10 Month Old Not Interested in Solid Foods

My son refused to eat baby food so I thought he wasn't ready for solids... until I saw him eyeing a muffin I was eating. I gave him a teeny itty bitty crumb size bite and he loved it! (He was around 6 months old) I never bought another jar of baby food. He ate itty bitty bites of "real" table food. Teeth have nothing to do with it, by the way. They can gum the food and/or squish it to the roof of their mouth with the tongue. All 3 of my kids didn't get their first tooth until they were nearly a year old and they all ate either baby or table food starting around 5-6 months.

Does he have many teeth yet? Teeth are the body's natural signal that the digestive system is developed enough for solid food. If he doesn't have many teeth, then don't worry if he's not interested. Especially if you are still breastfeeding he's getting the proper nutrition. Has be been sick? That could be a reason for temporary changes. His body's desiring what it needs. Unless he's very underweight, I'd just follow his lead on the food eating choices.

My daughter always lost interest in eating when she was teething and mostly wanted to nurse. My son (11 months) eats pretty much anything. He seriously eats a wider variety than my 3 year old. Why not try more finger foods with him? I quit doing purees and baby cereals as soon as he demonstrated he could self feed (mostly cause I'm lazy and wanted to be able to eat my meals in peace while he fed himself, lol). My son eats almost anything (age appropriate of course) I eat in a smaller form. Some finger foods he likes- cheerios (I buy the Greenwise Toasted Oats), freeze dried fruit (probably the only Gerber product I buy), cut up cheese, whole peas or other vegetables (I buy a bag of frozen peas or frozen small cut up vegetables to microwave for him), halved blueberries, cut up strawberries (they say 1 year for berries, but we don't have food allergies in our families), diced avocado, diced chicken. I buy whole wheat mini bagels for my daughter and I'll tear them in half for him. He's great at biting off pieces (amazing to me because my daughter took forever to learn this skill).

Luckily, they still get the bulk of their nutrition from breastmilk and formula for the first year, so don't worry too much about it. And congrats on still providing breastmilk for your baby! That's awesome!

I would try table food for you LO - some babies, especially at this age just want what we eat.
My son turned 10 months on the 1st, and will eat 3 meals a day of table food (although we usually do still give chunkier purees out of convienence for at least 1 meal).

Try cooking a few meals this week that have ingredients you LO is used to - perhaps make grilled chicken lightly seasoned, with baked sweet potatoes..... then while you are eating allow them to have a few bites on their hightchair tray.
shredded chicke/pork burritos with rice and black beans, and shredded cheese are a favorite of my LO......my son always eats better/more when he see's us eating the food too.

I also have stopped offering solids unless it has been at least an hour after he has finished nursing so that I know he is actually hungry.

My son only spent about a month eating traditional pureed baby foods that I prepared. As soon as his teeth came in he wanted something to chew on. I then made everything chunky and now he's 10 months and I don't puree anything anymore. So you might want to try small pieces of chicken, fruit, veggies, etc.

he might be teething... as long as he is getting nutrients & acting ok otherwise, it's fine.

It sounds like your little one might be getting some new teeth. Is that possible? For the time, the milk may be soothing and the puffs might feel good against his gums. My 7 month old did the same thing for almost a month as 4 top teeth were coming in. Now they've all pretty much popped through and she's back to eating anything I put in front of her. Good luck!

Hi D.,

I thought I would share this article from Dr. Rydland on Baby's First Solid Foods. I used this approach with my daughter and it was really helpful.

http://www.atlantisnatural.com/content/Babys_First_Solid_...

Good luck!

D.

Are you doing just homemade purees or are you trying some of the regular baby food from the jars? The purees may be too plain for him now? There are some pretty cool mixtures for jarred baby food from what I remember and maybe he may like those?

Hi D.-

It actually sounds like a teething issue to me. Often children lose interest in food when getting teeth in (at least mine did). You can try giving him something cold (ice in a teething pouch, a cold carrot, etc.) to suck on first and in between bites to see if that helps. Sometimes we had to resort to Tylenol to get our daughters to eat during a really bad teething episode.

Also, there are many places online you can get instructions as to how to make homemade baby food that is fun and tasty and by far more nutritious than anything you can get in a jar. It is really easy and, if you have ice trays, you can freeze it and have it ready when you need it.

Hope this helps.

K.

Hi D., I also have a 10 month old who is quite a picky eater. He likes only a few finger foods so far like bananas, cheese and cheerios and anything sweet or snacky, but is not very interested in most others or the baby food I try to feed him. I have to really work at getting him to eat it, unless it is sweet like fruit or yogurt. Feel free to pass along any responses you might get and I'll do the same! Thanks

My 11 month old daughter went through the same thing. Good eater and all of a sudden only wanted her milk and cheerios. Our dr. said that really they can get all their nutrients from their milk and food is still an added bonus right now. With my daughter it seemed to just be a phase. I kept offering different foods (small bits of table food and chunky baby food) and one day she decided to start trying things again. It could just be a phase and nothing more. Just watch and keep offering different foods. As long as he's drinking his milk and not losing weight, I wouldn't worry unless it lasts for a long time. Sometimes they just have a mind of their own :>) Good Luck.

D.,
I know this can be very frustrating... my son went through "texture" stages where he showed preferenced for only certain foods. I just kept offering different things and eventually he came around. Try sampling the new flavor on your fingertip or the nipple of his bottle. It may entice him to try.
Does he like the puffs because he can self feed? You may have an independent little guy... if so, try soft and small pieces of food that he can self feed.
Just keep offering... keep persisting... but don't stress about it. Until one year, babies should gain most of their nutritive needs through formula or breastmilk.

PS My son was SO MUCH PICKIER than my daughter with food! He just recently decided that pasta (mac and cheese, too) was acceptable enough to start eating and he's almost 2!

T.
Mom to Katelyn, almost 4 and Matthew, almost 2

Hi, D.. Well, he may be in a time when he's not going through a growth spurt and so doesn't need as much solid food. In the hot weather, he may be more thirsty than hungry. Fortunately, until he's a full year old, he doesn't need much more than breast milk anyway.

Lots of adults lose their appetite in the heat, so don't worry too much about your son not having a big appetite right now. As long as he's not losing weight, he should be fine until he gets interested in food a little more.

What kind of puffs does he like? Please tell me it's puffed rice or puffed wheat and not cheese puffs????? Try him on Cheerios; most kids like them. Maybe he would like some fruit which is cool or at room temperature. Also, try not feeding him anything warm or hot, and he may be more interested in the food. After all, if he's feeling too hot already, he's not going to want the extra warmth.

Try giving him water, too, in between meals. If you can get him to be less thirsty with the water, maybe his appetite for solids will come back.

Again, as long as he's not losing weight he will be OK.

I hope everything is peaceful at the table for you and him.

Peace,
Syl