Baby Already Hates My Cooking!

I wouldn't force solids. Babies can wait till at least 12 months to really get the hang of it. As long as he has plenty of breastmilk/formula, he should be fine.

It seems like he is getting the nutrients and food he needs from his bottle still. I wouldn't worry to much about that right now; if he gets hungry he will let you know. If anything else changes like a loss in weight or something then I would take him to the doctor but it sounds like he is happy with his ottle feeding and very happy with that; try not to rush him.

If he's gagging then he's not ready for whatever it is you're giving him. He's ONLY six months old. His main source of nutrition should be breastmilk or formula never to be replaced at any point by solids until after he turns a year old. Solids are not meant to be for nutrition right now but for "tasting" and practice "chewing." The gagging means that whatever you're giving him has a texture he can't handle or possibly is too seasoned. He should be having bland cereal and simple fruits and veggies... all thinly pureed... when he does have solids. Nothing chunky, nothing in bites, nothing that would require gumming.

If he still has the tongue thrust reflex, stop giving him solids for at least another month. And how much you and your husband enjoy food doesn't mean anything in regard to how your son is developing. Don't rush solids. He could end up choking (that's why he's gagging) and his digestive system is very immature.

EDIT: Please, please, please ignore the post/s that advise you offer your SIX month old infant finger foods. He's having trouble with purees (or are you giving him chunky foods?) so why on earth would someone suggest FINGER foods? That would be downright irresponsible and hazardous.

Babies are people too.

There are times, when just because it is time to eat on OUR schedule, does not mean they are hungry at that time..

If you offer him food and he is not interested, honor that. Just let him sit with all of you. He will let you know when he is hungry.

Children like small bits of food throughout the day. It comes natural to them..They will not over eat or under eat.. As adults we really should follow what our bodies ask for, but because we live by schedules, it is not always easy to eat like this..

Also consider, teeth may be coming in. This is very uncomfortable and a bottle feels a lot better than chewing food.

Hang in there. This will not be the last time he goes through this..

I'd also back off the solids for a few months. (I'm willing to lay money on the table that he's teething or coming down with something... in both cases, the body tends to reject solids because either they hurt, or they take so much energy to digest... digestion accounts for 80% of our energy use for most people... when we get sick, the reason we're not hungry is that our nervous system shuts off our digestion in order to shunt that energy expenditure to our immune systems).

Between 6-12mo solids are ONLY for taste and texture and 'practice' (unnecssary, once the gut matures, it doesn't need practice). Babies get practically ZERO nutrition from them. ((Hence the whole primary nutrion to 1 year needs to be human milk or formula... which take almost no energy to digest, and is the equivalent for an adult of eating between 30 & 40 big meals a day from a nutrition standpoint. Crazy, right? But just imagine the MOUNDS of food you'd have to eat to double your weight in 6 months, much less double your weight AND your height). Kids' growth slows waaaaay down as soon as the primary shifts from milk/formula to table foods, because there's just not enough nutrition in them to support the rapid growth.

AKA... don't worry. He's skipping his tasting menu for a little while. As long as he continues his milk or formula, you guys are great.

ALTHOUGH (as the mum of another big baby... 10lbs & 23" at birth, and over 20lbs at 6mo as well)

1) You may well want / need to continue milk or formula as a supplement well past a year. We did about 50/50 table food and formula until 18mo, and still supplemented with formula until about age 2. FAST growers have some serious nutrition needs.

2) Check out Scandavian growth charts. My son was 'off the charts' (99th & 100th percentiles at his 'low' points, most of the time, he was simply off them). But I had a rockin' pediatrician who was irked by it, so she pulled a Scand. one (swedish I think). Ha. Which put my 'big' baby quite solidly in the 50-60% range, and she was easily able to see that his growth was totally normal/ expected for his physiology.

I had the same problem with my son. I would nurse him then wait about an hour and then give him a little bit of food. He only wanted to breastfeed until he was well over a year old. Then he was interested in other foods very slowly. I was surprised because he started getting teeth really young and had a mouthful by the time he was 6 months old. But that didn't matter, he preferred milk. Now he's 14 months old and he eats better now. Good luck!!

My daughter would do this when she was teething. Refuse most, if not all, solids until the new tooth broke through.

2 hours after a bottle, he's not going to be hungry. Since he is too hungry before a bottle, you could do a little bit of bottle, some food, and more bottle. Just make sure your not trying to feed him too much. It's hard to suggest things about the "big baby" because we have no idea how tall he is, etc. I just know my dad's coworker in the air force used to feed her baby too much and her doctor almost screamed at her when she took him in at 12 months. It was sad for my dad to see a 12 month old on a diet. Anyways, I'm sure that isn't the case with your baby I just state it to be careful about a full bottle then food 2 hours later. But like I said, we don't know any of your background so for all we know he could be tall for his age and be perfectly fine. Meals could be 3/4 bottle, 1/4 food or whatever you decide but I would start phasing out the bottle as food. That's what I did with my little one. Do you all eat together? That helps too because he will most likely want to imitate your behavior (eating). When they start solids, ya don't feed them regular bottles and food, that's too much for them, ya gotta phase the bottle out and replace it with food little by little :)
Good luck :)

I also really agree with Jessicawessica and Laurie A.

I also would not start on sweet flavored things or fruit b/c then they tend to not want veggies. Not with all kids, but with a lot.

**Update, wow girlie that must've been some rough labor. He is TALL for his age, wow. My 2 1/2 yr old is 36 inches. That's what I figured was that he was tall :)

22 lbs at 6 months is a big baby!
How much was his birth weight?
Maybe teething is causing him some pain he wasn't feeling before, but I think he'd be a lot fussier if that was the case.
Maybe he's in between growth spurts and doesn't need so much right now.
My son was 9 lbs at birth, 18 lbs at 5 months and 25 lbs at 1 year.
The weight gain starts slowing down the 2nd half of that first year.

Id back off of the solids. he really dosen't need them yet. at this point solids are for only texture not nutrition. Stick with just the bottle ,feed on demand. Don't force it or it will REALLY back fire. Food is one area where you can't force kids.

Don't listen to the comments about weight, I had a big boy too. He was 8lbs 4oz at birth. He was barely 37 weeks too. At 12 months on his Birthday he was 35lbs. At 18 months he was 45lbs. Now he is almost 3 1/2 years old and still only weighs 45 lbs. The weight gain will slow down. Don't let anyone make you feel bad!

I think Laurie A and Jessica Wessica said it all!

J.,

If that boy is 22 lbs at 6 mos. old, you must be cooking something right. I wouldn't mind having dinner at your home!

He'll be OK, don't worry. As long as your doc says OK with food, why not feed him food BEFORE the bottle and cutting down on the amount of formula?

I started by baby out on NOT sweet baby food and then graduated him to meats, pastas and sweets. To this day (and he's grown now), that boy will give anything a try and he can also cook! I have received many compliments from his girlfriends that it's nice to have a man that can cook!

Mama's - Teach Your Children Well!

Blessings....

Lots of babies refuse solid food until 9 months or older. Formula is really all that is needed for the first year or so, so I would avoid making an issue of coaxing babies to eat what they don't want. They naturally come to a curiosity and interest in trying other foods (except in the case of some highly sensitive babies with sensory dysfunction).

How about trying to start him out with something sweet, for example, sweet potatoes, carrot's, applesauce? And have a baby bottle filled with water rather then milk which will fill him up. I use to trick my son, I would take the baby bottle and act like I was going to give it to him and once he opened his mouth I was able to shove a spoonful of baby food! lol....Or you may want to even try mixing baby cereal with his baby formula and spoon feed it to him. Maybe he still hasn't grasped the concept of eating from a baby spoon yet? It will probably take some time but be patient my dear! BTW...The best thing your doing is making his food from scratch! I did the same! Good Luck!~~~~~~~~Jessicawessica has a great point! I actually forgot at what age your supposed to start feeding them since mine are all grown up! And I also agree with the texture thing, maybe it needs to be more smoother? Good Point!

If it makes you feel any better none of my kids started enjoying ANY kind of solids until 8 to 12 months.
And yes, both my husband and I also enjoy cooking and food.
Try not to worry, he'll eat when he's ready :)

Don't force the issue. My son (who was 23 lbs at 3 months and hasn't stopped gaining. Also checked out and he is perfectly fine, just naturally large) ate occasionally, but nothing major, but then stopped out of the blue. I didn't force it till he turned one. That is when I stopped giving him any bottle and just food (my doctor is the one who said to do that) He'll eat when he is hungry.
Right now solids are just a "training tool" it's not actually where they get their nutrients. Formula or BM will be the main foods till 1. Till 1, don't force the issue, you can still offer, but don't get offended or worried. It happens :D

It is TOTALLY normal for a baby to refuse solids or bottles. It's common for them to stop wanting solids especially in the beginning. Remember, solids are just for fun and practice at this age -- until 1 year, breastmilk or formula should be the primary source of nutrition. It's totally fine if he doesn't want solids until he's 10 months ... he'll be perfectly healthy.

Don't force it. My LO did this too and I'd just give her stalks of carrot or asparagus or other things to chew on to get the flavor. It was a fun new "toy" and I didn't get stressed (they sense it and will feel negatively about food). Eventually, she started eating again.

Just give him finger food. He does not have to eat every day. Does he have teeth top and bottom. Six months is young for a real meal a day. Cereal like rice cream is all they might need before bedtime so they are full enough to sleep 4-5 hours.
He isn't being breast fed and so you know how much formula he is actually drinking.

Honestly, he doesn't need the food. For the whole first year, milk is his primary nutrition. Don't fill him up with food before a milk feeding, it doesn't give him the nutrition he needs. Starting at age six months, food should be a supplement, offered after his milk. Keep trying different tastes and textures, but at this stage if he refuses the food, he's really not missing out on anything nutritionally.

J.:

I LOVE CHUNKY BABIES!!!! My son was a premie and at 3 months was 15#s at 6 mo he was 30#....now he's 11 and slender and almost 5' tall!!!

Okay - it's NOT the food - it could be his uvula - the dangly thing in the back of his throat - it's possible that it's too long and it gives him a "gag" reflex. However at 6 months - I wouldn't stress or put too much into it. let him have finger foods and see how he does with those!!

YOU GO!!!