Baby Food and Spitting

You don't say how long this has been going on. Most kids learn spitting at some point - it is fun! and oh the looks and reactions you get from everyone else - make it even more fun! The usual response is a loud "no" with a serious face - which is hard to do when covered with strained peas. If the spitting continues, stop the meal. The idea is that even a baby can learn the connection between spitting food and the food leaving. But the spitting will often reservace when baby is bored or doesn't like the food. It is just one of the joys of motherhood and it always seems to happen when you are dressed and ready to leave the house - baby showers you with orange carrots.

my q. is; did you start the baby on fruit first. cause if so, that could be part of the reason to why the baby does that.
when our oldest grand daughter was a baby at four months old, she is now 8 years old. she hated baby food. so we would take pizza, meats, vegies, fruits and blend them with milk in the blender. and she ate it like no tomorrow. her baby dr. said; actually that is pretty healthy for her. and mash potatoes. she is very very healthy. if you do try this, try a little bit at a time. but nothing sweet and at first no fruits. cause once they get a taste for sweet, they really dont want anything else. good luck with your little one.

The spitting, or blowing bubbles, with food is a stage they go thru....just keep shoveling he'll decide to eat. Maybe whatever he was spitting he didn't like, try something else. Or depending on how you feel about it, try giving him some canned green beans or peas on his high chair tray. It's fun to watch babies chase them around the tray and pick them up. Some mashed potatoes, etc. Just some soft foods that he can eat. There were certain baby foods that my boys just didn't care for but they would eat the "big people" foods of the same kind. Most veggies you can steam or cook so that they are soft and little one's can eat them. Have fun. R.

A., I wouldn't worry about it to much, just try to cover yourself and buy extra laundry soap. Most Dr.s will tell you that is a sign that they are not hungry, and he may not be if you are giving him babyfood not to long after a bottle. Once he gets older, like 12 months when he really needs to be eating baby food, give him like half the jar before a bottle. However you really need to be carefull when useing the word "No". However you train him with the word now is how he will respond later. When you tell him "No" now and nothing changes, nothing happens, then "No" means nothing. It will also mean nothing when you tell him "No" when he is going to pick up a pair of scissors, a hot pan, a piece of glass of the ground. Anything that can hurt him that when you say "No" you need to have an immediate responce. And if you train him to "No" with a loud tone or and angry face, then when you tell him nicely, and you always tell him nicer at someelses house or in a store, then it will mean nothing. I suggest getting a book called "To Train Up a Child" by Michael and Debbie Pearl. It teaches that we are always training children that turn into habits, and shows you how to train them to have an immediate responce, no questions asked. Check out NOGREATERJOY.org. And good luck.

Just a phase. He will stop. Just continue to say No.

Don't force the issue. If he doesn't want to eat, just calmly say, okay!, finish with breatfeeding or formula till he's full, and try solids again later. Or don't try later. He doesn't need anything but breastmilk or formula till he's one.

The main thing is to keep solids mealtimes pleasant and stress-free for him. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for battles of wills later - severe control issues. Go ahead and let him spit out his food. Let him bang his spoon, splatter stuff, rub it around on his high chair tray...it's all play, and play is how they learn. It's also how they become familiar with a new experience, which can be a little scary for them. If it gets too messy/stressful for you at any point, just end the feeding calmly and fill that tummy the old tried and true way.

Also, he might be rejecting new textures and especially new consistencies (thicker, coarser). Be especially careful to only very gradually increase the thickness of his foods, or he will, out of fear of choking, reject them - and develop that nuisance, texture aversions, which can stick throughout childhood, even for life, with some foods.

Feed him when he's a little hungry but not very hungry. I'm concerned to read advice about waiting till a baby is very hungry before feeding him/her - and especially concerned about refusing food from a frantic baby to try to discipline. Babies need to eat when they're hungry (and dehydrated - remember, they're trying to feed to slake thirst, too), and it's just plain cruel to let them get so hungry and thirsty just for our convenience. For a baby, it feels like life or death to have such a need go unfulfilled. I'm sure it can also cause a baby to distrust a parent who is supposed to meet all of their fundamental life needs. But not withholding food is also important for engendering a long-term healthy attitude toward food and mealtimes: if you try to feed a baby solids when he's very hungry, he'll get so desperate, and easily frustrated with this new process - spoon, high chair, unfamiliar stuff - Mom or Dad will get frustrated, baby is feeling very frazzled with hunger, etc. You can see how this goes. It can also lead to compulsive- and stress eating later in life.

Just relax! He's only six months. No big deal! Just have fun with it and keep lots of washcloths handy.

For really great advice on feeding read Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron - millions of copies sold for a reason!!

L.

This sounds to me a new trick that he has learned. You probably laughed the first couple of times it happened - it was cute, and is still cute. He wants to make you laugh.

I suggest trying to feed him when he is really hungry. If he spits say 'no' and walk away - making sure he is secured in his highchair. Try again after a few minutes. I also found giving my boys a spoon to hold also helped with feeding - they would try to feed themselves while I fed them.

Hopes this helps - remember he won't deliberately starve himself.

I agree with most of what Liev said, I hope no one is really making babies dehydrate or be very hungry. I do believe in giving them the chance to eat but not fighting with them about it. If you take away the food instead of laughing or getting emotional (angry, upset), the child will learn that they have a chance to eat, but if they choose to play they have to wait to get another chance to eat. At 6 months, a child is only supposed to be offered food, they still get the majority of nutrition from breastmilk or formula. By the time they are 10 mos or so, they become interested in food and will be more receptive to it. You should not worry about the actual quantity of solid food your baby eats unless he stops growing or loses weight. As long as he will take bm/formula and gains weight (it doesn't have to be a lot)he is fine. I agree also that you will have a better relationship with him in the long run if you don't tie any emotion to food.
I have three kids (9, 3, and 1)and I decided a long time ago that you have to choose your battles carefully. Remember that your child wants you to train him in the way to go, he isn't born knowing what's best for him. If you don't place too much emphasis on food, he will learn to eat for the right reason-nourishment-not comfort. As trite as the saying is "they won't starve themselves" it is true. They will, however, learn to control you with whatever area you show weakness in.
Welcome to the hardest and most rewarding journey you will ever take and may God bless you all the way!
C.