I have a 7 month old, and he normally is very good with eating baby food. We got to the point where he was eating 3 meals a day, and a bottle every time he'd go down for naps/bed. For the past 5 days, he absolutely will not open his mouth for baby food. When I give him a bottle, he scarfs it down. My doctor says it's fine, as long as he's eating his bottle. I took him to the doctor yesterday, because I wanted to make sure it wasn't an ear infection or a sore throat. It's neither of those, and he's not teething. Any advice??? Thank you!!!!!!
I know how you feel. He's probably teething. I noticed when my daughter was going to break a tooth, she wouldn't eat either. She also just goes through spells when she doesn't want to eat. She is a few days shy of a year now and I so picky. As long as he's getting his nutrition from the bottle, I wouldn't worry too much.
My son was just like that at that age! It came down to the fact that he did not like the baby food. He wanted what we ate at the table. I actually had not been feeding him too much baby food. I had been mashing fresh fruit and fresh steamed veggies, and he much prefered that over the pre-processed baby foods in the jars. At 7 months, maybe even at 6 months, he had totally rejected the commercial baby foods.
These little ones understand so so so much more language than we give them credit for, so just ask your baby if he wants the same food you are having. He can nod yes or no. At 7 months my son was eating whatever we had, cut into tiny pieces, of course, all by himself - he would not let us feed him. He also was still breast feeding. ;-)
Good luck - your son will be ok!
My youngest refused to eat anything off of a spoon shortly after my Mom introduced him to chunks of cantelope. If he couldn't pick it up and eat it, he didn't want it. That said, neither of my boys started on solids until they were 7-9 months old and it didn't hurt them a bit. Sometimes they just aren't ready for solids until a little later. 6 months is just the minimum age to start children on solid food.
Hope that helps!
I'd try giving him some mashed up "real" food! try mashed potatoes (or mush up a baked potato), bananas cut up bite-sized, steamed veges (carrots, green beans, peas, etc.), applesauce, cheerios (or other cereal like that), etc. start with bland things, and of course only one new food every 1-2 wks. to watch for allergies. My 2nd daughter hated baby food! So I just started giving her "real" food, and she loved it! It also helped in the long run, because later she didn't balk at spices I put on food, and was more willing to eat what the family was eating. Baby food doesn't taste anything like "real" food, so if a baby only eats baby food, they pretty much have to start all over trying new things when they start on "real" food. If "real" food is all their taste buds have known, then they are more likely to eat a variety of foods as a toddler =) good luck!
My first daughter, now 3 1/2, never took to eating off of a spoon. She went straight from nursing to eating bite sized foods/feeding herself.
My 6 month old was all about baby food, until I gave her some food to feed herself. Now, unless I'm using my hand to put it in her mouth, or she's feeding herself, she doesn't want it.
They have jarred diced apples and carrots that are extremely soft that she likes. You can also diced up mashed potatoes, bananas etc. She's almost seven months old and can already pick up those little gerber puffs and wagon wheels and LOVES them.
They don't NEED solids at this time, so I would just let him work on feeding himself. He'll get better and better at it. If he can chew well and isn't thrusting things out of his mouth, he'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.
Ellie, my daughter, will eat a lot during meals if I let her feed herself. Last night for dinner she had chunks of potatoes (that I pulled out of the boiling pot before mashing them for us), plain pasta, and almost a whole banana. She can even feed the banana to herself (like I'll give her a whole banana) if it's soft enough/almost too ripe.
Good luck!
give him a spoon and let him feed himself while you slip a real spoon full in every once in a while. my son prefered beech nutt over gerber foods. they can be picky little babies.
My oldest daugher didn't eat solid food until she was 13 months old. I tried everything. I learned later that she has a very serious peanut allergy. I have been told that children naturally delay solid foods who have allergies-it is a natural defense mechanism. I wouldn't stress out about it her not eating solid food. One book that helped me tremendously was Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I made all my own baby food --much easier than you think. It tastes so much better and is also much healthier. Good Luck!
Follow his lead. He only needs bottle nutrition at this age anyway. Don't worry about it.
Try some cut up table foods. All my boys at this age had no interest in the mushy food. They wanted the real stuff- the stuff Mom and Dad and brothers were eating. Do not worry if he does not have teeth yet. Those gums are quite powerful. Just make sure you cut the food small.
Good Luck
How about trying table food? Make sure you are eating healthy and then offer him what you are eating...if you need to mash fine, but if he has teeth or strong gums and you are watching to make sure the size of bites won't choke him, you could try offering him what the rest of the family is eating. (watch sodium and sugar)
My babies wouldn't really tolerate baby food. They didn't start solids till 7, 8.5, and 8 months (3 children) but they did NOT want purees.
Perhaps your baby is ready to feed himself. Could you try offering him VERY soft carrots diced small to see if he can pick them up and feed himself? My children accepted some food on a spoon, but wouldn't really eat until they could feed themselves.
