7 Month Old and Baby Food

My son started eating the cereal when I started mixing it with applesauce. Before that, he just spit it out. Hope it helps!

My daughter is 1 yr old and still will not eat anything from a jar. She will however eat anything that we make. You make want to try serving a sweet potato or squash that you steam/bake and process. Hang in there!

A.,

I was also nursing when we started baby food. Breast milk tastes better than formula and tastes different every day. My daughter also did not like baby food or rice cereal. I wondered if my daughter refused rice and oatmeal cereal because they were so bland compared to breastmilk.

Eventually, she came around to oatmeal cereal. I would give it a break for a few days, then try again. I tried her baby food one day and I thought it tasted gross. I could not imagine she thought it was very good either. Try pureeing your own baby food, or table food, and keeping it in the freezer. This website is amazing with recipes and tips: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. I would lightly steam, then puree veggies and freeze them in ice trays. Then, I would transfer the cubes to a freezer bag. This website tells you which foods do well in the freezer and which do not. I did apples, pears, plums, peas, carrots, mixed veggies (the frozen bag kind), corn, and sweet potatoes. Once I got her to accept two flavors or so, I would even mix and match (she did not like carrots, so I mixed them with peas or sweet potatoes and she would eat that).

Also, if it's in your budget, get a Magic Bullet blender. You could put your dinner food in there as well. If you are serving meat that night, reserve some cooked meat prior to seasoning and blend it in the Magic Bullet. It cleans more easily than a traditional blender.

I hope this helps!
`Amy

Try some finger foods. My daughter is 11 months and hated baby food always. I started her on finger food when she was 6-7 months old and she loves it. Try mashed potatoes, gerber graduates, avacado, etc. She how she does.

my girls at very little baby food once they were old enough to eat finger food that is all they wanted. I would try the puffs (mine really liked the sweet potatoe) they disolve in her mouth. It takes a while for the babies to figure out the whole gumming/eating thing. Then i would give her cherios. Green beans and cheese were also a favorite.

I nursed and my son never took a bottle or pacifier EVER...I never even offered cereal until he was already eating other foods. I did not really do baby foods much until he was at least probably 9 months. I did as the previous responders did...gave table food like avocados and bananas and stuff right off the bat before 6 months. It worked for us...but good luck. My son is now in a stage where he is refusing stuff and it is frustrating! Best wishes.

That is really not that unusual for exclusively breastfed babies, breastmilk really should be her main source of nutrition for her first year of life anyway. I wouldn't worry about it. :-)

You can also look in to "baby led weaning" as a method of introducing table foods to him.

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/blw/engels...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby-led_weaning

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyledweaning.htm

My kids had no interest in food either, all were exclusively breastfed and all were at healthy weight. I had one pediatrician who said I HAD to get my son to eat solids at 4 months, another said that there were no worries until closer to 9 months. So I held off until the 9 month time frame and it seemed to work. My oldest, who would spit everything out before, took to it fine. I would still breastfeed him nearly all day, with just breakfast as his solid food. He always needed to have a spoon in his own hand while I fed him. Maybe he needed to feel involved or maybe it was enough of a distraction that I could get food in his mouth. By 11 or so months he decided that he didn't want to eat jarred baby foods and wanted to feed himself. I would make him fresh foods that were mushy, but held their shape and let him feed himself. He was much, much happier. He's 7 years old now and is still in the 90th percentile for height and weight. Good luck.

Try feeding her food from your table. You would just puree it with some breast milk or formula. I know that my daughter refused baby food, but she ate food off the table right up. She didn't like the texture of baby food, and she liked the food to have a little bit of spice instead of being so bland.

I would just give it a break. She is completley fine being exclusively breastfed for now. She will probably start showing more interest as she gets more teeth & the closer she gets to 1yr. A lot of moms don't even START solids until 9months now days. Here is a cool website for nursing moms you might want to check out. www.kellymom.com

If you are set on getting her to eat solids now, you can try a few things. Give her things with more texture, not smooth puree. Try making fresh baby food. Let her feed herself.

Good luck!

Mix the cereal with your breast milk and she'll probably go for it. We even added breast milk to other baby foods at first as this caused our babies to start the path to solid foods.

Hey A.,
I am a mother of 3 wonerful little girls. I had that problem as well but, the problem ws just the formaul. DO you think that the formula is not the right knid for you baby. I know you siad that you want to breast feed. That is the best thing that you can do for your baby. I coudln't do that for my baby but, Im happy that you can do it for your baby.
I was going to say you could try putting rice cereal in the bottle but, you said that you were breast feeding. I know know if this will work. When you are out do you bottle feed her? If so, try to put some rice cereal in the bottle she may like it better that way. I hope this is helpful for you... Have you talked your peditrican? Did he/she suggest anything?

My b/f kids have never liked the baby oatmeal or cereal. I tried everything as well, and it ended up that I just wasted money buying it in the first place.
They haven't liked jarred baby food, either, and I just bought a food mill with #2 and ground everything I ate before I added salt, etc. He liked that MUCH better.
I also found that vienna sausages and several other things were healthier if you *didn't* buy the Gerber brand, my kids liked them better, and it was cheaper.
I wouldn't stress over your baby not liking the cereal. If you think about it, your breastmilk is flavored according to what you eat. Packaged baby food could be considerably more bland in comparison.
Just some things to think about. And Good luck!! :D

I would just give it a break for a bit or try making your own baby foods (which is really easy btw). We delayed solids until 6 months due to food allergies, hay fever, excema, etc in the family history. My son wasn't interested until closer to 8 months. He eats like a champ. I should also mention that he's in the 97th percentile as well so I understand the large child thing. ;)

Another thing to consider is, you dd, like my son, has been breast fed. they have been exposed to a variety of different flavors unlike an exclusively formula fed baby has. Baby food is simply gross imo. I mean, would you want to eat it? Chances are no. My son hated the bland stuff. You might consider foregoing the jars and just making your own. Sweet potato is really easy (cook, mash, take out strings and you're done). Many fruits you can just mash with a fork as well. Check out the book -- Super Baby Foods. There are a lot of web sites as well.

At this point, I don't think it's anything to worry too much about. She could either not really be ready (and therefore interested) or she just doesn't like what you're feeding her. Some babies skip baby food altogether and go to table foods. Another thing to keep in mind is that food the first year is just an experiment. She should be getting the vast majority of her nutrition from you. Breast milk has all the nutrition she needs and, ounce for ounce, is more nutritious. Good luck!

same story, same song all the way around with my son.
He just hates the cereal I think. I stopped doing the cereal and switched to fruits and veggies only. He literally started eating it good at about 7.5 - 8 months. At 9 months, we moved to solid foods. He has been doing pretty good since then.
Good luck.
Now, I am trying to tackle the sippy cup to no avail.

I don't have an answer for you as my baby is only 11 weeks...but my mom told me I refused all baby food, etc and went straight to table food. Not sure at what age but I know I was breastfed for 22 mos. Maybe it's a texture thing?

A.,

My daughter was exclusively breastfed and had no interest in solids until about 9 months. She was well nourished and there were no feeding issues once she started, despite my pediatricians absolute shock and horror at this plan and her admonitions that we would likely have to enroll her in a school for feeding disorders. Absolutely CRAZY!

Just eat in front of her, offer it, and when she is interested, she has hands! She will reach for your food.

You might also want to stay as far away as possible from negative naysayers determined to intimidate you into thinking your baby is grossly abnormal.

Good luck!

Puree your table food that you and your family eat. It tastes a whole lot better than the jar food. That is how I fed both of my babies. You would be suprised. Good Luck :-)

I wouldn't worry to much unless you are just tired of exclusive BF. 7 months is still on the edge of a bit young as we usually dont reccomend starting solids until at least 6.

You might try making your own baby foods. I alwasy start with avacados and they seem to like those. I just steam veggies and some fruits to a soft onsistancy and then either mash or grind in a baby food mill for first foods.

If she doesnt like it still..I would just wait a while!I have had some that ate early and some that did not.

K.
Mom to 4 ...due with #5 in 8 days
Lamaze certified childbirth educator
Birth Doula
Midwives assistant

A.,

I have an 8 1/2 month old and we have always made her baby food which is super easy. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then take out whatever we need for her meal. I have given her regular baby food from a jar a few times when I needed the convenience and she never really seems to enjoy it at all. We have now gotten to the point where Izabelle eats basically whatever we are eating without any problems at all. You might try making some of your own and see how that works for her.

Good Luck,
Kim

Since you're a SAHM, and she's not suffering, weight wise, I wouldn't worry about her starting solids yet. Some babies just aren't ready as early as others. I would think if you force it on her, she'll be less likely to want it and you all could suffer later on. Maybe wait until she is showing more signs of being interested in solids and then try it again. For example, if she shows interest in something you are eating and whines for it. My sisters little girl didn't show interest in solids until she was 10 months old! Good luck.

Have you tried letting her feed herself. My oldest was a very independent soul. He refused food until I let him do it himself.