baby food question

[Ladybug122]

So DD is 8 months old. She started solids when she was just shy of 6 months. She likes cereal, fruit, sweet potatoes, and yogurt. Will only eat the "dinners" that contain sweet potatoes or fruit (ie only sweet tasting dinners). REFUSES any peas, carrots, squash, mac n cheese, and any othe type of meal. I have even tried making my own baby food (veggies) and she refused that too. Basically she only eats sweet food.

Also, she has a texture issue. Won't eat anything that isn't pureed smooth. As in silky smooth. Even mashed bananas (which I thought ALL babies liked) she turns her head at.

She doesn't have any teeth yet. DS didn't get teeth until closer to 10-11 months. Looks like she might be the same.

So, my question is, how do I get her to branch out and eat something with texture and some veggies other than sweet potatoes? I'm not really concerned about her nutrition because she is still breastfeeding well, but I think that she could benefit from eating veggies and some non-sweet food. Am I overthinking it? My son who is now 4 was such a huge eater as a baby...he'd eat anything you put on a spoon! I guess I'm not used to a baby having an opinion about food! I appreciate any suggestions!

p.s. I know that you need to have a baby try something many times before they will accept it, and I have tried (and tried and tried)! I am tired of throwing away baby food! What a waste!

[Pollyanna]

Our 5th baby is our only baby that has ever liked bananas of any type. We always offered our kiddos a variety of foods but in the end they would eat what they liked. Some liked chicken and broccoli, others liked sweet potatoes and peas. They are all different. In the end, the most important thing for me was to have a baby with a full tummy, even if that meant sweet potatoes and carrots three meals a day. Seriously, two of our kiddos only liked orange things and their pics reflect that fact, lol. Another one only ate Nutrigrain bars for what seemed like forever. Sounds like she eats good foods and truly I think 8 months is too early to like anything but smooth foods. Feeding babies can be a very exhausting proposition.

[GrayMatterWife]

Try blending foods that reasonable complement each other in flavoring (even if we wouldn't put it on our menus...), and start out heavy on the sweeter foods, to make it palatable: 75% sweet potatoes/25% squash; 75% applesauce, 25% carrots...all pureed super-smooth, so that you are trying to resolve just one issue at a time. And eventually bring it up to a 50% split, and so forth.

But what do I know. My six-year-old eats only carrots and green beans. I made him eat his serving of broccoli and cheese last night, and he sat at the table, all by himself, for two hours before finally eating (gagging) it down. Whatever, kid. Your loss. The only reason it works is because he KNOWS I will make him eat it for breakfast the next day.

[Deebs]

DS did this, too. I took about a week off of food altogether (for my own sanity) and let him just nurse. Then, I changed my approach. I would literally peel grapes by hand and cut them really tiny, steam foods and cut them really tiny, etc. I would watch how much of sweet potato and carrot you're giving her because her nose will turn orange (I have a niece whose nose was orange for months, and my sister refused to acknowledge that it was because of her diet). I also gave him one new food a day, and otherwise gave him the foods he liked. It was so much less stressful!

[MrsK]

Combine foods she likes with the veggies. Sweet potatos and broccoli are a favorite here. Also, I've tried feeding him the food he doesn't like first -- when he's hungrier. Sometimes when I'm desperate, I'll start feeding him pears and slipping in a spoonful of turkey every so often.

:hijack: Related question. How much should I be feeding my 7.5 month old? He started solids about 6 weeks ago and he's a bottomless pit. He's already eating a lot of Stage 2 foods. He'll eat 3.5 oz of fruit for breakfast, 4 oz of meat and 2.5 oz of veggies at lunch, and then another 4 oz of veggies and 2.5 oz of fruit at dinner. Tonight he ate half a baked sweet potato, 2.5 oz of green beans, and then was begging for more food. He's also nursing at home and drinking about 21-25 oz of breastmilk/formula (1:1 ratio mixed together) during the day at day care. During meals, he's often so hungry that he becomes impatient between bites. He's a little guy and I know he's catching up on the growth chart but I'm concerned that I could be feeding him too much or too little. I never have to beg him to just take one more bite and he never turns away or seems full. Is he eating too much/too little? Do I just keep shoveling in the food until he is satisfied?

[Michele]

Re: baby food question

My 2 were very different. D didn't really eat much until over a year and then it wasn't until 18 mos before he ate solids (of any kind) appreciably. K ate everything and a lot of it from about 8 mos on. And their nursing patterns reflected this. D nursed a ton and K nurses much less. I let them control what and how much. They have picky days and sometimes I get frustrated with meals but overall they eat pretty well and eat a new food


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[Michele]

Re: baby food question

About every month or so.


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[Vishenka69]

I was just about to post a question regarding how many oz I should be feeding DD, but I'm going to jump on this thread instead.

I find that she also has a preference for orange foods, so I've started mixing them with green and that seems to go down much better. She also seems to prefer cereal to veggies/fruits. Can I do two feedings of cereal a day? Right now she'll nurse after waking up, next feeding is cereal, then 2 bottles, then veggies/fruit and then nursing before bedtime. I want to try and replacing one of the afternoon bottles with veggies/fruit and doing meat/veggies at night. I'm trying to mimic our eating habits.

[Auspicious]

For the OP's question, I like the suggestion of mixing the non-sweet foods into the sweet foods in increasing amounts. I don't know about texture--will she pick up and eat cheerios? Maybe if she has the chance to put it in her mouth herself instead of from the spoon?

Here's an article on amounts (which is basically a bunch of reassurances that different babies eat very different amounts and it's okay).
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/howmuchbabyeat.htm

I don't know about the two feedings of cereal a day because I do it differently than that--some cereal plus some fruit/veg at all three meals. We haven't introduced meat/cheese/yogurt yet, but that's imminent. I think I started doing that because of these charts:
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babymenub.htm
It might add up to the same as two full feedings of cereal a day?

Similarly, I know people object to both parenting books and feeding philosophies, but after hearing it recommended several times, I (partially) read and really liked Child of Mine. Though my disclaimer is that I haven't read any of the bottle/breast/infant parts, only the solids/toddlers parts. It kind of lays out a framework of what to worry about and what not to that led to less total concern in my case and has worked well for us.
http://www.amazon.com/Child-Mine-Fee.../dp/0923521518
As you can tell, I like the reassuring stuff when it comes to feeding.


That's a bunch of half answers but that's all I got.

[MrsK]

Here's an article on amounts (which is basically a bunch of reassurances that different babies eat very different amounts and it's okay).
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/howmuchbabyeat.htm

I saw this article. This is the part that freaked me out:

You may wonder how it is possible that your friend's 7 month old baby is eating 2 whole jars of baby food (8-9 oz) in one day while your 7 month old baby barely manages to eat 3 or 4 baby food cubes (3-4 oz) of food per day

My 7 month old baby is eating 2 whole jars of baby food in EACH FEEDING. He eats 5-6 jars (about 20 oz) IN ONE DAY. Plus he's nursing about 5 times daily when he's home. I had to supplement with formula at day care because, since I am not a cow, I simply cannot pump 21 oz of milk or more for him every day and then nurse too. He's eating about three times as much as the "big eater" in the article's example. . . and he's still hungry. And he's a puny kid, about half the size of the other boys his age.

[SuzySunshine]

MrsK, as long as he's gaining weight and his diapers are normal I wouldn't worry about it - he's probably just trying to catch up.

On the other hand you have my son, who barely eats any regular food and I think doesn't take enough formula in a 24 hour setting, he's a big boy and now that he's mobile I would think he would be eating more but he's really not.

[HouseofWool]

I have come to the opinion, that once you think you know what the heck is going on, kids like to screw with you. Right now Sophie won't eat much beyond chicken nuggets and granola bars. Some fruit, but not much and definately no meats that are not highly processed (hot dogs are a hit too).

[DCJenn]

When we met the dude at 9 months he was eating oatmeal, meat patties (unknown origin of the meat), broth soups w/ tiny noodles, and 2 inch by one inch by half inch slices of brown bread etc. When we brought him home he was a crazy dude (and malnourished) and ate everything for two straight years.

Now? If you walk in to a deli and you ordered any sausage or sausage like product, my child would eat it. He would probably rather cut a toe off than eat anything green except the occasional grape. He'll still eat any cheese, the stinkier the better. This week, for the first time ever I actually got him to eat a one inch section of corn on the cob. His reaction? "Mommy. This is WAY better than the corn they serve at school." To which I replied, "I KNOW. I TOLD you that the corn at school is nasty." Which he will no doubt repeat to his friends who are eating said nasty corn but come on- canned corn IS nasty.

Bottom line, Kris is right- keep them generally well-fed and very well hydrated and they'll survive. That's why humans invented vitamins.

Jenn