Feeding Solids to My 7 Month Old

Did you try mixing the formula with the rice cereal so she has a familiar taste? That worked with my youngest one. I also mixed some of the sweeter baby food in with the rice cereal... Good luck and just be patient...A.

Hi J.,
Relax with lil Nora, if she's hungry she will eat. Butttt, my son when he was starting out eating he too would not eat from a spoon so i went out and found a feeding bottle and put the cereals, fruits and veggies in that and he ate just fine, so you might want to try to find one of those feeding bottles and i bet she'll eat our of that.. Hope that helps and works for you..
J.

I am a mother of a almost 3 yr old and a daycare provider! My own son had problems with switching to "real" food as did one of my daycare kids!
It takes at least 10 -14 trys for them to get to like a food! I would just keep giving her stuff that you eat and let her see you eat! We used to pull his highchair right up to the table and we gave him everything that we had to eat! He would also gag, but after awhile he just caught on! Now my daycare kid...never liked baby food and would do the same things....gag, not eat, cry the whole lunch time! With him...I just chopped up what the other kids were eating and fed him with a fork! He also did gag, but that is a reflex that most kids will have! Just keep trying and hang in there! She will get it! I think that it is more frustrating for us then it is for them. I hope this helped a little!

I found out that mixing a little fruit like applesauce with a veg. works. make sure you don't put too much on the spoon when you feed her that way she wont gag. Also don't worry she will not starve when she wants to eat that's when you give her the solid foods if she refuses then give her the formula. I had a picky child and once I found out what she liked she was yelling at me to feed her faster (she is 5 now) don't give you baby girl will come around just keep trying new things mix them up and see what happens. Hope I've helped you.

J.,
I posted a while back about my son doing the same thing. Although he would eat the jarred food, he gaged on cereals, lumpy, thick or chunky food. He also will not eat puffs, cheerios or anything that has to be chewed. It takes time and while we want our children to eat solids because its fun, dont force it. My son still gags and I get frustrated but never force him to eat. Just in the last few days he has started eating the "baby" size goldfish. We have to make sure it stays near his front teeth and never get back to far in his mouth.
We also tried one of those mesh feeding bags (I got a cheap one at walmart) the bag never needs to be changed, just washed. I put a slice of an apple in it and he loves that because the chunks dont get in his mouth. You can put just about anything in it. Also try the zwiebeck toast and the biter biscuits, while pieces can still get in there mouths, it easily dissolves for them, she may still gag but show her to chew. We literally have to put food in our mouths and chew with our mouths open to show max how to get the food into smaller, dissolvable bites.
Hang in there, and make sure if she doesnt eat, to give her lots of milk (formula). This still is the best thing for her anyway. Please contact me if you need more advice or have questions.

Hi J.. I would highly recommend a book by Ruth Yaron called: "Super Baby Food". As I first time Mom I didn't know where to start when it came to feeding my little girls solids. This book was absolutely amazing. (Some reviews emphasize the author's "foibles" and pet hates. Put those aside and concentrate on the how/when/what and how much.) Not only did it tell me when to introduce different foods, it also saved us a TON of money. It seemed overwhelming at first, but once I got into it, it was really easy. What I found most helpful was that she said your daughter's #1 food source is breast milk/formula, until she is nine or ten months. Prior to that, solids are just a "look what I have, would you like to try some"! I give this book as a shower present, and will continue to do so. Good luck and e-mail me if you have questions. B..

i think you started sorta late...i think my kids at 7 months were trying table food that was soft or mushed up....like soft mac and cheese etc....try some soft table food.even jello or mashed potatos w/gravy

I would say She will do it when she is ready. my 10 month old wanted nothing to do with it until about 8 months. We would offer it and get him to eat a few bites then he would do the same thing. and start gaging and stuff. Now if he sees a baby food Jar or plastic cup he starts squelling and if gets close enough trys to grab it and stick his fingers in it. We can't get the food to his mouth fast enough. I think she may just not be interested yet. But soon she will know that it is good stuff! at least for babys! :) As for table food. I know my son gets a very upset tummy when he gets anything normal. I gave him part of a baked potato all mashed up one day and he screemed all night. Some babies can eat it sooner that others. I would make sure she is eating lots of the baby food before you try anything else.

Try making her 'solid' food more liquid. for example mixing the sweet potato with formula and feeding it to her with a spoon. You know she likes formula so it will introduce a new taste without being too overwhelming. Good luck!
R.

My son also had a horrible gag reflex when he would eat (I believe he got it from me). It has gotten so much better. I found that certain foods were worse than others. Like peas were super hard to feed him. Rice cereal was also hard. I agree with the advice on making it more watery. And I also found that I had to do little bites. I felt like feeding time was going to take forever, but the minute I tried to give a decent (baby) size bite we were right back to gagging. Even with making it watery he would gag off and on, but it at least wasn't as bad - a couple times he gaged so much he threw up. Hang in there, it does get better.

I'd give it more time. My experience is that the gag reflex is either the taste is so aweful that she can't swallow it, or she is lacking alot of muscle control to swallow, either way, the food sort of runs down the throat and the gag reflex comes into play. The quantity will greaten as she gets used to swallowing it. Sounds like she's getting plenty with the formula so the more you wean back on the liquid diet, she will end up needing to take more solids in. But, don't rush it...she needs a balance and she's still young enough to need alot of liquids. Try letting her play it in a little. Kids like to put their fingers in their mouths and it's a good way to show them that they can eat with her fingers if she wants to. The teaching manners will come later. Try Zweibak (spelling?) Crackers. (They're in the babyfood isle) They are too hard that she will not be able to bite any off, but they are great for kids to be able to dip into food, or suck on and they make kindof a mushy mess, but it's a great way to get your little one intersted in feeding herself and taking on more foods. Good luck, and try not to worry. My daughter didn't eat anything but sweet potato's, carrots and breastmilk for a while...we all thought she had a nice skin tone to her, but it turns out she was a little orange from the orange food. We chose our battles...either she's orange and eats good, or she's not orange and doesn't eat good at all. So, she stayed orange for a while and grew out of it when she advanced her pallet.

I would try different types of food. These might not be what she really likes and she may have orginally responded because it was something different. Try lessening the amount of formula. EX: take away one of the bottles and put in its place some solids mixed with a little formula.
You can always try cheerios or those cookie sticks to see if she likes those. Once they discover something they really like there is not much that can hold them back.

Try pears!

Hi J.,
When my son was an infant, I could not, for the life of me get him to eat solids. I tried all the things you mentioned. I spoke with our doctor and she told us as long as he was taking in formula (milk when older), then he was getting everything he needed. I would say continue to offer solids, but don't stress if she doesn't seem into it yet. My son started to eat solids on a consistent basis around 13-14 months. He was very picky until recently. Now I can't get him to stop eating! :) Good luck!!!

J.,

I would not stress over the eating. When she is ready she will start eating the food your give her.

Hi J. -

sounds like we have similar daughters. Mine is going on ten months and she was very simiar in that she didn't like rice cereal or any pureed foods (I found out). I tried all kinds of flavors and then found out she LOVED to munch on more solid foods like pasta - go figure! I'm not sure if it was the texture, taste or the act of actually chewing that she loved about it, but I guess I'm saying to not worry. She will be fine. Give it some time (as I was often told) and she will find her way to solid foods. Definitely, I wouldn't give up on formula and try to stay within the recommended amounts based on her age and weight, but otherwise, if she's not losing weight and is a perfectly happy baby - you can relax...just like me!