My baby girl is 6 months old... she just started solids a month ago and almost 2 weeks ago I started her on fruits/veggie. So she has cereal (oatmeal or rice) around 12:00 and then the fruit/veggie (one or the other or both) at 5:30 (btw, she is a breastfed baby). She seems to like the cereal but is not into the other stuff. I've been doing the whole 'give her one food for a few days' thing, and she doesn't open her mouth and the past few days she wants nothing of it and cries when I try to give her anything other than cereal. She makes a yucky face, won't open her mouth, then gets upset. My son didn't do this when he was a baby, so I'm wondering if I should keep pushing it, just try it until she looks uncomfortable with it.... tonite she started crying when I gave her bananas so I thought I would mix up some oatmeal and put the 'nanas in it. Bad idea! I think she got mad cuz I ruined her oatmeal. Not sure what to do.
She is only 6 months, and it doesn't seem like she is really interested. My son didn't really become interested in food until 8-9 months. I just waited until he seemed interested, because I didn't want to create food battles. Babies don't HAVE to start eating food at 6 months.
There's no reason to force it at all. I would stop and wait. I never force my babies to eat anything they don't like. :-)
If she likes oatmeal, then just feed her that. Some babies are hesitant to try new foods. It's actually a survival instinct - babies are "programmed" to resist putting new things in their mouths because that's what keeps them from being poisoned, when you think about it. A baby who will eat anything is more likely to eat bad food, or things that aren't food - so actually what your baby is doing is developmentally normal. She will grow out of it! Nobody ever went to Kindergarten only eating oatmeal! ;) Just try again in a few weeks, and remember that it can take babies 10-12 times of trying a food before they like it (and that continues on until they are preschoolers!).
You can lay off if you want and reintroduce in a month or so. Or you could try to nurse her a little and then try to feed her. My kids used to scream through food at first as well and then I realized they were so hungry they didn't associate the solids as eating and just wanted their bottle. I would let them have a few ounces and then they would take the solids no problem. Just an idea that worked for me. It really isn't necessary for her to eat solids yet, so if that doesn't work just lay off so you don't stress each other out. Good luck!!
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My son only took to new things when he got them early in the day. Breakfast or lunch at the latest. By dinner, he was tired and not about to try anything new, but in the morning after a good night's sleep he was more adventurous. I did breastfeed him, and he was on oatmeal for a month before I transitioned him. Good luck!
It takes many babies a while to become accustomed to new flavors and textures. Occasionally, babies refuse all solid foods until 9 months or older. It won't hurt to delay introduction of new foods for awhile – breast milk is far more nutritionally balanced to meet her needs than prepared baby foods.
If you don't keep pushing new foods, she will probably become curious and start reaching for table foods at some point. This is a natural development that almost all babies will experience sometime during their first year, with the possible exception of kids with sensory disorders.
Babies do come complete with taste and texture preferences. If you do keep pushing new foods, she may eventually accept them, or she may become very unwilling to eat solids. I would lean toward reducing the number of foods you introduce, and try new ones only occasionally until she becomes a more eager taste-tester.
At this age, she's too young for two "meals" with solids. Her main nutrition should be breastmilk anyway and she doesn't need solids at all, frankly. If she's giving you these clear signs that's not interested then you should be backing off. The yucky face plus crying means you should stop and reintroduce solids in a month or two. She may not be ready until 9 months.
Breastfeed her first for every feeding. Including the one single feeding you intend to give her a solid puree. Don't expect her to finish a serving. Solids right now are not for nutrition but for practice "chewing" for when she has teeth.
One thing you need to remember is that baby's reactions are part of their instincts. If she's making yuck faces and crying, it's not just a "I hate the taste" but it's her body letting her and you know that she's not ready for the textures and her digestive system is way too immature to digest anything other than milk. So don't push it.
If you try to force her to eat, she will only become MORE resistant and start to dread feeding times. NEVER force feed a baby.
My suggestions - You replace on breastfeeding with one solid food meal. If she isn't hungry, she won't eat. Usually the easiest one to replace is the mid-morning breastfeeding session (10:00 ish)
she's also a little young for 2 meals a day. One meal a day at this point is sufficient.
Trying to feed her at 5:30pm is going to be tough, since most babies start their evening fussies at about that time. She may simply be tired and a tired baby won't eat solids either.
So, to sum up. Don't force feed her. Feed her mid-morning, when there's been at least 1-1.5 hrs (or more) since she's last eaten. She'll likely do better for you.
-D. Blumenfeld RYT, PRYT, LCCE - owner of Shining Light Prenatal Education
