Seeking Advice on Feeding Baby Food to a Breast-fed Baby.

You've already gotten some great advice. I agree with the others - let him take his time. Six months is the minimum age, but many babies are not even close to ready that young.

I pushed my first and we started way too early. As a result he had some skin issues.

My second wasn't into solids until he was close to 9mos.

The third was pretty interested around 6mos, but he has always preferred finger foods to baby food.

My son will be 9 months on the 14th, and he JUST started opening his mouth for anything other than the breast! He just wasn't interested! I started him with the dark veggies (like my mother said) and he WOULD NOT open his mouth! So I took my friends advice and bought 10 different foods (all sweet and salty... desserts and stuff like mac and cheese), all from the stage 2 menu. I also bought 5 different spoons and tried each spoon with the different food until I found something he liked... we finally had success with Gerber Mac and Cheese and their Vanilla Custard... I KNOW... totally not healthful, BUT he got the idea that I was trying to impress on him with the spoon! So now he eats 1 1/2 to 2 jars of GOOD baby food every meal! Breastfed babies are the hardest to transition... the breast is near impossible to mimic! Are you breast feeding exclusively, or have you given him a bottle of EBM or formula?

My little boy (now a heathy- rowdy four year old) was a month early and strictly breast fed. As a baby he refused to eat much baby food. Poor little guy made faces and put up such a fuss. His older brothers loved baby food from very early on yet they were formula fed. I think the breastfed babies prefer their Mamma to any other food option. Have fun and enjoy this time...

hi melanie
the only problem i had wwwith my daughter eating is that she refused to drink breast milk from anywhere but the breast. i tried every nipple on the market she just would no take it unless it was from the breast. now for real food i start her eating table food since she was 1mth old. she would eat mashed potatoes with no seasonig, scramble egg, smashed peas, bean jucice and smashed cornbread (as the old people call it pot liquor)lol. and she was a very healthy baby matters of fact my doctor was very amazed because she was not a sick child. she was very healthy and very interjectice child. but alot of people don't and won't agree with me but just try it your baby may like it. good luck

Talk with your pediatrician, and ask for a good nutritionist. If there are feeding problems from the prematurity, a gastroenterologist may help, and between them all, you may be able to make some progress with his eating.

Since your little boy was 2 mths premature that means his developmental age is 6 mths which is when most babies are just barely starting food. Try different foods to see if you can find something he for sure likes. Fruit is a big hit because it is sweet. Maybe he will eat just a spoonful or two. Bot a big deal just put it in the frisge and pull it out the next day. Everytime you feed him put him in his high chair our bouncy seat or whatever and do solid food at the same time everyday. Building a routine may help. Most of all just relax. He'l catch on.

my son was early also. Remember that your son's adjusted age is 6 months. so he is not behind. Babies have to taste things 7 to 10 times before they know if they like it. Somethimes it is the texture also, just keep trying. I didn't start my son until 8 months on food, he was also breastfeeding. He only did the baby food for about 1 month, once he got real food, thanks to a visit home to see my family, he refused baby food and ate more like toddler food. at about 10 months and stll breast fed. So dont give up

What worked for my kiddos was mixing a little breastmilk into their rice cereal or jar baby food when introducing it the first few times. After a while, your baby won't need you to keep doing it. No, it's not a problem - breastmilk is so inclusive. Give it time and enjoy! Keep trying, but don't fret - it'll happend before you know it!

Hi Melanie:

I breastfed my daughter (and now my 5 wk old) and she wasn't too keen on "real food" either. She hated the rice cereal so i just threw it out! Instead of canned food (which she despised) once I started the slow introduction I bought peas and sweet potatoes first and steamed, then mashed then (not together!) and mixed a little expressed milk into them and started out with that.. it was slow at first but once she took to it.. boy howdy!!! We stuck with fruits and veggies that could be puree'd or smashed and then moved on to shredded chicken with little or no seasoning... She stuck with breastmilk for 14 months even though she started eating "real' food before that.... A great book is Super Baby Food... it teaches you how to make food for them and great recipes!
I wish you the best of luck and congratulations!!!

Don't worry about it. Your baby will let you know when he is ready for something other than breastmilk, but obviously breastmilk is providing EVERYTHING he needs right now. My now 16 year old first born did not have anything except breastmilk until he was 14 months old. On his first birthday, he sat there and just looked at his birthday cake. When he did start to eat, it was what a typical six month old eats, very little. A bite of cheerios or a few spoonfuls of applesauce. He could be allergic and knows its best to not eat food right now. My daughter, who was not allergic to anything started grabbing food off the table at 7 months. Don't worry, he will let you know when he is ready to eat solids.

My baby was breast fed and also wasn't that interested in starting "real" food. We just kept trying rice cereal about once a week until she started to realize that it was food! We tried rice cereal for about a month before she would really eat it. I've also read that premature babies are developmentally on par with their gestational age, which would make your son about a month younger than our daughter when she started to eat rice cereal. Hope that helps!

Breastfed babies actually don't need anything but breastmilk for the first year. It has all the nutrience they need to grow and then some. I think it's great not to give them anything but breastmilk for the first year because it helps their digestive track to fully develop before introducing anything. If your baby is growning healthy and strong without anything extra then that means he doesn't need anything else, and you shouldn't worry about it. Enjoy this time that he is completely dependent on you and the bond it makes! Also, the rice cereal doesn't actually hold ANY nutritional value and is just there to get babies used to texture, so don't worry about it. Hes growing at his own pace.

No, its not a problem. I had 2 breast-fed daughters that were totally not into food until after they were a year old... even close to like 15 mths old until they wanted to eat 'real' food. Just keep nursing that baby and he'll be fine!!! My son, who's 10 mths old is very interested in food and loves it... :D Every baby is different :D

BTW, its awesome that you're breastfeeding!!! Kudos to you!!!

hi my son I know what ur going through i went trought the same thing my son is still breastfeeding at 16 mon what i found to help was to get him use to food by buy a food bottle i did that for a month then moved to a spoon .

None of my breastfed children were very interested in baby food or table food until they were about a year old. My Ped said as long as they were nursing well, gaining weight and meeting all the milestones that breastmilk has all the nutrients that they need. I would just take a cue from your little boy and introduce solids again in a few weeks -- sooner or later you won't be able to get him to stop taking food off your plate!!!

Children are pretty good at telling you what they want. There are always guidelines of when you should start, but they aren't set in stone. Did you start with the rice cereal? If you have a pump mix it with your breastmilk so that he is getting something familiar with something new. If he doesn't accept it, just try it every few days and eventually he will be ready. If you get really concerned I would call your docter, but if he is gaining weight fine then there probably isn't a problem, he just isn't ready. That is the nice thing about staying home with your baby, you can work by his and your schedule. My baby was great about adjusting from breastmilk to food, but it is still a process.

Don't make it difficult. He's getting the most perfect food he can get right now. Funny how mamas can find something to worry about no matter how wonderful the situation! HA! Brings back fond memories. You're doing fine. Enjoy it.

Melanie,

Hi. My kids did not eat 'real food' until they were one. I gave them little bits here and there (baby food not big people food) but for the most part, they just stayed on formula/breastmilk until they were one. That is when I took the bottle away and started on sippy cups too. They are all healthy and have not had any problems. Just ask your doc if he/she has a problem with what is going on. You can probably just call the office and speak with the nurse and ask them what the doc usually recommends for the starting or going mostly 'real food' age.

Good luck,

Jo