Feeding Help

Cooper81

We just started introducing solids.  We've tried applesauce a few times prior, but in the last week we tried carrots and avocado.  He wont even open his mouth after the first bite.  I can't get him to pay attention to me for more than 2 seconds and he clams up after the first bite.  Was this typical behavior for your LO?  Any suggestions?  I know we need to keep trying and we are really practicing now, but it's really frustrating to toss pretty much the entire bowl of food with him only getting one bite in.

nutmegger

Maybe try mixing in some breastmilk?

KathrynMD

hmmmm that's interesting.  I would try playing w/ the texture a little - make it a litlte thicker, a little thinner and see if it makes a difference.  I'd also just keep trying different foods - carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes and canteloupe were big hits at our house in the early days.  You could also try a few finger foods - like cheerios or puffs and see how John does with those.

We did mostly Baby Led Weaning when Ella got to 6 months and it worked well for us https://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyledweaning.htm

Cooper81

I've only mixed in breastmilk, I thought that would help.  He just doesn't seem interested.  When we gave him applesauce at 5 months he didn't either, so we just waited another month, but he seems to just want to stick with BM.  I sent some with him to DC to see if they could start trying, I figure maybe if we just keep at it, he will get it.  I totally botched the carrots too, I tasted them before adding the BM and they were almost tasteless so I can imagine he wasn't too excited about it.

KathrynMD

you could also try some commercial food and see if he likes that better.

jcsntms06

Have you tried sweet potatoes yet? I would buy a little pack of that and see if he likes the taste. Is he distracted at all? Do you sit him in a high chair? Take all distractions, dogs, cats, tv out of the picture and see if he pays attention. Annabelle gets very distracted by Josie and Roscoe. She now loves to feed them puffs.

fignewt74

I would keep trying, it just takes time.  I remember my pedi telling me to give DS each food 10 times before he will decide if he wants it.

Be patient and it will happen

Good luck!

anonsouthernbell

We also did Baby Led Weaning/Baby Led Solids here so Matthew skipped purees altogether and started right with finger foods at 6 months.  He was in charge of feeding himself and sometimes he would eat a lot of what we gave him and a few times he would only eat a little bit.  It really took the stress out of feeding times and allowed him to be in control of what he ate, how much and also helped him with his hand/eye coordination.  This is a fantastic starting point and reference.  And here are some other great ones in addition to whole some baby food, which was shared earlier:

 

1. https://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html

2. Does Baby Know Best?

 

I have more references that I can share with you if you like.  One of Matthew's favorite first foods was roasted sweet potato and carrot sticks.  You want to cut them so that they are about 2 in in length - I would use my index finger as a reference.  This allows your LO a handle to pick up their food with and have some sticking over the top to start eating.  Then I would toss them in olive oil and cinnamon.  Bake them at 400F for about 20 min.  Make some extra bc they are delicious!

Cooper81

anonsouthernbell:

We also did Baby Led Weaning/Baby Led Solids here so Matthew skipped purees altogether and started right with finger foods at 6 months.  He was in charge of feeding himself and sometimes he would eat a lot of what we gave him and a few times he would only eat a little bit.  It really took the stress out of feeding times and allowed him to be in control of what he ate, how much and also helped him with his hand/eye coordination.  This is a fantastic starting point and reference.  And here are some other great ones in addition to whole some baby food, which was shared earlier:

 

1. https://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html

2. Does Baby Know Best?

 

I have more references that I can share with you if you like.  One of Matthew's favorite first foods was roasted sweet potato and carrot sticks.  You want to cut them so that they are about 2 in in length - I would use my index finger as a reference.  This allows your LO a handle to pick up their food with and have some sticking over the top to start eating.  Then I would toss them in olive oil and cinnamon.  Bake them at 400F for about 20 min.  Make some extra bc they are delicious!

Thanks for this, very interesting reading/approach, I'd like to look into it more.  I'd love more references if you have them (you can post or IM me, whatever).  I

lauranne

Definitely check out the link Kathryn posted for Wholesome Baby Food.  It's so easy and cheap to make your own food.  You can pop a cube out, and it's eaten, get more.  If not, no big waste.

Aiden always ate his first solids and wanted more, but he hated cereal.  I think it might have been a texture/taste thing.  Experiment with making it thicker/thinner and just keep trying.

Cooper81

I already make his food, and I've used wholesome baby food.  It seems like he just does't like the taste of anything but BM.

KathrynMD

be patient - seriously. . . try the Baby Led Weaning - it takes alot of the anxiety and stress of it out of the way.  And, lets your baby really learn to experiment w/ food.

ucgrad

Sophia gets really distracted while eating. At first making sounds got her attention back at me - clicking, wistling. It does take time, just try to be patient. When I start to get frustrated with things like this I try to remind myself, it will work out in time. It is unlikely that they will be a 16 year old who won't eat anything but milk. (I had to use this rationale about rolling over)

anonsouthernbell

Cooper81:

anonsouthernbell:

We also did Baby Led Weaning/Baby Led Solids here so Matthew skipped purees altogether and started right with finger foods at 6 months.  He was in charge of feeding himself and sometimes he would eat a lot of what we gave him and a few times he would only eat a little bit.  It really took the stress out of feeding times and allowed him to be in control of what he ate, how much and also helped him with his hand/eye coordination.  This is a fantastic starting point and reference.  And here are some other great ones in addition to whole some baby food, which was shared earlier:

 

1. https://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels.html

2. Does Baby Know Best?

 

I have more references that I can share with you if you like.  One of Matthew's favorite first foods was roasted sweet potato and carrot sticks.  You want to cut them so that they are about 2 in in length - I would use my index finger as a reference.  This allows your LO a handle to pick up their food with and have some sticking over the top to start eating.  Then I would toss them in olive oil and cinnamon.  Bake them at 400F for about 20 min.  Make some extra bc they are delicious!

Thanks for this, very interesting reading/approach, I'd like to look into it more.  I'd love more references if you have them (you can post or IM me, whatever).  I

 

I def. agree that it is an interesting approach for sure.  (I want to apologize ahead of time if this doesn't make sense.  I am tired and need to go to bed but wanted to respond first as I didn't have a chance last night or today)... I actually never would have looked into it had someone at a LLL meeting not casually mentioned it.  I def. do have some trepidation in the beginning since almost everyone that I know does purees/cereals, but we stuck with it and my son, Matthew, has never choked or anything along those lines.  The book that I linked above really worked to ease my fears as all of the main points that the author stated came to fruition.  

 So here are some of the basics:

* Only offer solid foods if your LO can sit up unsupported, otherwise it is a choking hazard

* Understand and learn the difference b/n choking and gagging

gagging is a very normal (although scary) process.  The gag reflex is a lot more forward on the tongue of baby's than it is on adults.  Expect your lo to gag as he learns where he can/should and where he should not put food while in his mouth.  (Coincidentally by doing this and chewing finger foods he will be using the same muscles that he will later use for his speech development).  If your LO starts to cough or gag try not to intervene -provided of course that he is in an upright position.  (I know that it is hard not to).  But your LO is working it out.   If he chokes (no coughing, turning red in the face/not getting air) then you should by all means intervene.

Things to avoid: putting food in your LO's mouth - as adults may accidentally put the food in too far thus creating a choking hazard and "fish hooking" with your finger in his mouth if you think that he put in too big of a piece as this can create a choking hazard.  (The author states in her book that if they take too big of a bite that it will fall out of his mouth provided he is upright.  I have witnessed this plenty of times with Matthew to attest to that fact).

  * I know that it seems counter intuitive but you don't want to give him small pieces of food at his age.  It will be too difficult for him to grasp until around 8-10 months, when he develops his pincer grasp.  Instead in the beginning the food should be about 2 in long as it gives the baby something to grasp and something to chew.

* In the beginning "eating" is more about exploring and playing.  It is not until about 9-10 months that babies realize that they get full from eating solids.  Due to this fact your should bf about 30-60 minutes prior to offering table foods as your LO won't be interested if he is hungry.

For about the first month that I started I went very slowly as I was building up my confidence level.  So I gave Matthew avocado, banana, carrot and sweet potato sticks and I would take 1-2 bites out of a pear and hand it to him.  He didn't have any teeth for the first month that we did solids but he was still able to gum things, chew them and swallow and I could see it in his diaper output to prove it.  Around 7 months I started to feel more confident and he would get pretty much whatever we were eating provided it wasn't too high in sodium or sugar.  And I mean whatever.  He has had chicken picata, bbq turkey, spaghetti, chili, etc.  Just be prepared for a mess.  And if I was giving him something that required a spoon I would preload it for him and then hand it to him. He is now 10 months old and does a great job with utensils whenever we give it to him.  I can def. see how this "method" has helped him with his hand/eye coordination.

 

Here is a great forum dedicated to everything BLW. (Before you can post anything you have to post in new member introductions.  The administrators do this just to make sure that you aren't going to spam the site).  Here are two blogs that I read but there are others out there:

First

Second

 Oh and some foods to avoid: nuts, peanut butter, whole grapes, cherry tomatoes (and bc I get paranoid I add blueberries to this list too) as they are the perfect shape to get lodged in a windpipe.  Matthew loves grapes but I cut them into 1/4s for him and when he first had them I would peel them for him as well.  (He is now a much more proficient eater and has more teeth so I don't peel them anymore).  Oh and one last benefit...a lot of moms in the book said that they did BLW with their last baby and not with their first child/ren and that the child that they did BLW with turned out to be a much less picky eater than the children that they spoon fed.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  And above all make sure that with whatever you decide that it is something that you and your dh feel comfortable with.

anonsouthernbell

Here are some pictures from when my son was 6 & 7 months old (I have better ones but these were already in photobucket):

Enjoying his carrot sticks:

 

Discovering mango:

Apple slice:

Enjoying his dinner of chicken, mashed potatos and steamed carrots:

 

Oh and I forgot to mention above and I am sure that you already know this but no raw vegetables as that is a choking hazard.

 

seaturtle19

try feeding him wiht your finger instead of with a spoon.  i had a really hard time with DD in the beginning but she took food off of my finger then we  moved to the spoon.  try making it really fun and into a game with noises and sounds from you and you eat it too.....sounds odd but i might help.  i was so frustrated with this so you are not alone. hang in there.