7 Month Old Hates Solids

S.- If he hates solids, then don't feed them to him! He might not be ready yet. Is he still breast or bottle feeding? My son ONLY breast fed until he was almost 1, and now he eats like a champ. Don't stress, maybe he just isn't ready yet.

It's pretty obvious he's not ready for solids. Wait a while and try again. I didn't give my babies solids until they were trying to reach for my fork and showing interest. There is no reason to give an infant solids until they are about a year, walking,etc. They are fine on breast milk or formula until that time.

Stop trying to feed him solids until he seems interested. You don't want to start a battle at the dinner table, especially not this young. They can still get good nutrition from breastmilk, and to a leser extent formula.
I'm a big believer that at this age, they are pretty good about letting you know what they want and need.
Listen to your kid, that's usually my suggestion :)

Some kids won't make that transition until they are months older. His digestive system may not be ready yet, or there could even be food allergy issues that his body recognizes.

If he is getting enough nutrition from nursing or formula, I would back off completely on urging the solids for a few weeks. Enjoy your own meals in his presence. Don't ham it up too much – even little kids sense when they are being manipulated for the convenience or security of adults.

At some point he will probably show interest in what you are eating, maybe even reaching for your food. This will probably happen sooner if he doesn't think he is required to eat to satisfy you. If you are anxious about food, this will create unhealthy tensions around mealtimes. Try to stay relaxed about it! Good luck.

Some kids never really enjoy purees and end up going straight to soft table food. You can keep trying, but don't stress about it, I know of moms who breastfeed exclusively up to a year old. Pureed foods are not essential, they are just usually the easiest way to introduce new flavors and textures to babies who can't chew. But maybe your son will prefer to bypass them.

S.,

It typically takes 10 introductions of a new food before the child decides if they like it or not. Keep trying, and "drop" some spoonfuls onto his tray and let him play with the stuff. If anything he'll get a little more in his mouth when he sticks his coated fingers in his mouth. :)

Keep trying, my daughter refused all fruit for six months. Even now she prefers cut up fruit instead of pureed *anything*.

Hope this helps,
Melissa
(if only we could find the instruction manuals for our kids)

He may or may not be ready for solids but let me just share with you one thought. my son has been fiercly independent since he came out! haha. I had to stop feeding him with a spoon about 7-8 months because he wanted to feed himself. Try some safe soft finger foods and try variety and texture. If you are worried he might make a mess just put down some plastic and feed him in his diaper. If he isnt ready dont let anyone pressure you into feeding him solids, he will show you what is right for him. Doctors sometimes get concerned when children arent at the average but as we all know average means people fall above and below the line who are just fine.

hi! maybe some little finger foods would be good to try....cherrios and such? our kids loved those, and anything else cut up small and soft, that they could pick up with their sweet little fingers!

Try yogurt. My son loved it. He even preferred the plain (yuck) and ate it morning, non, and night--- 2 quarts a week. You also could start with apple sauce (heated) and slowly add yellow squash (well cooked and mashed in), slowly at first so he doesn't know it and then more.

My son thrived on this for months (don't ask me why) and I eventually had to add eggs by offering them morning, noon, and night (only) until he was so hungry he ate them. I did the same with potatoes. (Only when he was old enough.)

The yogurt is good because it slips down without his noticing it. So does the applesauce if you heat it.

I wouldn't bother him with them right now. Just wait a couple of weeks and try again. My little guy is just a few weeks older and he still gaggs/pukes/ or gets rashes from every thing except rice cereal and oat meal. No problem. We'll wait.

My guess would be he just isn't ready. Years ago babies didn't start solids until they were a year old. You could try letting him go for mushy finger foods and let him feed himself. Use cooked carrots, etc and see how he does with that. Perhaps he is just a texture kid. My just turned eight month old MUCH prefers food she can feed herself and she HATES anything sweet. Green beans and spinach are her favorite mushy foods and I let her eat noodles and other veggies off of her tray. She also eats Healthy O's but she has five teeth. (She got her first in May) Try reading at Kellymom.com about starting solids. Lots of interesting information.

Hi - you've received a lot of responses, so I'll try to keep it short. Don't force him - he'll go at his own pace and eventually he'll eat. Our daughter wasn't eating solids at 7 mos. either. We still offered once a day, though. We would get 2 to 3 bites into her and that was it, but we never pushed it because we didn't want her to have a negative association with food and eating. Now she's 18 mos. and eats anything we offer. They all go at their own pace and it can seem like something to worry about if he's not accepting solids yet, especially if you know other babies who are, but he will definitely get there.

have you tried making your own baby food? He may not like the taste of the baby food. I did this with my daughter and she loved it. I just pureed the dinner that we were having, then i froze it in ice cube trays. Then stored it in freezer bags. She liked it much better than the store bought food. Good luck

My littlest one was the same way until about 10 months old. His ped. said not to worry about it and that when he was ready he would let me know. So I would try a couple days of feeding solid foods and then stop for about a couple weeks and then try again. At 10 months it all changed and now he loves it. His ped. said not to really question it till around 1 if he's still not eating any solids.

I agree with several other posters that he sounds like he's just not ready yet. My older daughter started solids at around 7 months and we skipped purees and went straight to soft table foods - she did have four teeth at this point. She really liked that even though she did end up playing with her food a lot at first. By just over a year she was eating by herself with a fork and trying out a spoon.

My younger daughter didn't start solid food at all until she was 8 months old and now, at one year, she LOVES to eat. I skipped purees with her as well, she had two teeth at 8 months and was still able to eat things like bananas and avocados and bits of beans and rice from our plates.

So I would say to wait a bit, especially if you're breastfeeding. Breastmilk is perfectly sufficient by itself up until a year old. Before one year, solid food should be more of a fun, getting used to food, sort of deal from what I understand. As long as he's not losing weight then it should be fine to wait on solid food even if you're formula-feeding, but I would keep a close eye on his weight if you are.

I also have to highly recommend NOT doing purees (homemade or otherwise) - it's very simple and inexpensive to give soft regular foods (neither of my girls ever choked on anything) and I think it's more fun for the babies too :)

Best wishes!
~B.

There's a great book by Ellen Sattyr called "Child of Mine" about letting your child eat on his own time table and going easy with the solids if they hate them (but are still growing). It was a big encouragement with my daughter and was reccommended by a nutritionist.

My youngest had a problem with eating solid/mushy food until she was over a year old. It turns out she had a developmental problem and couldn't swallow properly. The way we found out was that she was delayed in talking (never even babbled) - turns out you have to get practice with your tongue and lips talking to be able to swallow solids properly. In the meantime, we found she could suck and swallow applesauce and rice cereal thinned out from a feeding bottle because it came into the back of her mouth and her tongue didn't have to do any work moving food around. With the therapist's help, she was able to learn how to swallow (finally)!

4 months old is only the starting point. Look to the baby for clues they are ready anywhere between 4 and 6 months. I have four kids and they all started at a different age. Also, we started on avocados and bananas mashed together. Sounds gross, but they loved it and it's better nutrition than [gasp] boxed cereal. Patience.... =)

Hi S.,

A good sign a baby is ready to eat solids is when they can sit up by themselves, they have their first teeth and they show interest in food.

But, that does not mean they will start eating at that point, it just means their bodies are physically preparing for it. Don't force it and let him slowly explore tastes and textures and continue to spit stuff out. As long as you are still breast-feeding he is getting all the nutrition he needs. If he is on formula make sure his weight isn't dropping and if you are trying to get him off of the breast or bottle, I would give it a couple more months.

Hope that helps!
A.

It may be that he is just not ready for solids yet. That texture thing is hard for babies to get used to. I found that it was best with my girls to go from breastfeed/formula to baby food then to solids. And maybe you will skip the baby food...my second didn't eat baby food for very long. I think I waited until about 11-12 months until I introduced solids. In any case it went pretty smoothly for me. Don't worry, he will like solids eventually! I would just try the baby food first, or put the bananas and peas in a food processor....the texture is much more pleasing for baby!

S.,

My little girl is now 16 months old. We started solids around 6 months and she hated them. We tried starting with vegetables, and I have pictures of the absolute horror with which she received that particular food. We tried a variety of baby cereals. All were turned down regardless of what we mixed them with. The only thing she would consider eating was fruit, and even that was iffy.

Around 9-10 months, we were able to give her chunkier foods, and everything changed. Once she could be in control and feed herself, she was willing to eat a wider variety of foods. In fact, broccoli is one of her favorite foods, but only if she can pick up the pieces herself.

She's still a very picky eater. We actually have to hide most meats in her food or she'll turn them down. The only things she'll eat with regularity are broccoli, fruits, cheeses, and some snacky items.

Basically, just hang in there. At his 9 month appointment, you'll find out how his nutrition is going. In our case, at 12 months we had to supplement a little iron since she was not eating cereal or meats with any regularity. She's doing much better now, though.

I know how frustrating it is when you're trying to make sure your child eats healthfully and they refuse to do what you know is good for them. Given time, it'll happen. I think one of my books said it best. It's your job to make sure they have healthful choices. It is their job to eat them. You can't do their job for them.