Over 6 months & no interest in solids???

Our little man is about 6 1/2 months old and has been fully breastfed since birth.

We had absolutely no success in getting him to take a bottle for the occasions when it was necessary ie me in hospital, he'd go hours and hours without eating, (thankfully he had some fat stores on him to dip into)and since he's hit 6 months and we've introduced solids its like we're trying to feed him poison!

We've tried farex, farex mixed with veges, babyfood etc. It doesn't seem to make the slightest bit of difference what's on the spoon - He locks his mouth closed and we practically have to do a song and dance show to get him to smile so we can access his mouth!!

Has anyone else had this - I seem to keep reading about all the babies who can't get enough food and am starting to wonder if he'll ever come round to the idea!!
The flipside is that he's more than happy to have a rusk in his mouth... I'm at a loss! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...sorry if I've rambled!Thanks in advance!

i used to look after a boy who never liked his food either though when i met him he was 2yrs old...
- if he likes rusks try toast cut into the same shape or soft things like cheese or fruit, finger food is a good way to introduce him to the concept...
- there is a vitamin that the family i worked for used to put in the food they could get into him i am not sure what its called, has a giraffe on the packet, but it supposedly increases appetite..
- try sweeter foods like pureed fruit (you probably already have though)
-the other thing you could do is put food out on a high chair tray (it will be messy) and just let him play with it.. it will get him used to the texture and chances are some will go in his mouth so the taste as well...
- and if your really desperate you can buy a softer spoon, get it through his lips and gently pull down his jaw with the spoon and quickly pop the food in...
hth

I could hve written your post word for word, babyno1!

We have found that Claire is not keen on having food from a spoon. She much prefers to be in control, so we give her finger food now nd she does seem to eat more of it than mush/puree. She does the same thing as your little man does with food on a spoon. On the odd occassion that the food actully gets in her mouth, it comes straight back out again. Maybe you could try letting him be in control byt giving him more finger foods? We bought this mesh feeder thing in Coles and we put fruit peices in it and she sucks on it and demolishes the fruit.

i had the same thing with sophie, it was the spoon she hated!! one of the hienz rubber ones, we got rid of it and she started to eat that or off my finger, took her until around 7.5 months to get real intereseted, i wouldnt worry yet, enjoy your breastfeeding relationship

My son jacob was exactly like that. he didn't really start solids till just over 7 months and wasn't eating properly till close to 9 months :)

He refused a bottle as well and certainly wouldn't drink cows milk unless on cereal. We stopped breastfeeding at 21 months and then he took cows milk

He was over the 50% mark for his weight so I just let him to his own thing

thanks for your replies...i might try with the finger food/mesh feeder tactic and just take his lead i guess. its still early days, just reassuring to hear your stories and know i'm not the only one! Thanks again

Imran was similar, he refused solids until he was maybe 8 or 9 months old (I have a shocking memory - sorry) and even at a year old it felt like he didn't eat much solid food but these days his appetite is a legend in his 'village'. If there is food around he'll be sure to have some in his hand lol. He's still not fond of spoons and being fed by others but he's happy to eat finger food for hours on end.
6 months is still early days - the first few months of solids are more about learning about tastes and textures than the nutritional value. Eating solids isn't a developmental milestone that babies need to meet by a certain age so there's no need to stress, if he's still having lots of breastfeeds you can be confident that his nutritional needs are being met and when he's ready he'll start on other foods.
It sounds like you're doing a great job breastfeeding - congratulations :)

Jack also didn't take to solids until about 8 months. Even then he was fussy and didn't eat much until he was about 18 months. It is quite normal for bf babies to not need food until later, as long as they start by 1 there is no problem. It is just a sign that you are providing him with everything in your bm that he needs atm - you are clearly going a great job. Really, food is only for learning and experiment until about 12 months so don't fret! It will happen!

Toby wasn't into it either at 6 months, he was also around 8 months before he finally took an interest. As MR said it's very normal for breastfed babies and the worst thing you can do is push it...just keep trying every week or so and if he doesn't want it just try again next week - one day he'll grab the spoon right out of your hand and he'll be off ;)