7 1/2 Month Old HATES "Real" Food

Have you tried mixing breast milk into her rice ceral? That worked for my friend, but her child was somewhat more receptive than you are discribing.

Just keep at it and you'll be fine. My little guy was exclusively breast fed for a whole year (I'm not suggesting you should do that - that was just me). Now he eats everything - not picky at all. Try some foods that are not too sweet and things that she can put in her mouth by herself.
Good luck!

My 21 month old did the same thing when he was that age. He made terrible faces for everything. Just keep at it, offer the little bit each day and don't worry about it, and just see what she does. My little one eats just fine now, and she will too! Try looking at these two books, which were really helpful around feeding: Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter and Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.
T.

Hi C. -

I didn't even attempt to give any of my 4 kids 'real' food until they were 9 or 10 months old - they sort of just played with it before that. Every child is different - I wouldn't worry about what solid food she is eating - you are breastfeeding her and that is her main source of food. She will naturally make the transition when she is ready - just keep offering little tidbits of real food here and there - !

Good luck!

Oh, don't worry!! She'll eat. My first son didn't accept 'real' food until 11 1/2 months. Then it was homeade rice ceral made with my breastmilk. Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is a wonderful book!!!. My son hated store bought food. I had to make is babyfood and found how much money I saved by making it myself. You might also want to try avacado. Avacado is healthy for you but especially healthy for your baby.

My son's doctor said not to push the food on him. Only offer three times a week so there is not any anxiety about accepting it. Also, put your baby in a high chair when you are eating and let her watch you eat. Put a food item on her tray and let her touch it and play with it, even if it makes a huge mess. Chances are some of it will end up in her mouth and she will be the one who did it. Whole Foods carries Rice Puffs. They are soft and dissolve very quickly unlike cheerios. They have no sugar they are litterly rice, puffed. These were my second sons first food.

Make sure you tell your doctor she is not accepting any food, they will do an iron test and may give you some iron drops, if needed. They taste horrible so if your pharmacy offers adding flavor, take them up on it. Ask the pharmasist what best covers the iron taste. I think grape and cherry are the best but I may remembering wrong. Also, iron STAINS!! You cannot get it out so pick one bib or towel as your vitamin bib. You don't want to ruin a good outfit or all your bibs.

Good Luck and God Bless

Stick with one thing a week. The adage is that it may take 10 tries of a new food before they learn to like it. Sadly, you may have a real picky eater on your hands, but maybe she'll grow some taste buds! Good luck, it's just a phase!!!

Try thinning it with some water or breast milk. That might help!

I agree with the other two women. Just relax and remember you have 5 1/2+ months for her to depend on food from other places besides your boobs =O)
Best of luck!
C.

Other than the rice cereal, the foods you mentioned are sweet. My daughter, whom is now 7 yrs. old, doesn't like overly sweet food, except ice cream.

As a baby she ate Cheerios and green beans. Also these were foods she could pick up on her own, when she wanted to eat. I should have known back then it was all about control.

Our ped. told us it might take 25 exposures to a food before it is tasted or eaten. Just keep offering, eventually she'll eat.

If she sees you eating, not making a bid deal about it, she might join in too...to be just like mommy.

Stephanie

C.,

They say you have to give babies a new food sometimes 15-20 times before they develop a taste for it. Try to be patient ;) Be sure to offer only one new food at a time - try one every 5-7 days, if she seems picky, or less frequently if you need to - you're the momma with a good intuition.

If she eats rice cereal or oatmeal you can try mixing in some veggies or fruit - maybe she can adjust to the taste more slowly that way.

What's the hurry? Here's some advice from me: Be sure to sit her in her highchair at the table with you and her dad. You two eat whatever you like. When she's excited about the idea of food she'll let you know by reaching for the food.

I know someone else already suggested cheerios, and I'm seconding that suggestion. Both my boys had nothing but breastmilk until they were 6 months old, which kind of had me thinking that we were "waiting" to start solids and the babies would dive right in when they had the chance. Hah. They had to explore and learn and come to terms with things they put in their mouths having tastes and textures. My first DS had only tastes of solids until he was 8 months or so old, but he worked up to being a great eater. Both my boys were more interested in self feeding than in spooned stuff.

I have joked that the way to get a baby to eat anything would be just to drop it on the floor and let him or her find it.... :)

She's just not ready. This is a perfect example of something we all as mamas need to learn...our timeline for our children is not always what works best for them. It sounds like you are the one ready for her to eat solids, but not her. My suggestion would be to let it go. Soon she will discover the beauty of different flavors, textures, etc. but for now she's not there yet. I knew my kids were ready to eat solids when they started reaching for my food. I would say, stop trying for a few weeks/month or so and see if she starts coming to you for new foods. She might just surprise you!! Oh, and don;t worry, at this point her caloric intake from solid food would be minimal so there really are no health consequences for waiting on the solid foods. Good luck!

My 8 1/2 month old still isn't taking solids, either. What HAS been minimally successful thus far is those mesh feeders. I heat up a veggie, put enough in there so something will come through the mesh when she sucks on it, and then hand it to her (making sure it's not too hot). I was SO excited the first time she put it BACK in her mouth after the first taste! Granted, she hardly gets anything in her mouth at all, but she IS getting SOMEthing - and a taste is all she needs at this point just as an introduction. That's all my pediatrician was worried about - getting her used to new textures. So, as long as she's playing and experimenting with it, I figure it's fine.

The other thing I was surprised to find was that the only thing she's put in her mouth on a spoon to date is the VERY bland homemade rice cereal (i.e. Super Porridge by the book "Super Baby Food"). I thought she'd hate it since it's SO bland, but it's the ONLY thing she's put in her mouth from a spoon. Everything else has been rejected from a spoon. (She'll gladly put the spoon in her mouth, though, when empty.) Again, she barely gets a taste since by the time it gets to her mouth, she's flipped most of it off. But, for me, having her even try to put it in her mouth knowing there's food on it has been major progress! (Her ability to recognize food amazes me! She'll put EVERYthing else in her mouth EXCEPT solid food! Paper - LOVES it. Plastic bags - a true hit! She even tried to taste the Christmas tree! But, you put food in front of her and somehow she KNOWS it's not your run-of-the-mill paper, fabric, plant or other product - she's onto you that it's the food you WANT her to eat! Then there's nothin' doin'! LOL)

Finally, I've also found that I think it's a control thing for her. Won't even consider the spoon with rice cereal if I'm holding the spoon. SHE wants to hold it. It's VERY messy, but I just dress her appropriately and only put a little bit on the spoon so she has less to fling.

I'm confident she'll eventually want to eat normally. I'm glad you posted this question as I'm also going to use some of the suggestions such as letting her sample off my plate. I've been in such a mindset that she has to start out with a certain consistency (i.e. soupy) that I was afraid to give her anything of "real" consistency. Maybe she's one who prefers the REAL thing and wants to jump right to it?! Who knows? But, sooner or later, I'm sure I'll figure out what she likes. In the meantime, I'm just being patient and not stressing about it.

Good luck!

Hi there,

We introduced "solid" foods (rice cereal, mashed banana, avocado, etc.) to our daughter when she was 6 months old. All went okay for a month or two, and then she refused anything but breast milk from 8-10 months! I was really worried but that didn't help and I wish I hadn't wasted so much energy worrying and trying to convince her to eat! Eventually she did start eating, but it was when we introduced finger foods. We gave her little diced up things she could eat.

I don't know if this had anything to do with it, but she had a milk allergy from the dairy products I ate that she was exposed to through my breast milk (we realized it when she had blood in her poops). Perhaps that caused her to be a picky eater? Not sure.

Now she goes through phases where she eats a lot and others when she eats very little. She is still breast feeding (she's 15 1/2 months now), but eats two balanced meals a day and a snack or two. I try to just offer the food and figure she'll eat when she's ready and hungry.

Good luck!

H.

Just relax. My son was like that as well.Everything we fed him he'd spit out and cry. It takes some getting used to for them. Be patient and trust.

Dear C.,
My daughter hated baby food too. The only think she liked was the tart apricots and plums. The other stuff, forget it!
She always cried when I was making dinner and I found out that she wanted taste in her food. She was eating scrambled eggs with garlic and mushrooms and mashed potatoes with gravy. She loved fruit and yogurt, but my trick was to sprinkle a little brown sugar on top.
If you are mushing everything up, she may feel like you are giving her tar. Try to let her much on solid things as much as possible. The more she gets teeth, the more she will want to chomp.
My kids loved baby toast and homemade croutons. They also loved teething on thick slabs of jerky. I was a vegetarian, but I found the jerky trick got me through two kids with teething and my advice has helped lots of other people. Everytime you make something for yourself, give her a little taste. You might be surprised what she will like.
Best of wishes!

None of my 4 kids were baby food fans. Actually the youngest was the only one who really got excited about it but she didn't really eat it just took a big mouthful and then grinned and babbled as it drooled out of her mouth. My oldest refused all solids until 9 months old. It turns out he has a lot of food allergies and I have learned it is common for allergic babies to instinctivly refuse food. I have always eaten spicy or more flavorful foods and I have found that my babies prefer that. Plain mashed up bananas, no way but add a little cinnamon and they are thrilled. Before there was jarred abby food, infants were given food off their parents plates how it was prepared for thier parents. Mine all preferred protein foods young as well. One of their favorites was a chicken leg with all the splinters carefully removed and just a few tiny peices of meat left on it. Then they could gum, suck and chew on it to get a little flavor, some teething and participation in the adult meal. Also mine preferred sucking a little bit of food off the tip of either mine or my husband's clean finger over a spoon at first.

H.

Liking food takes time. Your little girl may not like the mushy stuff. Have you tried the Gerber Fruit or veggie Puffs or Cheerios or Kix yet? When my oldest daughter was learning to eat solids, she hated the mushy baby food. She likes the Gerbers puffs. She'd play around with it in her mouth and eat it. Quickly she went to Cheerios and Kix. Another food to try is the Baby Mum Mums. You can find it at Walmart or Sams Club. They are under $2.00. They are made out of rice so it dissolves very easily. One of my friends tried it on her little girl who didn't like food either. It was one of the few foods her little girl would eat. Good luck!

Try the gerber baby food. Some babies need to take it gradually. Do the stage 1 foods first, they have the least amount of texture. My daughter hates the carrots and string beas. She should love the stage 1 foods like the applesauce or banana's. We also give my daughter the single grain oatmeal with banana's. If you trying to give rice cereal or baby oatmeal, use formula or breast milk to make it. Do the baby food thing first, then try to introduce the table food. Again, some babies need to start gradually and there will be a lot of food she doesn't like. My 3 year old son is so picky!! It doesn't end as a baby. He went through a phase where he would only eat mac-n-cheese! Take your time, keep trying and start small with the stage 1.

Both of my kids waited until close to a year to actually start liking foods. Then they really got into it, but I had to find what they really liked. They both loved yogurt. My son loved beans and my daughter (who is 15 months) will eat soup all day long, but will not eat fruit or any other solid foods, but she'll eat soup even if its full of veggies, grains, etc. I will cook some veggies (carrots, celery, potato, green beans, onion, garlic) in a broth with some lentils(something soft that fall apart , like orange ones) then I blend the whole thing at the end and she LOVES it. She also loves chicken noodle, chicken and rice, butternut squash; really anything that is soup. But again, she won't eat anything else still, so this is how we start to develop her taste buds and get her interested in food. My son was the same way; a slow start, but he's 7 now and eats a very well rounded healthy diet.
So, try to find what she likes by offering her all kinds of things (my daughter loves olives) and eventually you'll find something and that opens the door to other things. If you read breastfeeding advice they say babies can live on just breastmilk until 1 year old.

Keep encouraging her to taste stuff. When she's ready, she'll eat.
my 19-month old got a little interested in food about 7 months--but not baby food, for the most part. She's had maybe a half dozen jars of that in her life, and no baby cereal, as all it really has a carbs & not a lot of actual nutrition. She wanted what Mama & Daddy were eating! And now, at 19 months, she eats pretty much anything, from (not real strong) curry to cabbage.

I think 7 1/2 months is very early. My boys are 18 months old and they still prefer mushed foods, and would refuse things that are chunky, especially when teething. I suppose it soothes them to eat mushed foods, although they like crunchy baby cereal, teething cookies, other finger foods. But feeding is not easy. At 18 months they still rely heavily on milk, and at 7 1/2 they did not even start the solids yet. Give it some time. Also, I agree with the mom who said that our timelines do not match our babies developmental milestones sometimes.

We have the same problem with our baby girl, and the pediatrician just said to keep on trying. Food is really just an experiment at this stage anyway, and they get most of their nutrition from milk. Though my son took to food more quickly, I learned that they have days where they like certain things more than others. Have patience!

You may want to try a more mild fruit like avocado. Mash it up and maybe even put a bit of your breastmilk in it so that there is a familiar taste. The babanas should be fine smashed up. To cut the sweetness try adding some silky tofu to it then mix well to make a smooth texture.
To get her the fruits and vegies she will need later try to make smoothies with whatever fruit on or vegies and add the tofu to make a more mild taste.

Another trick to slowly inroduce these foods to her is to choose one and offer it to her every day for a week. Even if she does not seem to like it. Just have her take at least one bite then put it away for later. Eventually she will except it. If not earlier by the 12th attempt she surly except as it then becomes a familiar flavor.
Good Luck!

C.,

My daughter Magnolia had the same response to food when we first started trying. SO I just took a break from the "solids" for about 2 weeks and tried again. When I re-started I gave her sweet potatoes first and she loved them. I also found that even though all the baby foods seems like the exact same thing, they did taste different. My daughter only liked the "earth's best" organic baby food--we figured this out the hard way.

All babies go through the "what are you putting in my mouth phase"--which can be viewed as "I hate all foods, just give me my bottle..."--but really they just have to learn to eat a whole different way and its strange for them. I found that when magnolia was ready for food she ate, and now at 1 year old, I can't feed her enough.

My daughter also HATED with a passion the rice cereal. To this day, if I try to mask it in something else, she gives me this look like "you've got to be kidding!". So when I was making my own oatmeal with raisins in the morning, I would just give her teeny tiny bites of it--I even attempted to mash it up a little more. But its so soft when its cooked. She could see that it was coming from my bowl of food--which is always an enticement for her. Maybe this could work for you?

in general I have found that everytime I get all worried that my daughter isn't doing some "milestone" or thing that other kids are doing already--I find that if I just give her a week or a month, it happens on her own time.
here she is 13 months and she still think a sippy cup is something you turn upside down and suck on!! but she'll get it!
Anyway, feel free to write back if you have any more questions! She may sense your "impatience" with her eating and that works against you too. AT 7.5 months, your daughter is still really young!
good luck!
-K. L

p.s. I just remembered that the teacher at my mom's group advised me to try plain cheerios with my Daughter at 7 months. and it was what jumpstarted the whole "solids" program. Every day I would put 2-3 cheerios on her high chair tray at a time and she would concentrate on trying to pick them up. Most of them fell in her lap. So I would help her out every once in a while. But once I put one in her mouth--she was intrigued by this new food. And then in about 4-5 days she started to get a cheerio in her own mouth once in awhile. Good luck

Hi C.,
My now 17 month old daughter did the exact same thing, spitting out all food (except the occasional cheerio or cracker) and acting like we were poisoning her from age 6-10 months. She only wanted to nurse. We were worried first time parents, but out pediatrician said not to worry. She just recommended that we give her Vitamin D/Iron drops (since she refused whole milk as well) and b/c most breastfeeding moms run out of their iron stores by 6 months postpartum. At about 10 moths, two things happened: she got her first teeth AND she developed a voracious appetite for real food. However, she has never been partial to soft/pureed food, vastly preferring finger food that she can feed herself. If it comforts you at all, now she eats everything from broccoli to tofu to spicy Indian food to whole milk. I have heard that this solid food refusal is more common in exclusively breastfed infants and also in infants who get their 1st teeth late.
Anyway, bottom line is: don't sweat it. She'll eat when she's ready. One final thought: my daughter is a very social eater and really started eating one day when we had other people over for dinner and it was like a party that she was invited to. To this day, she eats so much more/better when it is a social scene. Try meals together, or at least eating with her/offering her food that YOU are eating.
Good luck!
K.

My Older daughter was the same way. A friend suggested baby food peaches - they are super smooth and my daughter liked them. I added a little rice cerial and tried to keep everything very thin and smooth to start and gradually added other flavours and textures. By a year she was still eating a limited diet but nursing so I didn't worry

Try taking it slowly. Start with only rice cereal, quite diluted, and let her get used to that. Then mix it with some apple sauce or pear puree and let her get used to that. Then start adding things in order of flavour, from least to most. Good luck!

C.,

It takes babies at least 12 times to decide if they like a food or not. I would pick one food that you are going to introduce and try it for a week or so. That way you can also rule out any potential allergies. Good luck!

Molly

Oh man, I cant imagine what youre going through. Mine Love food (a little too much). Try a temperature change. Freeze a non-chokable size fruit or a wheat bagel. If not, try heating up some oatmeal or some salt free soup. Just ideas - Best of luck...

My good eaters do NOT like fruit other than banana. I guess apple and pear are just too acidic. They started that at 4 months old and cereal too. I started with rice cereal, very thin, in a fast flow bottle at 3 1/2 months, but the doc said not to do that.

My daughter did not accept any real food until she was closer to 9 months old and then it was only little tastes (nothing substantial) . I was breastfeeding her then and that was her main source of nutrition. Don't worry about it. Keep offering and one day she will take something. We almost skipped the whole blended stage and went straight on to mashed or more chewy foods.

Remeber - kids know how much they want and what they want. If you offer a range of healthy foods, one day she will decide she wants to try it and that she will eat.

Good Luck.
K.