Need Help Getting 7 Month Old to Eat

If you haven't tried it already, just give him some of what you are having. My daughter hated baby food, even the yummy stuff, but did fine with real food. As long as you are cutting it small enough to be swallowed if he doesn't chew it, or mashing it, you should be fine. Some kids just detest baby food. I don't blame them, some of it is just nasty.

Dear D.,
I know the doctors and all these "gurus" advice you to prepare special food for your child, but I am telling you, from my experience, that at 4 months old, my kids were eating at the table with us. I was still breast feeding them until they were 8 or 9 months, but they were eating anything we ate. I was careful not to have on the table things that weren't good for him (or her), but he (and she) were eating soup, stu, meat, potatoes, milk (not sour cream and butter until 2 years old) and anything else. You said he wants to eat what you eat; then give him what he wants. For his sake, try to eat healthy: no hamburgers, pizza, junk food at all. And it will work guaranteed.
E-mail me if you want.
Thanks,
C.

He's not ready.

None of my kids ate solid foods until they were over 8months old...and they ALL hated pureed foods.

My 1st leaned over and took a huge bite of my sandwhich at 8months and hasn't stopped eating since LOL.

My 2nd Followed me around the house Whining for 2 days before I realized that he wanted whatever I was eating...he was 10months old

My 3rd grabbed peas off my plate when she was 8months.

This whole "Feed them pureed foods when they are tiny or else they will never eat" is absurd. Babies will eat when they are ready to, and they will find the food just fine.

Personally Given his rejection of foods, I would wait until he is grabbing for things that you are eating and then offer him little bites of REAL food not baby food.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. A friend of mine's daughter never ate solid foods until she was almost a year. Besides, early eating is more for practice, they still get all the nutrients and vitamins that the need from breast milk or formula until they're 1. Good Luck, but try not to stress!!

First of all, don't regret your decision to wait to give your baby solid food. Some moms starts their kids earlier, and some wait until much later than you did!
Have you tried offering him a cereal in the morning, when he first wakes up, and not a bottle? That's what worked for my son. If he saw the bottle he would have nothing to do with cereal, but then if I never put the bottle on the table, he would eat just fine. Granted, he tried spitting it out, and made some horrible faces, but in the end it worked. Good luck!

Well, not that I have any specific advice, but, I can completely understand where you're coming from. My son is actually 9 1/2 months old and I had the same issues with him. He does now eat 3 meals of baby food every day, some days more and some less, along with his bottles, but, he is once again "stuck." When he was 7 months old, he really didn't want and solid foods yet. I tried, got totally frustrated, sometimes even got so frustrated that I even cried, which sounds pretty bad, but, well, I'm being honest. I think he finally started eating regularly at like 7 1/2 months, but, now, he does not want any chunky foods or finger foods. I have friends who talke about their babies who have been picking up and eating like chunks of bread and whole foods for months and I am still practically putting on a song and dance to get my son to eat his baby food. Honestly, it bothers me. Like you, even though I know nothing is wrong with him and he actually has done everything else pretty quickly, this has always been his "issue." The ped. told me to quit worrying about it and that a lot of kids want solids later, some don't want any until over 1 year. I have also heard some kids don't eat baby food at all and go straight to table-like foods. I feel like if I push him too much, he'll stop eating solids all together again, so, I keep trying to slip in a little chunk here and there. So, maybe your son will start to show some interest soon... I feel like people probably think I'm being too overprotective or something or being weird and not letting my son eat "bigger kid" foods, but, nope, I try and he just rejects everything except pureed squash, sweet potato, green beans, cereals, and various fruits. That's about it. So, good luck with your little one and let me know if anyone shares some good ideas with you. I could use them.

I suggest not stressing about it. If he doesn't want to eat solids, no problem. If you are stressed, he may be able to sense it and that's no good either. Babies should still be on formula until 12 mo's or longer anyway. My twins barely had any solid food between 6 mos and 12 mos. There was never a concern then and they are just fine now at 18 mos.

If you are attemting to feed him from jars of baby food, you may want to try making it yourself. My daughter HATED the jarred foods. It is super easy - you can buy books on it, or just use a food processor and add water until it is the consistency you want.

I started my daughter with chicken, hamburger, and other meats, then moved on to veggies, and fruits last. Today, at 13 months, she is a wonderful eater. There isn't much that she won't eat. She does go through phases where she won't eat a food today, but devours it tomorrow, but overall she eats most anything.

My best advice is - taste whatever you feed him. If you don't like it, why should he? If it smells gross, or tastes disgusting, move on to something else. Good luck!

Hi D., I am a mom to two grown kids and a grandma to four so far. For my grandkids I have bought an infant feeder at Walgreens. They are great! You put the food in and the baby sucks it just like from a bottle. I wish they had them when my kids were babies. Walgreens is the only place I have been able to find them. They might have them at babies r us.
My PERSONAL opinion is I think the Doctors now want you to wait too long to give babies solids. My son started cereal at 2 weeks and by the time he was 3 months he was eating everything but the baby food meat. He is now 35 and very healthy, and had a very healthy childhood. It didnt make him overweight or have allergies.
Good Luck, I hope you find what works for you and like I said this is just my personal opinion..
E mail me if you want to know about the feeders. They are wonderful.

My daughter was like this too, she'd eat a bite or two then refuse any more. What I tried one night when we were having chicken was to take a piece of chicken, cut it into a very small piece and put it in my daughter's mouth (at 7 months btw) and she ate it! That was the only way I could get her to eat food was if it was real food, not baby food. I even tried making my own and leaving it on the lumpy side and no go. Good luck! Eventually, if they're hungry enough, the little ones will eat.

As long as he is growing and happy and healthy, then he will be fine on the liquids a little longer. I would just give him what you are having. Make sure and cook stuff that mashes easily... meatless spaghetti, guacamole, yogurt, mashed potatoes. You can also food process stuff and put it in some little cups.

I would just give him some, with every meal. Put it on his plate and let him play with it (some will eventually find it's way to his mouth) and one day he will start eating it on purpose. Don't give him anything else when you are eating. Treat him like he belongs at the table with you and he gets food too. Be prepared for a mess, and have fun with it (put on "eating" clothes and let him go).

Hello!

If I remember correctly (the last baby I had in my house is now 4), my own pediatrician did not want me to start with baby food until my youngest son was 6 months old. I remember him having an aversion to certain types of baby food. The advice the doctor gave me was to move to a different flavor and come back to it later as sometimes baby grow out of a dislike of a certain flavor (what they might not eat one week they will 2-3 weeks later). Some flavors they will never like (My oldest hated peas, youngest hated sweet potatoes and always spat it out)

Either way, I believe your child just is just not ready for it (especially if he is doing it with all baby food) and you should try again at a later date. Don't keep trying to give the baby food to him daily, try again later. Wait until he is ready. Here is a website that talks about the issue that you may want to read: http://www.babycenter.com/0_introducing-solid-foods_113.bc

Quote: "His digestive system simply isn't ready for solids until he nears his half-birthday. Waiting until your baby is ready greatly reduces the risk of an allergic reaction and shortens the transition time between spoon- and self-feeding."

Good luck to you and remember, if all else fails ask the pediatrician for advice on feedings. :)

HI D.
My daughter did that as well wouldn't eat for a few months. She's still a picky eater at almost 6. She has a sensitive gag reflex and a texture thing, but didn't seem like it at 7 months. The Doc kept saying keep trying and they won't starve themselves (most of the time). And after a 2 months she would eat a little.
We've tried diffident approaches to getting her to eat. And for me I have to say it's just not worth getting so upset about. Making a pattern of upset around food can trigger eating disorders I'm told. So eating enough is reworded in the morning with 1 show,with a bit really good chocolate. I guess that's my advice, if there going to eat so little, make sure what they do is the best you can afford. Organic fruit is the best, all the soft ones like strawberries have high amounts of pesticides(wait to give him of corse, just like peanuts). I make a smoothie with 2 handfuls fresh organic spinach, frozen fruit, water, and a scoop of brown rice protein powder. I use lots of blueberries to make the color better. Or sometimes I add organic yogurt. I get my husband to consume more veggies that way too :) It still can take her forever to eat a little bit. But the other days she eats 2 or 3 times normal.
So hang in there and keep trying gently. Good luck, A. H

Hi D.! My son is also 7 months old and up until a few weeks ago I was having the exact same problem. I was getting very discouraged too, but don't sweat it! When I took him for his 6 month check up the ped said he should be eating cereal twice a day and that's when I realized that her way just wasn't going to work because I couldn't get him to eat 2 bites of cereal let alone two servings. So I just pretty much ignored all of the baby feeding "rules" and let him do his thing. He always seemed interesting in what we were eating so I just started giving him things off my plate that he could eat and he loved it. Small pieces of whole wheat bread, and small pieces of chicken, potato, and pasta. Once he started getting used to eating those kinds of things I kept trying with the pureed foods and now he will eat a whole serving of those too. I guess he just wanted to do it his own way. He eats like a champ now. I know it's hard...my oldest never shied away from any kind of food but I think it's just something that have to be ready to do in their own time. Just keep trying things and he will eat eventually. Good luck!

I have had two breastfed babies. My daughter I started on rice cereal at 6 months, though I didn't think she really needed it because that is the "advice" by most doctors, experts, etc. She resisted but did fine after a couple weeks. My son I didn't even bother with anything but breast feeding until he was 9 months. I again started him on just rice cereal and it took him about a week to take to it. With both, they weren't ready for anything more than the cereal and eventually I moved on to adding applesauce to the cereal and then just the applesauce. Adding just a fruit a week for about a month...then introducing vegetables. And when I started finger foods, etc...it wasn't a problem. They both eat well now. Every child is different. I think you should just give your son a little break trying the cereal, he may not be ready. And as long as he's a healthy weight, and takes his formula/breastmilk well don't rush it.

I wouldn't get too concerned about it. I didn't start my daughter on rice cereal until she was almost 6 months old. And then we waited another month or so before even introducing stage 1 foods. So I don't think you started too late (I know many people that started even later than I did). Like others have said, I think it's just a preference thing. You may want to consider giving it a rest for a little while and then trying again later. If your doctor isn't concerned and as long as he's developing/growing normally, I wouldn't worry about it :)

If he's interested in what you are eating, why not give it to him? I'd make sure to make something that he could eat/gum and let him have some. Mac and cheese, pasta with or without sauce, veggies cooked a little extra for him. He may not be able to eat the whole meal, but maybe he could eat parts of it.

I also found that cinnamon graham crackers worked really well. I would either get the sticks if they were on sale, or the whole ones and break them into quaters. My youngest loved to gnaw on those and I didn't have to worry about him getting a chunk off and choking since they just turn to mush when they start drooling on them.

Good luck
J.

I would stop trying the solid food and wait a while.

For the first year of life all of the nutrition comes from breast milk or formula. they do not need to eat anything.

He is telling you he is not ready for solid foods.

take a break for a while a week or two or three.. wait till he forgets that he doesnt like food.. then try again.. do talk to your pediatrician and ask at what age should you seek help from a professional.. there are therapists that work on eating and swalowing issues.. but your son is perfectly fine at this point on his formula.

Hi D.,

I only have one child, so I am no expert on transitioning kids to solid foods. However, I have lots of nieces, nephews and friends with kids, and I know kids tend to do things in their own time. I don't think it matters that you didn't start your son earlier. I think he is just "telling" you in his own way (raspberries etc) that he isn't ready. Our son did a lot of "playing" in the beginning (we started him around seven months) but he wasn't really eating until around nine months. I have friends who didn't even start solids until 10-12 months. All their kids are perfectly healthy.

You mentioned taking some time off and starting again. It might be a good idea. Or, you might just decide to let your son "play" and not worry about him getting calories through solids. One of my nephews never ate traditional baby food-he just was never interested. So, my sister waited until he could handle what the family was eating and he started with mashed up versions of whatever the rest of the family was eating.

Good luck,

M.

My daughter never liked baby food, and after a month of trying to get her to eat purees, I started to feed her tiny chunks of solids. I was getting really frustrated because she would spit out the baby food, but once she got chunks of solid foods, she took to eating with a vengeance!
My son ate baby food, but didn't get interested in it until he was about 8 months old.
Try giving little bits of peas, carrots, etc, cooked soft and see how your little one likes those. Some babies don't like the texture of purees and prefer to have little bits to chomp down on (even without teeth).
Good luck!