Introducing Solids - Campbell, CA

"Someone told me to try the same food 2 or 3x per day for a total of about 15-30 times." i would consider that forcing. i would offer my daughter solids every few days from 6 to 9 mos when she finally started eating...with no gag reflex. she's now 15 mos and her daycare provider is astounded at how well she eats. so try to continue to be patient and hang in there - i know it's not easy!

If he has teeth already I would suggest regular foods. My daughter was the same way, she hated "baby" food. I gave her bananas, peas, steamed baby carrots and at 9 months they can have egg whites, cottage cheese and cheerios. Just try different things until you find something he likes. Don't give up eventually he'll give in. I had a friend that only gave their baby milk until she was 13 months because she wouldn't eat solids. But when you give in before they give up then they will get what they want and not try anything new. Hang in there!

My son did the same gagging-type thing with everything we fed him. We thought he was just a picky little diva, but it turns out that some babies have a strong gag reflex that lasts longer than that of other babies, so it takes longer for them to adjust to solids in their mouth. Around the time our son turned 1 year old, he suddenly stopped gagging all the time and now will eat pretty much anything--fruits, veggies, proteins, starches. In short, he's a GREAT eater now that his gag reflex has mellowed out. So don't lose heart! I do have a friend with a son who has to go to occupational therapy to resolve gagging/vomiting issues (he's 2 1/2), but I think he is an extreme case...I think more babies are probably more like my son, and they just take a while to figure out how to handle solids. Our pediatrician suggested that we try putting a smaller amount of food on the spoon and placing it on the front part of our son's tongue, rather than in the middle or back, and then slowly working farther and farther back as his gagging improved. Good luck!

Hi A.,

Our second child (now 7) had the same allergies and issues with foods when he was a baby/toddler. Egg was the only food he reacted to via my breastmilk though. So I really feel for you having to eliminate so much from your diet!

He had the same issues with food texture. I found that he had a very strong preference for crunchy/hard foods. Even his meats had to be crunchy or he wouldn't eat it. (He ate a lot of bacon, and homemade meat patties that I used to intentionally over-bake so that they were crunchy.) My family thought that he was just being picky and that I was spoiling and "enabling" him. But when he was 3yo we saw a occupational therapist that specialized in children and had experience with oral/food issues. She said he was developmentally delayed in how he swallowed, and he was still thrusting out his tongue, which most babies outgrow around when they start solids.

Anyway, he did eventually outgrow his food texture issues, starting at 3yo and totally outgrown by 5yo. He has also outgrown many of his food allergies! He still has to avoid all nuts, and we are still limiting soy and corn, but he can now eat wheat, egg and dairy unrestricted.

I would suggest that you talk to your ped and/or allergist about trying to find a formula that he can tolerate. That way you could supplement his diet with the formula until he is 2yo and you've had time to find a variety of things that he can/will eat. Our allergist recommended trying Carnation Good Start, which some babies that are milk allergic can tolerate because the milk is partially hydrolyzed. (This wouldn't be safe to try if the milk allergy is severe/anaphylactic, but could be tried if the reaction is just eczema.) There's also a formula called NeoCate that is supposed to be impossible to be allergic to, but my son didn't tolerate it either. (It gave him GI issues, probably from the corn in it.) You doctor can probably get you a free sample. It's expensive and supposedly tastes bad, but if it works for your son, it would relieve a great deal of stress for you and give him a balanced base for his diet.

We never did find a formula our son could tolerate. On recommendation from our doctor, I ended up ordering the protein-only (broken down to free amino acids) powder sold separately by SHS (the company that makes NeoCate) and adding it to rice or oat milk. This powder was really expensive, but lasted a long time since you only add a tablespoon to each cup of rice milk. (And you need a prescription to get it. SHS sends you a form to have your doctor sign.) Let me know if you want more info on this, and I will dig it up...

I can also recommend an on-line support group for Parents of Kids with Food Allergies. www.kidswithfoodallergies.org This group was VERY helpful back when our son was little and we were struggling to sort out his allergies and find foods he could eat.

Be sure to take care of yourself too. Food allergies and special diets like this tend to absorb all your energy and create constant pressure/stress. Good luck!

-D.

Hi A.,

This is VERY typical. My daughter hated all baby food. If you are concerned about weight gain I would definately give him some formula - if you are giving him food you aren't going to ruin him with formula - you can do both breastfeed and formula. As for the food I just gave my daughter finger foods cheerios, peeled apples sliced in tiny little slivers, gerber puffs, etc

If you can I would talk to a lactation specialest about your diet ... Mine said somthing like only drugs and dairy get into the milk... So you might not need to cut out wheat, etc.

As for the food some babys gag/ have the tung issue for a while. Have you tried to thin the food with breast milk and feed with a spoon? This worked great with avacado and should be the most similar to breast milk.

Good luck!

My .02, water down the food to a REALLY runny consistency and give it to him in a bottle with a really big hole (cut an x in the nipple or boil the nipple with a toothpick in it) or a sippy cup with a silicone nipple. Then gradually increase the consistency and try the spoon when it can't come through the hole anymore. Also, I have seen something in the baby section of Target where you can put soft veggies in this little thing that looks like a pacifier with net on it. That way, he can chew on it and suck the food down without chunks. One other thing, pump and mix your milk into stuff like cereal. That makes it taste like you but gets him used to different textures too. Good Luck

T.

Hi A.,
You must feel so frustrated and hungry! I sympathize-- I can't eat wheat either and I know how hard it is to cut it out of your diet completely (not to mention expensive).
I think at 9 months your son really needs more nutrition than can be supplied through just breast milk. If you can persevere with the solids and find something he will accept I'm sure he will cut down on the night feedings too.
I have a wonderful book that I got when I started my daughter on solids (she was 6 months). It's called "Le Petit Appetit" and it's written by a Mom who lives in San Francisco. She has a huge variety of foods for all ages and also a lot of good advice an information about feeding little ones. The recipes are delicious simple, and carefully marked for possible allergic ingredients.
~A.

When I was helping take care of a little guy with severe excema, I noticed that he seemed to be more reluctant than most other children when it came to eating. This may be at least part of your boy's problem.
As far as what and how to feed him... have you tried pureeing regular table food rather than using the prepared baby food from the jars? It's easy to puree it to a good consistency using a food processer or a blender, and I think the food tastes a lot better. The only food I'm aware of that you need to avoid when doing that is carrots (and of course any foods that are not recommended at his age anyway). As long as he isn't allergic to a food, he might enjoy the taste more and be more willing to try it that way.

I can relate to the consistancy. At first my son only wanted the smoothest food so I had to feed him Earths Best or Organics stages 1 and 2 then I started to slowly mix in my own homemade foods and now he's 10 months and only wanting chunky foods.

Have you tried mixing foods with rice cereal or oatmeal? Or yogurt mixed with a veggie? Play with differant textures.

And a tip that was passed to me, when trying something new make sure its offered as a snack. If you wait til meal time they want food from the source they know works.

Good luck to you!

A.,
Our little guy wouldn't eat either. We finally started sweetening his food with safe sugar alternatives and he started eating. Now after a couple months of that, he is eating without almost any "fixing" of his food.
Another thought is that you might consider feeding your baby a probiotic for babies. I think that would make a difference in his skin issues. Maybe that would help him not be so reactive to your diet.
Good Luck!
C.

Hi A.,
My daughter is 11 months and is just now really starting to eat enough solids that she is not breastfeeding all day long(it seemed). She never liked pureed foodss. She likes to pick up food and feed herself. I would definately not keep feeding the same food 30 times if your child does not like it. There does need to be a few days in between new foods, as you probobly, know to make sure there are no reactions. They really like finger foods at that age. Cheerios and peeled grapes were about all she would eat at that age with occasional other things interspersed like blueberries or small bites of pear. Don't worry. Your child will eventually begin to eat. All babies don't eat at that 6 month point.

Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time with the solids. I began introducing solids to my son at about 6 months. The first thing I tried was rice cereal mixed with expressed breast milk. This gave it a familiar flavor and made it easier for him to accept. The next thing I tried was applesauce and I got the reaction you are getting from your little one. In fact, every time I tried to introduce a fruit, he would gag like he was going to throw it up. He like the squash and sweet potatos, though. I was finally able to introduce the foods he didn't like as well by mixing small amounts in with his rice cereal. I think the fruits are a bit tart for him. I have found a few that he seems to like (apples with cherries, apples with blackberries, apples with blueberries, and bananas). Watch out with the bananas, though. I didn't think much of it when I started giving them to him. I was so excited that I had found a fruit he liked. However, within a few days of giving him bananas (at least once a day) he went from mildly constipated to very constipated.

I noticed that your little one seems to have a bunch of allergies. Don't know if you have tried the rice cereal. It was the food recommended to me as the first food by our pediatrician. The recommended first feedings of the cereal are almost like spooning milk into their mouths, but I was able to thicken up the cereal pretty quickly once he got the hang of the spoon going into the mouth! If he will take the cereal, then my best suggestion would be to put small amounts of the fruit/veggie you wish to try on the spoon with the cereal. And, of course, if at all possible, mix it with your breast milk. The transition to formula for my son was an experience in itself!

Good luck with the introduction of solid foods!