My 8 month old girl has stopped eating her dinner this week. She is teething (she has 4 top teeth coming in at once), and she just started eating the puffs, but she won't eat her cereal, fruit and veggie at dinnertime; however she will drink her entire bottle. I'm not sure if she's boycotting because she wants what we're eating, or if it's something else. She's also getting over a UTI and has a yeast infection, but acts normally otherwise. You always give such great insight - thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Mine usually stops eating when she is teething. One thing I've been doing lately is to give her something frozen, and then see if she eats her other food. Last night some frozen berries got her eating her whole meal.
We didn't start too much "people" food until about 8 1/2 months with our second. 2 weeks later he wouldn't eat any baby food...he'd only eat things he could feed himself plus his bottle. I swear he decided he didn't like the baby food compared to real food so he just started spitting it out. He eat a lot of regular food so he was clearly hungry, but he refused any type of jarred baby food. It is very possible she is doing something similar...or she could just not be feeling great with the teething and being very picky. I'd see what she does if you try to give her some "people" food...if she eats that then maybe she just doesn't want the jarred stuff anymore. Good Luck!
Hi C.,
Teething might be the culprit. But around 8-9 mos. is a good time to start finger foods. Some babies (my daughter included) are just not that into mush! Cheerios, cut up banana, canned fruit, cooked fruits or veggies are a great place to start.
Best,
R.
You could add some cereal to the milk to make sure her little tummy is full. I imagine it'll get better on it's own too. Soft finger food would be good to try too!
Might be a combo, My son is 6 months and trys to grab our plates. We make his food, but when he is teething he does not eat right..
My kids don't really take to solid food until 10 months. I only give them food they can pick up. it's OK, milk can/should be the major source of nutrition.
My pediatrician recommended a probiotic after taking antibiotics. You could call yours to see if there's a recommended brand. Mine recommended Culturelle, which can be purchased at walgreens.
Sounds like she wants "adult" food, like mashed potatoes, peas, pasta, etc. My kids loved cut up bananas. For food ideas a great book is "Baby Let's Eat" by Rena Coyle, super simple ideas.
Poor baby, well she seems to have a lot of uncomfortable things going on. Her gums are probably sore and drinking is the only comfort at this time. As long as she is getting her calories in she is fine that way. I would offer her small tastes of what you are eating and see if that sparks interest that way. My son never liked baby food and went right to mashed food from my plate. He is completely healthy too.
Hi,
We noticed our daughter doing the exact same thing when she was teething. Not really eating but, drinking her formula. The pediatrician said it was because she is teething and when she starts to eat again the teething has ended.
We now know when she start drinking her milk more and pushing her plate away she is getting a new tooth in and we think it is just too painful to eat so, she will drink her fluids more than eat food.
Hope this helps! Good luck.
My daughter did the same thing when I introduced her to solids. I started putting a little bit of her food on my plate with mine, so she thought she was eating our food. That only worked for a little while though. Now that she's eating solids, she might not like the texture of the baby food. Try getting her some of the ones that have the noodles and stuff in it, just mash it before giving it to her. (some of the veggies in them, mainly peas, are still whole) Or maybe start making her a little serving of what you are having, if she can, and see if she'll take that. But as long as she's taking bottles, she should get passed what she's going thru. It's when she stops taking those too that you have to worry.
