Won't eat solids, just spits them out - v frustrated

[BhoysGirl]

DS is 6 & a bit months, and I started him on solids nearly 3 weeks ago. The first week seemed to go okay, in that he'd open his mouth & was occasionally swallowing, although always with a gagging action. I know he was swallowing some cos his poo changed (sorry if TMI)

But, now, he's become extremely good at not opening his mouth, so we have to trick him into opening his mouth, usually with a "decoy" spoon or some really silly actions from his mum or dad to make him laugh, but even when I do get a spoonful of food into his mouth he just holds onto it for a while & then slowly dribbles it out. On the rare occasion when he does swallow he executes a magnificent gag & brings it up again anyway.

So far I've only bothered with rice cereal (farex & Bellamy's, and always mixed with BM), pumpkin, apple & carrot. It's strange cos he doesn't seem to object to the taste of anything, it's mostly that he doesn't seem to want to swallow. I've also given him opportunity to feed himself, letting him play with the food & getting it all over his hands in the hope that he'll put his hands in his mouth like he normally does, but apparently he's clever-er than that, cos the only time he doesn't put his hands in his mouth is when there's food on them...

My theory is that the gagging has scared him, but I don't know how to get him over this or teach him how to swallow. Any ideas on what I should do - like should I just stop for a week in the hope that he'll forget to keep his mouth closed, or do I persist each day still? It's driving me a bit crazy...

[fionas]

Personally, I'd let him take a little break and try again in a few days/week. If he can't swallow, it sounds like he's not ready.

This is probably not a great example but my DD used to HATE tummy time but oh, if you listened to the MCHN, the world would cave in if I didn't give her 20 mins of tummy time every day. Well, there was no point, she cried and didn't like it. Then one day she just decided she was ready to roll from her back to her tummy and there's been no stopping her since.

So I'm a firm believer in allowing your baby to show you when they're ready to do things.

[Lulu]

He's not ready, and he is letting you know!

Give it a rest for awhile, it won't be long until he rips your sandwich outta your hand...

[~Raven~]

My little man wouldn't have a thing to do with solids till he was a bit past 8 months.

Try not to dwell on it and offer again in a week or so

[Beach Mama]

I started a few weeks before she was 6 mths too and she started well but then went off them completely, so I jsut left it for a few days at a time and would try again. She wasnt really "eating" and enjoying it until about 7 and a half months. It should be a fun time so if you are getting frustrated and he isnt really ready Iwould be inclined to just wait a few days nad try again, but if he still doesnt want it - leave it again for a while! He will eventually be ready and eat heaps!

[Trillian]

This is why milk is still their main source of nourishment until 12mths of age - sometimes it can takes months for them to get used to the idea of having solid food and eating it properly. But you've done nothing wrong at all - its all part of the learning experience for both of you and its not going to hurt if you stop for a few weeks and then try again. When my older three started refusing food like that, I would take the food away, get them out of their highchair and move onto something else and then give them another try another day.

[Erin_25]

Charlie was much the same, I started a week or 2 before 6months. He went really well, then just started refusing. So we stopped for a few weeks. Didn't try again til he was teething & wouldn't drink his milk.

[Tobily]

Same thing happened here. Started DS at 6.5 months and he went well for about a week. He then started refusing, pushing out his tongue etc and just wasnt' interested.

I stopped and we just continued breastfeeding until nearly 8 months when I tried again and he was much more into it and his tongue thrust reflex was completely gone by then.

I'd just wait, there's no hurry. If you keep trying to cajole him into eating and he keeps getting upset you could end up with major food refusal issues and it's just not worth it at this stage food is for fun

[Karina]

Its frustrating isnt it! Claire was the same. She would usually take the food into her mouth then push it out with her tongue, or just not open her mouth at all. We ended up taking a couple of breaks for a few days, then goin back to it. She didnt really start eating solids until about 8 - 9 months, but we did have some success after giving it a break.

I talked with the nurse about it and she told me the tongue thing is a reflex, because they use their tongue to get the milk out of the breast and it sometimes takes them a bit of time to learn how to swallow without moving their tongue.

[Tegan]

Same same!
Perseverence is whats called for! If its not today maybe tomorrow, i gave my dd a break from solids varying from a day to a week but its still a struggle to this day!! I thinks its called fussiness now tho! lol

[BhoysGirl]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your comments. Sometimes I've felt like I'm the only one whose kid isn't taking to solids, so it's really nice to know that I'm not the only one who has a child that isn't wolfing his food down. I'm definitely going to give him a break from it all and come back to it in a week maybe, because it is supposed to be fun at this stage, not an ordeal, and I want to avoid giving him food phobias while I can. Plus, it's much easier to prepare BM

[bubbaloo]

Hi Janno27,

Just wondering how things are going with Liam and his solids??

I just stumbled across this thread - my DS is just the same (another Liam too!!!) He is now just over 7 months and still isn't interested. He holds his mouth open, I spoon some food in and he just keeps his mouth open (with a look of "what ARE you doing to me mum!") and leaves it open until the food sort of just rolls on out! So I feel your frustration!

I started out trying every day, then went to every few days as, like you, I don't want to make an issue out of it.

Anyway, just wondering if you've had any more luck. And if so, if you have any new-found words of wisdom!

Cheers,

[BhoysGirl]

Hi NelleBelle,

PMSL at your Liam just holding his mouth open - they can be such cheeky little things when they want to be, impossible not to love them to pieces.

I'm not really any further with my Liam. I called the 24hr MCHN line and the nurse who answered seemed to think that his lack of interest in solids was linked to the fact that he's also not sleeping through the night. She suggested that I go to sleep school to fix these issues. Then I spoke to my normal MCHN, mostly about the sleeping problems that we have, in that he sleeps well, but just wakes up everynight, at least once, more often 2-3 times, and some nights it's every couple of hours which is very challenging. She's told me to stop feeding him to sleep, which I'm very "guilty" of doing, and I'm meeting with her on Tuesday to talk through things a bit more.

Having said all that, I was at my mum's tonight, along with my sister who has an 8month old, and I gave mum a go at feeding him. We lay him down on the floor with his head on an old, flat pillow,next to his cousin who was getting fed as well, and she gave him some very small spoonfuls of sweet potato. Mum's approach is that you have to kind of push his tongue down with the spoon and get the food as far back into his mouth as you can - sounds a little extreme, but watching it makes sense, and it wasn't mean at all. Liam still gagged himself stupid, and was really not happy with the process, but we do think that he did actually swallow some, which is a nice change. Mum also reckons I should feed him 3-4 spoons of whatever 3 times a day, just to keep reinforcing the "skill", so I think that I might start doing this. Previously I have been sitting him in his highchair for 30-45 minutes, but maybe a smaller length of time more frequently might help us. I'm the eldest of 4 kids, and as mum says, in her day they started solids at 3 months (can you imagine!!!), so as much as she can frustrate me at times, she also has some valid experience, so while I might not admit it to her, I'll give her way a go. The other thing she said was to keep everything very low-key, and to not worry about the singing/noise making/entertaining that I was doing to keep things happy.

So, that's the current plan of attack, don't know that it's all that exciting or revolutionary, but I figure I have nothing to lose. If my MCHN comes up with anything amazing on Tuesday I'll let you know.

better go, someone's awake....

[~Kim~]

The sleeping and solids stuff is rubbish Janno (sorry but bellies and brains relaxing have nothing to do with each other).

Darcy refused all solids until nearly 9 months. My 'well meaning' MIL was beside herself cos she HAD to eat. But she was getting what she needed from BM and still putting on weight nicely.

No offence to your mum (and no her way isn't mean at all) but as a peadi nurse that how we used to give medicine when they didn't want it.
The low key idea is fabulous as it normalises the whole process.

He is a beautiful bubba and he looks healthy. I promise he won't starve.

[Feathertop]

Hey Jan, Angus isn't that keen on solids either. We tried all sorts of pureed stuff and cereal for weeks, he just made a terrible face and pushed it out. We've since tried the baby led solids, where he holds the food himself and eats it and that is miles more successful for us! He's tried tons more things and eaten larger amounts too. Someone wise told me that some babies are just finger food babies and that's how they'll eat for some time - thank goodness I heard that! Don't feel 'behind' - Angus is older than your baby and only in the last week has been actually eating anything.

[BhoysGirl]

Feathertop - thank you, that was a really kind message. the finger food thing is interesting. I tried it with Liam a while ago and he didn't seem any more interested in it than spoon-delivered food, but I retried it again a couple of nights ago with some pumpkin, and I think we might have a bit of progress, as he picked it up & it went straight into his mouth. Still don't think he swallowed anything, but he had a delightful time mashing it and then spreading it around his high chair tray. Tomorrow is apple day, I'm going to soften a couple of slices in microwave for him & see how he goes with those.

[Feathertop]

Glad to hear it! Sounds like we're at the same point with our boys.

Go Liam Go!!!

PS I have discovered Angus really likes pieces of pear (quite ripe) they are firm enough to hold but soft enough that he can chomp on them and get some down.