7 Month Won't Eat Food

I had a similar problem where my son (he"s my third) would start screaming as soon as i would put him in the high chair. It took me two months of tears but he's finally eating. A friend suggested letting him sit in the chair and play with the spoon, gum it suck on it. After a week of that i introduced foods again and he happily ate. I think he was afraid of the spoon. Its worth a shot.
-J.

I wouldn't be upset...he is getting full nutrition from you. From your breast milk. He doesn't need food. It will come when he's ready. Some kids are trying out foods at his age but you are doing a good job by breastfeeding him. Don't be so upset about it. Just be patient and keep offering it and one day he'll just pick it up and try it.

My youngest didn't particularly care for baby food, but we figured out that it had more to do with the spoon than with the food itself. We used a baby medicine syringe to suck up the food, then we just squirted some into the side of his mouth. Once he was used to that, we were able to switch to a spoon.

I say "we", but I should say "my husband." He's a genius!

My suggestion is to stop worrying about it and stop trying for now. He is a little young anyway. For the first 12 months his main source of nutrition needs to be the breast milk. They don't really need food at this age - some babies haven't even developed the digestive track enough to process the nutrients out of these foods at that age. Put your focus on the nursing and wait on the food. I started my son on homemade baby food at 7 mths but he was ready and even then I went slow. However my daughter wouldn't eat ANY food until 10mths. She only wanted to nurse - and she was NOT underweight but very healthy. So my advice is to not put so much pressure on him to start eating so soon. Some babies even skip baby food altogether and go straight from nursing to table food between 12 and 18 mths - and that's ok!

Our son, who is now 2.5 years old, never ate baby food. We gave him the same food we were eating. For instance, if we ate mashed potatoes, guacamole (or any mashed or chopped avocado), steamed veggies, rice, peas, steamed greens, carrot-raisin salad, etc., he ate that, too. I think they are curious about what they see other people eating. I tried a couple of times to give him jarred baby food as a convenience for me, but he didn't like it, which was just as well because I don't think babies really need to eat "baby food." Our son breast fed for over a year. The transition to solid food takes a while. As you know from your other child, you try introducing one new food at a time. Offer it on several occasions. As long as his growth and energy are normal, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just keep trying different foods.

Don't stress over this, he doesn't need food. He can get all of the nourishment that he needs from the breastmilk. Food will not give him any additional nutrition, it's just to experiment with during the 6 to 12 month period. Continue to offer but don't force it because there is no need.

Try mixing baby apple juice in the oatmeal baby food he will taste the sweetness and hopefully want to eat it.

As a mom of 3 I tried to do everything by the book.Well it doesn't work that way my daughter never liked baby foods cereal or anything with a baby on it she is exclusively breastfeed from the moment she was born tried bottles of breastmilk nothing.At her 4 month well visit her ped. asked when I was ready to try foods including cereal I said I like to wait till 51/2 months I waited till then & had a great time the 1st few attempts after that it was down hill from there so needless to say she was breastfeed at all meals & snacks Then @ 6 months well visit her ped said it is fine to not give her all
baby foods so I didn't I cooked canned veggies mashed them,potatoes,Cheerios,Kix,Gerber puffs,applesauce pudding cups,finely chopped apples without the skin,oranges,canned fruits mashed etc. since the change she is a Happy Eater I intorduced juices to her she refuses them off & on.Basically what you fix to eat for dinner baby can eat too.I'm sure you know the foods to avoid

My son was the exact same way. I tried everything...including all the ideas listed here. Nothing...NOTHING...worked. The dr said it was his body's way of saying he was getting the nutrition he needed. ( I breast fed, too.) He's now 9.5 months, still nursing, and eating everything in sight. He loves anything he can eat himself. And does a tremendous job. I wish I hadn't wasted all those weeks stressed about getting him to eat. He is so happy & healthy. Just relax and it'll all work out.

My daughter didn't really take to baby food until 6m. Then it was only when Grandma would feed it to her. For me, it was probably closer to 7m before we really got things down. Then she went straight through the baby foods to stage 3 foods and finger foods. She prefered foods that had texture and crunch.

For cereal, have you tried just one type or many? My daughter loved the rice cereal, but wouldn't touch the oatmeal!

When you sit him down to eat, is he at the table alone or with the family? My kids always ate better if there were people around the table.

Something to try is to make baby food popsicles. Place the baby food into ice cube trays, and place a stick in the middle. Freeze. Then when its time to feed, just pop out a few cubes. Baby then naws on the cube.

Another suggestion is to offer him low-salt crackers or toast. Not burnt, but stiff.
M.