My pediatrician suggested I start giving my 5.5 month old some solids. I tried giving him some rice cereal, but he's either spitting it out because he doesn't like it (he makes a frowny face so I'm guessing he doesn't like the taste) OR he's not swallowing because he doesn't know how -- I can't really tell. Do I just keep offering it until he eventually takes it? So far, I've tried giving him rice cereal and stage 1 mango. He didn't eat either. I'm getting really discouraged. Everything has been an uphill battle with him so far -- sleeping, solids, formula and bottles, and pooping. Oh, and I've tried preparing the rice cereal with formula, breastmilk, and water. Nothing worked.
I feel like a first time mom asking this question. I thought all babies would just start eating solids when offered around six months because that's what my daughter did. The idea that he could refuse solids never crossed my mind. My daughter ate everything I offered -- even the veggie ones that I thought tasted nasty. So I have no idea what to do. If you or someone you know have gone through something similar, what did you do to get them to eat solids?
In response to Diane...He went through a period a few weeks ago when he started feeding significantly more. My supply couldn't keep up and he was constantly frustrated so I reluctantly started supplementing. I had to try a number of formula before finding the one he liked. He was taking it fine when one day, he just stopped taking it. At that time he also stopped feeding from me. One day, he took 2 oz. every 6 hours. He had obviously lost weight because his clothes were getting loose. So the doctor suggested we start solids. He hates the bottle even when he's fed breastmilk from the bottle. And formula causes digestive issues and he doesn't seem to like the taste. I am supplementing with formula because I work and also because I don't have the supply.
My girls never ate baby food. They didn't appear to like it and they both loved breast milk. They went straight to table food at a year without any issues. Don't worry or stress over this. All nutritional needs are met from BM or formula.
It has been a LONG time since I had an infant (I am VERY OLD)...but one of my youngest (twins) was tube fed for a LOT of years. Still, I would seat her at the table with sibs, give her food, and let her have at it. We tried to focus more on the 'social' aspects of eating.
At this point (and through at least a year of age) the primary source of nutrition should be breast milk or formula.
I would continue to present the cereal and fruit, but really all the baby is doing at this point is trying to learn to manage the vastly different texture of more solid food. Let him play with it...talk and socialize...plan a good bath after...and don't sweat it!
Best
I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time. I know you were trying to pump is he taking that milk in a bottle or no?
If he won't take the breastmilk in the bottle, then I would dilute the cereal in the bm so it's very very thin and see if he can swallow it from a spoon. If he will then you can gradually make it thicker over time.
If he is taking all the bm in a bottle and you don't want to spare any of it for the cereal, you could make the cereal with water or juice since I remember that he was reacting badly to formula.
I know your supply is low so always nurse first and offer solids after. This will help with your supply plus bm has more nutrition than solids so you'll get more calories into him that way.
Good luck!
Our son didn't take to solids till just before his first birthday.
My milk dried up at about 5 months so we did formula until he was ready for solids.
The motion they use to suck on a bottle or breast is very different from how we chew and swallow - that's why their tongue pushes food out their mouth.
Keep trying with the formula after trying with the solids.
It's possible he'll make the adjustment to formula sooner than solids.
Sometimes it's a texture thing, not just a taste thing. They really don't know what to do with something that comes to them via spoon vs. bottle/breast. They also have to figure out the tongue motion, which doesn't happen with liquid (formula, breast milk) when they are tilted back and gravity does a lot of the work. But your child sounds like he has a lot of trouble with a lot of sensations and other "basics" that some kids just seem to take to.
So, what is the reason for introducing solids? Is he underweight? Fighting you on the bottle? Constipated? What happens when he goes back and forth from formula to breast milk? Are you supplementing with formula because you don't have much milk, or because you are working, or because he needs to be fed by others and pumping doesn't work? Those are all valid considerations but it might help to understand what the goal and motivation is.
If it's important to introduce them now and you feel you need to keep going, then I would really dilute the cereal with mostly formula or breast milk so it's really thinned out. I used formula, and then I mixed with some baby fruit. I know it's frustrating when you open a jar of baby food (such as the stage 1 mango) and he doesn't want it. You hesitate to keep opening jars to find a flavor he likes, if it's going to be wasted. But you don't know if he would take to it if you tried it a few times. If you can find a time when he's really hungry and also really relaxed and in a good mood, and if you can put a smile on your face and make him think this is all super fun vs. a source of stress for you, it MIGHT help. But he may just have a thing with texture and it takes time. You can also set the whole thing aside for a week and try again later - unless there's a reason that you need to really accelerate this. I had to put mine on cereal and fruit at 4 months and it wasn't a breeze but for us baby applesauce and pears mixed with cereal and formula worked best. My son just didn't really know what to do with the tongue though - but it helped if we didn't put much in at a time. We also fed him in our arms or the infant seat so he was tilted back - which was okay because the cereal was really diluted and liquidy. But he always had a texture problem especially later when we got out of the pureed stuff and into the stage 2 foods with more pieces in them. He wasn't a fan. So maybe your son just is going to take a while with that. (Mine was also a lousy sleeper, like yours - and that just made me super cranky. So I sympathize!!)
I skipped rice cereal with 2 of mine and wish I had skipped it with my first because it was a bad idea.
Solids before the age of 1 are for nothing but practice, not for nutrition. Breast milk or formula should be where nearly all nutrition comes from.
All 3 of mine took to solids at different ages. I had one that skipped baby food and went straight to finger foods. I had one that baby food was very short lived. I had one that would have happily eaten baby food long after he graduated to the next levels and could eat a full meal on his plate.
It takes some kids longer to outgrow the tongue thrust that makes them spit everything out. I would stop and come back to it in a month. I would also skip the rice cereal completely and try something better like sweet potato or even small cut up bits of avocado or something similar.
edited to address ETA. since he doesn't like solids OR the bottle, there may be more to the story. does he have reflux or something else going on that may make feeding time unpleasant?
that's a pickle!
i wonder if it would help if you changed up the delivery. maybe even let him play in a bowl of rice cereal and breastmilk and taste it off his fingers, if you can bear the mess. or put it in a sippy cup and help him with it.
khairete
S.
get with a lactation consultant.
my daughter never wanted baby cereal or baby food. she would spit it out or refuse it. she refused a bottle as well. only wanted breastmilk directly from the breast. when it was time to start solids we took it slow and i let her eat real foods im a mesh feeder. she would only eat if i let her self feed.
you NEED to get your supply back. its hard to do but if thats what baby wants that thats what you need to do to feed your child. la-leche-league is another great resource for the breastfeeding mother.
Here's the thing. For babies without feeding issues, the peds usually say to start solids at 6 months. Now, back when I had babies, they said to start feeding solids at 4 months. So, it's not true that babies can't digest food sooner than 6 months. My kids and all the rest of them did just fine.
Ever so often, the pediatricians change their minds because of new research, etc, etc, and they decide to do things differently. They usually have good reasons. Fine. We change how we do things. But that doesn't mean that all the babies who were fed at 4 months old were hurt by it.
Now, your baby has some issues going on and I don't think you even know why. That's hard. It would be great if you're peds would figure this out. Meanwhile, try the idea I gave you in your other question, putting rice in the bottle. It is true that starting solids means teaching a baby to eat, and sometimes they get more food all over their face than in their mouth. That's why putting the cereal in the bottle might be more helpful.
Your baby needs formula, and that's your first order of business. You even have to worry about dehydration. Don't let that happen.
I answered this the other day about how to fix the rice for the baby. Giving solids isn't supposed to be "feeding" the baby. It's to teach the baby to chew and swallow.
SOOOO, it's supposed to be super runny. If he gets even a teaspoon of rice in a whole day then you've done well.
Your baby is not supposed to eat solids this young. Their tummy isn't able to digest the food yet. They aren't made to eat food yet.
Formula or breast milk has every single nutrient that baby needs for the first year. They always need to eat formula or breast milk first then give them a few nibbles of the runny rice.
I know this baby is at risk though so I'd do what the doc says BUT it's going to be very very hard. If the baby is nursing well then I'd pump and pump and pump and drink stuff to increase the milk supply. He doesn't like formula and he does like your milk. SO YOU need to make more milk.
If going to work is life or the end of your lifestyle then you do have to go back to work. BUT if you can take off even a few more weeks and get more milk supply coming in and continue nursing then baby will gain weight back and you will have more milk for him. Then add the solids.
Baby food is nasty stuff. It has no nutrition to it. It's flavored goo that fills their tummy and starves them. Makes them fat because they're filling up over and over and over and they still aren't getting nutrients but are getting empty calories that will make them fat.
