7 Month Old Not Wanting to Eat Solids

My son wasn't very interested at 8-9 months, when I started. I just kept offering him things once in a while, putting them in front of him--sometimes he would just play with the food, but eventually he started eating, at maybe 10 months. He just wasn't ready yet.

Just keep offering him things to eat. My third child did the same thing. I kept offering him cereal and jars of food and such. Finally, at 7 months, my husband gave him a cheerio. He loved it. We gave him more, and he ate them and was excited about it. We bought some puffs from the baby section of the store. That was his segway to eating the jars of baby food, which he now eats, as well.

I wish I had a great suggestion... but if it makes you feel any better, my 3rd son was the same way. In fact he didn't really start eating solids until after he was 1 year old. For that reason I kept him on formula until he did start eating solids just for the nutrition of the formula.
He is 4 now... and is a great eater and very healthy! Hang in there!!

I have 3 daughters and a son. When my eldest daughter was a baby all she wanted to eat was green beans, I also worried and my doctor told me to just let her eat the green beans the other foods she would try later. She's now almost 15 years old and she eat very well and guess what she loves veggies, fruit and all the health stuff. We only eat humburger and hotdogs because my husband and I like it. Oh and my other kids never liked baby food, I think it was because I breast fed them. I ended up feeding them table food.

C.,

I would first check with the child's pediatrician.

Now just let me ask, what solids are you trying to give him? My babies were eating solids sometime around 4 or 5 months, but it was basically mashed potatoes w/gravy. They eventually graduated once they got teeth, around 7 or 8 months. We started giving them rice w/gravy, vienna sausage, green beans, mac -n- cheese. They were semi-able to chew as opposed to suck and swallow. I did, however, chew the food first and fed it to them...anything that was soft or foods I could chew up real fine, so that they wouldn't choke.

I'm old skool and my mother and grandmother always believed in getting their tummys full and not waiting till they are almost grown before introducing them to regular foods. I just don't believe you should keep a child on milk and not give them, or at least try to give them, any regular food until they're 12 months. Hell, by that time they are half grown :), crawling, walking and trying to feed themselves.

Just try some different solids, maybe, and if he doesn't eat it, give him the baby cereal with more milk. Are you adding milk to the rice cerel? Try adding more milk. Try different jar foods, too. Don't keep trying the same ones. Babies are very intelligent beings.

I didn't have any problems with mine eating solids, but every child is different and when it came to eating, all mine were the same...they were ready for solids.

I did not start feeding cereal to my kids until they were about 9 months old. There was no need for it. I did start with a little in their bottle of milk. I cut the hole a little larger to let it through-it was more milk than cereal. I did that for about a week, only for the breakfast and dinner bottle, then slowly started real cereal. I think they were accustomed to the texture of the cereal better and it was easier. I did not start jar food until a few weeks later and then only one at a time to see if there wee any allegies to the foods. I gave them about 3-4 days each. Hope this helps.

I know this may sound lame, but just be patient. My son is 11 months old and only started eating solids withing the last two months. He was a premiee (5 wks early) but you would never know looking at him. I started trying to feed him solids at 4 months like I had with my other children. He showed no interest and it concerned me at first. I chalked it up to being premature and just gave it some time. When he still wasn't taking to solids well at 6 months i was really worried. It wasn't just that he didn't seem interested, I was worried because he didn't seem to have the correct techniques for eating. I thought he may be delayed or something worse. We continued to try a variety of foods and textures. My ped said that he was fine as long as he continued to gain weight (which he was doing with now problem, was actually very big for his age). Finally at around 9 months he just started eating with passion. The only problem he was having was some swallowing. He is good now and actually doesn't like baby food anymore. This may not help but just stick with it and give him (and yourself) some time.

He's still very young....some babies just aren't ready at that age.
L.

I have 7 kids ages 1-35 and 6 grandkis ages 4-11 and they all eat their veges and don't really care for sweets. I started them all on table food at around 5-6 months. I never used baby food - it tastes nasty and has to many preservatives in it. I also did NOT start them on fruit b/c they are to sweet and baby developes a serious sweet tooth.

I started them out on green beans. But some fresh organic green beans and steam them with a tiny bit of water. Put them thru your good processor and freeze in ice cube trays. After they are frozen, pop them into freezer zip lock bags for storage; store in freezer.

Introduce a new vege each week. Carrots, then potatos are the order I choose. They will normally spit them out for a few days b/c it is new. But then they will accept them and learn to like them. My kids, even the grown ones, still eat their green veges first and will fight over spinach, turnips, greens of any kind.

Healthy eating habits are learned and now is the time to start teaching them. They will only know what you teach them. Good luck.

I have had the same problem with our 9 month old baby girl. Her tongue reflex came a little late. She didn't start eating solids until she was 8 months old. She just turned 9 months and I have seen an enormous improvement in the last 4 weeks. Although, she's still not crazy about eating. She just picked it up (literally from one day to the next). Keep trying but don't stress about it. I've heard about babies not perfecting that relex until they are 12 months old!!! However, if you are nursing, talk to your doctor about possibly needing iron supplements. I nurse exclusively and she wasn't getting iron from cereal.

Call Early Childhood Intervention. They have occupational therapist that come to your home and help teach the babies to eat. If he is having sensory issues with food the sooner you get him past them the better.

here is a link
http://www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/index.shtml

He's not ready. My 7.5 month old DD doesn't eat either. I've been trying for over 2 months. I've tried, rice, bananas, avacodos, applesauce, pears, apple blueberry, peas, and sweet potato.

Anything that comes toward her on a spoon gets knocked away, refused, tight lipped, etc... If I get it in her mouth she gags, spits, or drools it out.

What I've discovered is she wants to feed herself. I had grand ideas of making my own babyfood. I went out an bought a food processor, and she is going to completely skip purees all together and go straight to finger foods.

Just remember that solid food for a baby is not necessary. I know that everyone on the planet is on your case about your baby not eating yet. But until they are 12 months old their main source of food/nutrition should be breastmilk or formula. Food at this age is just something to play with and experiment with.

So my baby is working on her pincher grasp with Cheerios (she loves) and Gerber baby carrots, and Gerber puffs, etc.. Anything she can pick up herself she'll try. Except banana, odd, none of my babies ever liked banana.

Anyway, be patient and just try to offer baby friendly finger foods. Good luck.

I can understand how u feel, I went thru this as well. I would also keep offering solids and when he is ready, he will start eating. Let his doc know, the doc will monitor and let u know if there is a problem. My daughter was a picky and small eater as a baby and toddler. She was also very thin. The doc recommended adding cereal to milk, supplemental drinks, etc. He finally said to just relax, she is healthy. Today, she eats very well and healthy (she is a tween). Hope my story helps.

My son is/was the same way. He is 9 months now and just starting to eat jarred food. I think I was trying to give him food that was too thick/chunky and too big of bites. I no longer add rice cereal to the baby food to thicken it and do very tiny bites. My son loves to try to drink water from a big boy cup, so I give him that first and sneak bites in between attempts to drink. He seems to like that but there does seem to be a pretty steep learning curve. Just keep trying. Mine also preffers ground people food to baby food, I just use a lot of liquid.

My little girl didn't start solids "on time" either. She finally started at around 7.5-8 months. What finally interested her was feeding herself. (She's very spirited, even now.) We got something called an infant feeder. It had a handle she could easily grasp and a mesh compartment for food. I'd mix cereal up so it was thick and she'd just kind of suck it through the mesh.

I think, for her, having control was important. Once she was used to the idea, we could feed her normally.

Just remember, he will eat eventually. And don't get stressed out by all the people who tell you their kids ate a whole banana at four months old. Every one is different.

My son wasn't too excited about solids until he was about 10.5 months old. I just kept trying... cheerios and "veggie booty" were the two foods that he fell in love with.

Don't worry. It's totally normal! If your little one is getting breast milk or formula, s/he's getting all of the nutrients s/he needs. The solids are just for practice...

One thing I'm realizing is that, for the most part, it's unnecessary to get worked up over things like this (or walking, or catching a cold, or speaking). Most likely, he'll be eating in no time! He'll let you know when he's ready, probably by pointing at your food and grunting. :o)

Good luck!

We had same problem with our daughter. But you did not say if she has ever eaten these foods or not at all. Our problem was she has really bad food allegies we were not aware of, therefore, she her stomack hurt after eating and we just was not picking up on that. She would even go 3 days without eating or drinking, because she was relating eating with pain. Thank goodness we found out the problem and the allergy doctor gave her a series of food shots and it made a world of difference. The Food shots really did save her life.

But it could just be the texture of the food she is not used to. Just keep trying to feed her everyday and one day she should take to eat. I professional told me once it may take up to 10-12 times of trying to get a child to eat new food until they will eat it.

Yes. All babies are different. Don't force the issue.

Keep encouraging the little one to eat. As long as he is getting enough milk he should be okay. Have you tried funny faces, airplanes, and sitting him away from any distractions?

If he is spitting it out or spiting it up, then he is not ready and should not be fed baby food yet. It is a reflex that tells you he is not ready. If he is just nt interested, then keep trying with different foods. Feed only one food at a time for 4days. Then try the next. This gets him used to it and will make it easier to rule out the foods that he might be allergic to and those that just don't agree with him. Good luck.

Hi C.,
maybe it's to thick try to start again with ceral only ,,but dont make it as thick ,,then after a bit move on to another food only add 1 new food per 7 -10 days to make sure they dont have allergies to it
good luck L.

I had that same problem with my daughter whom is now 23 months, she just had no interest in solid foods. I brought this up to her doctor and he said that it was ok as long as she was getting enough milk, some children just don't want to eat when little like that. Now that she is almost 2 years she is a VERY picky eater, wont eat any kind of beef (unless it is in the form of a hot dog :)lol)but she LOVES fruit. As long as your baby is gaining weight I wouldn't be all that concerned about it, eventually they will start eating. It may also be that they don't like the baby food, you may want to try some soft table food, that was one of my problems with my little one!! Good Luck!!

You've recieved a lot of great feedback so far but here is my 2 cents.

I had the same problem with my son. I tried to introduce solids at about 5 mos, he didn't want it. I tried again at 6, 7, 8 mos etc. It wasn't until 8-9 mos that my son actually was ready for solids, cereal baby food etc.

My pediatrician advised me that it's perfectly normal for a baby ot not be ready to eat solids and since I breastfed she strongly reccomended breatmilk only until 6 mos. So as long as he is having normal diaper changes and not losing weight, it is perfectly fine to continue breastmilk or formual even until 11-12 mos. I wouldn't worry until then.

Just give him some time and try again. When he is ready he will eat solids!

I, too, have a baby who would not eat any baby food (homemade or store bought). we tried every week or so. finally at 7.5-8 months he was ready to eat only chopped up table food. also spirited. he wanted to feed himself. it was a challenge finding things i could chop small enough since he did not like spoon fed stuff. but as his teeth came in he could eat more and more. people seemed worried but i am confident he was fine. many people start solids way sooner than is necessary./

My third child, who is now 17 months, would not eat solids his entire first year. He totally passed by the baby food stage. His pediatrician told me not to worry as he was growing very well. I would always offer food to him and he gradually started eating more and more. He wanted to feed himself and that seemed to be part of the issue. He now eats pretty much anything except eggs (he's allergic to them), even most veggies. He's above the 75th percentile in all areas so I think that the doctor was right. They do fine as long as they are getting the milk they need and continue to grow properly. Good luck!!! I don't think you have anything to worry about. : )

Try homemmade. Get fresh fruit and veggies (organic is best). cut it steam it and mash it. It taste much better.
You dont have to give rice. it is just for iron. Which at 7m your baby should still be on breastmilk/ formula for iron so ceral isnt really needed.

My son didnt start solids until 10m. He was exclusivly breastfed until then. Serveral Drs and a nutritionist assured me that it is fine b/c solide before a year are soley for practice. A baby under a year is getting the nutrients from bm/ formula..

So my advice,,, Dont do jared baby food. Do homemade and keep offering it. You can puree it in a blender and freeze it in ice trays. very simple.

Good Luck

This baby may not be ready yet. You can try mixing some of the banana with the rice et. This may work.

C. - he's not ready. Many, many, many people do not even consider giving a baby solids before 8 months (myself included). I know this is not "mainstream" but research is backing up the fact that human babies are started on solid foods way too soon. I have five children. My last child was strictly breastfed until 10 months. One of my children was fed babyfood sweet potatoes at 5 months (Ok - I gave in at the urgings of a friend!) and guess what? She is 6-years-old and very allergic to sweet potatoes (as in projectile vomitting). Don't be in a hurry! Introduce, and if he isn't ready, then back off for awhile. He will not grow up to be an adult man on a liquid diet because he never learned how to deal with solid food. I promise! :)
Good Luck!
C.

I wouldn't worry because he's still young. You should know him better than anyone, though, and if you're concerned then look at his wt gain history, how much he's eating, behavior habits. Have you given him fresh mashed food? NOT jarred. They taste different. I had babies who detested rice but loved boxed baby oatmeal. I started 3 of my kids on fresh bananas (I mashed as I fed them) no earlier than 7 months, and added grains after that. For kicks I tried the jarred bananas and all my kids thought they were disgusting, including me. The jarred swt pot were good enough, but the taste of fresh really is superior.

Hes only 7 months old, I really don't think he should be eating anything at this stage unless he doesn't seem satisified. Start with just rice cereal then maybe small amounts of pureed fruits in it, no solids, only puree baby foods should be introduced. Also remember when introducing new foods to do so 1 at a time incase of allergies. Don't rush it, hes only 7 months. Always talk with your pediatrician before changing your babys diet especially if your a first time mother. In my own experiences, mother of 2 and 2-steps and a grandmother of soon to be 9, my Family Dr. wanted me to wait till my Daughter was 12 months old before giving even rice cereal. Of course I think she was about 8 months when I started cereal then a month later fruits. Most mothers start the cereal when we see that formula is not satisfying their hunger.

TIP: leave him on formula untill at least a year old before giving regular milk.

I noticed a difference in sickness' and colds in my 2 children when I started my son on regular milk at 8 months old versus my daughter at a yr. old. Whether that was the reason or not I don't know a 100%.

So relax and don't rush it. See your Dr. regularly and be patient. He'll grow up faster than you think. Good luck!

I had this exact same situation with my daughter who is now five years old. She refused any kind of cereal or baby food. Since all infants need their first year is breastmilk or formula, I quit trying. At around 10 months, she grabbed a piece of fried okra (of all things!) from my husands plate and ate it. I was afraid she would choke. But anyway, since that day, she has eaten with gusto. She just went straight to table foods, skipping the baby food stage.

I think a lot of it had to do with her wanting to be in control of what went into her mouth. She had a lengthy NICU stay that included intubation, so my Pedi figured she had some oral aversion due to that.

I wouldn't sweat it if I were you. He will get plenty from the breast or bottle and will accept baby food eventually or go straight to table foods. Good luck!