I am having a serious struggle trying to get Ruby onto solids. I am so frustrated and at my wits end. I don't know what to do.
I had started her on rice cereal when she was about 4 1/2 months and she was totally digging it. She liked it, she ate well. We were doing awesome. And then she got a rash and I thought it was from the cereal and so I stopped. (Turns out it wasn't from cereal, it was from soap). And the reason I started her on solids that early was because she eats SO MUCH! At that point she was drinking 4.5oz of breastmilk every 2.5 hours.
And now, she's drinking 5oz every 3 hours (on a good day). She needs to have something else in her belly to fill her up. She'll be 6 months old on Saturday and I've been working on getting her to eat solids every day for the past two weeks.
For the first week I gave her oat cereal. She didn't like it. So I tried the rice cereal the second week. No go. So I tried adding a little bit of mashed banana to her cereal. Nope.
And then I tried the sweet potatoes. Oh the sweet potatoes.... Here's what happened when she ate sweet potatoes:
So. The cereal. She turns her head away. She refuses to look at me when I have cereal in front of her. When I get her to actually take a bite, she makes a face like I've given her a spoonful of dog poo. Sometimes I put it in her mouth and she just holds her mouth open and yells and the food all slides out. She even smacks at the spoon with her hand sometimes (causing food to fly all over the place.)
I've tried:
Different consistencies
Different foods (oat cereal, rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes)
Feeding her at different times of the day
Feeding her before she gets too hungry
Feeding her when she's really hungry
Feeding her in her car seat (so she can't move around as much)
Having Steve feed her
Making stupid noises to make it more fun
Making the cereal with water, making it with milk.
So far... NOTHING WORKS! She ONLY wants breastmilk. She sees the bottle and reaches for it (I have to hide the bottle when I'm trying to give her solids). I'm banging my head against the wall with frustration right now.
What do I do? Anybody? Please? I'm desperate for advice here...
7 comments:
I have no advice, but I hope you get some answers.
My only other suggestion is yogurt, but I'm not sure if she's old enough for it yet. They make baby yogurt, and Ellie used to love it. I think I started her around 9 months on it though.
Also, for veggies, sweet potatoes is usually the first to try, and she obviously doesn't like it. My next suggestion is to stick with the orange foods and do squash and carrots. Ellie loved the squash the most.
I know some moms who mixed the rice cereal with natural applesauce too. Oh, also, do you serve it warm or room temp? Maybe warming would help?
I just checked back in my baby journal and I used to give Austin the rice cereal with apple. I used to finely grate the apple (it was like applesauce really) no chunks, but he liked that. Also I gave him carrots.
Good luck
Corney
Oh, I have no advice, but that video is PRICELESS. It looks like she's going to gag. Hehe.
I hope you find a solution soon!
hey hon! I was just reading an article today so I have some advice.
First off it apparently takes 8 - 10 exposures to a new food source before an infant accepts or is comfortable with it. Thats a lot of slow introduction. I think part of the problem is that Ruby isn't having an opportunity to get used to something before you try another tactic. I think stick with the cereal and try introducing it repeatedly over a 2 week period, supplement her breastmilk feeding with it.
The other advice that I've watched first hand is that kids let you know whether they're ready to move to solids and taking Ruby's behaviour into account she's telling you pretty loud and clear that she doesn't want solids. 6 months is only a guideline as to when to start introducing weaning - its not a be all and end all (one of my friends kids wouldn't eat solids until 7.5 months!) and its not like if you don't do it now she'll still be wanting breastmilk at 16! Is it worth the frustration?
One wee final note - babies shouldn't have dairy until after 9 months because their little stomaches can't properly breakdown the enzymes in it so you may need to wait to try baby yoghurt!
Hang in there!
Emily,
I think that this is what's been sitting in the back of my head and in my heart. She's simply not ready yet.
I was just a bit confused because she'd been quite successful with the solids at 4.5 months. And also, I have read a bit of literature that says not to wait too long after 6 months to get her on solids or there will be problems (although, admittedly I do not know what those problems are). And that got me worried.
I certainly don't like battling with her to eat, it feels wrong. I don't want her to start off on the wrong foot, with bad feelings around food.
I have been considering stopping and waiting a little while longer but am afraid of what the consequences might be.
Thank you for your comment, it has enabled me to be honest with myself about what's probably going on.
I also think I may take a trip over to the bookstore and see what I can find out about introducing solids AND I may even discuss with the health nurse when I'm at the Health Unit this week.
I'm so tired right now and can't muster up any advice. I just wanted to drop by and tell you that is one of the best baby videos ever.
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