Mostly rejecting spoon & not self-eating.

[tattlebaby]

Hi there..thanks for reading!

I have a question about solids (again..lol) My LO has been EBF since birth and we began solids (purees) at 6 months. She was eating pretty good up until 8 months. Lately she's not willingly eating from the spoon when we try to feed her. I thought this was her signaling to us that perhaps she was ready to self-feed, but yesterday we tried putting some peas and carrots for her on her High-Chair for her to grasp and self-feed but she couldn't. It's like she played around with the food, but could not figure out how to bring the food to her mouth. We tried role-modeling how to do it, nothing. So we ended up feeding it to her one snap pea at a time, which she didn't seem too thrilled about but it was the only way to get her to eat. We later tried with Happy puffs but it was pretty much the same response. She is now 9 1/2 months and everyone keeps telling me that she should be off purees and into more textured foods and that she should be eating 3 solid meals a day + her bottles of breast milk. I can't barely get her to eat 1 solid meal a day so I'm at lost here. I was just getting the hang of Purees and now having to switch to solids seems to be a drag for both her and I, yet I want to so bad. I went in with all of this excited and with such an open mind, but now I'm noticing she seems to be losing weight too ..so I'm concerned. She currently drinks about 24 ounces of breast milk a day and hasn't been introduced to water yet. should she be drinking water now? ..She doesn't seem hungry at the end of the day either, and for the most part, right now, she is a happy and well functioning baby, as long as she gets her 24 ounces of milk and 2 naps throughout the day. She seems to be developmentally on track, she's now sitting up unassisted, crawling, and almost standing. No teeth yet, and for some reason I don't think it could be teething, Idk what to do! PLEASE HELP SOMEONE!!

 

[HBGirl]

I have no advice but I started introducing water with solids. She is still predominently on breast.

 

[tublet]

I don't think anything is wrong at all, just keep going your doing nothing wrong! I would keep putting the finger food out, and you eat with her as well so she can copy she will get the hang of it!

I did start offering water with meals from the start of weaning, my little girl took a while to get the hang of it but now grazes on water all day, and needs water to keep eating otherwise she will stop mid way through

 

[felix555]

It will take weeks before she gets the hang of self feeding, at the start she will just play with the food mostly. Just put it in front of her and she will get there in her own time.

 

[tattlebaby]

Omg..thank you so much guys! Your responses have given me hope. Still should I be freaking out about her not eating? Tomorrow will make 5 days of barely any (solid) food. She's urinating normally, but no stool in 3 days now. The last time she made a stool was when her grandmother became worried and gave in to giving her a baby food pouch. Although it was Organic, I was hoping to stay away from them for as long as I could, especially because they have sugars and sodium... So I'm not really big on the idea of introducing LO to solids with these pouches, let alone give her 3 meals (pouches) a day. What is everyone's take on these baby foods, whether jared or in pouch?? Should I just go along with these?.., but they're so darn expensive too! She apparently didn't give her much of a hard time to eat it, although she seemed to have had diarrhea the rest of that day. She gave her this one..https://www.earthsbest.com/products/product/2392333032

 

[felix555]

Just relax ... To quote a cliche "food before one is just for fun" so milk should still be the main source of nutrition. At that age my lo was mainly self feeding but total what he'd eat a day was very little, a few bites of solid food and then 4 bottles a day.

Pouches and jars, though I never used them, are fine. Get a brand that has no sugar or sodium, there should be plenty choice.

 

[Scout]

I give my daughter the organic fruit and vegi pouches, but not as a meal. I give them to her as a snack, or with a snack and I didn't start until she was a bit older. The ones I give have no added sugar and are unsalted. About the feeding though, you're doing fine. At that age, your little one is still getting all she needs from her milk. My pediatrician told me that food before one year old is just for fun, for baby to play with and experiment; it's not meant to be her nutrition. I gave mine purees and then I'd put finger foods on her tray for her to do with what she wanted. If she didn't want a puree, no big deal. She went thru phases (still does) where she'd eat great and then not so much. They won't let themselves go hungry. I started giving her water in a straw cup around 7/8 months. With that too, I just gave it to her and if she drank, great, and if not I tried again later, but didn't stress about it.

 

[tattlebaby]

I give my daughter the organic fruit and vegi pouches, but not as a meal. I give them to her as a snack, or with a snack and I didn't start until she was a bit older. The ones I give have no added sugar and are unsalted. About the feeding though, you're doing fine. At that age, your little one is still getting all she needs from her milk. My pediatrician told me that food before one year old is just for fun, for baby to play with and experiment; it's not meant to be her nutrition. I gave mine purees and then I'd put finger foods on her tray for her to do with what she wanted. If she didn't want a puree, no big deal. She went thru phases (still does) where she'd eat great and then not so much. They won't let themselves go hungry. I started giving her water in a straw cup around 7/8 months. With that too, I just gave it to her and if she drank, great, and if not I tried again later, but didn't stress about it.

Thanks! Would you mind sharing what for pouches you use?

 

[tattlebaby]

Just relax ... To quote a cliche "food before one is just for fun" so milk should still be the main source of nutrition. At that age my lo was mainly self feeding but total what he'd eat a day was very little, a few bites of solid food and then 4 bottles a day.

Pouches and jars, though I never used them, are fine. Get a brand that has no sugar or sodium, there should be plenty choice.

Thank you so much! Yes funny, I keep reminding myself of this same quote "food before one is just for fun". But its just hard when all you hear and see online are baby "finger foods" meant for 8-12 moth olds. The menus I've came across are out of this world. And I'm just here like still introducing new fruits and veggies to her one at a time..lol. I even heard of 10 months old already on meats and yogurt. Now I just gotta figure out other tiny finger foods for her to try or even what I can do to make things tastier for her, maybe thats what it is.

 

[tattlebaby]

I also read somewhere that babies are ready for finger foods when they have a good thumb and fore finger grasp. As I was watching her today, I notice she still sort of picks things up with her palm, not yet really with her thumb/fore finger. Wondering what I could do to help her develop that skill.

 

[Chickensoup85]

Food shaped like chips (fries?!) should help her pick up food without the need for a good pincer grip. They should be long enough that a bit pokes out the top of her hand. She'll get the hang of it! Have a look at https://www.babyledweaning.com/some-tips-to-get-you-started/ It might help to reassure you a little.

 

[felix555]

I also read somewhere that babies are ready for finger foods when they have a good thumb and fore finger grasp. As I was watching her today, I notice she still sort of picks things up with her palm, not yet really with her thumb/fore finger. Wondering what I could do to help her develop that skill.

Just practice will help with that.

Hmm let me try remember ...

Try for breakfasts toast fingers with butter

Lunch and dinner

Cheese omelettes cut into strips
Tofu stick fried
Steamed broccoli or cauliflower
Steamed carrot battons


Snacks
Whole banana
Rice cakes spread with hummus

My mind is a bit blank!

 

[SarahBear]

(only read first post), I'd focus on making sure that the foods she is getting are iron rich, because being breast-fed, she's out of iron stores and needs an outside source to avoid becoming anemic. She will increase her solid intake at her own pace, so as long as she's getting iron, I wouldn't worry about whether she's getting a certain amount of solids in a day.

 

[tattlebaby]

Yes..THANK YOU! You know the reason why I'm having a very hard time with all of this is because of my mother-in-law believe it or not. I wanted to go the BLW route from the beginning, but she was terrified of LO choking, so she admitted to me that she couldn't possibly risk that. That she was very sorry but that perhaps we could do some sort of combination feeding, like (purees with her) and (solids in the evenings when she is with me). Plus, DH was not buying into the idea of the BLW, mostly because my mother in law got him thinking the same way. So I had to give up the idea and I've been sticking with purees because of this. With that being said, even the ideas you guys are mentioning I would have to cut up into extremely tiny pieces in order to get my mother in law, hubby, and father in law to feed her for me while I'm away. I will consider all of your options though as they are excellent choices. Just have to figure out how to cut everything up extra-extra-extra small…LOL

 

[SarahBear]

Cutting up extra small doesn't lend itself well to BLW unless she has the pincer grasp. I personally thought BLW was a bit dogmatic and went with what just made sense to me which involved helping her eat and not just relying on self-feeding. I also didn't wait until she could sit. I did skip the purees though.

 

[tattlebaby]

(only read first post), I'd focus on making sure that the foods she is getting are iron rich, because being breast-fed, she's out of iron stores and needs an outside source to avoid becoming anemic. She will increase her solid intake at her own pace, so as long as she's getting iron, I wouldn't worry about whether she's getting a certain amount of solids in a day.

Excellent advice..Thank you!

 

[tattlebaby]

I have another solids question, for anyone who knows, please. I understand that when introducing solids to baby, one must introduce foods one at a time to watch out for any allergies. 4-5 days is what my doc suggested. But we're already now at 9 months and baby really only knows a handful of veggies and fruits. How should I go about introducing meats (chicken, beef, and fish) pastas, and beans? And if she's hardly been eating solids and my breast milk doesn't provide Iron, then my guess is that she must be running low in Iron, so I don't want to waste anymore time on more random fruits/veggies. What do you guys think?

 

[SarahBear]

That advice is outdated. If there are no food sensitivities in the family and you don't currently have any reason to suspect sensitivities, it's OK to go forward with foods. If issues arise, it's a good idea to back off and then re-introduce slowly. As for meats, I would recommend introducing liver first. It's really high in iron and has a very easy texture to eat. Even if you think it's disgusting, your baby might not care. The average baby doesn't really care about flavors of foods and eats mostly for texture. When you do introduce other meats, they can eat it pretty well, even with out teeth, if you cut it against the grain so that it's not stringy. You can cut up pretty much any meat for a baby as long as it's not over-cooked and dried out. Fish is also an excellent meat as the texture is soft and easily falls apart. When Violet first started eating, the level at which she liked a food, was generally related to how close it was to meat. Meat was her favorite, followed by eggs, then cheese, then avocado and banana, and other fruits and veggies ranked pretty low. We didn't do any grains until after a year.

 

[tattlebaby]

That advice is outdated. If there are no food sensitivities in the family and you don't currently have any reason to suspect sensitivities, it's OK to go forward with foods. If issues arise, it's a good idea to back off and then re-introduce slowly. As for meats, I would recommend introducing liver first. It's really high in iron and has a very easy texture to eat. Even if you think it's disgusting, your baby might not care. The average baby doesn't really care about flavors of foods and eats mostly for texture. When you do introduce other meats, they can eat it pretty well, even with out teeth, if you cut it against the grain so that it's not stringy. You can cut up pretty much any meat for a baby as long as it's not over-cooked and dried out. Fish is also an excellent meat as the texture is soft and easily falls apart. When Violet first started eating, the level at which she liked a food, was generally related to how close it was to meat. Meat was her favorite, followed by eggs, then cheese, then avocado and banana, and other fruits and veggies ranked pretty low. We didn't do any grains until after a year.

Oh I see. Did you use any flavorings in your meats? Like herbs? for flavor. What is the best way to cook meats for baby?

 

[MindUtopia]

That all sounds perfectly fine. They don't need food for calories and nutrition until a year and she really should be getting most of her calories as well as hydration from milk. Food is just for fun and exploration. You probably need to start off with foods that are easier for her to pick up - try cucumber sticks, a 1/3 of a banana, half a nectarine, some big chunky pieces of pasta (think like the giant penne), a strip of roasted chicken, toast fingers, etc. They can pick up peas and blueberries once they develop their pincer grip, but that takes time and practice. I wouldn't expect it to happen right away. You might have a look at the Finger Foods thread or look up some baby-led weaning recipes. Our daughter started at 6 months (her first meal was roasted parsnip and carrot sticks, mashed potato and a yorkshire pudding), but she didn't develop a really confident pincer grip until 8-9 months and wasn't eating in any real quantity until 9-10 months. It takes time! Especially if she has to re-learn a new way of eating, which finger foods are for her. Just think about things that are easy for her to pick up and give her time to play. Don't cut up her food really small. It will make it so hard for her to eat. The reality is she's almost a toddler. She will need to start eating real foods soon, even if you delay it a month or so, the recommendation is usually from around 8 months, even if you started with purees. Your partner and your MIL just have to get on board and accept that she can't be on purees til she's 5 because they can't deal with it. It's for her benefit and it's what all kids her age are starting to do. Seek advice from your HV or GP if you need support to get them to come around to it. Keep feeding her milk on demand. She'll be fine. It's just a process. All baby animals start on milk and then naturally wean to solid foods. Baby cows and baby monkeys don't choke and they don't struggle to make the transition. It's natural. It will happen.

Oh, and you can literally give her anything you would eat yourself minus added salt, sugar, honey (until age 1) and whole nuts (they are a choking hazard until much later). So however you would cook something, you can make it for her, assuming it's not covered in salt or sugar. If you use herbs and seasonings on meat, then you'll do the same for her (really, it's the same food, no need to make something special). Our daughter's first meal was parsnips and carrots roasted with garlic, rosemary and sage. She loved it!