Babies seem to hate solids

[SIZE=10pt]The latest studies of feeding babies solid foods have shown their stomachs don't really digest it well until they are six months old. So, we talked to the dr. about this and waited until five days before they turned six months old to feed them cereal. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]We were told at their six month appt. yesterday to feed them fruits, veggies and protein. So they're going from just breast milk to the whole enchilada of baby food. We've just been feeding them one serving a day when they seem happy. So far this seems to work best mid to late afternoon. [/SIZE]So far they hate solids. They make yuck faces and Annalise gags - especially if it's chicken. Does anyone have any suggestions?

ETA: I know we're supposed to start one food at a time. However, I think we'll have to drop chicken (at least by itself) since they seem not to like it and try something else.

 

QUOTE
We were told at their six month appt. yesterday to feed them fruits, veggies and protein.


Did your doctor say why he/she wanted you to do that? That seems like a bit much.

It is OK if they hate solids at first! At 6 mo, it's just for practice and for fun. If it's not fun for them, you don't have to do it. We started offering at 6 mo, and they pretty much hated it. So we'd offer every few days or so. At 7.5 mo, they started to get interested. They were only sort of nibbling at one "meal" a day until about 9 mo, and they are just fine!

Breastmilk/formula is all they really need for the entire first year, so don't sweat it if the babies aren't interested in "real" food yet! Just try to follow their lead, and you can't go wrong. When they need to eat, they'll eat.

 

We didn't start meat until after 8 months. Like Holly said, its only for practice now, not for nutrition. It will take some time for them to get used to it. Go slow, have fun, and they will get the hang of it eventually. GL!

 

Our 3 oldest hated cereal and hated fruit but loved veges, the more mixed the better. The twins loved yogurt and love it mixed with everything. Like yogurt and cereal and fruit as one dish or yogurt and veges and or cereal. They eat really well unlike my first three we had lots of struggles there.

 

We started the boys on cereal at 4 months, then added veggies, then fruit. We saw the pedi last week and we asked him about meat and he said he tells his parents to start it at 9 months. No real rhyme or reason for it. Then he said-he NEVER gave them jarred meats! He said he wouldn't eat it-so why would he feed his kids it?!? :lol: I found that to be humorous. So at 9 months-they were getting small pieces of chicken, etc...

So I am holding off on meats until 9 months at least. They will be 9 months while we are in Italy...So really I will be waiting until we get home to try meats!

 

Are you giving jarred chicken? The texture and taste of that is pretty funky. I would back up and just offer bananas or sweet potatoes, and just let them get used to that for a few weeks....sweet, and packed with nutrition. It really doesn't have to be a "balanced" meal at this point, because they get everything they need from breastmilk or formula.

Mine took quite a long time to like solids and figure out what to do with them, but now they LOVE to eat. So, no worries, just go slow!

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ May 6 2008, 09:35 AM) [snapback]758065[/snapback]
Did your doctor say why he/she wanted you to do that? That seems like a bit much.

It is OK if they hate solids at first! At 6 mo, it's just for practice and for fun. If it's not fun for them, you don't have to do it. We started offering at 6 mo, and they pretty much hated it. So we'd offer every few days or so. At 7.5 mo, they started to get interested. They were only sort of nibbling at one "meal" a day until about 9 mo, and they are just fine!

Breastmilk/formula is all they really need for the entire first year, so don't sweat it if the babies aren't interested in "real" food yet! Just try to follow their lead, and you can't go wrong. When they need to eat, they'll eat.



Thanks for the reply Holly and everyone . He didn't have a particular reason why we should be starting everything other than it sounded like the thing to do. So, I think we'll just start with sweeter stuff like Becca said and not worry if they only nibble and eat one meal a day, like you said. Seriously, the next time I come home from the dr.'s feeling confused (like yesterday) I'm going to post about it first.

 

QUOTE(SweetGirl @ May 6 2008, 08:25 AM) [snapback]758042[/snapback]
ETA: I know we're supposed to start one food at a time. However, I think we'll have to drop chicken (at least by itself) since they seem not to like it and try something else.


Our pedi told us to start solids at their 6 month appt but to hold off on meats until 7 - 8 months.
I attemped to start mine on solids at 4 months but they were not ready, so I tried again at 5 months and they are just now really getting to where they'll eat some, and it's not much.

What I do is I mix 2 servings of baby food with 2 ounces of formula and then I mix in some oatmeal cereal, and they really like that. I heat up the baby food first so that it's nice and warm too. I started with mixing 1 jar (or ice cube) of baby food with 1 ounce of formula and mixing in oatmeal cereal until it was a good consistency. I think that mixing the formula and oatmeal cereal with the baby food makes the new taste more tolerable, and I asked my pedi and she said it's fine to mix it for as long as they want.

I'd hold off on the meats though for a couple more months!

ETA - I know what you mean about coming home confused from the pedi's office. There's always so much going on with trying to care for two babies AND listen to everything the pedi has to say. I came home last week thinking I was supposed to be feeding my babies 3 meals of solids per day and stressing out about it. Turns out that is just what I am working up to - for when they are 1 year old, not what they are supposed to be doing right now and I was stressing over nothing!

 

Oh I so know how you feel about being confused on what to give them. I have just recently became happy with their solid intake.

Carlie LOVES solids. Claire is so-so. My mom was watching them while I worked, so she would put a big of cereal in her veggies. It thickens it up some, and she is better at eating it. She is doing better now.

I do not give them jarred chicken, ham, etc... I give them the turkey, chicken, ham, Dinners. It is usually Turkey Rice, Chicken & Apples, Chicken Noodle, Mac & Cheese, Vegetable Beef and Vegtable Chicken.

I think that your pedi is also asking for a lot at once. We just started dinners at 8.5 months. There was no hurry for it. I would do just veg/fruit for now to get them used to it. Sweet Potatos and Squash are good starts for Veggies.

My issue now is getting them to take their formula...they don't want it anymore!

April

 

Well, we did bananas and they loved it! Thanks so much for the help everyone .

 

I agree with PP - stick with the yummy simple stuff. Bananas & sweet pot were our early favorites, then onto peas (they like the peas with brown rice best), pears, apples. We have yet to go with the meats - just started yogurt.