my son is 1 week shy of turning 7 months. his ped advised i strat him on baby food at 4.5 months because of his size and interest in food. at first, he did great, ate everything i gave him and was putting away 4 to 6 jars a day! lately, things have changed. i find it very hard to get him to eat baby food at all anymore. he yells at me, spits it out and leans forward on his highchair tray and closes his mouth shut. what makes this even more frustrating is that my mom insists that he eats great when with her. what am i doing wrong? he eats nearly 40 ounces of formula a day and seems to be gaining weight. my doctor told me to increase his baby food intake, but i feel like i'm losing my mind and i feel like bursting into tears while feeding him now. is this normal? why would he eat the same amount for grandma and not me or his dad? please, say it gets better! any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. thank you.
2007-10-04 05:35:15 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
he is teething, but that never affected his food intake before. he already has two teeth.
2007-10-04 05:35:44 · update #1
he does eat cheerios. well, kinda. i offer him some every day and he attempts to put them in his mouth. 40 ounces is a lot, really his intake is more like 35 ounces. and i want him to eat more food instead, but thats where my problem comes in: he simply won't eat the baby food. i don't want him to be on formula forever! my doctor advised starting him on baby food when he did because not only was my drinking lots of milk, but he weighed 18 pounds was making chewing motions, and kept trying to grab our food. 6 months is the ideal, but that doesn't work for everyone. his ped has been doing what he does for over 20 years, i tend to trust his judgement.
2007-10-04 05:47:46 · update #2
Honey, don't stress! Seriously! He will feel it for sure. I'm not the all knowing guru just because I've had 3 sons who were picky eaters indeed, just a Mom trying her best too. My 1st born did the same with my Mom, and she would brag, "Oh, well he eats FINE for ME." Wtf!!?? lol, so I know where you're coming from.
The best advice I EVER got was from my 1st borns pediatrician. He said:
"Babies, toddlers, and children will NOT starve themselves. Offer a balanced diet, and as long as they're gaining weight at the rate they should be, you have NOTHING to worry about. Offer vitamin supplements, like Pedia-Sure, and if he wants nothing but milk, or nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, you're still covered. Don't have battle over pizza for breakfast, and your child will learn to enjoy eating."
If I was you I would pull back on food all together for about a week and then re-introduce one by one. Also, jarred baby food tastes nasty, whenever time permitting try squishing up a banana, or whatever.
I doubt its teeth by what you're saying. Teething never really affected my bull headed boys that much.
Good luck, and stay calm. Email me if you want to talk, I've dealt with picky eaters who suck up to Grandma for years!! TRAITORS!!! LOL!!
2007-10-04 06:07:36 · answer #1 · answered by bijou 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
40 oz of formula a day sounds like a lot to me. Maybe you could decrease that (a little bit) and see if that helps? Also, if you're stressed, your son is probably picking up on that. If a baby is hungry, he will eat. If he's not, he won't. If he's gaining weight, then it sounds like he's doing well, but at the same time, you and your doctor are right about getting him to eat more baby food. He can't live on formula forever. Try giving him baby food before his bottle. Don't make a big deal out of it. Offer him some food, and if he screams and pushes the spoon away, calmly be done for a while. Try again in a few minutes and if he still persists, put away the food until later. When he's hungry, he'll eat.
2007-10-04 05:40:59 · answer #2 · answered by fawnberrie 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Relax! Follow his cues! If he doesn't want to eat, don't make him.
Your baby is SMART, if he's hungry, he'll eat, if he's not, he won't.
It's normal and healthy for his primary food intake to still be formula/milk for the first 12 months. Now a days, Doctors that have kept up on their studies and information don't even recommend introducing solids until 6 months.
At 7 months, your baby CAN have solid foods, but feed him his formula first and then offer him food. If he doesn't want it or won't eat it, it's no big deal! He won't starve, he'll eat until he's done.
Meal times don't have to be stressful. Your baby was born with a remarkable way of listening to his own body. His little tummy is only the size of his fist, that's so small! A little food goes a long way. Continue to offer him food, but if he won't eat, that means he's FULL and done! Babies and toddlers are notoriously picky and spotty eaters. Some days they will eat a single pea. Other days they will eat pounds. It's more helpful to look at what he eats over the course of a week, rather than day to day.
Again, follow his cues, he's not wrong.
2007-10-04 05:41:45 · answer #3 · answered by maegs33 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My son is 7 months, I never really liked baby food. He now will not even open his mouth at all, turns the other way, tries to climb out of the high chair, you get the point! The past few weeks I have been giving him table food, mashed up really good. He loves it! He likes being able to chew. I buy those Gerber Graduate Lil' Entrees (I even eat the leftovers, they are so good)! Last night he had about a 1/4 of a hamburger. He loves green beans, peas, risotto, cheerios. I can now get him to eat baby cereal if I serve it with something else.
Good luck!
2007-10-04 05:45:09 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My son was kinda the same way. He would not eat the stage 1 foods ,but would eat the stage 2 and then stage 3 and now I am feeding him whole foods. Baked Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, mashed potatoes, if you make meat, cook it extra long and basically Mash the hell out of it. He might just need to go to the next stage of food. If that doesn't work, try a different brand. My son hates peaches when they are from Gerber, but the beach nut brand he loves. But I would try to give him whole pieces of food, make sure that it is not a difficult food to eat. When I make chicken soup I give my son some and he loves it, but when I give him chicken veggies and noodles from Gerber he wont touch it. Try different textures. My son also likes the spaghetti from Gerber, it has these little noodle discs that he loves. But keep your baby fed, if he wants a bottle, give it to him. Right now my son is 9 months and is drinking ALOT of formula along with eating regularly, but he is 26lbs and 28 1/2 inches long. He is a BIG boy. You will know when there is a problem, but good luck sweetie.
2007-10-04 14:58:03 · answer #5 · answered by jillys110580 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
When my son does this he wants "real" food versus baby food. Offer some bits of cheese, green beans, peas, cheerios, banana. Avoid hotdogs and grapes ... high choking hazard. Let him eat first, then offer the bottle.
I think 40 ounces is a little on the higher end of formula intake per day. He may be filling up on that and has no desire for anything else. I don't think it is a real issue to be concerned over, but I personally would try to get him to have a few bites of food prior to a bottle, just to get him transitioned. I wouldn't push the issue though ... you want his meal time to be enjoyable. With my son, when he pushes the spoon away, we're finished, whether he ate most all of his meal or one bite. When he's hungry, you'll know! :-)
2007-10-04 05:49:29 · answer #6 · answered by Cindy 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
G' Day Ashley,
Stop. Slow down. Kick off Your shoes. Sit down and have a cup of coffee (decaf). Don't start doing the 'First time Mother thing'. You are not doing anything wrong. He is eating a bit too much but apart from that You are just going through the usual, "Look Mom, let's face it I am bored with You and the menu" crisis. Just change His dietary intake to a fiber/solids regime starting with bread and milk and work Your way along from there. As You know babies recognize faces and people and come to know who We are. Sounds like 'bub' is associating You with a lack of diversity in His menu.
What preparations are You feeding Him?
Stewed apple, banana, mixed fruit etc.?
Have You changed any of the brands or products lately?
Do You still 'play' during mealtime?
Is His 'mastication' (chewing ) reflex noticable?
Don't panic. What You are going through is not only 'normal' but 'natural'. The smart little fellow is just trying to tell You that He is growing up, and that You had better get used to it!
Cheers, Ashleigh
PS. Tell Him that I said to say "G' Day"!
2007-10-04 15:04:56 · answer #7 · answered by Ashleigh 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If the kid is hungry, he'll eat. Stop stressing unless he starts losing weight and becoming unhealthy, which I'm sure will not be the case.
~Here's a tip, although I'm sure I'll get like a million thumbs down for this because all the mothers on here are like overzealous busybodies when it comes to doing everything by the book. I did this with my twin boys. I put a jar of baby food (1st stage) in an 8 ounce bottle, 2 scoops of formula, filled the rest with water and then mixed it up. My kids drank all of it, no waste and no mess. Kind of like a smoothie.
2007-10-04 05:47:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
It will get better, honestly.
Why would he behave better for everyone but you? You're safe and the one he is going to try independence on - lucky you. He's experimenting with this mouth, gravity and with your reaction. If he is "misbehaving" put the food away and try again - you don't need to continue to try to feed him if he isn't helping. I don't mean starve him, but he will learn that that behavior will not get what he wants - which is time with you and to be fed.
Its normal, frustrating, and you are doing everything right. Just take a step back and if you are getting frustrated stop feeding him and try again in an hour. It'll be fine!
2007-10-04 05:44:44 · answer #9 · answered by Ethel 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My baby was a good eater but there were certain foods she jsut would not eat. After she had a reaction to peanuts they tested her for other allergens and all the food she did not want to eat the test said she was allergic to. Have you tried giving him more "real" food? Mine got to a point where she didn't want the mushed baby food she wanted real food like we eat. Bananas are a great one. This is probably one of the obvious answers but here goes--Do you make it fun for him? Do the airplane sound, sing songs about it? Maybe grandma does but you don't? 40 sounds like a lot to me, a paper I have said 24-32 oz for 7-9 mos old. Hope this helps!
2007-10-04 06:25:15 · answer #10 · answered by Stephanie W 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋