October 18, 2008
My little baby
“Little” being the key word here… she weighs 13 lb. 12 oz., somewhere around the 7th percentile. That wouldn’t be a problem, except the first half of her short life she was consistently at the 50th. Yep, little Anna has only gained 3/4 pound over the past 3 months and is well on her way to tumbling clear off the bottom of the growth charts. Dr. S. says she looks healthy and isn’t worried about her at the moment, but she’d rather not see this trend continue either.
We’ve been trying to feed Anna solids for over a month now, and the little princess is not interested. We’ve tried rice cereal, oatmeal, applesauce, and carrots so far. I can sneak a bite in her now and then when lets her guard down (and she tolerates it pretty well rather than spitting it out), but she has yet to take a bite voluntarily. She seals those little lips tight shut and turns her head away. I try to make her laugh and smile, but she has learned to smile with her mouth closed or with her tongue cleverly sealing up the entrance to her mouth. If she starts crying (keeping her mouth closed, of course), we stop, as I don’t want to traumatize her and give her a negative impression of mealtime. She’s generally happy; I give her her own spoon to play with, and she’s content to sit there dodging my spoonfuls of food for a few minutes.
So have any of you parents run into this? I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone whose almost-7-month-old wouldn’t even open her mouth to try something. I really hope this is nothing more than her just needing a few more weeks to develop in this area, and that surely any day now she’s going to change her mind!
David put together her high chair yesterday:
Comments(12)
how cute… I can just see her sealing up those lips. I’ve never had this problem but I would think she’ll eventually want to eat it. Piper LOVES her sweet potatoes I made. It looks much better than the jar stuff. We added some to her cereal and now she almost insist on sweet potatoes in her cereal and doesn’t want it alone.
Both my girls ate just fine, although they were each on the small end of the weight scale. I think suzanne was in the 10th percentile from about 2 months old until 18 months old, or something like that. She was consistently there, and didn’t drop farther, so the doctor said she was fine. (by statistics, there’s GOT to be some at the low end of the scale)
Please, please don’t worry about traumatizing her at this young age. You’re doing good to stop and not force it, but don’t think it’s “traumatizing”. I did several things to both of my girls that would qualify as “traumatizing” and neither one remembers them to this day. Worry about this when she hits about 2.
And remember……her father is QUITE picky, if I recall correctly. :)
Just keep trying food until you find something she likes. My girls always loved bananas. Sweet potatoes worked well, too.
Yes, you recall correctly. :-)
I think bananas are going to be next, in a couple more days.
Hey! I’ll have you know that I eat everything we have tried to feed to Anna: rice, oatmeal, applesauce, and carrots. Don’t you girls go trying to blame this on my genetic contribution. Besides, according to my mom, I was far from picky when I was a baby. It wasn’t until later, when I realized that not all food tastes like crap, that I became particular.
I think you’re on the right track. When Anna does decide to try more than just a bite, you’re already ready to meet her there.
One thing I would recommend, if you’re not doing it already, is to offer the solids before she has any milk. If she’s already nursed/had a bottle, she may not be hungry.
Stay consistent, stay positive, establish a routine, and she will most likely come around.
Just a little bit of encouragement: if I remember correctly, Cooper was not interested in solids for kind of a long time, but now he eats way better than Jackson does and maybe even better than me at times.
Oooh, I second what Megan says. Try the solids first, when she’s truly hungry. That might help.
Ok, David. So it’s not your fault…..But I’ve noticed with my own kids that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree…..EITHER tree….. :)
I think if she’s hungry, she’ll just fuss. I don’t think she gets that “this is food; this will fill up my tummy.”
I finally figured out how to confirm my suspicion that it’s not an issue of liking or not liking the food. Today I tried some breastmilk in a spoon, and she did NOT want it. Even after I got a little bit in her mouth so she could taste what it was, she still resisted. I let her play with a spoon at feeding time, so I don’t think she’s bothered by spoons in general, just my coming at her with one.
I’m not sure where to go from here. I was toying with the idea of just offering breastmilk from a spoon for a few days, to see if I could get her to take it. If she will, then I can gradually mix in cereal. Seems like a good idea, in theory.
OK, I’m not a mother. But it seems to me that rice and oatmeal don’t have much flavor, applesauce is tart, and carrots are pretty bland, too. Have you tried something definitely sweet? Chocolate pudding, maybe? I think bananas might be a good idea, at least they taste like something. One of our nieces was crazy about fruit in any form before she developed a taste for other solid foods. The other niece had a preference for anything Oriental—we teased her mother that it was because of all the Chinese and Thai food that she ate while pregnant and breastfeeding!
I think your onto something with the spoon theory. Some babies are just more orally sensitive to the textures and sensations of spoon feeding. I have ran across this quite a bit in therapy with older toddlers even, so KEEP trying. Encourage her to mouth lots of different textures in play, like a toothbrush, washcloth, etc. to help desensitize her little mouth so food on a spoon won’t feel so foreign each time. Also, she could just have a very independent streak early. Will didn’t like eating from a spoon at first either, UNLESS, i let him hold it and used my hand to guide it into his mouth. I have heard this from other parents too. Just some thoughts.
interesting thoughts and conversation.
her high chair is super cute!!!
So many comments! :) Well, Benjamin was a wonderful eater so I was stumped when Nicholas wasn’t as … wonderful. At his 9 month check-up, he was low in iron so the doctor prescribed this elixir for him. Long story short, we got this syringe from Target with his prescription that was for 10 ml (bigger than the one that comes with Tylenol or Motrin) which is equivalent to 2 teaspoon. Nicholas would eat half his meal (fruits and vegetables) and then clam up and he didn’t like meat at all. Doesn’t matter how tight those lips get though, you could always insert that syringe into a corner and pump in 1/3 of it. It’s way faster than spoon feeding and it gets food in them. I had to distract him with toys and tv which was a huge no-no when we had Benjamin but rules change with the kids, honey. After a while, I would show him the syringe and he would open his mouth for the spoon. Some may find it cruel or talk about psychological effects associated with eating but I went back for a second syringe. :) He’s 2 and a half now and eat food just find (oh, and loves steak!) You might have read that it takes at least 12 times for a kid to like a certain food so she might start getting better on her own. Good luck!
Hmm, interesting idea! And I can totally see you doing that. :)
I’m afraid Anna’s going to be low in iron if we don’t start getting some cereal in her.