11 Months & only Purees? Baby not crawling?
hattrk10
member
Our daughter will be 11 months in a week and is still doing only purees. We started at 6 months and it took until 8.5 months to get her to really eat any veggie purees. Once we had her established on veggies we started fruits. Once we started fruits she refused all veggies. Previously we had given her the bottle and then purees and she would still gobble up the fruits but no veggies. My husband had the idea to try veggies/purees before the bottle when she was really hungry to see if she was so hungry that she would eat them. So far it has been working wonderfully. We are now doing a fruit for breakfast along with the bottle and then a veggie and fruite with a bottle for both lunch and dinner. Then she has a bottle before bed. This seems to be working well.
We have tried to get her bits and pieces of food here or there and her gag reflux must still be pretty bad because as soon as the food gets on her tongue she gags and pukes. This is why it took us 2.5 months to get her on purees as she gagged for the longest time with those too. The soft puffs and yogurt melts are so-so. She brings them up to her mouth and will lick them or gnaw on them but she won't but them completely in her mouth. She has just recently started being more consistent with the sippy cup as she wanted nothing to do with it previously. She now will hold onto it and chews on it but doesn't get any water out - and doesn't really seem to care.
I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat as us?? I feel like we are waaaay behind reading that most babies are eating real food and have been for awhile. Her doctor isn't concerned at this point and we have seen a lot of progress so I'm not too worried about it right now. She isn't a preemie or anything like that.
My daughter was a fairly early sitter at 4 months, but has only rolled a handful of times and has zero interest in crawling. Sometimes she will tolerate tummy time for 45 minutes and other times she screams immediately. When we try to put her on her knees she just thrusts forward and falls down and is not happy. Again, her doctor isn't concerned and said some babies don't crawl and skip straight to walking. She LOVES to cruise along the funiture and stand along anything or be walked around. She loves to read and is very observant and aware of her surroundings.
Anyone else relate??
Re: 11 Months & only Purees? Baby not crawling?
My best advice, as hard as it is, don't worry about other babies... If something was actually wrong your pedi and your motherly instincts would tell you! GL
If the gag reflex is the problem then she needs a LOT of exposure. It will not just magically go away on it's own she needs to figure it out and experiment how to control it. It doesn't go away with age. The younger the better as that gag reflex is closer to the front of the mouth and she'll learn to work with it. Later on it is farther back in the mouth and choking is easier as the food goes further back before they get that gag warning.
I would make sure she has the opportunity to try chunks at least 3x a day. The gagging sucks for you but it is a part of learning to eat be nearby, stay calm, let her figure it out.
Cut everything up into tiny bits and slowly make them bigger as she masters them. It will take a couple weeks but before you know it she will be eating like a champ. I had a 12month old join my daycare that had a very strong gag reflex. I cut everything up tiny and he tried to eat 4x a day before getting his purees. He threw up almost daily, but he just kept on trying. He is now confidently eating large chunks and loves his food. It's mostly experience, not age.
Some kids do have a stronger gag reflex try to determine if it is worse at a certain time of day and offer the foods during other times. I'm in my 30's and I still have a brutal morning gag reflex. If my toothbrush touches my tongue I am heaving. After being awake for 2hrs it's gone. I don't eat until I've been awake for a few hours because of this.
As for crawling, don't worry about it. Many skip it all together, I have found it greatly depends on the child's personality. My daughter was very happy sitting where we plopped her with a few toys. She had no need to move. She mastered standing on her own by 8months and would stand for hours. Didn't crawl until after 10months, when I opened my home daycare and she saw the other kids moving around. Bam within days she was completely mobile...she suddenly had a reason to move.
I totally agree...and having done BLW we don't cut anything up BUT for someone that is not read up on, familiar with or comfortable with BLW I caution telling a mom (or anyone with a child) that they don't need to cut the food up really small. I would hate for the mom to panic when the baby gags and instinctively grab the baby from high chair to try and "save them" further lodging the food in and potentially creating a big problem.
As a mom of a BLW we are used to and aware of how gagging is ok. But for most it sends them into a panic and panic sends people into recue mode! So, for someone that is still giving only purees to their 11month old I strongly suggest the common practice of cutting the food up in small enough chunks that they can't choke on them...so all they can do is gag and everyone stays safer.
I do high recommend reading up on BLW and looking up gagging and choking and exploring that route should the interest be there though!