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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
WYEngTeacher
member
Solids/Table Food - I need help
WYEngTeacher
member
I've posted before about how my DD has refused baby food for the longest time. She has a definite aversion to the spoon and has practically never let us put it in her mouth. I basically gave up on purees awhile back because I didn't want to push it, yada yada. At this point, she likes puffs ("like" meaning that she'll actually feed them to herself and not make a horrible gaggy face) and will eat maybe 10 at a time.?
?And....that's about it. Yep, my DD is nearly 10 months old and she eats puffs and breastmilk. I have obviously tried giving her other finger foods, but she still just pretty much plays and mashes it up instead of eating it. (banana, peach, avocado...)?
Please give me advice. I would still like to wean around or shortly after a year, but I don't see how that's going to happen at this point... How do I go from a diet of just puffs and bm to no bm at all in the next two months????
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Re: Solids/Table Food - I need help
Breleigh & Mason
for finger foods, diced carrot, sweet potato, regular potato. cooled steamed pears or apples. try leaving things big so she can use her whole hand and gnaw on it and try dicing it small to see if she would rather pick it up and feed herself. I think you just need to keep offering her stuff.
Have you tried making a smoothie for her? You can put it in a sippy cup. A little yogurt and fruit puree, thin with bm if needed. I havent tried it but there are some smoothie for baby ideas in a babyfood book I have. She might like that. You could even use soft tofu when you want her to get some protein.
the mesh feeder is fantastic! I give R a snack in it every day. mango and peach are his faves right now.
sucks about the dairy allergy. why do you suspect one?
If you do try a smoothie but want to skip dairy the soft tofu will be a good starter or soy milk thickened up with a fruit puree. assuming soy is ok. I saw a gal here mention that she gives coconut milk/water and I have seen unsweetened rice milk or almond milk (allergies!) but a walk through a health food store will probably give you a few options.
Hi, ?I am a new mom and a speech therapist - not sure if I can help, but I will try. ?(speech therapists often deal with feeding issues)?
1) Does she only breast feed or also eat from a bottle?
2) Do you assume she is only tolerating puffs because of the texture? ?Is that why she isn't okay with the spoon - because it is mushy purees instead of crispy/crunchy? ?
?What happens if you put a puree on a puff? ?Like if you present a little avocado on a puff that she can pick up? ?If it is a sensory issue, then maybe the puff can serve as a vehicle to get the puree veggie or fruit down...idk, just a thought?
?Does she have teeth??
When did you initially introduce solids? ?and she has never taken to a spoon? ?will she put a spoon in her mouth if there is nothing on it? ?Does she put toys in her mouth??
Sorry I'm so late replying. Don't know if you'll see this at this point, but I really appreciate the advice.?
Brookie - Long story short, dairy allergy is suspected because of ongoing hives issues which 3 out of the 4 times I've connected with dairy. It all started with the flu shot (which is the piece that doesn't fit the puzzle), and it also doesn't make sense because neither DH nor I have ANY food allergies in our families. Also doesn't make sense b/c I eat dairy/drink milk on a daily basis and she's never had an issue with it through the breastmilk. Anyway, hopefully we'll get some answers at the allergist this week.
Susan - I really appreciate your reply being that you deal with these issues professionally! She generally only breastfeeds and doesn't like the bottle unless I'm not around and the mood really strikes her right. I do think its a texture this with the puffs. Funny you mentioned about puffs with puree b/c my DH had this brilliant break though himself one time when I wasn't home a few weeks ago. I couldn't get her to repeat eating the puffs with puree myself, but I'll keep trying that. It's funny that you said that, though, because DH has been soooo proud of himself for coming up with it. ;-) She has 2 full lower teeth, 1 that just broke through, and two teeth just coming through on top. I initially tried watery (with bm) rice cereal when she was only 5 months, and she ate it a little bit then at first, but things quickly went downhill to the point of her clamping her mouth shut, turning her head, and refusing the spoon...which has now been the case for months. She plays with the spoon and puts it in her mouth herself, but no food ever makes it there on it. She won't let ME near her mouth with the spoon (or my finger with food on it). Yes, toys are constantly in her mouth.?
Again, don't know if you'll see this, but thanks for replying!?
hmmmm. i will keep thinking and get back to you if i come up with anything. If you get a mesh feeder, will you report her interest on this thread...i will be very interested to know if she takes it. It will either be a winner because she won't have the puree consistency in her mouth and going down her throat or it won't work because it won't be crunchy enough. Can your DH redulpicate feeding her puree on a puff, or was that just a one time deal until she was on to his antics!? Any concerns of reflux or aspiration/choking - maybe it is easier for her to handle something more solid than a puree that falls apart in her mouth and is hard for her tongue to control, organize, and send in one "bolus" or blob to her stomach. I hope you get some answers. Sorry I am just creating more questions. I'd be interested in the allergy results too, if you feel like sharing.
Isn't there some kind of egg product in the flu shot? ?That could be the explanation to that.
So, I just reread your initial post and soy, egg, and milk allergies don't solve the entire problem...right??
?About the mesh feeder. ?I have given it to my daughter with and ice cube in it and she loves it. ?Maybe you could introduce it with nothing or with an ice cube to see if she would explore it with her mouth in those situations (you mentioned she didn't seem to know to put it in her mouth)....if not a food item, I would be surprised if she doesn't considering you said she does mouth toys and other items she grabs..right??
When she mashes up/plays with soft foods, does she enjoy the texture or is she turned off by the squishiness on her hands too? ?Weird questions coming, I know...but I am just brainstorming and stuck on there being a sensory component to this.
does she mind lotion being rubbed on her?
does she mind messes on her face/hands?
does she cram toys in her mouth or touch them notably lightly to her mouth?
does she cough/sputter/choke/gag while breast feeding? ??
will she eat other crispy/crunchy table foods?(have I already asked that?)
as a re-read, when you said this:
I initially tried watery (with bm) rice cereal when she was only 5 months, and she ate it a little bit then at first, but things quickly went downhill to the point of her clamping her mouth shut, turning her head, and refusing the spoon...which has now been the case for months.?
?I think this is important. ?Ihere is no soy, egg, or cow's milk product in rice cereal, right? ?So, either there is a rice issue as well or there is a sensory component to this.
(i know I keep saying the same things, and sorry I have posted 4 different responses tonight. ?I would love to be able to help you figure this out..) ?
?When she went from tolerating a little rice cereal to clamping her mouth closed, were there any in between signs? ?gagging, choking, etc?
I really think there are two things going on - the allergy of course and a sensory issue
?no history or reflux? silent (or not silent) aspiration?
?what is the pedi's take on this all??
I kind of skimmed the other replies..but I wanted to say that if she does have allergies, I have read that it is actually BETTER for her not to be eating solids until after a year, because she will tolerate them better later. I wish I had known that about my DS who is now 19 mo, because he has an egg allergy that was giving him bad eczema on his back and it took us a very long time to realize that was the cause, because he ate SO many different things that we had to do alot of eliminating from his diet. (I wanted to try elimination dieting before taking him to an allergist, since I knew it would be unpleasant for him,and he wasn't the least bit worried about the diet)
Anyway, she knows what she is doing. Just hold off. She will do it when she is ready, but I wouldn't push it just yet. GL!
This is what I was thinking - she's telling you she needs to nurse for more than a year right now, and she's on her own schedule for eating.
DS didn't really get into food and start "eating" until he was past 10 months - and he's still getting most of his calories from my breastmilk.
One more thing - maybe if you just give her some different food options and leave her alone with them, she'll try it out? Sometimes babies can pick up on their parents' stress and shut down. hth
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Sorry it took me so long to reply. I had a little bit of a difficult weekend adjusting to the whole allergy thing, and I just needed to distance myself from these issues for a few days while I wrapped my head around what this all means for our future. No more news yet on that front regarding egg, soy, or severity of milk; we?re still waiting on the blood work.
Anyway, before I answer the other questions, I have an exciting update! Tonight, Ava ate some prune puree and actually liked it! We had tried it the past two days and she seemed to eat a few tiny bites, which was an accomplishment in of itself. Well, tonight she actually opened her mouth (!!!!) for the spoon repeatedly, didn?t make an awful gaggy face, and probably ate about 1/3 of a jar! She also was feeding herself peach puffs at the same time, some with the prunes smeared on them. What a huge development!!! I did sort of have to beg her to open her mouth initially, and I think it helps that she?s starting to understand more of what we say to her at this age.
On to your questions, and I?m just going to run down through them and try to answer as clearly and concisely as possible. Let me know if you need more elaboration on any of these points (and sorry in advance for typos.. it's late and I'm too tired to proofread):
She still hasn?t shown much interest in the mesh feeder. She?d rather chew on the plastic handle than the mesh part.
She generally seems to enjoy the feeling/texture when she squishes up foods. I guess this because she continues to do it and doesn?t cry. She HATES lotion being rubbed on her, which is a nightly battle because she has eczema and I need to do so daily. For most of her life, she would scream while I put on her lotion. DH hated it and would beg me to ?leave her alone,? but I knew it was for her own good b/c the alternative was the itchy, scaly eczema rash. This hatred of lotion has actually has gotten a lot better in the past month, though, and now that I think about it, she hasn?t cried in quite a while during that routine... quite possibly because I switched to plain old petroleum jelly, which rubs on more easily than the thick Eucerin cream that I had previously been using.
Does not mind messes on face/hands. Crams toys in mouth. Sometimes coughs/sputters while nursing (maybe 1x per feeding... I?d always just associated this with my letdown and figured she was getting a little too much/too fast milk at that moment... it never seemed like a big deal). She does eat a select few other crispy table foods like French fries (bring on the flames), tiny bites of waffle, and sometimes Chex cereal.
I checked through the ingredients and there was definitely no soy, egg, or milk in the rice and oatmeal cereals that I initially tried. The boxes specifically say ?soy free.? However, I agree that this is a REALLY interesting thought... especially b/c at the allergist, the nurse initially was saying that her skin test also appeared to be very borderline positive for oat. If she had an oat allergy, that could?ve been the root of it all (I tried oatmeal cereal very shortly after the rice cereal when I wasn?t having success w/ that). However, the dr. determined that the oat test would be negative and didn?t order further oat testing on her blood.
No in-between signs such as gagging when she went from tolerating to not tolerating the cereal. However, I should probably be more clear that she never really liked it much at all. When I say that she tolerated it at first, I mean that she opened her mouth and possibly swallowed a few tiny bites at one or two feedings when she was still only 5 months old.... then she just stopped opening her mouth and started spitting every last drop out (which I had to sneak in in the first place, which I?m sure didn?t help matters).
No history of reflux, but she did spit up a lot until she was maybe 6 or 7 months old. It didn?t seem to bother her, and my siblings and I all were the same way, so I never thought much of it and neither did the dr.
As of our 9 mo. check-up, the pedi still has not been overly concerned. She would just give different suggestions about how to get her to eat (nothing new or exciting) and say to keep trying. We haven?t talked since the allergy diagnosis. One time I saw a different pedi than usual, and he said to skip purees altogether and just try to get her eating finger foods (which was when I introduced the puffs). He said none of his 5 kids would eat babyfood. When I mentioned this advice to our usual pedi, she seemed to disagree and said that we?re at a crucial ?window of opportunity? right now with getting her to eat. This is why I have continued to try to purees, albeit half-heartedly, along with offering finger foods.
Ithadtobe.. ? interesting advice about waiting until a year for solids if a baby has allergies. That really caught my attention, and now I?m wondering if the prunes are a BAD thing! Ugh, I just can?t win. I will probably ask the allergist about this.
Nosoup4u ? at this point, I imagine nursing is going to continue beyond a year. I would like to ttc near the end of the summer, though, so that may affect how long I can really keep up nursing (at least the frequency of nursing that I?m doing now). If she was eating solids and only nursing a few times a day, that would be one thing, but the way we?re going at it now might be too hard on my body if I?m pregnant...? idk, something else to read up on.
And if anyone has ACTUALLY read this far, I have one final question tonight. My mom is freaking out lately about how she doesn?t understand how I can produce enough milk to properly and thoroughly/completely nourish a baby this old. She nursed siblings and me for a year, but was down to just a few feedings a day at this point b/c we were on so many solids. Therefore, she thinks I need to start supplementing with formula to make sure Ava?s getting enough to eat. Ava wakes to nurse many times throughout the night (always has), which is another reason my mom insists she?s ?starving.? Please tell me my mom is nuts and that Ava just eats all night long b/c she?s too busy and curious to bother nursing during the day. Fwiw, as of 9 month appt, dr. was not at all concerned about her weight or anything. Should I actually consider supplementing? I highly doubt my picky eater would want anything to do with it, anyway. She doesn?t even want bm in a bottle!!!
Sorry this was so long. Thanks if you read this far! Looking forward to your replies. Goodnight!