6 mo will not eat food and only will bf

[Kazy]

My 6 month old will not eat cereal or any foods. I've tried for awhile now and she isnt having any of it. All 3 of my others did between 4-5 months. Anyone else experience this?

 

[Shandelion]

My son wouldn't touch food until he was over a year old. Hated it, was sure it was poisonous lol. And then, after a year, he was only willing to eat textured food. No purees! But he was and still is a phenomenally well rounded eater, after he started. On the other hand, he still prefers breastfeeding for most calories even at 19 months.

 

[misspriss]

We did BLW with my son, he just played with his food and occasionally tasted (never actually swallowing/eating) until 9-10 months (we started at 5.5 months), didn't actually start eating anything noticeable until over a year!

Every baby is different, and 6 months is just a starting guideline. Lots of babies aren't ready or just don't want to start taking in solids, just follow your baby's lead.

 

[staralfur]

My LO didn't swallow a thing until about 8 months and was still barely eating any solids until around 15 months. Her doctor said it was fine and as long as she was still nursing frequently and seemed to have energy, wasn't losing weight, etc. that it was nothing to be concerned about.

 

[MoldyVoldy]

As long as this is ok with you, you can allow your LO to breastfeed in place of solids. You may need to offer your breast during meal times to make sure they are getting their nutrients because sometimes older babies get distracted playing/observing their worlds that they don't realize they actually are hungry until they are screaming and don't know why

My son ate solids from 5 months onward but not from jars, not at mealtimes, and not even snacks. He would have a bit off of my plate and stop when he wasn't interested anymore...then we would nurse. He was well over a year before he wanted a plate of his own food and even then he nursed multiple times a day. My milk was his sole source of nutrition for 15 months of his life.

 

[Kazy]

Thanks ladies. I guess I only.want to nurse to o e year max but I also don't want to give her formula. But she seems to be satisfied and sleeps 10 hours at night. So I guess it's OK. It's just throwing me off because all three of my others were consistently eating purees by 5 months. And she doesn't like the taste of any of the foods I've tried. I think it may be the texture of it.

 

[_Meep_]

I guess some babies just aren't ready for solids around 6 months, when we all follow general advice and start to introduce them. It doesn't mean that your baby won't ever eat. She just isn't up for it yet.

We introduced solids at 5.5 months. Our baby happily accepted, but to be honest, I think we started too early. For example, she only started properly chewing about a month ago! She's 16 months today.

I returned to this article over and over again when my LO was 12 months and seemed to eat tiny, tiny solid meals and nurse all the time, for nutrition as well as for hydration. I was especially worried about how little fluid she seemed to take in from any source other than the breast.

https://kellymom.com/nutrition/starting-solids/toddler-foods/

It focuses mostly on babies over 12 months but is very reassuring in that it highlights how and why a diet predominantly composed of breastmilk, even at this age, is absolutely fine.

Since our LO hit 14 months, we've seen a sudden massive shift from the breast to food/water. She nurses at most just four times in 24 hours - often less - and is an absolute pig with a plate of food. I'll be surprised if she continues nursing up to 24 months ... but I'm hoping she will.

Don't worry and keep offering tastes of food. Your baby won't exclusively nurse forever.