…except FOOD.
We’ve tried oat cereal, rice cereal, sweet potato, avocado, pear, banana and baby Mum Mum (which actually is the only food stuff he will eat…maybe because he can feed it to himself?) I know that he really only needs mamas milk for the first year to maintain growth and development. However, I would like him to LIKE to eat!! Day after day beginning last week, we sit together at the table twice a day. He enjoys the “BRRRR” of the airplane. He smiles at the “AAHHH AAHHHH, OPEN, AAHHH.” He giggles with the “BOP, BOP, BOP” of the spoon on his mouth–that sealed shut little mouth:)
So, I do as any smart mother would do. I give him a toy, usually a teething ring, and as soon as it heads for the wide open mouth, I pull a fast one on him and replace it with the spoon full of oat-y banana-y goodness. He looks a little surprised, gums and then swallows (the pears usually elicit a small shudder at this point.)
Any suggestions?
7 Comments
So my Doctor told me that a sure fire way to know they are ready to eat solid food is if they open their mouth for it and don't spit it out. My guess is that he is just not ready yet. My friend's baby just started eating solid food and she is 8 months old. She had been trying to get her to eat it since 4 months and she just refused.
So that is all the advice I have. I don't know what else you could do since Hobbes was ready to start eating at 4 months. We didn't start him until 5 months though and he just eats and eats.
I think you will just have to wait until Milo is ready. Babies do what they want.
We just started feeding Beckham rice cereal a couple of days ago and it seems more of it ends up on his bib than in his tummy. He spits most of it out. I guess I'll just keep trying. Hey I have a bib that looks just like that one Milo is wearing.
Sounds like he's not ready. No rush! Once they start eating, they don't stop and then you get to clean up high chairs for the next 5 years – at least 2x per day! Sadie has been eyeballing food and watching it go to our mouths, and she opens hers when any food comes near her, so dr. encouraged us to begin food. We did, and she loves it. Milo will be ready soon, I'm sure (especially if he's anything like his daddy – did you know Dave ate an entire loaf of french toast at a cousin sleepover once?)
p.s. we need to plan a visit
Adam and I always made fun of each other when we fed Caroline because you must make sure you open wide and then take a bite, just as the baby does. If you or Dave spot each other doing that (which I am sure you will) you will be on the floor laughing…if this makes sense of course. Did you make that bib? I bet so, it's darling
Here's my two cents: keep offering him food. Maybe he's not ready (you certainly could take a break and come back to it later), but when he is, he may still take a while to get used to the idea of eating out of a spoon– and eating food that's not milk. They say that it can take 5 to 25 exposures to a given food before a kid will eat it (okay, I made up the numbers, but it was something like that). Welcome to the wonderful world of feeding children! (I am being both sincere and facetious when I say that).
It could be that he's not ready or that he isn't hungry when you try. Try a different time of day. Also, try some spices if it's the food he doesn't seem to like. Use spices you eat a lot of normally (because it will be in your breast milk and he will be used to the flavor). We used a little bit of garlic with Eamon's squash and he LOVED it–just goes to show how much garlic I must eat. Also good is cinnamon. I'll send you the link to a good website.
Kallyn didn't start eating solid foods untill her teeth came in, but then it was only food that se could feed herself-Cheerios, gerber puffs, peas, corn, and I would cook cubes of squash and carrots till they were super soggy and she'd make a mess, but she liked eating them!! Brielle on the other hand will eat anything you put on a spoon!
It's fun for mommy when a baby hits those milestones, but remember that he'll steo up when he's ready, before you know it he won't need mommies milk anymore-take advantage of it now!