My Son Only Wants to Eat Sweetpotatoes

At 6 months, you have nothing to worry about. Right now all of his nutrition is coming from breastmilk or formula. Solids are for play, he really doesn't need them, especially if he is reacting to them.

If he's having allergic reactions, you're going to have to be very careful introducing new foods. Like the rest said...talk to your ped. My son hated rice cereal so don't worry. He's a big guy too and continues to be a good eater. We tried at 6 months, but he just wasn't interested. I eventually ended up making him his own cereals out of millet and some other grains that he loved. I think he was 7 months before he got interested.

Have you tried other fruits or veggies? Avocado and pear are also good firsts. I found the book Super Baby Food to be really helpful. It lists all the foods and when to introduce them, how to prepare them, etc.

Sweet potatoes are pretty nutritious so I think he's probably fine. As long as he gets the bulk of his nutrition from breast milk or formula is all that matters. Food the first year is just an experiment.

it seems like that would be fine for a while. I would make sure to wait until he is hungry before feeding him new foods so he is more interested. Also, you can mix the sweetpotatoes with some cereals...just a tiny bit of cereal at first and slowly add more...maybe he'll get used to the new taste/texture that way. Make sure you are mixing the cereals with formula/breastmilk instead of water, that will give it more of a familiar taste. Don't stress over it too much though...he'll eat when he's ready and you want him to enjoy mealtimes. Pretty soon he'll be trying to eat your food!

Maybe you need to ask your doctor, but sweetpotatoes and baby formula should be alright for awhile. Just keep trying him on new foods until he finds another one that he likes. Also, I rarely fed my babies baby food. I would just puree whatever the rest of the family was eating (within reason), and feed that. My babies were healthy, so it didn't hurt anything. However, they did eat the cereals. Have you tried cream of wheat, cream of rice, or malt-0-meal? Maybe he will like one of those better.

At 22 pounds for a 6 month old, you have nothing to be worried about! He obviously knows what his body needs to get big and strong. Many children refuse to eat things they have a mild allergy to, so it's possible you need to wait on some of the foods he doesn't like right now and try them when he is older and his chance of allergy is slimmer. As for now, many babies have not even eaten any solid food at 6 months, so he certainly isn't behind. It sounds like you are doing a great job!!

M. K,

I am a pediatrician. Sweet potatoes are fine in small amounts. Make sure he isn't turning his skin orange--that means he is getting too much betacarotene. Babies have preferences in foods just like adults and at 6 months he is just learning what his likes and dislikes are. He may hate one food now, but be OK with it in a month or two. If he has had an allergic reaction to certain foods stay away from them and try others. You can also try mixing his favorite sweet potatoes with other foods like applesauce or mushed bananas. Try other veggies at his age like spinach, pureed broccoli, and begin to introduce some pureed meats like chicken and turkey (if your family is OK with meat). The water issue isn't that important. If he breastfeeds well or takes formula easily, he is getting enough water. You can try mixing his water with a small amount of formula for consistency if you still want to try water. The most important thing is not to stress about the foods he is eating. At this age, he is testing and learning about food. His main nutrition should still come from formula or breastmilk.

A.

M.--
you might want to check with your pediatrician about this, but it seems to me that if you have a 22-lb 6-month-old, you are clearly doing something right!! let him eat the sweet potatoes. he is at an age where you should just be introducing solids so give him some time to figure out what he likes & doesn't like. have you tried any other 1st foods? are you giving him jarred food or do you make your own? my kids loved homemade applesauce & many vegetables that they just hated from a jar. he doesn't necessarily need water unless he is only formula fed. if you are breastfeeding at all, then water is unnecessary at this stage. if you are only giving formula try offering him water with a bit of juice in it. maybe he would like the taste more.
good luck!

Try mixing the sweet potatoes with the oatmeal. I am a mother of five girls with a set of one year old triplets and I always mixed any fruit or vegetable with the oatmeal and all my girls gobbled it up. Alone the oatmeal is pretty nasty. He is old enough to have fruit as well so you might want to try that and green beans. A lot of times they just want the same food for a while and will get over that phase. As long as he is eating he is fine, even if it is just sweet potatoes all day. Good luck!

First I would talk to your doc about what else to try. Since he is so young, just keep gong through the veggies until you find another he is not alergic to. I am not sure if you are making the food, or buys Gerber bottles, but Gerber has lots to try.

My son is now 2, and I can tell you we have gone through phases where he only ate yogurt, meat, green beans (like a whole can at a time), or peas - mind these were at different times - so his diet was very one demensional. Although, these phases started a bit later.

He's young! Are you breastfeeding? My first child only wanted to breastfeed until he was almost 12 months old.
My second and third began wanting other foods around 6-9 months. If you are breastfeeding, I wouldn't be very concerned about the other foods until he really shows he wants them.
Fortunately if you are getting fresh sweet potatoes and preparing them yourself they are a really nutritious food. If you are buying the commercial baby food- not as much nourishment and so you'll need to make sure he's getting what he needs elsewhere (like breastmilk or fresh foods).
If you aren't preparing your own baby food you might get a "Happy Baby" baby food grinder. This is a very simple tool that I used a lot to turn adult food into baby food for my three....easy to clean, portable, quick to use, works with any soft foods (fruits, beans, veggies, pastas, etc.), saves money, allows you to provide better quality food and so on.