7.5 Month Old Refuses to Eat

Hi T.,
My son was exactly the same way. He hated baby food and refused to eat it, which I can't really blame him as that stuff doesn't taste so great. :) I made my own baby food. I basically made table food and then ground it up with a Black and Dekker salsa maker until it was pureed. He loved it. As he got older and could handle thicker consistencies, we just pureed it less. I would make big pots of food for him, grind it, and freeze it in portions so that we always had some on hand. Some of the things I made were- chicken and sweet potatoes, chicken pot pie (without the crust), chicken and noodles with zucchini and/or squash, beef with rice and/or sweet potatoes, veggies and noodles, etc.
Good luck! Sounds like you have a picky eater on your hands. I know I still do! :)

Out of the 3 kids I have had only 1 of them refused to eat baby food. Have you tasted the stuff? I just came to the conclusion after giving my little girl real food, she did not want to eat the nasty stuff. My doctor told me that as long as there were no tummy aches, she was pooping right, and she was gaining weight she was good. I dont think I would give him anything too acidy. I fed my daughter pudding, applesauce, peaches, yogurt, chicken noodle soup minus the chicken chunks, spaghetti, mashed potatoes. Just about anything that could be cut up or smashed into little pieces. My daughter is now 5 and she is my best eater. She loves salads and fruits. She will try anything before saying she doesnt like it. In fact at preschool she was the only child to try all the new fruits like mangos, raspberries, and papaya. Your child will be fine.

My younger brother refused to eat baby food. He hated it. My mom used to take our dinner and puree it to the consistency of baby food for him. Have you tasted the baby food? I think most of it tastes nasty. My children loved plain yogurt at that age. Feed him anything that he will eat. Make sure the pieces are not a choking hazzard. Take it slowly and add one new food at a time so that you know if he has any food allergies.

Hi T.,
This is a day late reading your letter, but, maybe I can tell you what I did when my daughter was your son's age. I gave her whatever we ate. Carrots,peas,potatoes,sweet potatoes,even sometimes the turkey or chicken or even meat loaf (in blender) that we had for dinner. I had read that the vitamin contents of baby food was more bulk than anything else. That was over 35 years ago. Since then, I have had the pleasure of grandchildren. My daughter had the same problem as you with her first and I told her what I had done. I had read once, way back when, that a baby will eat what their bodies need. If pudding, greenbeans, or whatever was put on the high chair tray, they would go toward the food their body needed. I've seen my own grandchildren grab tiny bits of tomatoe, cucumbers, or carrots before reaching for sweets. Anyway, I blended everything we ate. My daughter was only 3 months old when I gave her some portions of our Thanksgiving dinner. (in the blender) Blended sweetpotato,turkey. I fed her cereal the first day home from the hospital. It's normal for them to be picky and especially spit out some foods, it then becomes just fun for them, not so much for mom's that have to clean up the sprayed food! Good luck and have fun.

T.,
My little boy would not eat in his high chair ....so what I did was get him a buster seat that can tie to the chair and then I did not put the tray on when feeding. I changed the way that I interacted with him during eating time. We made eating a fun thing...eat what he is eating....or something that looks like what he is eating. Sing, dance, make him feel like it is the best thing in the world to do. I did that for about a week and now he has the tray on the high chair and laughs and start to sing when I say it's time to eat Lelan!!
Hope it helps!

Pretty much all my kids eat table food- I've never bought a jar of baby food! We start with mashed banana, oatmeal with butter and salt (no sweetener, or you can add banana to it) mashed avocado or chunks of avocado, whole grain toast, egg yolk (the whites are allergenic) bits of cooked meat, potato, and veggie. Raw fruits, cooked veggies.

But 7.5 months is pretty young. Don't let the AMA fool you- a lot of kids aren't ready to do much more than taste and play with food until closer to a year. Out of 5 kids I had two determined eaters (the girls) and 3 boys who would rather nurse most of the time, only eating little tastes or playing (the boys) until 9-13 months.

Breastmilk is completely adequate through their first year. If you have darker skin, make sure baby is getting plenty of sun exposure, or supplement their diet with a teaspoon of cod liver oil (vitamin D.) If you are using formula you will probably want to switch to one of the older child brands whenever the recommend it. Breastmilk will automatically adjust as your child grows older.

HTH!

it is absolutely okay for him to eat all table food. my son refused baby food to once he had a taste of the real deal. cottage cheese and yogurt are fine, as long as they are whole milk yogurt and 4% cottage cheese. he sounds like an excelant eater to me.

Hi,

It sounds to me like he doesn't care for the taste of baby food. Which, if you take a bite, you might spit it out too :) I made all my son's food homemade and had only trouble with him eating green beans (I don't think he likes them at all) Anyhow, if you go online to wholesomebabyfood.com, you will find some awesome and very easy recipes for making baby food. For instance, to make bananas you just mash the banana with a fork until it is the age appropriate consistency. As they get older, or their taste buds mature, they will like it a little lumpy. Take a jar of bananas and taste your homemade ones, or sweet potatoes and there is a huge difference! Organic says only bananas and water, but there is no way when I taste it that I don't taste some sort of additive. Give it a try- It is easy and you can make up to a month supply at a time. Just freeze in ice cube trays (put the whole tray in a freezer bag until the cubes get frozen solid) and then pop the cubes out into a freezer bag, label and date. To heat, you can either heat on stove or in microwave. I did like 7 sec increments and stirred in mic. so it wouldn't have hot spots. That's it! Not to mention it is so much cheaper and my son eats way better now. He is already been used to my cooking and is now 2 and I don't have to force his veggies on him. Let us know if you try it and how it goes. Hope this helps and have a great 4th and a happy eating baby!

Yo Baby yogurt is a great addition. Also be greatful he only wants "real" food! Save yourself some money! Right now he should be eating mainly fruits and vegetables with a little meat here and there. The waffles might be too hard on his digestive system. Cottage cheese around 10 months-same with whole milk!

I'd stay away from the yo-yo baby yogurt for now - it is LOADED with sugar - look at the label. Give him organic whole milk plain yogurt instead - not nearly as much sugar. If he won't eat the plain (which I imagine he will with no problem) then mix in some organic whole milk fruit yogurt to keep a handle on the sugar intake. As far as the other food goes, just make sure you are mashing it up and introduce new foods slowly in case he has an allergic reaction so you know what caused it (just like with the baby foods).

Go get yourself a KidCo Baby Food Mill ($10)
At Babies r us stores (or target or on line etc..)

Baby food in a jar was invented by a marketing team interested in making money. It's ONLY advantage is convenience.

It is perfectly natural for you to feed your baby table food. Just grind it up so it is safe for him to swallow & be sure it has enough moisture in it to aid swallowing. You can do this in your blender or food processor, but the Food Mill is nice to have to take to restaurants & on trips. It is easy to use & clean.

Hey! This sounds so familiar. I am a mother of 3 boys and they all went through something similar. Our pediatrician said that it is very common for them to "graze" at this age. They become very picky (and even independent) eaters(Like it one day, not so much the next...) My suggestion would be to keep offering healthy food options, but insist on a designated area for eating. It might be he wants new scenery or some company. Also, the plain Yo-Baby yogurt is labeled for 6 months and older. My boys LOVED it!! Good Luck!