Feeding a 6mo when he 'hates' solids
Oh, wise urbanMamas, can you share some of your experiences with introducing solids to your childrens' diets? Vivian emails:
We're trying to transition into solid foods with my 6 mo son -- cereals, pureed fruits, etc. -- as it is definitely time and i notice that i sometimes have trouble keeping up with him in terms of supply and demand... one problem: he has decided that he categorically HATES all solid food. This is not just 'eeewww, this is a weird texture' or something, he really flips, and this from one of the most mild-mannered little guys around. It has gotten so that he clams up whenever he sees something approaching his mouth, even though we've tried to keep our attempts low-pressure and light-hearted. Normally, I'd be very into just letting him do it in his own time, but his doctor says he needs the extra iron, and I certainly need the help in feeding this little bottomless pit! Has anyone encountered such things? do you recommend any really 'big winners' in the baby food department? Or should I just work on really increasing my milk supply right now and waiting until he decides to make the step himself? Thank you so much for any ideas at all!
My son didn't like solids at six months, either. I continued to exclusively breastfeed him for another couple months, then introduced solids. He especially like sweet potato, which I just baked and mashed through a sieve (freezing extra in ice cube trays). He pretty much lived on breastmilk and sweet potatoes, with occasional carrots and mashed potatoes from 8 to 10 months. Those were the only things I could get him to eat at all. Then he finally decided to like more things and now at 17 months, he eats pretty much everything we eat.
I was concerned about my supply, too. In addition to my regular maternal support supplement (Vitanica's Maternal Symmetry), I took Vitanica's Lactation Blend and 500 additional mg of fenugreek seed. This definitely helped my supply. I think I only took those for about 3 months.
As for the iron issue...babies more readily absorb iron from breastmilk than from any other source. Unfortunately, many doctors are still advising moms to supplement their breastfed babies based on research done on formula-fed babies, who apparently DO need iron supplementation. Research has shown that healthy, full-term breastfed infants who are exclusively breastfed for 6-9 months maintain normal hemoglobin values and normal iron stores until one year of age. One study concluded "that babies who were exclusively breastfed for 7 months (and were not give iron supplements or iron-fortified cereals) had significantly higher hemoglobin levels at one year than breastfed babies who received solid foods earlier than seven months. The researchers found no cases of anemia within the first year in babies breastfed exclusively for seven months and concluded that breastfeeding exclusively for seven months reduces the risk of anemia." (Quoted from Kelly Mom http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html.)
When in doubt about how to best care for myself and my kids, I try to imagine what our ancestors did. I doubt busy hunter-gatherer moms pureed baby food for their toothless six-month-olds, but waited until their babies had enough teeth to mash their own food. The very fact that babies don't have enough teeth to do that until late in the first year suggests to me that nature/evolution has made sure that they'll be perfectly healthy on a diet of breastmilk alone 'til then.
Posted by: Chris | July 07, 2007 at 06:57 AM
That link to Kelly Mom doesn't work. Try this instead:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html
Posted by: Chris | July 07, 2007 at 06:59 AM
wow! great info, and it only seconds my feeling that grains are harder to start digesting right away anyway...thanks!
Posted by: vivian | July 07, 2007 at 07:39 AM
My third kiddo similarly has not been interested in solids, especially traditional cereals and baby foods. At eleven months she now enjoys snacking on solids, but still gets the majority of her food intake from mom. She's a big baby, so I haven't worried about it; I'm more concerned about ever getting her to wean!
Posted by: Kristi | July 07, 2007 at 10:37 AM
It sounds like he's not really ready for solids yet. I've discovered that when Nico became ready, he was ready. Before that time, getting him to eat was a struggle. Now, finally, at 25 months he is starting to eat regularly and enthusiastically. Hang in there! Your breastmilk is perfectly adequate and wonderful for a long time.
Posted by: sara | July 07, 2007 at 12:54 PM
I agree with the other mamas. No food is going to be better than your breastmilk at this point, and you can keep taking supplements if you really think iron is an issue. My babe didn't really even try solids until he was 1! He didn't hate them, just had absolutely no interest. :)
Posted by: Sadie Rose | July 07, 2007 at 01:39 PM
Remember, too, that while formula isn't as good as breastmilk, it's not poison. If your doctor thinks the babe needs iron, it might be worth it to mix a little iron supplemented formula into a bottle of breastmilk, if he takes bottles at all. I'd trust your bady and your instincts - if you think he's telling you he's not ready, you're probably right. You're probably already doing this, but just in case - next time you give it a go with something like avocado or whatever (avocado was a big winner for us), mix it with lots of your own milk.
There's a really good book called something like Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense that covers nipple feeding and the transition to solids. I really admire this book, and I think you might find good information there.
Posted by: catmom | July 07, 2007 at 02:08 PM
I don't have much new here but I agree: going without solids won't be the end of the world. Everett wouldn't touch pureed baby food (he *still* won't eat most mushy stuff, at five -- no mashed potatoes, no applesauce), although he happily would nosh on french bread, or potato chips, or french fries. and a carb lover was born :)
every baby has his or her own sense of what's good food, and my learning after two babies: it's not mama's fault, and worrying about it too much will only make you crazy. I'm a little surprised that your pediatrician is so focused on the iron at this age.
fenugreek is great, I used it too with Everett and it really helped increase my supply.
Posted by: sarah gilbert | July 07, 2007 at 03:03 PM
I second the idea that your baby might not be ready for solid food. Our son hated baby food and would cry and turn his head every time - and only really started eating when he was able to pick finger food up himself. So every baby is different.
Our pediatrician gave us some questionable nutritional advice and sent me into a panic that he wasn't getting enough food.
This book helped me a LOT! Made me calm down and realize that he was just on his own timeline and that my breastmilk was enough:
My Child Won't Eat! How to Prevent & Solve the Problem by Dr. Carlos Gonzalez (published by LaLeche League International and available on Amazon).
For the low iron issue, you could also just try an iron supplement (comes in a liquid form with a prescription from the doctor).
Posted by: scotti | July 07, 2007 at 07:00 PM
While I do agree that formula is not poison, according to research iron supplementation/iron-fortified foods can negatively impact a breastfed infant's ability to absorb iron and zinc, cause digestive upsets, and even slow growth. (The page on iron at Kelly Mom cites the various studies.)
Posted by: Chris | July 07, 2007 at 10:55 PM
I just went through this with my son. After reading the KellyMom.com site I finally relaxed. At 6 months he was not interested in solids so I would try offering foods every few days, he would take a bite and then turn away. I would wait several days before offering solids again and exclusively breastfeed.
Finally something clicked with the pears last week (he is 9 months now!). So now I am introducing other foods (again) with pears. I'm mixing pears in with other foods. The first few bites with more pear than other foods and then more other food than pear. I work it in slowly. It is going much better! Even so, he is still only taking a couple tablespoons of solid foods.
I highly recommend Ellen Satters book "This Child of Mine". What she describes are the roles that the parent and child have in feeding which will foster long term feeding habits. I was tempted to just shove food in his mouth, but realized this would violate my role as a parent. The parents role being to "offer food" the childs role being to "decide whether and how much he wants to eat". She has a great section on feeding agendas on the part of parents.
If you are really concerned about iron, I would check to see if there are other ways of giving iron than by pushing the spoon feeding. I personally would consider offering liquid supplements offered with a dropper before I would interfere in his development of choosing to eat solids.
Hope things go well! Hang in there!
Posted by: Kristi | July 08, 2007 at 09:00 AM
I just went through the introduction to solids with my daughter. I agree that maybe he just doesn't want them right now - but if you want to keep up the routine of having him in his high chair at the family dinner table, etc, just put extremely soft stuff on the tray and forget the spoon. My daughter went through a brief phase where she would only eat what she picked up herself (cooked pears, mashed avocado, millet puffed cereal which is tiny and sticks to little hands and dissolves in the mouth easily). In fact, I recently read a study that said self-feeding was the best way to go and purees weren't at all necessary ... can't find the link right now, but I'm sure you could google it. Good luck and have fun with the next steps!
Posted by: Amy3 | July 08, 2007 at 07:53 PM
My daughter would make this awful hacking sound if I ever put solid food in her mouth. She would keep gagging and gagging until it dribbled out down her chin. She did this until she was about 11 months old. I think the first food I got her to eat was ground beef. I would season it with a bunch of garlic and chili powder and put it in a pile in front of her and she would grab it by the handful and stuff it in her mouth. The key issue for her though, was that she really wanted to feed herself. If your baby is on breast milk I'm sure he'll be fine:-)
Posted by: Michelle | July 09, 2007 at 03:09 PM
My daughter was also slow to take to solids (she was 6.5 weeks early). I think she was about 7.5 months old when she finally started liking them. At this point, I was supplementing with formula (I was exclusively pumping with her and my supply wasn't cutting it). I don't have much advice, we just waited it out, trying stuff now and then and not pushing it. But when she started eating solids - look out! She really started eating. I seem to recall we had a limited period of time in the puree stuff, she wanted the real food!
Good luck.
Posted by: PDX Mama | July 09, 2007 at 04:30 PM
This is late, but the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends exclusively breastfeeding for AT LEAST six months.
My daughter refused solids until around 7-8 months. And now , at one year, she just came off of a food-strike. She refused solids for ten days, and nursed exclusively. She was sick... I just figured that she knew what she needed.
You sound more than confidant in your ability to nourish your child.
Sometimes, if you aren't sure of your pediatrics advice,but you want to follow it, to be on the safe side...... Getting a second opinion from another doctor or naturopath can be helpful.
Posted by: Lea | November 16, 2007 at 05:20 PM