My 7 Month Old Will Not Eat Solids Anymore

When babies are that young it is not uncommon for them to revert back the the basics some times. If you son has just reciently been sick then he still may not have his appitite in full gear. I would not force him to eat more than what he is ready. One thing I would recomend, because I have been in your shoes, is try feeding him something before bed. Not something really solid but like a milk and baby cereal mixture to help carry him through the night (more milk than cereal).

The unfortunate part of this story is that yes, you are going to be getting up in the middle of the night. When I needed to get up in the morning and was faced with this delema I would put my son in bed with me and also, have ready for him what I knew he would need in the middle of the night by my bed. i.e. ready to make new bottle, or cereal bottle, in your case it would be what ever you son has been needing when he wakes up.
What ever you do, just don't feed him the cereal bottle while he is laying down to sleep. You don't want to have a choking incident! I hope this helps.

same thing happend to me when my daughter got an ear infection. The doctore recommended to mash up her food for a little while and then she would go back to solids. I did that for about 3-4 days and sure enough when i went mash it up one day she said "no mommy" so she started eating soldis again. It was worth the couple days of little sleep. Good luck.
H.

When my son (3 years now) was first learning to eat solid foods, anything that made him feel lousy (a cold, throwin up, ear infection, etc) and he would quit even trying to eat solid foods for a long time. I think it is because the milk or formula that they have had since day one is like an ultimate comfort for them. They know they are safe when they eat that, but sometimes these new things they try make them feel funny...not just learning how to eat it, but they have more gas, which can be painful, their stools firm up and they have to learn to push something a lot more solid out, etc. but...if they only eat the milk/formula, they don't have to deal with any of that and it is ultra comforting. Keep offering solids. He will come around eventually. If he will absolutely not eat any of the second foods, you might slip it back down to first foods until he gets the idea again. Whenever my son had been sick, if he didn't start eating the solids again right away, if i just backed down one notch (instead of all the way) he would warm up to it. He also loved the cherios because he could feed those to himself (i didn't allow him to feed himself for along time because i didn't want to deal with the mess). Just try encouraging whatever he will feed himself and he will soon be back to where he was. Good luck. He won't do this forever.

Try not to force the food or it will just become a power struggle. If he only wants 3 bites than 3 bites is probably enough for him. He won't starve. As far as the waking up at night, its probably just a passing faze. Development is always 2 steps forward 1 step back. At least it was with my daughter, but I understand how rough it can be, especially once your used to sleeping through the night again. Is your son teething? That could be affecting both his eating and his sleep. Good luck

I feel the pain of no sleep E.! Oh how much more sleep we had before we were mommas-I just wonder what did I do with all that time before? As far as your son goes, my son did the same thing when he was teething and he woke quite a bit in the night....I hate to be of no help, but it was, as it often is w/ infancy, just a phase. As soon as the teeth came in, walaaa we were eating like a champ again. Don't know if this is what you are facing but best of luck to you! Wish I could send you a gentle sleeping fairy to place upon his pillow and yours to get some more rest......snore :)

I totally understand your frustration. Both my daughters (3 1/2 & 2) are picky eaters. From what I gathered over the last few years kids go through phases. All of the sudden they stop liking foods they used to enjoy. My best advice to you is to try something new. I know you work full time...but this book saved us when completely nothing else worked. FIRST MEALS by Annabel Karmel is a book with great healthy recipes for babies and toddlers. It's organized according to the child's age. Recipes are time-consuming but you can freeze little portions for later. My kids loved these! For a while we quit the jarred foods all together. And, yes even though it was VERY messy letting my girls feed themselves helped a lot too. Hope that helps. Good luck!