Starting Solids At 12 Months....Very Confused Mommy....

[j4ino]

So I first started solids actually at 7 months but it didn't go well.  After 3 consecutive days of avocado, my DS vomited everything until the bile and I was horrified how sick he looked.  I exclusively breastfed the next day to rule out stomach bug and gave him avocado again the following day only to have the same vomiting reaction.  So I tried a different food: pear.  That also caused the same vomiting reaction (less severe).  All cases of vomiting came 4-6 hours after feeding.  DS thought both the avocado and pear were delicious.  A little background knowledge:  my daughter is enzyme deficient and I give her Young Living enzymes every day or else she is severely constipated.  OK, so after all this vomiting, I decided his digestive system wasn't ready and I was going to continue to exclusively breastfeed until 12 months.  

DS turned a year old last November and I started with solids again.  I have tried sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, broccoli, applesauce, banana, chicken broth and peas. He HATES to eat.  He now has no interest (especially if I puree it).  Some days he will grab a small piece and voluntarily put a couple of bites in his mouth.  If he is semi-interested or sometimes even excited (banana) and I will give it to him again the next day only to find he is totally disgusted by the same food now!  If I puree the food, he will start gagging.  I have also been giving him an enzyme because whatever food he eats comes out in his poop undigested.  I had him seen by a chiropractor and she could tell that all his intestines (and whatever else was in his abdomen) felt healthy and normal.  DS got one tooth about a month ago.  Most of the time he is interested in eating whatever my DD has on her plate.  I'll direct her to give him a small piece of her carrot.  He will be excited to eat it and then spit it right out!  The only thing that he has consistently LOVED is oranges - and I know it goes against the "no citrus" rule, but it is the only food that he enjoys...

I feel so confused and frustrated.  I want to be relaxed about this and just go with the flow...  But a lot of family members are hounding me to "get him off the breast" or "give him rice cereal".  I would like to avoid the grains until he is a little older.  I will BF him as long as he needs to (esp if his digestion isn't working yet), but I do feel like at 14 months now (and he is baby #2), I would like a little break.  He is truly obsessed with the breast, nursing for hours straight if I let him!  I have been trying to go on a "every 3 hour" schedule but he cries SOOOO much and it is wearing me down.  The only way we can distract him from the breast is if I leave the room which isn't an option when DH is at work.  I'm doing the "every 3 hour" schedule because I feel like I might need to get him hungry in order for him to desire food.  Please provide any input.  I'd love to hear any suggestions or your own stories.

[akind1]

first, I would stop trying to feed by a clock -whether it's solids or milk, if he's hungry, he's hungry. If he's not, then not.

Also, offer solids first, then the breast if you are feeling worn out a bit. IDK about the citrus. Lemons are one of the first things DS grabbed to eat (that was around 6-7 months old).  I think in excess maybe not so much; but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.

at 14 months, there is no need to puree food if he doesn't like it. my son loved the texture of purees, so we did feed him some. otherwise he got food big enough for him to hold and gnaw on or take a bite of.

Also think it's perfectly normal for him to love something one day and hate it the next. My 2 year old still does this.

DS also does the ask-for-it and spit it out routine. I just ask he spit it into a napkin. A lot of what your'e going through is normal! just continue to offer a variety of foods and the breast and he'll get what he needs.

[Megan73]

ITA with akind1. A 14-month-old does not need to have his food mashed up. By that age he'll have a well-developed pincer grip and can self-feed anything you're eating.
Is he growing OK? If so, I'd just put some of what you're eating - cubes of veggies ,and fruit, cheese, beans, meat, fish, whatever - on his high chair tray and let him explore it without stressing about how much he's eating. I don't see any problem with him eating citrus or anything else at that age. My 11-month-old seems to really enjoy eating what the family is eating - he gets really mad if we eat in front of him and don't offer him any!

[LauraP29]

Totally agreeing with the previous posters! My DS is almost 1 and he is a very finicky eater, some days eating tons, other days just playing with the food/ spitting it out.  I think it's fine for him to have oranges, they seem to be a favorite with every baby I know!

My public health nurse gave me some great advice when I was worried that DS was not eating enough, "We control what foods we offer, and when to offer them, but baby controls what actually gets eaten."  Now I just offer him a good variety of foods at every meal, and he decides what to eat.  Just keep trying and he will come around when he's ready.