My son is 6.5 months now and I have wanted to introduce solids for quite sometime now, but he refuses. He will gag himself until he pukes. He won't even take a bottle of formula either. My little guy was never a good latcher and so I opted to exclusively pump. Now I am really worn down trying to keep up with him and I want to wean him off of the breastmilk. My supply is slowly drying up, now that I am off the reglan.(I have tried all the other supplements to increase supply also)
I am sooo scared that he will starve himself and end up needing a feeding tube or something! I have tried mixing 1/2 ounce of formula with breastmilk and he still refuses it.
What do I do? Will he ever want solids?
Well today I noticed my little guy had found his tongue and was sticking it out a lot, so I decided to try bananas and he devoured them! He ate 1/2 of a banana. That makes me relieved! I also decided to ask the dr to put me back on reglan to increase my supply back up. If I am on reglan for 4 more weeks, then my freezer supply will double and I will have more than enough milk to get him until he is 1 year.
I guess babies can be pretty stubborn and want to start things when they are ready and not us.
Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it!
Try any new food 1/4 tsp mixed in 1 tsp breast milk. Do it everyday for a week. He'll not like it but gets the practice. You should mix the same food in same consistency every day for a week. Do let us know what happened?
I have the honor of working with Dr. Bill and Jim (the ABC show, The Doctors) Sears, pediatricians. I recoommend exploring their website, www.askDrSears.com. I do believe there is even a way you can ask them questions.
Don't worry, your baby won't starve himself. Keep trying, it can take up to 10-15 attempts, to introduce new things to him. He'll let you know when he is ready, and what he is ready for.
Good luck, D.
Babies and children will not starve themselves. They will take solids when they are ready for it. Some of my friends kids took to solids at 3 months while some not until they were 12 mos.
I went through a phase where my milk supply was drying up and I was sick and losing tons of weight and had others tell me to keep up with it because my baby needed it, and I was thinking, "Are these people crazy?" You have to do what is right for your body. There's no reason to brutalize your body. Yes, my son did lose a little weight, but he was always fine.
I don't have the perfect answer for you but one plan would be start with just a tiny amount of formula (like maybe even less than 1/2 oz.) mixed in with your breast milk, then just keep gradually increasing the ratio. When your son is hungry enough, he'll suck it up and drink the formula. Some formulas are sweeter than others. Similac tasted just disgusting to me. Enfamil and Good Start seemed to taste sweeter and better (at least to me). My son took to Good Start at first, then to Emfamil. I had to give him formula from one of those little medicine cups (like the ones that come with Nyquil) because he wouldn't take it from the same type of bottle that he's use for breast milk. Then, when I could get him to drink formula, he wouldn't use a bottle or sippy cup. Only a straw cup. I bought almost every single bottle and sippy cup in trying to get him to drink out of something besides that medicine cup.
If you do want to keep introducing solids, there's nothing wrong with that either. In the very beginning, you are just trying to teach them to eat rather than provide nutrition anyway. Rice cereal is the most bland, so really water it down with your breast milk. Like 1 part cereal to 4 parts breast milk. Try feeding just a few tiny bits at a time. Be aware that the enzymes in your breast milk with turn the cereal into liquid, so you can't really store it for later.
Your son will be fine. Good luck to you.
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My pediatrition always said it was fine to not have solids until 1. My daughter hated baby food, any kind. But she would eat what we had she just didn't like the pureed texture. So around 7 mo she started on slightly squished veggeies, reg. oatmeal, dry cereals etc. She just didn't want mush. Your son will not starve himself. He will put up a good fight because each time you have offered and he has refused other milk he has always gotten what he wanted in the end. If you dry up and there is nothing else, he will eat it. He may not like it but he will eat it eventually. You can try putting the formula in a sippy cup and see if that helps.
I feel for you. I breastfed also...a year for each of my boys and had the same choices as yourself. I believe that it's up to the mother to control this. Babies are intelligent and it's a challenge with the psychology aspect of it. Babies need the comfort and attention, but ultimately if you stretch the time frame a little further and stick to it from the start, you may have some luck.
Have you tried pumping your breast milk and then feeding your baby with a bottle (I used the playtex disposable, this was most like your breast nipple) ? If you mix your breast milk with some pureed vegetables, you might succeed.
I wish you all the best ;-)
It may be that he is not ready for this transition yet. Nurse often, Pump, Drink lots of water.
Mix your milk with some rice cereal first - make it very runny. Try that (as I am not sure what you are giving him as 'solids'.) first.
Many babies do not truly start solids until 6- 9 months before they can handle it. Formula is heavy and he may be allergic to something in the one you are giving him.
I researched formulas and I gradually added it in to the breast milk to 'bulk' it up, while still pumping, to keep my supply intact.
You can't just go half and half right away... do it by ounces, but give him the breast milk first. Let him settle out for a bit.
Personally, I would wait for a few weeks before trying it again to let his system settle.
Do not give into your fear, that is not going to help you and it will just attract trouble.
As for the latching... See if someone has some advice or make sure you are helping him to latch on properly. Sometimes you have to guide them. I never had an issue, so I can't assist on that part.
When you pump exclusively... that is not the same. Your body will not have the same 'chemical' reaction as when the baby connects with you.
Actually he's still pretty young for solids if you ask me. Neither of my boys weren't interested in solids until they were already walking at 8 1/2 mo and 9mo respectively. I can see how your situation would be frustrating, but if he's gagging on the solids then he's really not ready yet.
Breastmilk is sweet and warm so I can see why he'd refuse formula as well. The best advice I can think to offer is to spare yourself and him the stress, go back on the reglan and soldier it out for a few more months (after all, it's very temporary, and worth it in the long run). Once he IS able to take solids, then you can make sure he's getting breastmilk by mixing with the rice cereal. Just don't forget that they have to be on either breaskmilk or formula until they're 12mo at least. After that you can switch to whole milk until he's 2yo. then regular milk.
He certainly does not need solids until he is a year old. I would continue to pump and try some different formula options, have you tried soy, it tastes different.
I don't know what your options with using reglan again are, as it seemed to work for you for a while. Try laying him skin to skin on your chest while pumping (I realize this is complicated, so see if someone can help you), this will help stimulate your brain (which as I understand it, is how reglan works) to produce more milk. Exclusively pumping is not a long term solution, and I'm thrilled its worked this long for you.
And lastly, keep trying the solids, its just a practice time for him, but if you wait too long he can become texture resistant. He's probably not going to eat many calories, but will get used to flavors and textures. You just need to be persistent. Don't freak out. Keep an eye on his weight, and as long as he's gaining, he shouldn't need a feeding tube. And even if he needs the intervention of a feeding tube, it doesn't mean you're a failure, he's just having issues with eating. Keep positive!
Best wishes!
