EBF 11 mo does not like to eat solids. Now what?

[strmis]

I should mention we are being cautious with introducing foods as she has allergies we are still discovering. We know she is safe with sweet potato, carrots, pears, spirulina but rarely does she eat because she just doesn't want it.

I really wanted to introduce foods that are more nutrient dense, rather than wheats and grains, so I haven't done any of those. She hasn't been to her dr since her six month visit, but I'm thinking at her twelve month well baby the doc is gonna give me a hard time for letting her fall so far behind the curve, size-wise, not that I'mimportant entirely the most important measure of "health and development"

But Should I be concerned she seems nowhere near eating solids? Is there something else I should try or will she show signs of readiness when she is truly ready?

[skycheattraffic]

You can't (and shouldn't) make her eat anyways. Since she has allergies, she is likely just following instincts and protecting herself - her digestive system probably needs to mature a bit more. Just keep nursing on demand and offer the foods you know are safe. FYI, forbidden things are always more delicious: a piece of carrot stolen off of mommy's plate is sweeter than the same carrot given on a high chair tray. Also many babies reject soft purées or anything aimed to be for babies. Safe finger foods out of grownup meals are usually a good bet. HTH

[tinuviel_k]

My daughter did not really get into solid foods until right after her 1st birthday. I was pretty anxious for her to eat, especially since she would wake up so many times a night to nurse (so much physical activity during that age, she was just burning through the breast milk calories so fast).

I remember that the first food she was really excited about was whole cooked beans. She really wanted to feed herself, and pureed foods never did hold any excitement for her. Right around 13 months she really got into the swing of things, and she has been a marvelous eater ever since.

[strmis]

Thank you soooooo much for the info and stories about you LOs. Makes me feel better about my situation.

My instincts also tell me to hold off. It's hard to introduce foods because I always want to get her at a baseline with her itching and redness so that I can see a reaction if it happens. She has very little interest in food, even if it is on my plate, and if she did I'd wanna be careful what she would be grabbing. That being said, after skycheattraffics suggestion, maybe I'll have a meal of safe foods she can try grabbing at if she wants.

Anyways, I spoke to her doc today and she is totally scaring me into feeding her saying she is likely to be anemic because she's about 99% EBF . My dd is small for her age, I think she's 16lbs -16.5lbs at 11 mos. then again, I'm 4'11" and about 90lbs. Dh was a skinny kid, too.

So, doc recommends her to do an iron blood test, which I am ok with. Good info to know, right? But then again, I've gotta wonder, if EBF babies past 6 mos are "likely to be anemic" than where are they getting the average iron level normals from. Did that make sense? Also, what did we do as humans in caveman days when iron fortified cereals weren't around?

Any suggestions on what to say to the dr? She is so convinced that babies cannot be EBF past 6 mos because that's what the medical texts say. Almost wanna ask her for a copy of her med book to see if it's some archaic edition. Furthermore, she's a lactation consultant, so I was so surprised to hear this! Ugh...

Sorry for the rant, but now I just feel a little lost and torn because of what I think may be an "old school" thinking about breastfeeding.

[Lilybelle5]

Hi!

My baby girl is about to be one in a few days and is still 99.9999% breastfed. She just has not been interested. We planned on delaying solids anyway because it is beneficial and I think our culture in general starts feeding babies food too early. But we didn't plan on delaying for quite this long so I started researching. Kellymom has an article saying that it is normal and perfectly healthy for some breastfed babies to not be really interested in solids until 18 months even. And in some cultures babies are exclusively breast fed until 2. :) I would probably find a new doctor. Here is the kellymom article. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/toddler-foods/

[strmis]

thanks again. MDC always comes through for me! Checking out the link as we "speak."

I'm also looking into a new doc for DD as well as finding pubmed articles suggesting that iron stores are good until 6 mos... MINIMUM! hopefully her blood test comes out ok, so I can just shove that in her face before I fire her as our doc.

Lillybelle5, do you know of any articles or research on cultures who exclusively breastfeed that long? I'm not coming across anything. 

[JudiAU]

Just give her some time, providing options for her with a variety of textures and flavors. If she doesn't like purees then give her options to self feed. If she likes purees sometimes with bites from you, then that is fine. At 11 months she can have a wide and I mean wide range of foods so I would probably back off a super-cautious approach unless she is clearly allergic or sensitive. Usually at this point you would have seen signs.

Also, DS went on a "solids strike" for a bit. He ate them for awhile and then backed off. That is normal. Just keep trying and keep trying new things.

My DD never liked simple purees or single veg type items. She liked tofu with a bit of soy sauce that she could self feed or whole beans she could pick up and mash in her mouth (no teeth until after a year) or small pieces of fresh fruit or salmon-potato "burgers" that she could nibble on or whole grain mini muffins (mostly oatmeal based) or her favorite, various dals.

[Lilybelle5]

Originally Posted by strmis 

thanks again. MDC always comes through for me! Checking out the link as we "speak."

I'm also looking into a new doc for DD as well as finding pubmed articles suggesting that iron stores are good until 6 mos... MINIMUM! hopefully her blood test comes out ok, so I can just shove that in her face before I fire her as our doc.

Lillybelle5, do you know of any articles or research on cultures who exclusively breastfeed that long? I'm not coming across anything. 

Try this article written by Kathy Dettwyler who is awesome. I will keep looking. http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detexclusive.html

[Lilybelle5]

The kellymom article does also clearly state that some babies will have breast milk as their primary nutrition until 18 months and that is totally fine and normal.

[Hymanroth]

My son is 14 months old and his primary nutrition is breastmilk. I feed him on demand.

Do you make sure to Breastfeed on demand or offer often??

My son loves foods that have lots of flavor and spice and sauces. Lol. We're dairy free, wheat/gluten free, no refined sugars, and use quail eggs bc they are least likely to cause a reaction ( I'm allergic to chicken eggs and he showed a reaction so I just have held off)

My sons favorites are baked chicken, fish, meatballs in sauce, sauteed spinach, peas, peaches and plums and blueberries. He used to love sweet potatoes and now he doesn't go for them.

I did baby led weaning which is perfect for allergies. Baby chooses what they want to (or DON'T want to eat)!!

[LightForest]

My daughter was one of those babies who didn't really show interest in solids until around 18 months. I feel so grateful that our pediatrician was ultra supportive. Maybe it helped that DD was always on the upper range of the growth curve (though the ped actually never made a big deal out of this). I remember showing concern during our well baby appointments at around 9 months or a year, and again at around 15 months. The ped just encouraged me to be patient, keep offering, and to make a point of including baby in our family meals (and offering baby the same foods that we were eating, within reason), as opposed to concocting special meals just for the baby. It is common practice in the state we were living in at the time to run a blood test for anemia (as well as lead poisoning) at 12 months. For what it's worth, my DD showed no anemia deficiency as a result of this test, despite being EBF and eating nearly no solids at 12 months.

In retrospect, a few things happened at around 18 months that made her more interested in food. First and foremost, she weaned. After weaning at 18 months, I was giving her goat/cow's milk for a while (at bedtime), but I found that once I was able to get her off milk completely at around 24 months her interest in food increased dramatically! (She also became a fantastic sleeper for the first time ever.) Second, her teeth were somewhat late to come in (her first tooth emerged at 9 months). I noticed that she was much more interested in food once she had more teeth - especially molars that could chew up things like raisins, cashews, and apple slices dipped in peanut butter.

But do let me be clear -- I don't by any means recommend that you end your nursing relationship just to try to get your baby to eat! I only noticed this (possible) correlation after the fact with my daughter and I found it interesting.

Oh, and you asked about foods with iron -- many foods actually contain high amounts of iron, so fortification is not the only way in the world to get it! Many meats - especially liver (and maybe lamb?) - are very high in iron. But so is spinach and other dark leafy greens. Some beans, and especially lentils, also have a fair amount. Dried fruits like apricots are also a decent source. Cooking in cast iron also helps.

[element2012]

OP I could echo your post. My DD is 8.5 months, and we have been offering her foods since 6 months.  We started with BLW and she showed an interest and seemed able to handle it, but soon began to gag and vomit more often than not.  So we gave her mushed up things, and again it was hit or miss.  I've made her a few purees that are also hit or miss.  One thing she pretty consistently likes is yogurt.  Have you tried yogurt?  I've backed off of it until I can find a good raw yogurt or goat yogurt, but she would happily eat that 3 times a day.  She also likes baby food pouches, eaten straight from the pouch.  Maybe she doesn't like my cooking??! I'm not a huge fan of feeding her those either. 

My husband began to comment that she just doesn't seem ready.  I've been stressing myself out trying to get her to progress with eating, but she's not feeling it.  Just wondering, does your LO have teeth?  Mine doesn't yet and I do feel like maybe they are related? Also, do you feel like your LO is falling behind growth-wise, as in she was at 50th percentile but is now at 25th? I don't think being smaller means anything (some people are smaller!), but I might be concerned if she was falling behind a lot. What methods of feeding have you tried?  Maybe try another?  I've learned that my girl likes her food sweet, so apples/pears as a base are a good start. 

This foray into puree-land is driving me bonkers, because she usually won't eat it! Sigh.   We just keep trying right??

[LLQ1011]

My son is 10.5 months and has no interest in food.

Food before one is just for fun his pediatrician says. He also is allergic to rice

Its ok I am sure.