7 Months and Refuses to Eat Baby Food

The baby food really doesn't have any nutritional value and really doesn't have many calories either. As long as she's taking her bottle, that's all she really needs right now. Have you tried her on a real banana? What about real applesauce?

feedings during the day are not going to make her sleep through the night. in fact most moms notice the kids wake more after food is introduced ( not that i think that has anything to do with the other its more that they begin teething around time food is introduced) Babies hardly digest the food you give them its all for practice , the nutrition is in breastmilk or formula. Start letting her freed herself and maybe shed be more interested. there was a world before Gerber and people just gave their kids pieces of food....and for those that think your kids shouldnt be waking they must have either never felt teething pain, dont care if their kids in pain, or taught their kid not to bother letting them know when they are in pain at night. I dont parent my child dependent on the position of the sun to the earth

I had the same exact thing happen to me. My third child, when she was 8 months old refused to eat baby food.

She went from the 60% to the 30% and I could not get the doctor to pay attention to us. So I offered more and more table food to her. Eventually she started eating only table food. It was hard to know how much she was getting though. I tried baby food again many months later and she did eat some of it. So whenever I am in doubt about how much she has eaten, I offer the baby food and if she eats it I know she is still hungry.

This will pass. My advice is to keep offering a wide selection of foods. I remember once someone told me that it is not the calorie intake of one day that you need to look at for a child but the calorie intake of the whole week. Don't know if this is true but it did calm me down and if I started looking at what my child consumed during a week's time, I could see that she did eat.

She is now at the 50%. Good luck!

A few things 1) food should only be eaten from a spoon, fork, or fingers. Never in a cup or a bottle unless medically necessary. 2) Taking in more calories has little to nothing to do with them sleeping through the night.

My suggestion is to skip the baby food and start giving real food. Baby food tastes gross. I wouldn't want to eat it, with the exception of the fruits. At 7 months she should be getting all of her nutrition from her formula or breast milk, not from food. She is old enough to start on some table foods. She can eat pretty much whatever you're eating, just cut it up really really small. No peanuts, peanut butter, honey, or things with skin (grapes, hot dogs, brats, etc). She can even eat things like chicken and hamburger, as long as the pieces are small enough.

Overall, just be patient. No, it's not easy. Yes, everyone's tired. But, she just had some major interruptions in her schedule. I can only imagine how much it hurts to cut teeth. I look at my daughter's swollen gums and wince. I know that when I'm sick I don't sleep through the night either. She might just want some comforting.

Don't stress. This too shall pass :)

I personally wont not starve your child thorugh the night. They will sleep thought the night when they are able and ready. Also if she is not eating food there is a reason she ahs learned not to, it probably mostly likely hurts. Could be from reflux or from allergies or intolerances or sensory issues but I would get medical help here and listen to your child. they do not do this sort of behavior on purpose. It is our natural human instinct to eat and want to eat so if they are not doing it then there is something more to it that needs to be looked into. My kids did this and my son has sensory issues and my daughter has reflux. Trying foods actually got worse and then they were both diagnosed with Eosnophilic disorder, where they are allergic to almost all foods. So there was a reason why they could not eat. Luckily they were on a speical medical food formula tht saved their lives and we fed them through the night until they were four to get calories to grow and because they were hungry. They are six and i am so grateful I listened to them, it probably saved their lives since I kept going to dr afeter dr to find out and they all said reflux or behaivoral food problems, allergist and 5th GI doctor finally diagnosed them correctly. Be your own advocate and listen to your instincts!
J.

Make some of her baby food. It is much easier than you think! Try baking a sweet potato, banana, porridge (watery oatmeal), etc. Try one new food a week to make certain she doesn't have an allergic reaction. One of my favorite books is Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I still use some of the recipes today and my kids are 10, 7 and 5. Also, make certain your baby gets plenty of liquids-only formula or breastmilk. Some ear infections are caused by lack of fluid, especially this time of year. Good Luck! This is temporary--things will get better soon.

Just slip some cereal into her night bottle and hope for the best. Keep offering her foods, girls change their minds a lot you know :)

Have you tried less mushy stuff? Gerber puffs are awesome - they're tasty and disolve almost instantly. Once she gets the hang of those, cheerios and kix are good cheaper alternatives. Sit her in her high chair, put some of those on her tray and see what she does. Once she realizes that eating is tasty again, she'll probably be willing to be spoon fed for a bit (or can transition to table food - horray!)

My son is 8 months old and mostly breastfed. I give him cereal 4 times a week only and he sleeps through the night about 10-12 hours. I hope that helps. Good luck to you!

cut out the baby food and add cereal to the bottles. use nuby soft sipper spouts so they wont stop up and she is getting her nutrition and no baby food. they dont want it dont force it. also start her on french fries bread and stuff like that. greenbeans are ok and so are peas real. bananas are ok. anything soft and mushy.

I bet she is getting a tooth, I have found that to be the case with the daycare kids that do this

I have two girls both of whom were failure to gain weight. With Tara I had doctor's orders to feed her when she woke in the middle of the night. This created a monster. So when my second was the same exact oz for oz weight at that age I had the confidence to NOT feed her in the middle of the night (after 4 mos old). It had no affect on her weight, but she was such a better eater of food then the first one was.

My doctor for the second child told me to not feed her in the middle of the night after 4 mos old. She still remained oz for oz the same as her older sister.

So, from personal experience from a mom who had to deal with bi-weekly weigh ins for both her girls, one who was fed in the middle of the night, one who wasn't, I can tell you it makes no difference in their weight.

But it does make a HUGE difference in daytime calorie intake.

But if your child ate well before then I would think it has to do with teething too. Almost always when they refuse food, then a week later a tooth pops through the gums. It's only because I've seen this in at least 6 infants that I figured it out, lol.

at 7 months & with a tooth to boot, she's ready for simple finger foods. Try soft fruit or cooked vegies, Cheerios, etc.....along with all of the 1st Foods available commercially. That'll get her turned around!

The waking up at night is now a habit and not a necessity - some kids do it anyway, regardless of whether they eat baby food or not. Once a night at 7 months is too much, really, and twice a night is ridiculous - she needs her sleep, and so do you. Was she sleeping through the night beforehand? How did you accomplish that? Can you repeat what you did before? Just start over?

Maybe the ear infection made it unpleasant to swallow more solids? Maybe try feeding her someplace different - like in the swing or the infant seat instead of the high chair, so she doesn't associate the food with the "unpleasant" situation?