He won't eat anything! Baby led feeding?

Ronda - posted on 02/07/2012

My baby was born May 3, 2011 and she was still not eating at 7 and half months!! My mother-in-law suggested that I feed my baby with my finger instead of a spoon. She said that since baby is nursed she would probably eat from my finger since it is still skin to skin feeding. I was a bit apprehensive, but I decided to try it and it worked!! As soon as I began offering food from my finger, she ate it!! It was a bit challenging, but it worked! :)

Toni - posted on 02/06/2012

Lori, Chop soft fruits and veg to give her to chew on, cook harder vegs (boiled baby carrots are a good one), bread products and toast always goes down well, I've known people cook an omelette to slice up and give to the babies (I've never tried that though my son hates eggs and I've not got round to eggs with my daughter yet). Beans are good too, they help with the coordination and pincer grip too (bonus). Slice grapes ihalf and peel (choking risk) but both my kids love grapes...you can give things like spagetti bolognaise like this too but it's too messy for me. Really any food that can be picked up with the hands can be used for baby led.



It sounds as though your daughter wants to chew for the comfort to soothe her gums, apple and pear slices are great for this...

Lori - posted on 02/05/2012

My daughter was born May 20th. She didn't mind eating baby food up until abouy a week ago. Now she starts to get fussy as soon as she sees the jar. She is just starting to get her bottom two teeth and I know this could have a lot to do with it but she will eat little things off our plates. I am looking for ideas of what to feed her and how to prepare it. Since my 6 year old loved jar baby food I am new to the led weaning. I did get some ideas from reading all your comments. Thanks so much!

Megan - posted on 01/31/2012

My son Jameson was also born on May 30;) All babies are different. Lucas may decide he wants to try some solids at 9 mos, 10 mos or a year. As long as he is breastfed, he is getting all the nutrients he needs right now. That is the best food for him, hands down. Apparently my husband didn't want anything to do with solids until he was a year, or so his mother says. He is an extremely adventurous eater now. No worries.

Toni - posted on 01/29/2012

Yeah we love strawberries in our house, I have a photo from when Ethan was crawling, so about 8 months ish, he had a strawberry in each hand and crawled into the kitchen to find me (bad mom leaving him unattended while I popped to grab a drink), it looked like a murder trail on my cream carpets lol :-) but the kids love them :-)

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/28/2012

Strawberries and bananas are the two things Fierna snuck a bite of before 6 months so I already knew she wasn't allergic.

I think I let Eric have strawberries before a year too though.

Toni - posted on 01/28/2012

Laura strawberries are advised to be held off on for allergies but tbh I never held off on them.



It's mad how the different countries all have different guidelines, you'd have thought if a food was dangerous it would be dangerous everywhere lol...ianina I'm in the uk :-)

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Ah well I won't be able to download it til later anyways but now I know the right name :)

Jennifer - posted on 01/27/2012

Once you download it, I follow the recipes but dice instead of purée usually.

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Oh cool I have a slow cooker. I tried downloading that app but I guessed my hubby's password too many times and it locked me out :( I'll download it when he can help me

Jennifer - posted on 01/27/2012

Aaaand I posted the wrong app..sorry it's called baby meals.

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

I did started a conversation about it but since no one besides me and Jen posted on it, I closed it for further comments. I can re open it and you can read the recipes we posted there

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

Yes, that is true. Boiling the veggies takes all the nutrients out and they stay in the water.



Not all cooking methods do that.

If you steam the veggies, the amount of nutrients that remains inside the food is bigger.



The other thing you can do is a stir fry. Just dice the veggies really small (or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julienning), meat, cooked rice, etc.



The key is TOO long. You don't need to cook stuff too long.



Since it is winter there you can also do a stew in a slow cooker. That way all the nutrients will remain inside the pot and you won't "miss" them

Jennifer - posted on 01/27/2012

There is healthy cooking and there is cooking that "ruins" food. I know you have an iPad..download the free app super baby food. It's an awesome resource!

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Yes please! That makes some sense but I always thought cooking can take out the good stuff in foods. Like how they warn that cooking veggies too long can take out all the nutrients?

I'm not super knowledgeable in healthy foods I'm just starting to dive into it so many things I don't 'get'

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

The only raw things I give them is fruit only.

All the veggies are cooked and so the meats.



Raw food is harder to process for the stomach. When you cook the food, the proteins, fiber, sugars break down and you don't need so much energy to process it. The stomach and the acid content is the one processing the food. A baby's tummy is still new in all this so cooked food helps a lot.



(if the above parragraph made little to no sense I promise I can explain better)

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Most of the stuff we give her is fresh and raw, like the tomatoes and fruits and the cooked stuff like carrots and beans and meats.

I've never been told to not give kiwi or strawberry or tomato, but we don't do honeyor nuts yet.

The rapes and skinned and cubed but I still see more chunks of stuff in the diaper.

But maybe it's just how baby poop usually looks with solids.

Eric refused any foods til 10 months and still ate very very little til 1.5 and mostly just nursed a ton.

Thanks for the tips ladies! The acidity does seem to make her spit up more but most of the yummy fresh produce is acidic so it's tough. I try to just go with the flow but she just seems so sensitive.

Jennifer - posted on 01/27/2012

Oh I should of added we don't do nuts or honey either

Jennifer - posted on 01/27/2012

I've heard that tomatoes cause kankersores (sp?) in humans often. I can't eat them raw because of this but can cooked fine!. Rylie has had tomatoes but only cooked and skinned, so I'm not sure. We don't do beans since they do cause gas in a lot of people. But we do grapes, kiwi, strawberries, broccoli, peas. Other than uncooked tomatoes and beans, the only other thing we avoid is diary products. Most fruits I do peel because they digest better (same as adults) but I think if you dice anything small enough, it's not a big risk to try at least once! If I notice Ry seems a bit constipated, one ounce of juice to four water clears her out pretty quickly haha.

Laura, our ped told us that if foods were coming out in her diaper, to try cooking it different or not at all in some cases or dice it smaller, etc and try again. He said to some degree it's normal, especially corn! If it doesn't seem to bother her, it's usually fine. Hope that helps?

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

Well, for example, you guys (and from now on I mean in USA) do rice cereal for babies.

We (as in Argentina) don't feed cereal to babies unless they are very VERY underweight.



No nuts(+1 year), stawberry(+9mo), honey (+2 year old), ground meat (due to E.Coli), tomatoe (+12 mo).

Yes to dairy products like butter, cream, yoghurt, home made pudding or flan (flan is very popular here)



Now I have to take them for the 9 month check next week.

Toni - posted on 01/27/2012

Tomatoes was never one of the foods to be wary of, for us anyway. I've only been told not to give kiwi fruits until after 9 months due to the acidity.



Grapes should be skinned and halved for young children, they are a big suffocation risk, there have been a few reports here about children up to five choking and dying on whole grapes, aparently they absorb moisture and get bigger when wedged in the throat.

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

tomatoes should be introduced between 10-12 months since it is very very acidic

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

tomatoes are very allergenic so my ped said no tomatoes.

Pears with no skin, peas they didn't had yet, grapes without seeds and skin, beans are not really good since the baby gets gassy.

I don't give grains to the girls, or any flours since they can be celiac (they get tested when they are 1 year old)

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Basically fruits veggies and meats with one starchy stuff and beans. I guess maybe its just the skins....I notice remnants of tomatoes, peas, grapes, beans, etc. she's so sensitive to foods and if I give her any grains she gets constipated quickly and if I give her too much fruits she spits up alot.

Idk, it just seems she doesn't tolerate food well yet but she wants everything she can find!

Karen - posted on 01/27/2012

I called it a Montesorri glass, but it's really just a shot glass size regular glass. I got a set of 6 along with silverware for them at Montesorri Services. com. They love the glasses!

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

Depends on what you are feeding them...

I found out that they don't digest well the skin of veggies (like zucchini), corn of course and seeds (again, like in zucchinis)

Maybe rice but that is it...



What are you feeding Fierna?

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Do you find chunks in their diapers of whatever you feed them? It seems like Fierna doesn't digest it well. :-/ I did purees with Eric so feeding chunks is new and I always wonder if she's just passing it?.? Is it normal to see the food in the poop so much?

Ianina - posted on 01/27/2012

Another mom of twins!!! YAY!!

Purees for us is a nightmare too. They won't eat it. Now if I give them small pieces, they will eat more and better.

Of course, half of it is on the floor (or me) but it is what it is

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/27/2012

Ooh what's a Montessori glass?

I haven't introduced a cup yet for Fierna and I've never heard of that!

Is it like a shot glass? :-D

Karen - posted on 01/27/2012

Hi, Jessica,

I started doing Baby Led Weaning about a month ago with my now 8 month old twins. Before that, mealtime with purees was terrible. They seemed tormented and clearly weren't enjoying the experience, nor was I. Since doing this, my daughter has rarely let me spoonfeed her! I think they are gaining better eye-hand motor coordination with the practice, as well as learning how to chew (ok. gum) the food. Sure, there's a lot of food left on them, in the chair, on the floor, but I'm not worried about it. They are getting enough formula (which that, or breast milk, of course, is where their real nutritional requirements need to come from until they are a year old). What they are gaining in the educational process is so much better. I've even foregone the sippy cup in favor of a Montesorri recommended glass (1 oz) so they learn how to drink from a cup. Going great! Follow your instinct - read the book (it's very helpful).

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/25/2012

So wonderful to have a supportive dr!

Yes make sure it isn't a fight you have great instincts!

Try again in a month or whenever he shows you he's ready and let food be fun!



We avoid all juices til 2 years over here due to the high sugar content so don't feel pressured to give any juice!

Jeannine - posted on 01/25/2012

So after all of your posts( thank you all), we have decided to stop food. It has become an impossible, unhappy experience. He turns his head and won't even open his mouth. I don't want his high chair to be an unhappy place. The Dr says he isn't ready and not to worry. I realize now that he wasn't really showing signs of being ready before but I caved in from pressure from everyone else in the family who kept telling me time feed him. Periodically we will try but for now mommy milk is what he gets. PS he doesn't like juice either.

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/24/2012

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids...

Laura Zoey - posted on 01/24/2012

Yep totally normal! Many breastfed babies refuse foods until 9-12 months. It's normal. My son was the same.

Best way to introduce foods is baby led weaning as this let's the baby decide what they can eat and they follow their instincts.

My dr recommends offering foods periodically by placing it in front of the baby in small chunks and if they don't eat it so be it and try again later.



Breastmilk is all he needs for the first year so give him time :)don't make it a fight, just offer, if he doesn't put it in his mouth then try another time. Your milk is sufficient :)

AMANDA - posted on 01/24/2012

like jennifer said it could be a texture thing.. my son hates pureed carrots but loved cooked diced carrots.. just keep trying different foods and different textures of the same ones he seems to dislike.. but also talk to your pediatrician as they truely know whats going to be best for your situation.

Alexandra - posted on 01/23/2012

yes, i would not give up trying. at this time they should be more interested in food than breast/formula. have you called your pediatrician? I have not heard of this yet, so i am not much of a help. Sorry.

Jennifer - posted on 01/22/2012

Since he is stills seems satisfied with breastfeeding, it's ok that he isn't eating much at all. But don't give up with trying..keep trying different things. Some babies absolutely hate purees so maybe try a soft pear diced, banana, Cheerios...anything small but big enough that he can pick them up with his fingers. Some babies depend mainly on food and small amounts of milk at this age, some are completely the opposite. As long as you and the doctor aren't concerned about his growth, it's fine. Just don't give up and keep trying things :-).

Ianina - posted on 01/22/2012

When did he started eating?



I really don't think that it is ok to stop doing food at 8 months. I read that you need to try every single food between 5-10 times for the baby to get uses to, so don't give up