When should my baby start eating more solid foods other than puree?

Question

I have a 7 & 1/2 mth old baby girl who will only eat puree food. she will not swallow anything thicker not even the rice cereals. what is the average age they start to eat more solid foods and how can i help her with this? also she will not open her mouth for her dinner but tends to suck it from the spoon as if she is drinking her bottle any ideas on this too?

My child is getting her 6th tooth (4 top 2 bottom)

Answer 1

You didn't mention if your baby has any teeth, which is typically when you would start to introduce lumpier baby foods. If she doesn't have any teeth they stick with the puree's for now. Also, next time your at the doctor, ask him to check her toung. She could have what's called a geographic toung which will effect how she responds to different textures, which can make her gag.

Answer 2

Typically when a child gets teeth you can start to introduce them to the chunkier baby foods. You don't feed her baby food through a feeder do you? That could cause the response you are talking about (sucking the food off the spoon). She is still very young, I wouldn't worry about it to much. Get some of those puffed cereal snacks on the baby food isle, they like dissolve once they get in their mouth...put some out in front of her and maybe she will pick them up and open her mouth to insert them. And start associating the two.

Good luck.

Answer 3

My baby didn't take to eating solids well either.

I had it in my head that I would make all of her baby food fresh... she hated it, she would gag and puke... too much texture and flavour. So we went for the pureed foods. She only ate those for about two months before she decided she wanted more texture... she would have been about 8 months when that happened.

I would suggest to continue introducing her to lumpier foods. Find something she enjoys and work with that until she gets used to texture.... lumpy mashed potatoes, lumpy mashed banana? I think she probably tries to "slurp" her food from the spoon because she is used to smooth foods.