on solids at about 4 months because she
was so interested and seemed not to get enough from nursing.
She would eat about 4+ ounces of food twice a day. Now, she is
6 months old and has completely lost interest in eating. She
has never taken a bottle so I nurse her exclusively. But she
only seems to want to nurse for about 5 minutes a sitting. I'm
concerned she is not getting enough of the ''fat'' in my
hindmilk. She has already lost 8 ounces in 2 weeks. My doctor
says try beefing her up with formula in her cereal and other
foods but how do I do that when she won't even open her mouth?
I've tried using the spoon, the bottle, my finger, her fingers,
singing, laughing, etc. but she would clench her lips and turn
her head. Today, I noticed/felt a tooth sprouting. Could this
be the cause of all her eating disinterest? And when will it go
away?
Jackie
I have an eight-month-old who has been going through the
same thing since she was about six months. She has five
teeth now. Every time a tooth was coming near she lost a
lot of her appetite for awhile, and got cranky. The good
news is that she is finding each successive tooth just a bit
easier. The bad news is they seemed (in her case, at least)
to come in bang, bang, bang - one after the other.
I find that at moments of crisis with the teeth, Tylenol does
wonders. It helps relieve some of her stress and as soon
as it kicks in she nurses like a trooper, sleeps well, etc. To
tell the truth it relieves some of my stress too! I don't do it a
lot, maybe once a day during the ''crisis period'' of each
tooth, but it helps me feel she is getting some food and
sleep.
My friends also swear by Hyland's homeopathic teething
tablets. You can get them at Whole Foods or most health
food/vitamin type places. I have had some luck with them,
but others have done very well.
Another thing that started happening with my daughter at
around 6 1/2 - 7 months (very different from her older sister)
was that she really wanted to start eating textured foods,
wanted to feed herself - she didn't want to eat the mushy
baby food all the time. I started giving her cheerios (very
good first finger food: easy to pick up and chew) and small
chunks of fruit (bananas and ripe pear cut to cheerio size -
harder to pick up). You may find that the excitement of
feeding herself will help. Also, she may want a different
flavor of food. Try sweet vegetable flavors (sweet potato,
squash, corn, etc).
YoBaby yogurt is a popular teething food because it's cold,
and it has plenty of fat on top which you can feed her first off.
Keep an eye out for dairy problems, though my daughter
has not had any. I have heard that yogurt is less of a
problem than other dairy, but I wouldn't swear to it.
Some other favorite ''texture foods'':
- lentils well-cooked in vegetable broth (she lets me feed
them to her because they are so interesting to chew up)
-Whole wheat toast, cut into ''fingers'' (I started at 7 months)
-Rice cakes (7 months)
-Raspberries (organic)
-Any other easy to chew fruit, cut in small chunks. If you
aren't sure, put a piece between your lips and see if it falls
apart when you bite down. If the juice comes out but the rest
stays together in a lump, don't give it to your baby!
Good luck!
Been there
February 2002
Due to a low milk supply I have had to both breast feed and give
supplemental formula to my son practically since birth. Early on I
consulted with a lactation consultant and went to great efforts to
increase my milk supply, but it still was not enough to sustain
adequate weight gain for my son. Balancing breast feeding with giving
formula has been difficult, but we've managed to do it without too
much more of a loss of milk supply. However, my son is increasingly
needing more, and my doctor has recommended beginning solids. I am
enthusiastic about doing this, however I worry about how to coordinate
breast feeding, with formula, and solids and not reduce my milk supply
even further.
I'd like to hear from others who have faced this same challenge. I
realize that at a certain point my breast feeding will be more for
comfort and that he will be getting most of his nutrition from formula
and solids, but I'm not ready to give up breast feeding all together.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My hunch is this varies by baby. I introduced solids b/c my daughter
wouldn't take a bottle and we were starting w/ a care giver at 5
mos. I have not experienced a reduction in nursing demand. With the
care giver she eats mostly solids and 'washes' them down w/ breast
milk from abottle. With us, most of her meals are very small and are
either book ended by breast feeding or come as snacks between big
nursings. It may be a good idea to have your child sip water after
solids and before breastfeeding. I mix in breast milk to cereal and
sometimes the pureed food too. You could do the same w/ formual or
both. Some days she wants to breastfeed exclusively w/ me. Some days
she likes the variety of foods. I let it be her call. Good luck.
I recently went back to work and have been pumping but have needed to
supplement with formula. I b/f before I leave for work and again when
I get home but during the day, baby gets bottles w/ 1/2 formula and
1/2 breastmilk. Her ped. recommended starting solids about 3 weeks
ago (4 months) since she seemed so interested in food and was gaining
weight well. She has done great. Loves eating! I am still pumping and
b/f and my milk productions seems to have remained the same. It's
only been 3 weeks, but I haven't noticed any change. At her age, she
will start nursing less frequently anyhow. Hope this helps.
Nicole
It's funny, but the baby books don't really tell you how to juggle
breastfeeding and solids, do they? Fortunately, I had some good
friends who told me what they did, and I worked out our own method,
based on that information. As all the books will tell you, though,
initially there won't be a significant drop-off in your baby's need
for breastmilk or formula. But you'll find that in a couple of weeks
or months, as your baby takes in more and more solid food, he will
need and want less liquid.
Here's what I did. I introduced solids with the powdered cereal, not
the premixed cereal. That way, I could control the amount of liquid in
the cereal. I mixed the cereal with formula; your baby will get a
certain amount of his liquid from the formula mixed with the
cereal. By the time my baby was on solids, he was feeding on a fairly
regular schedule. For his "breakfast" feeding, I initially nursed him
first and then put him into his high chair for his solids. I started
solids with the breakfast feeding, because my son was in daycare and
this way I could introduce his solids myself. My girlfriend began
solids with the "lunch" feeding. Everyone is different. In any case,
as I introduced solids at each meal, I initially began by nursing
first and then fed my baby solids. Follow your pediatrician's
instructions for solids: introduce all the cereals gradually (only
start a new type after your baby has had three consecutive days of the
previous type without any allergic reaction ); then introduce
fruit/vegetables and finally meats. If you're supplementing with
formula and your baby is able to hold a bottle himself, you can
actually set down a bottle with formula on his tray table and
intersperse drinking with feeding cereal. As your baby is able to eat
more and more solid food, you can switch. Begin the meal with the
solid food and then nurse him afterward. You'll gradually drop the
nursing until you have just a few nursing sessions (snacks) in between
the three meals of the day. Those "snacks" will turn into solid-food
snacks as your baby becomes a toddler. It's hard to get too detailed
in these replies, so please feel free to e-mail me with questions.
Gwynne
If you are concerned about a reduction in your breast milk when you
introduce solids, why not nurse your son before you offer solid food?
In this way, the breast milk remains his primary nutrition, and the
solid food "tops" him up and keeps him full and satisfied. When my
daughter (now 18 mos.) started on solid food at 5 months, I did this,
and it worked well. She loved eating, but didn't lose her desire to
nurse at all, and is still doing so avidly, but less frequently, which
works well for both of us. Good luck.
December 2002
I would like to breastfeed my infant for his first year. He is
now 6 months and has started solids. When I pump, I can tell
that my milk production is declining. My milk production has
not been in the high range, but I would like to continue pumping
to provide a good frozen supply to make it through the first
year. As the milk production will continue to diminish, does
anyone have suggestions as to how I can keep the production up
and going to the end of the first year?
Thank you, in advance, for your time and help.
(1) How much you can pump is NOT a valid indicator of your
overall milk supply. Your baby is much more efficient than the
pump. Plus, if you have pumped regularly for several months,
you are probably just experiencing ''pump resistance.'' That's
annoying if you need to pump at work, but it doesn't actually
mean your milk supply is in trouble.
(2) If your baby is nursing substantially less since starting
solids, it's time to cut down on the amount of solids he's
getting. Not until at least 9 months or so should solid foods
be anything like a substantial part of his diet; until then food
is mostly a learning and social experience, not nutritional.
(3) You mention needing a frozen supply to last you through the
first year, which makes me wonder if you are exclusively pumping
or for some other reason can't simply nurse and/or use freshly
pumped milk. If there isn't any real reason that you must
freeze milk, then don't! The more you nurse your baby, the more
milk your body will make. Having a freezer stash is comforting,
but not strictly necessary for most moms.
(4) If after considering all this you still think you have a
supply problem, or if you really need to get your pump output
back up, there are a number of things you can do to help (and
they certainly won't hurt in any case). The simplest is just to
nurse more frequently! Especially at night, or in the early
a.m., if you can. Also make sure you are drinking lots of
water, getting as much rest as you can, and using a good quality
pump (NOT an Evenflo or Gerber!). Other than that, you can try
eating oatmeal (cookies count!) and taking fenugreek capsules.
(5) Check out the usenet group misc.kids.breastfeeding and the
website breastfeeding.com (they're my favorite resources for all
breastfeeding related questions).
Holly (still successfully nursing her 22-month-old)
It is natural that your milk production will go down if the
baby is eating solid food because the baby won't be
needing as much! But there shouldn't be any need to worry
about it--you should still be making just the right amount for
the baby's reduced needs.
7-month-old refuses to eat solids
We have been trying for the past two months to feed solids to our 7 month old. We started with
rice cereal mixed with applesauce. Then, we tried introducing carrots and squash. He still does
not willingly eat. He clenches his jaw when we put the spoon to his lips. Sometimes he even
cries when we try to feed him. We are looking for suggestions and words of encouragement.
Thank you.
Debarerob
10-month-old won't eat solids
My ten month old daughter still won't eat any food at all! We have tried
about 25 different foods but she just closes her mouth and turns her head
away. She weighs 22lbs so she is plenty heavy but the doctor said if she
doesn't start eating foods soon we will have to give her a multi-vitamin
because she won't be getting enough vitamins from breast milk. She nurses
every two to three hours and still wakes up several times a night which is
very annoying. I am curious to hear from other parents who have had a baby like this. Any
advice would be much appreciated.
Madeleine
Regarding the food/feeding issues...My daughter refused most food until she
was nearing 11 months. (She's now one of the least picky preschoolers I
know.) She also nursed every two or three hours for the first year. Our
pediatrician did not recommend vitamins, in fact, did not even seem
concerned. Both of my children refused baby food and really began eating
when they could feed themselves soft foods that they could pick up. My
understanding is that delaying solids is actually better if there are any
concerns about allergies. Good Luck.
Susan
Neither of my children ate any significant amounts of food until 14 months
or so. And neither of them would touch pureed foods and only showed
interest in eating when presented with finger foods. Both were breastfed,
and it is my understanding that breastmilk does indeed provide all
necessary nutrients. Kids will eat eventually- I'd say just keep offering
choices and not worry too much.
Gayle
My daughter didn't eat any food until she was 14 months. Until then,
she would only take breast milk, and she steadfastly refused the
varied menu I faithfully offered her at each meal. My pediatrician
was pretty concerned about both her weight and the long food strike;
my primary worries were connected to my pediatrician being so
concerned. Sure enough, she finally started eating (Greek olives were
among her first food choices) and now, at 2-1/2, she enjoys a wide
range of foods (though she'll never be mistaken for a big eater!) In
my experience, the biggest problem with a kid who won't eat is all of
the unsolicited advice and judgments from other people who are
convinced that they could get the kid to eat given half a chance (I've
got to confess; it was my secret pleasure to let some of these smug
folks have a crack at it, and watch my tiny daughter send them
packing!) Feel free to email me if you want to discuss this
further. And good luck.
Janet
If I may put it bluntly, your doctor is full of it. Breastmilk is a
complete food. What little nibbles of applesauce your baby will eat is
just not
comparable to the nourishment breastmilk can offer. Your doctor may be
concerned about iron deficiency; it's an easy enough test (pinprick) that
can be done in the office. Otherwise you shouldn't need to supplement with
vitamins. Your daughter will probably start munching on
foods pretty soon. Just make it real interesting, fun, and messy as
possible (give her yogurt to squish through her fingers, for example) and
she'll learn to love it. You can probably bypass the pureed baby food
altogether. Just think of all the money you're saving!!
Laurel
I have a 3yr old who was a very picky eater. He wouldn't eat for
anything. And I would talk to his doctor about it and he says he'll
eat when he gets ready. Don't force him. Kids go through growth
sprouts. Sometimes they don't want to eat and sometimes they want to
eat the whole refrigator. So I just fed him when he got hungry. And
if he rejected he just did. I know I did my part as a parent. Even
now he sometimes eats only 1 meal a day and snacks in between. He's
just not hungry. But when he actually tells me he's hungry I run and
get him something to eat!
Nia
If you're baby is healthy and at an appropriate weight (for your
baby's growth pattern, not only based on those weight-gaining charts),
just relax! We didn't even really try to push the solids until about
10 months, and even then it often seemed futile. We had begun offering
rice cereal and other foods at around 7 months, but our son just
didn't seem interested at all. By about 10 months, I began to feel
pressure to at least offer foods a couple of times every day. I will
admit it was -- and still sometimes is -- frustrating to thoughtfully
prepare food that only ended up all over the kitchen floor. He is
nearly 15 months now and I would say has really shown an "appetite"
for solids only within the last month. Until then, he was nursing
every 2-4 hours, and yes, many times during the night. I have noticed
a decrease in the daytime nursing, but, to the mom who complained
about her babe's frequent night nursing, I'm sorry to say that hasn't
eased up (if you're feeling overwhelmed, please get connected with La
Leche League or check out the Sears duo's "Nightime Parenting" or
"Mothering Your Nursing Toddler," which is published by LLL). He also
seems to have days where he shows more appetite than others. He was a
quick gainer; if I recall correctly, he hit 16 pounds by four
months. He's hovered under 25 pounds for probably six months; even
though he's beginning to eat more, he's so much more active. He's
lengthened out, seeming longer and skinnier. But he still has fat in
the appropriate places: around his wrists and on his knuckles,
etc. He's very healthy and happy. I really try to monitor my attitude,
so that I'm not so goal-oriented at meal time. I'm sure that if I'm
stressed about his eating, or not eating, he picks up on that. So many
"experts" focus on what your child should be eating by a certain
age. I think we need to keep in mind that in addition to nutrition, we
are laying down our children's attitudes about food and eating. I
can't say that this has been my favorite part of mothering so far,
though. Like all parenting challenges, the best I can offer is that
you're not the only one, and this, too, shall pass. Erin
my son was nearly a 10-pounder at birth and nursed EXCLUSIVELY for
MORE THAN 1 YEAR. he had only 1, 1-day illness in his first year and
generally thrived, including "normal" weight gain and growth (not to
mention the positive effect of helping me lose MY baby fat!). we had not
planned to wait this long to supplement his diet, but when he refused being
fed by spoon and showed no real interest in other food even when it was
presented to him (around 8 mos), i asked around. what i found out, from my
LLL group, another friend with the same experience, and my pediatrician was
that there was NO CAUSE FOR ALARM! if your child is thriving, growing,
nursing regularly, and if YOU are eating well (including getting the right
vitamins), drinking lots of water and getting enough rest, YOU WILL BOTH BE
FINE! watch your baby, not the calendar, for signs that he or she is ready
(by the way, "grabbing for food" is not necessairily a sign of readiness!
as my friend ann says, "you could place a plate full of cigarette butts in
front of my baby and she would grab at it"). if your child is not being
breastfed exclusively, is exclusively formula fed, lives in a place where
they are not able to get a few minutes of sunshine every day (or if you are
living off a diet of fast food and diet coke!) it may make sense to give
them vitamin supplements. from "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, 6th
Revised Edition": "If the nursing mother gets an adequate supply of
vitamins from her diet, her milk will have an adequate supply of vitamins,
in just the right proportions for her baby. Research continues to bear
this out...Vitamin supplements for babies got their impetus as a supplement
to formula, which is still not the perfect food for your baby. As long as
you baby is thriving on your milk alone, he has no need for additional
vitamins, iron, fuloride, or other supplements in the early months."
if your baby refuses to be fed by spoon, try giving them some
control! give them things they can mainiplate themselves: soft fruits
(peaches, banans), tofu (if your baby is prone to allergies, wait unttil 1
yr), peas, meat, brown rice, whole grain bread--anything you can offer that
is soft enough to chew and not a choking hazard. we went pretty much
straight for the table food, which helped us eat better! it will be
messier, but really no less convenient if you if you keep simple, whole
foods on hand. not to mention you won't need to buy any special cereals or
foods for baby, which will save you a lot of $$$. Don't worry, eat well,
and enjoy!
-Rachel
Try distracting her like putting a mirror in front of
her, or playing her favorite musical toy or having her
sit in your lap instead of a high-chair, or even try
feeding her at a park where there is always enough to
distract babies, maybe then she will not be
concentrating so much on refusing food, and you may
manage to get her to start getting using to it.
Have you tried home made food? I know the problem
here is that she simply does not allow anything except
breastmilk into her mouth but if you could, say, puree
a peeled apple, and sit in front of her and eat some
and she sees that you're enjoying it, she may want to
taste some.
Good luck!
Richa
We have been trying to get our daughter to eat solid food since she was six
months old; she is now 11 months old. We've pretty much given up trying to
get her to eat from a spoon. From almost the very start, she would seal her
lips and turn her head away and quickly start crying. She's never taken a
bottle, either.
We have had better luck, especially recently, with foods she can pick up and
feed herself. We offer her what we're eating, if it's in (or can be made
into) a safe form -- bits of chicken, salmon, rice, pasta, melon, cooked
peas, chicken tamales, pinto beans, etc. We also have been offering her
slices of fresh fruits and vegetables -- (peeled) carrot sticks, (peeled and
sliced) cucumber sticks, apple wedges, steamed sweet potato chunks, etc.
She'll gnaw on most of these things, or at least play with them. (She has
had two bottom teeth since she was eight months old, and her top front teeth
are just now coming in.) The only food she REALLY seems to like is zwieback
biscuits.
Our doctor suggested: (1) having her watch other kids eat and (2) having
her source of breastmilk leave for a day. Neither of these has worked (she
doesn't seem to eat much more solid food during the 2 1/2 days I work than
when I'm home with her). At her recent checkup, the doctor tested her blood
for anemia, which she did not have. I'm still taking prenatal vitamins, in
part to keep my iron level up.
It is very frustrating, especially when we see other babies who are super
eaters. We've resigned ourselves to being patient. We keep offering her
the same foods and new ones, with no pressure to eat, and gradually she
seems to be getting more interested in feeding herself. We try to offer her
food regularly twice a day (lunch and dinner). I still breastfeed
frequently on the days when I'm home with her and every morning and evening.
She still wakes up and I nurse her (at least) 1-2 times during the 11-12
hours of her night; whether she's hungry or just wants comforting, I don't
know.
All this to say, essentially, that you are not alone....
robin
Feeding babies/children can be very difficult because you have in your
head what you want them to eat, and the child has their own idea about
it. I can't recommend too highly the books by Ellen Satter, she is both
a dietitian and a therapist and talks a lot about the "feeding
relationship." Her book on infant/toddler feeding is called Child of
Mine. It is important to recognize the division of responsibility in
feeding. The parent is responsible for providing healthy food and the
child is responsible for how much to eat and even whether or not to eat.
To prevent feeding problems, first it is a good idea to offer solids by
6 months, because there is a window of time when the child is receptive
to learning about eating. There are those who may not agree with this,
and of course, every child is different. Second, continue to offer
disliked and refused foods. For a 7 month old, I would say, offer
solids every 3 hours during the day. Some babies are more receptive if
they have an empty stomach, but some are too frantic in that situation,
so it is better if they have maybe half of a milk feeding to take the
edge of their hunger. The amount of food your child eats is not
important, one bite is ok. You can spoonfeed, let him have a spoon;
offer table foods, let her hold a chicken leg, a banana; chew some of
your food then offer it on a finger to your baby. Some children have
very sensitive palates or are slow to warm up to new things, so food can
be difficult for them. Third, Let go of the control around the food:
your job is to offer food, and your child is in charge after that. I
sometimes have to look the other way when my kids are eating, to not
focus on the amounts. Sometimes play with food is the first goal
instead of actually eating it. As much as you can, help your child to
not be stressed by mealtime.
Jennifer
I was glad to read of all the good experiences families have had with
the continued nursing and no solids in the older baby. I do feel that I
need to state the possible problems with this scenario that health
professionals are hoping to prevent. The following is from a pediatric
nutrition newsletter.
"Another form of failure to thrive experienced duing breastfeeding may
appear in the second half of the first year of life. In this form, the
infant was formerly thriving, demonstrating good weight gain the first
5-6 months of life, and then experiences poor growth or weight loss
after 8 or 9 months. This child typically breastfeeds very frequently
throughout the day and night and refuses solids. Often the child has
simply not learned to eat and will spit out food. Usually healthy,
bright, alert, and active, the child may be difficult to control. In
the majority of these situations there are numerous household stressors
present and the mother feels a need to keep the child close or maintain
control of breastfeeding. Parental misconceptions about avoiding
obesity and heart disease in the child may be present. Mothers may not
be aware of what constitutes a normal diet for a child. Exclusive
breastfeeding after 6 months is unlikely to meet the macro- and
micronutrient needs of the child, and continued breastfeeding should be
combined with other foods and fluids."
Reference is made to: Lawrence,
R. Breastfeeding, a guide for the medical profession. 5th ed. St
Louis: Mosby; 1999.
Jennifer
April 2006
My little girl is refusing to eat any babyfood, jarred, homemade, pretty much anything,
just wants to breastfeed and eat cheerios? We introduced cheerios and now that's all
she wants?? Up till now (past week) she was eating, and happily, everything from
squash to greenbeans to yogurt. We have tried cottage cheese, and little bits of regular
cheese, we tried hiding bits of food in the cheerio and she refuses to eat them unless
they are pure unaltered cheerios? Anyone else with a similar problem?
Sarah
My son wasn't ever interested in baby food. it took me until he
was 10 months old to realize he just wasn't interested in being
fed. he would only eat stuff he could put in his own mouth -
cheerios. so we gave him raisins that had been soaked in water
overnight, crackers, pieces of banana, plain pasta, anything he
could pick up and eat independently that was soft enough to eat
without molars.
Maybe your daughter is discovering her independent streak.
anon
As long as your baby is still breastfeeding s/he does not need any solid
food at all
nutritionally for the first year. At this age food is more about
exploration, and it is
completely normal for a baby to be interested in food at one stage and not
at all for
quite some time. My son was eating enormous meals by 10 months, whereas my
daughter is 13 months and has gone back and forth between some interest to
no food
whatsoever. Both are completely healthy. Your little one will come back to
solid food
when s/he is ready and meantime you can rest assured that breastmilk is all
the food
s/he needs.
maya
Hi - I also had a similar problem when my daughter was about 9
1/2 months. After trying all possible combinations of foods, I
finally gave up and let her eat her Cheerios and breastmilk. It
lessened the stress on the both of us and she decided to eat
normally again after about a week or so.
My advice is to let her be. I called my doctor and explained
everything to her because my daughter was already on the small
size. I had visions of her shrinking away to nothing! She said
kids go through these phases (and yes, she was right as this was
one of many of these phases!) and she would not starve. True,
when she finally got hungry enough, she did eat. Cheerios are
pretty nutritious so I guess be glad it is not something else!
Good luck and relax, she will eat again!
Jill
Hi,
My 2 year old had the same issue, at 6 mths he loved his baby
food and then I introduced Cheerios at about 9 mths and he
stopped eating all other food. He lived off formula and
Cheerios up until about 13 mths, when he decided he liked
cheese and smashed pears. Slowly we added new items to his
diet like soy hot dogs, goldfish, yogurt, toast etc.. and now
he has hit the mark again and will not eat any other new
items. So, I came to the conclusion that he'll try new stuff
when he's ready and not before. All you can do is just keep
trying, sometimes it took 15 or more tries before he would try
anything new. I just put it on his plate everyday and
eventually he tried it. My pediatrician was not worried and
said that formula alone was perfectly adequate until 12mths and
that some babies skip baby food altogether. It is trying and
frustrating, but in the end your baby will decide what he
likes and doesnt like. Its a sign of them becoming more
independent, you could try just putting the spoon and dish
down for them to do as they please with and hope that he thinks
putting it in his mouth is a good idea. If he likes to feed
himself the Cheerios he may like to feed himself the baby food.
Good luck and just keep trying, my son is a fussy eater but in
the end as long as I give him a choice of the healthiest things
he likes I know I am doing my best and he is happy with the
food he eats.
helen
Our daughter did a very similar thing with Cheerios at about 10
months. She loved them so much she even made up her own sign for
them! We went through the stages of putting cheerios on top of
spoonfuls of baby food to get other things into her, but
eventually she refused the spoon and would just grab the cheerios
off. After awhile we decided to go cold turkey and hid the
cheerios for about 3 or 4 days. She didn't eat much at first,
just breastfed and would eat some fruit, but eventually she
started eating other things again and stopped asking for
cheerios. Then we carefully reintroduced the cheerios and would
only give them to her after she had already eaten other foods.
Good luck!
Keeping Cheerios in business
June 2004
My 8 mth old son started out loving baby food at 6 mths, now
everything has stopped. He will still take a bottle 2-3 times
a day and I have started adding rice cereal for fear of him
wasting away on me. At first I started to force feed and I now
promise to stop that as it is causing a rift between us. I
feel frustrated sometimes because I think ''he has to be
hungry''. The advice nurse told me it was teething. He has two
bottom teeth and his top gums are swelling up with the intent
of pushing more through. Has anyone else had this problem and
will things return back to normal when those teeth come in?
helen
My little guy, who is usually very enthusiastic about eating,
refuses food, too, while teething.
The only thing that helps him sleep and allows him to eat
comfortably is regular doses of Infant Motrin. Tylenol is not as
effective for us, and the dose does not last as long (4 hours,
compared to 6-8 for Motrin). Topical pain relief doesn't work
well for us, either, especially just before eating.
Once the meds kick in, he eats and eats.
Good Luck
Donna
It is the teething, beleive me. At 8 months and after only 2
months of being on solids, your son is still exploring food. At
that age it's about learning how to eat, experiencing the
textures and new tastes, it's not about getting complete
nourishment (just look at how few calories that rice cereal
actually has). He should still be getting most of his
nourishment from the bottle. Forcing him to eat will only teach
him the bad habit of eating when he's not hungry. I too find it
very hard to trust the natural eating instincts our children
were born with, but you have to remind yoruself that the bad
eating habits they develop later are learned habits. When they
get older and start to power trip, they learn fast that not
eating is a way to get you riled up or to give in to giving
them not so healthy choices. You have to trust that they will
eat when they are hungry.
My son is 18 months and is getting in 2 molars and 2 canine
teeth at once. A couple of weeks ago he barely ate for 4,
almost 5 days, he just wanted milk and nibbled a few things
here and there. It was excruciating for me to wait it out, but
when the teething subsided, his appetite picked up again and he
made up for lost ground. Much to my surprise when we went to
the doctor yesterday he was right on track weight-wise. Another
thing I've seen w/ my 4 year old and 12 year old is that
throughout childhood they go thru phases of eating a lot and
getting a bit plump, and then next thing you know they hit a
growth spurt and are taller and leaner, then the growing slows
down a bit and they eat a lot less for a while.
I learned my lesson about forcing my son to eat the one time I
tried it. He was 12 months old and hadn't really eaten much in
a couple of days. I was so worried and finally forced a spoon
in. He immediately started vomiting - ended up he had stomach
flu and instinctivly did the right thing by refusing to eat.
The only thing I did by force feeding was put him in risk of
dehydration.
The teeth will come in. They can take a long while. Sometimes
they pop back down and then pop back out again. Those first
ones seem to be the most painful (that is until the molars come
in!)
anon
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