[Still_Learning]

My DS is 10 months now and still refuses all solids

I don't know what to do. He won't even open his mouth at all for a spoon. He likes to play with bananas and watermelon, but spits out any little pieces that fall off into his mouth.

Any ideas? SHould I just not worry about this and hope he'll eat one day?

 

[alegna]

Have you tried cheerios? That's what won my dd over

Also stuff off your plate- she loves refried beans and guacamole- but only when we're eating them...

-Angela

 

[AugustineM]

:

My DS is just about 9 mo. and eats *very* little. He does like cheerios as the PP said -- that's one of the only things he eats. Also rice krispies. But he hates being fed, and seems highly sensitive to texture. He does not like cut up pieces of slimy things, like banana, avocado, etc. Doesn't like having someone try to spoon feed him. I keep hoping he'll start liking to eat one of these days... I don't think it's something to worry about. As my mom says, there are two things I can guarantee -- eventually he'll sleep through the night, and eat food!

 

[alegna]

Yeah, my dd REFUSES to be fed. I swear her first sentence is going to be- Do it MYSELF! I finally sucked it up last night and let her have a go with messy food on her own (a bowl of applesauce then a bowl of cottage cheese) She had a ball and ate some. She just will NOT tolerate being fed.

-Angela

 

[goodcents]

Maybe you should try to stop altogether for a few days and come back to it.

It is quite possible you could rid yourself of some of the frustration you feel and that dear children always pick up on. Also - the fresh start may pique baby's interest.

It was only at about 10 months that my dd started to eat - and if I recall the end of her 10 month. It is really hard to keep up with breastfeeding that much - I did supplement a bit with formula which helped me. Not the best choice for everyone - but it really helped us.

 

[Kincaid]

We are working with a speech pathologist for our son who just turned 10 months. He has an oral aversion, as well as dysphagia (over-sensitive gag reflex).

Someone gave me some good links (here on Mothering) to sites on dysphagia. Also look up oral aversion.

Did your baby have any birth trauma? that is often a cause.

 

[Hanbonem]

DS is 10 months old today and very hot and cold (usually very cold) on eating. I've taken to offering him a mini smogasborg during each meal hoping that something will appeal to him.

Things that have worked recently:
I bought a bag of organic frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn) and will thaw out a little bit for him to push around the tray. He took to peas right away. Someone suggested that he might do better with things that he can pick up and they were right.

I also bought a bag of organic frozen blueberries, messy but good and small enough not to pose a choking hazard. They mix well with yogurt.

Tonight, following this recent frozen kick, I thawed out some spinach, cut it up, mixed in parmesan cheese and brewers yeast and a few of the mixed veggies and fed it to him on my finger. Wow, that worked really well, I think he likes the taste of the yeast.

If I'm really determined to get something in him I can usually "prime the pump" with a cracker. The boy will scarf down a cracker in a second flat and then refuse anything healthier. He tends to gum up cheerios and then spit them out.

Good luck!

 

[scheelimama]

My older dd didn't have a thing to do with solids until she was around 8 mo. and then it was ONLY finger foods that she could eat herself. She liked cheese, cheerios, bananas (occasionally), and teething biscuits. That was it. And that's pretty much all she ate until she was aroun 14-15 months in addition to bm and formula (she started weaning at 10 mo. cuz' my milk went away due to being preggo). Anyway, the dr. was very dismayed at her 1 yr. checkup that she wasn't eating any better. I didn't worry about it too much. She started daycare full-time around 16 mo. and she wasn't allowed to have bottles in there (it was a center) and that's pretty much when she finally started eating. She took right to it with the peer pressure of the other kiddos eating and no bottles around. She still has a bottle at home much of the time, but she has come around and eats pretty well now. I wouldn't stress about it too much, but I would try offering him things he can feed himself. My little dd seems to have an aversion to ppl feeding her as well. She hasn't taken to solids at all yet and seems to be following in her sisters footsteps (just 7 mo. right now). HTH!

 

[A&L+1]

I suggest that you don't worry about it, keep offering a variety of foods, and watch your babe's growth. My daughter has always been on the little side but she loves nursing/pumped milk and has grown fine. She didn't really eat solids until about 11 months and I worried about it at the time. Now I see that she is just fine and I had nothing to worry about. My daughter didn't get teeth until last week and she's sensitive to milk - both things make me think that she's better off having delayed solids anyway. So, relax if you can especially if there is no health reason to push solids - perhaps your babe knows something that you don't!

 

[mollyeilis]

Why worry about it? If you let it not be an issue, then voila, it's not an issue!

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I was completely ready to not even think of starting solids until after 12 months. He then attacked me at 11 months for an organic apple, and he's had little bits of organic fruits and a couple veggies since then, but very very little of it has made it in his stomach.

So he's technically not exclusively breastfed (13 months in 2 days), but basically he is, and he's thriving (and I can still eat a lot and not gain).

They can do fine without solids, IMO and IME.

 

[Bloodflower]

Don't worry! Babe will let you know when it's time for solids.

My DD is 12 months and though we've offered solids since 8 mo, she isn't into it. Sometimes she REALLY wants... one or two bites. That's it. Maybe she wants 3 or 4 bites if she's really into it.

She eats more (i.e., 4 bites instead of 2) when she gets to hold the spoon. Also, she can't stand anything that's not totally pureed, and even then, often gags (today she vomited after gagging on strained yam. Not unusual.)

I have lots of friends whose babies didn't "discover" solids til into their 2nd year, maybe 15 mo or so. As long as your babe is healthy, not a problem. A friend has twins, also 12 months, who had zero interest in solids til maybe 1 or 2 weeks ago, and suddenly they MUST have it. Baby will let you know.

I find it hard to keep up with my unbelievable appetite, but I also appreciate the fact that I can eat tons of food and keep on shedding those pregnancy pounds.

As far as I am aware, the only thing baby might not get enough of from breastmilk is iron, which is only an issue after 1 year. Then if there's a concern you can have their iron checked.

Good luck!

 

[christiab]

My son sounds just like yours!! He finally started self-feeding 2 weeks before his 1st birthday. Even then, he still spits half of whatever goes into his mouth right back out.

From about 9 mos, I would sit him in his highchair at mealtimes, put finger foods in front of him and throw them away after the meal. He would smear and smash, but nothing went into his mouth. I also gave up trying to feed him. Whatever was on the spoon got slapped away.

I later found out he has severe food allergies, so maybe this was his way of protecting himself.

 

[TudoBem]

We've had this issue, too, with our little guy. We finally started to just give him puffed rice to pick up and eat on his own. Then after a while we dipped it in some hummous. He actually liked it! So we do that. We also give him tastes of what we're eating. I'll eat it, dh will eat it, then we'll give ds a taste. He often doesn't like it, but will try it because we're eating it. Oh, another thing I've been doing which helps is that when I'm eating something, I'll give him a fake taste (i.e. put the spoon in his mouth with nothing on it). He likes the idea of eating like we do and it gets him used to being fed or at least the motions of it.
Like I say to dh, we keep offering, he'll eventually take it.

Dh wanted to add that ds isn't into baby food at all. Some babies just aren't. Maybe he likes more flavor in his food? The good thing is that at 10 months your child can eat a lot of different food, not just the plain pureed stuff that they eat from 6-7 months!