Intro and solids question

I've been lurking here for a while and I'm finally going to jump in
and introduce myself.

I'm mom to Oliver who is 8 months. Other than a few ups and downs
along the way our nursing relationship has been pretty smooth. He is
exclusively breastfed. We started solids at 6 months, started with the
rice cereal and moved on to pureed carrots, sweet potatos..the typical
items. It was going well, some days he didn't want any solids, othere
days he could gobble down a small bowl of cereal in the morning and a
little bowl of fruit/veggies in the afternoon and also nurse about 6
times during the day. He still nurses at night, at least twice. At
roughly 7 months he began to refuse all solids, would turn away at any
sight of a spoon coming his way...he loves to play with them though
and can put it in his mouth by himself pretty well.

So, now at 8 months, he has hardly eaten any solids, he will eat a few
oat "o" cereals and maybe 1 tiny bit of a banana...but that is it all
day. He still nurses the same amount. Oh, he has 6 teeth. He can hold
a banana pretty well and bite it but cannot pick small bits of food
yet to put them in his mouth ( I have to pop the "o" cereals into his
mouth)I have tried just about every fruit and veggie, homemade and
from a jar just to find something he might like, but no luck.

My question is...should I be worrying that he is refusing solids? Has
anyone else had this experience of a baby taking solids and then
refusing? Is there any chance of him becoming deficient in iron?

Any help is appreciated,

Sylvia

"Sylvia" wrote in message
om...
I've been lurking here for a while and I'm finally going to jump in
and introduce myself.

I'm mom to Oliver who is 8 months.

Welcome!


My question is...should I be worrying that he is refusing solids?

I wouldn't worry about it. There are many mom's here who have had babies who
didn't like solids.

Has
anyone else had this experience of a baby taking solids and then
refusing?

Yes, my ds could have cared less until really, about 9 months. Even then he
could take it or leave it. My pediatrician said that he would be fine on
breastmilk alone for 12 months if he needed to be.

My opinion on solids was to take the child's lead. If they are interested,
then by all means, give them what you can, but if not, there's not much you
can do about it. I always fed ds solid food after nursing anyway and
considered solids more as supplemental food for the first year. If I had a
baby who was more interested, then I would have taken a different approach.

Is there any chance of him becoming deficient in iron?

Not really sure. Matthew was fine. In fact, his ped never even saw the need
to test him. I guess you could have your baby tested just to find out.

Try not to worry things can change dramatically in just a few short weeks.
HTH

--
JennP.

mom to Matthew 10/11/00
EDD #2 10/24/04
remove "no........spam" to reply

He sounds pretty normal to me. When both Clara and Niel were
starting solids we would have month longs episodes of ups and
downs. Heck, has only been eating them 2 months. I would
suggest not trying to "feed" him, but just put the food on
his tray and let him "play" with it. He may not have the
motor skills to get it into his mouth now, but he will learn
them before he starves. :-) It will also help his self-
confidence if he thinks he is in control of his schedule
for starting solids.

Good luck,
Lafrry

Sylvia writes:
: I've been lurking here for a while and I'm finally going to jump in
: and introduce myself.

: I'm mom to Oliver who is 8 months. Other than a few ups and downs
: along the way our nursing relationship has been pretty smooth. He is
: exclusively breastfed. We started solids at 6 months, started with the
: rice cereal and moved on to pureed carrots, sweet potatos..the typical
: items. It was going well, some days he didn't want any solids, othere
: days he could gobble down a small bowl of cereal in the morning and a
: little bowl of fruit/veggies in the afternoon and also nurse about 6
: times during the day. He still nurses at night, at least twice. At
: roughly 7 months he began to refuse all solids, would turn away at any
: sight of a spoon coming his way...he loves to play with them though
: and can put it in his mouth by himself pretty well.

: So, now at 8 months, he has hardly eaten any solids, he will eat a few
: oat "o" cereals and maybe 1 tiny bit of a banana...but that is it all
: day. He still nurses the same amount. Oh, he has 6 teeth. He can hold
: a banana pretty well and bite it but cannot pick small bits of food
: yet to put them in his mouth ( I have to pop the "o" cereals into his
: mouth)I have tried just about every fruit and veggie, homemade and
: from a jar just to find something he might like, but no luck.

: My question is...should I be worrying that he is refusing solids? Has
: anyone else had this experience of a baby taking solids and then
: refusing? Is there any chance of him becoming deficient in iron?

: Any help is appreciated,

: Sylvia

My question is...should I be worrying that he is refusing solids? Has
anyone else had this experience of a baby taking solids and then
refusing? Is there any chance of him becoming deficient in iron?

Any help is appreciated,

Sylvia

There's a very good chance that your son is done with pureed foods and is
ready to move on to more chunks that he can pick up himself. He also might
want to feed himself. Even if he doesn't have a good finger grip right now,
he will learn and it may spark an interest in solid food again. Just put
some small pieces on his tray and let him "play" with it and if some happens
to get in his mouth then that's great. I wouldn't worry too much about it,
although if you are concerened about iron levels, then you certainly can
have the doctor check that out.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...
Sylvia wrote in message