Picky Baby

Hello,
My baby did not like rice cereal too and I gave him oatmeal, which one he loved, later barley. So do not worry about it, lots of babies do not enjoy rice cereal and it makes them constipated anyway.

T.,

Rice cereal tastes like cardboard and the iron it in can give a baby a stomach ache. Neither of my kids would eat it. It has very little nutritional value so I just skipped it and went on to something else (sweet potatoes). At this age, eating is for fun and practice. If she doesn't like what you've tried, try something else. Or she may simply not be ready for solid foods yet. Not every baby is ready at 5 months. Wait a month and try again.

:-)T.

Maybe she is not ready. There is no reason to rush real food. Breast feeding specialist say try around six months. At five months rice ceral can still bother their tummies.

T.,
I understand it can be very frustrating to try and get your five month old to eat the rice cereal as her doctor recommended. The age in which to start kiddos on some form of solids is a range of 4-6 months. It's actually done so they will get used to taking solids (at first it can be only a teaspoon or so at a feeding - one time a day)...So, I think if you don't have some general guidelines you should pick up the book "what to expect the first year." This is a recommendation from a pediatric physical therapist (myself) - as a lot of first time parents need some reassurance with what their baby is experiencing and what is "normal" for their age.

My little girl absolutely refused to eat rice cereal without mixing a fruit or vegetable in with it. I usually used an organic brand, Beechnut, or Gerber stage 1 to mix with the cereal. She WAS a picky four and a half month old - which is funny to read that babies don't express their preferences from your other posters - they definitely will. (= My little boy on the other hand would eat anything placed in front of him - including rice cereal without any flavoring added. Go figure.

Don't stress too much about the rice cereal but I would find that book - which will help you with many of the questions that you might have this first year (it's amazing and crazy and sometimes confusing b/c they change so much). And try adding something sweet initially to the rice cereal - you DO need to give her veggies like pureed green beans, peas, etc. but sweet potatoes are a good compromise with a little one that seems a bit "picky."

Good luck - and have fun with your little one - it goes way too fast (mine are almost 11 months old and I can't tell you where the time has gone...).
Take care,
A.

Hi T.,
At this age there is just no reason to have your baby eat solids yet. Breast milk is the single greatest food you can give her right now, so ride that out for as long as you can. There are many reasons for not giving solids yet, like the body not being physically ready yet to eat it properly, choking, and developing sensitivities.
Dr. William Sears has some great books to read on every topic related to babies and children. The first one, "The Baby Book" is a fantastic resource. He does a great job of explaining lots of things. Plus, its important to find guidance from a resource whose philosophy you trust. You might want to give that one a read for some guidance. I'm a bit leary about your doctor who suggested giving solids to a 4 month old.
Anyway, there is nothing wrong with your daughter. She's just not ready for this yet. Keep up your awesome job of nursing (especially even though you are working!).
Take care,
M.

Hi T.
I agree with most of the ladies here - it's surprising that your doc is saying she needs to start solids at 5 mos. When my kids were that age (5 and 7 years ago) it seemed the exception rather than the rule for docs to advise starting solids before 6 mos. We were always told to wait as long as possible, and to wait for cues from the baby. My older son showed interest, slowly, at 6 mos, and my youngest started earlier but he was HUGE and had a huge appetite (still does, LOL) and so the doc said it would be OK to try giving him a small amt of cereal during the day. But both of them were getting breastmilk and a little formula as their primary source of nutrition (with like 5% of their food coming from cereal or mashed fruits) until atleast 7 or 8 mos, maybe even 9. I don't remember exactly but it was much later than 5 mos. I hope this helps. If you are giving her little tastes here and there to get her used to the idea, that seems reasonable. But daily? I wouldn't worry about it. She seems like she is right on track!

<shaking my head> Some advice is just strange. Your 5 month old doesn't NEED anything but breastmilk. Maybe she is picky, that she doesn't want a carb overload with grains. My 3rd baby had ONLY breastmilk until she had teeth at 11.5 months. She was almost 20 pounds....she had gained more than 11 pounds the first year on breastmilk alone. Bananas can constipate and once again FULL of sugar, natural, but sugar nonetheless. Sounds like your baby is smarter than your doctor. In a world full of diabetics, who on earth would grains be a good choice as a first solid food? How about green veggies? I can assure you in a logical manner that babies need breastmilk and love....nothing else.

My first baby had solid food at 8.5 months and my second baby had solid food (a chile relleno burrito with salsa and black beans) at 4.5 months. All of my kids, ironically, grabbed food and shoved it in their mouths 2 weeks after they got teeth. Maybe their digestive system was ready? I find it interesting that if we let them do what they want in regards to when to eat, they are smater than professional or expert!

Hi T.,
I wonder why your doctor suggested solids at 5 months. Infants under 6 months of age still have what is called an "open gut" there are perforations in the intestines that allow them to process breast milk efficiently, their little bodies aren't ready for solids yet. My son was breastfed and received nothing else until he was 12 months old, just to give you a point of reference.

I wouldn't call your beautiful daughter picky at all, she knows exactly what she needs :-)

I hope this helps.

H.

T.,
In reading the other responses, I do agree that your baby just may not be ready yet, but I also think that eating solids is such a new thing for a baby that they have to get used to it. You may want to wait until your daughter is 6 months and try again. Give it to her at the same time every day (routine), mix it with your breast milk and try mixing with other fruit (apples/pears...). It is important that she learn to eat from a spoon, rather then putting it in the bottle.
I also have to disagree with some of the other posters that breast milk has 'everything' a baby needs until 1 year of life. At about 6 months the baby runs out of the maternal iron stores and that is one of the main reasons that it is recommended to start solids at that time. Not that they get a HUGE amount of iron from solids at first, it's just a start until they are eating more variety and a larger quantity. Keep that in mind if your daughter has a difficult time with solids after the 6th month.
Good luck and be patient. You'll know when she is ready!
E.

First, why did your Doctor suggest that?
Next, your baby is not ready for solids... she is rejecting it right now.
Next, is she able to make chewing motions? Is she able to swallow?

Does she still have her gag-reflex? Or does she gag when any food is in her mouth?
Does she still have her tongue-thrust reflex? If yes, then she is not ready... and she will choke.

Don't force it... feeding solids at this age is ONLY an introduction. For the 1st year of life, a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition is from breastmilk/Formula... NOT solids, and NOT other liquids.
You must STILL be nursing her on demand.

It takes several months sometimes, for a baby to even get the hang of 'eating' solids. A banana, unless mashed up into a puree, is not appropriate for her to "eat"... because she cannot "chew" it.

I think, it is too much, too soon. Naturally you baby will SEEM to take rice cereal from a bottle... because it is still in a "liquid" form. But, just taking it from a spoon... is obviously something she can't do yet.

Your baby is not "picky"... she is only 5 months old, and she is simply not able or not used to what is being given to her. At this young age... a baby will OFTEN 'reject' foods or not be able to eat... because it has to be in line with their development and "readiness" to do so. A baby, will not eat like us adults...
"Generally it is recommended to not offer any solids until 6 months....some babies may do fine a little sooner, some would benefit from waiting even longer. This holds true especially for breastfed babies as some nutrients, such as iron, will not be absorbed as easily if solids are given too soon. Baby's meals will be different from older children and adults. We eat our food with some drink on the side.....babies have their milk as the main meal, with some solids on the side.

When you do start cereal, or any other solid, always offer the breastmilk or formula first. Solids are more of a compliment to the milk and should be introduced gradually. After her milk feed, offer a few baby spoons of the food, see how she does. Introduce one food at a time....for example, cereal for about 5 days, before you would introduce a new food. This way, if she happens to have a reaction or an allergy to a food it will be easier to determine which one caused the problem.
When offering "cereal" it should be a SINGLE grain cereal at first... not a multi-grain.

Over the next few months, she MAY gradually take in more food and less milk, but still offer the breastmilk/formula first as this will be her main source of nutrition for the first year if not longer."

Perhaps, in your posting, you can tell us WHY your Doctor suggested "trying to get her to eat rice cereal." ?????????

All the best,
Susan

I haven't read the other responses so don't know what others have said yet, but really your baby doesn't need to be eating solids yet. Especially if she is breastfed - breastmilk has all the nutrients needed for the first YEAR of life. Solids at this age are just for finding out about textures and tastes, and babies actually shouldn't start on solids until six months of age, not four or five months like many doctors tell you to do. If you start too much too soon she will probably end up constipated and crabby. If she doesn't want to eat, then don't put it in the bottle, she knows her body and what it needs and she'll eat when she's ready. My daughter's first birthday is this week and just in the last couple of weeks she has really started to consume amounts of food that satisfy her hunger and not wanting to nurse six times a day, before this point she has just picked a few bites here and there to taste what I give her - and she is healthy and happy and growing at or ahead of "schedule" - she walks, talks, climbs, plays, sleeps... Just take your time with the food, and follow your baby's lead.

Have you tried rice cereal? I would want something sweet in it too! Every baby is ready for solids at different times. Some signs of readiness are the end of the gag reflex, sitting up, teeth coming in, the pinching ability for picking bits up, and interest. There are lots of variables to a successful session: hunger, mood, taste and texture are important. My first hated baby food; I probably gave him something icky too young. Now I always taste it first to see if it is good and my my fifth loves it (10 months).

Hi! It is still so early. Try again in another month or 2. Sounds like she isn't ready. Read HER cues. Every child is different. Sometimes I think they get nervous and threated by the idea of anything messing with their beloved breastmilk! Be patient and don't force it...the last thing you want is for her to have issues with food. It will come in time. A helpful book I read was The Super Babyfood diet. Great to consult with whenever you have questions like this or if you want to try batch cooking your own baby food.

Forget the drs. forget what other moms say just do what you "want". I did what I wanted and my baby is 11 mo old and eats sushi, garlicky Italian food, salmon baked in pesto ect ect. She also feds her self, has since 5 mo or so, and now used a fork and spoon if we load it for her. My baby will eat almost anything and she will try everything a few times to make sure that she does not like it. so far we don like cottage cheese and cole slaw.
She too would not touch the cereal. I got the organic oatmeal form costco put that and the cereal in the blender and ground it fine like the rice cereal. that got the cereal in her that the drs wanted. then I asked why cereal and they said for the iron. well my baby was eating tons of veggies and foods with iron so we dropped the cereal and kept the oatmeal.
I did start with baby foods one a few days then add one ect but that was a pain so I started moving up the introduction of foods. I was lucky no allergies and that is the only reason you start the new foods one at a time.

For the first mo of food we did not do the cereal until i had a drs apt and they told me to do it. By then by daughter was eating all of the stage one earths best foods so I tried everything like juice and fruit in the cereal. nothing worked like the oatmeal. My daughter loved the berry oatmeal mixed with the rice.

But I will give you one piece of advice. Yes do what you want but do me a favor. Taste everything that you try to give your baby. If you wont eat it I bet neither will she. My daughter has an amazing palate she try's everything and will not eat anything that tastes yucky. Who can blame her neither will I.

Your child will eat when they want, don't force but offer. so you waste some food it is much better than making a picky eater.

BTW- I found that you can put anything in the food processor and make it into baby food. In the beginning I would do that with table food. One thing I found tasty for even me was a stofers skillet meal. I think think I found new yummy stuffing for mushrooms by food processing this one.

good luck and remember you are the mama trust your instincts and do what you think is best.
T.

I didn't start my baby on rice cereal until 6 months old. They don't need it. And you don't give a 5 month old banannas. Thier stomach is not equiped to deal with that.
Good luck!

I'm really surprised that your doctor told you to start feeding her at 5 months, most doctors now know it's better to wait until at least six months. When I started feeding my son a little after 6 months, we started really slowly, and although he was showing all of the signs of being ready, it took him several weeks to start to enjoy eating (he would often make bad faces and only eat a bite or two). Don't force it, she will like food at some point. My son is now 9 and a half months and LOVES food, he will eat anything I give him.

Your baby isn't picky.

The American Acadmey of Pediatrics stand on solids is none before 6 months of age. Not sure why your MD would want your baby on solids sooner than that.

FYI my son didn't take to solids till he was 1 1/2 years old.

My daughter grew teeth, screamed for the food on my plate, grabbed it and shoved it in her mouth and ate with glee at 8 month. My plan for her was to feed her only breast milk till she was a year old, but she had other plans. She has been happily eating solids ever since.

She is letting you know that she is not ready to eat. Babies should not eat anything other than breast milk (or formula) for the first six months. Often babies wait even longer before eating foods. Mine didn't care for anything other than breast milk until she was about 9 months.

Babies know what type of fuel their bodies need... they are not able to digest grains until they are 7 or 8 months old. When your baby is 6 months, try giving her vegetables or fruits.

Geez, don't even worry. At 5 mos. everything can change in a week! Try it again later, like in a couple weeks. Believe me, it'll kick in when it's ready!
Enjoy and don't stress - babies will know!!
M.

Too young, start feeding at 6 months just so they practice swishing it in their mouth. Just try a little every day or every other day. My daughter didn't really start eating until after 6 months old. She's still picky, but at least she eats!

Try waiting another month to feed her solids. You can also just add it to your breastmilk like you already have. I'm surprised your pediatrician is pushing solids at just 5 months. Your baby will let you know when she is ready, so try again later! I also suggest introducing vegies before fruits - sweet potatoes, peas, etc.

both my babies didn't even want to eat until they were almost 8mo. Don't fret. She will let you know when she wants food. wait until at least 6m though and then go one week at a time. don't need to start with cereal either, just end up with a clogged up baby. Look for good first food like avocado and banana and such. Good Luck

Hi T., The bottle is fine, back in the 80's I used an infant feeder for cereal and baby food, until they mastered sucking the food off the spoon. The 4 month old in my Daycare loves her food but she will eat the fruits an vegis off the spoon, but the rice cereal she takes in her bottle, the inportant thing right now is geting the nutritrion in them, keep trying the spoon from time to time, but I believe it's ok to use the bottle, for feeding a 5 month old. J. L.

I only ever gave my kids the cereal mixed with breast milk, formula, or the baby foods that had a runny consistency. This worked for me, so that part isn't a problem. And as for the bananas, try mixing them with another fruit that she likes and see if she'll take them that way.

Babies eat when they are ready. They will start looking longingly at your food and moving their mouth. Even then, it takes a while for them to move their tongue and mouth to actually eat. Many doctors don't recommend cereal until six months. Your daughter isn't picky. She may not be ready.

Baby isn't picky probably just isn't interested yet. I didn't start my 3 kids until they were 6 mths and only one time a day when it worked. My dr just said to start feeding my baby (at our 6 mth appt) 3 times a day! My midwife and I think that is crazy. Her weight is perfect and she's healthy. She's 7 mnth old and just now having an interest in eating, the first month was just a tactile experience for her. Nursing them is the best so don't substitute that for food and don't stress cuz the dr said to try. Just give it time.

Sounds like your baby isn't ready for solids. I wouldn't push her to take more then what you put in her bottle as she doesn't NEED it at this age.

That's the great thing about this age. They don't really "need" the solids. It's all about practice and introducing new flavors and textures. They still get all their nutrition from breastmilk or formula. So don't worry if your daughter doesn't eat any or just prefers to play with it. She's still under 6 months (when most pediatricians recommend beginning solids) so just have fun with it and enjoy the experience with her instead of stressing out about her not eating any.

Maybe she's just not ready. Take your time and don't force it.

I agree w/ the other mom's - maybe she's not ready. I didn't start my son on solids until 6 months and it took awhile until he showed signs of liking it. They eat very little in the beginning too! Mine would eat 1/3 of the small jars of stage 1 food. Like the other mom's said milk/formula is still the main source of food for them until they are a year. Think of solids as "dessert". You are just trying to get them used to different flavors and textures.
My son never really liked rice cereal. Try oatmeal. Oatmeal is supposed to be easier for them to digest than rice cereal.
Feeding is hit or miss at the beginning. Sometimes they just aren't into it and won't eat anything. Don't push...you don't want them to have bad experiences regarding food.
Good luck!

T.,

I started my son on brown rice cereal at 5 1/2 months since he seemed really intereseted in what we were eating. I mixed it up really runny & only mixed about a tablespoon at a time to give him (2X/day). Sometimes he'd only take a bite or two, but it took about a month for him to really be excited to eat. So don't give up, but don't push the issue either. Give her a toy to play with while you're feeding her so she's not bored. I'd wait on the bananas. I went cereal first, then veggies for a while, then fruit.

In my opinion, if you're nursing, she's getting all she needs. As for rice cereal or bananas... just try twice a day with the thought in mind that it's just practicing/learning to eat and not drink. Just make a little and relax and offer... i think that's the best you can do. I think rice cereal in the bottle defeats the purpose.

That's not picky that's to little. Every baby has the age when they are ready for solids. The pediatricians say 5 months but that is the general thing they tell everyone. Relax, your baby will eat when she's ready. Try again in another month. My baby is almost 7 months and not interested yet. It's ok, what the rush anyhow? Is she to thin or something?

That is INCORRECT ADVICE.
Putting cereal in a bottle is dangerous and does Not teach the concept of eating.

First of all find another doctor. That is anti -breastfeeding disinformation sent out by the formula company and the maker of the rice cereal.

Many babies are not ready to eat solids as early as others. Listen to your baby. Breastmilk is the ONLY food needed for now.

Hi T.!

your baby is simply not ready for solids~ Which is TOTALLY FINE!! Solids are not necessarily NEEDED until they're a year old anyway and that 1st year breastmilk is the BEST thing you can give your baby!!! Solids are more of a way to get baby ready to eat foods when they're a year and older so you still have PLENTY of time to start your daughter on solids. She will show you when she's ready!~ Follow her cues... It will all work out!!!

T. if its for breakfast try not to nurse through the night! If your baby wakes at 7am stop nursing at 4am. He needs to be hungry! I have a 10 month old that loves the boobies! But I would nurse all night whenever he wakes! I would try to feed him in the morning and he wouldn't eat that much. So now I don't nurse all night. When he wakes up we go down stairs to eat breakfast. I smash up bananas in his rice cereal with water too not breast milk! I cut some bananas up and put them on his tray to eat himself. (Very small pieces) your baby might be a little young for that though? Watch out with bananas too because they are very binding for babies! When he goes poop they are very formed! So I give him bananas once a week! Hope this info helps! Good luck!

I would just wait...my pediatrician doesn't recommend starting solids until 6 months. Maybe your baby just isn't ready for them...your breastmilk is all your baby needs right now, just go with that and then try again in a few weeks...

-M