6 month old won't eat food....PIOG

[yayay15]

My daughter is 6 months old and we have been TRYING to give her baby food since 5 months.  She is not interested at all...she usually won't even open her mouth and when she does she just pushes it out with her tongue. I have been trying twice a day just to get her practice but it's not helping! 

My boys were eating really well by six months so I'm not sure if this is normal or what I should or shouldn't be doing!! Any advice is greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

[Mom_to_Skyler]

I would stop the solids.  She's just not ready.  Any solids before a year are just for practice anyway.

There's benefits in delaying solids.  I plan on waiting until my daughter (4.5 months old now) can tackle me and take the food from me :) 

I've seen a great article on baby-led solids online somewhere.  I'll see if I can find it.

Becky

[Mom_to_Skyler]

http://www.tribalbaby.org/babyLedEating.html

[Tauna1208]

We did baby-led solids - nothing else appealed to me.  The general premise is only feed baby what he's actively reaching for and wanting to put in his mouth.  I'd offer well-cooked veggie "sticks" and pieces of fruit in stick form, and let him take what he wanted.  I haven't read this article pp posted, but if you look into it, you'll find true choking is extremely rare (it's soundless - what we usually experience is gagging, not choking).  I also found that ds avoided things that he was sensitive to.  Eating real food (not mysterious mush) develops their sense of taste and ability to manipulate food in their mouths.  When offered baby food, like when we were out with friends, my ds would look at me like I was insane for offering him that stuff.  Even homemade baby food!

[happytexasCM]

She doesn't need to be on solids; I would not even have attempted it before six months as she may still have had an open gut.

Also, "baby food" isn't necessary; when the time comes you can offer soft "regular" finger foods and she can feed herself.

kellymom.com :: When will baby be ready for solid foods?

[micheledo]

I think it was my second son that took a while before he was on solids.  Like others mentioned, you can certainly wait until she is more interested in food.  My son was very interested in it, but he just seemed to learn the process very slowly!  If you want to keep going with the solids, just keep offering a couple of spoonfuls a day.  Eventually she WILL get the hang of it! :-)  It sure is strange when one child is completely different at something that all your other kids figure out right away!

[yayay15]

THanks everyone...and thanks for the article.  I wasn't able to get on earlier because my comp was messe dup!

[YannysMummy]

I wouldn't bother with food yet if she doesn't want to.  The gut doesn't start making hydrochloric acid until 9 months old so it's difficult for them to digest food before then.  I fed my son solids too early and he developed allergy related eczema for several months which I have heard is linked to early introduction of solids.  I did cure him in the end but feel to blame and would not repeat my mistake with any future children.

I also went through a very frightening choking incident with him when he was about 7 months old when he choked on a baby rusk and couldn't breathe and I had to turn him upsidedown and hit him on the back to get it to dislodge.  I was so scared I thought I might lose him for a few moments, so I am never using rusks as finger foods again, and nothing remotely hard until about 18 months.  It isn't worth it.

 

[buzymamaof3]

I also would just stop with the solids.  I never gave my babies anything until they were well over 6 months.  I think between 8-10 we started with my girls, just for fun and practice and my son around 9-10 months.

[PhilsBabyMama]

It's normal.  Babies should not be given ANY solids before 6 months.  That is the recommendation of the World Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the American Academy of Pediatrics, UNICEF and many others. Here is an article that explains: Why Delay Solids.

Before a baby is a year old they don't need any solids.  Their nutritional needs are met by breast milk or formula and solids are only for experimentation and learning.  Don't stress if she's not interested in solids.  That's her way of telling you she's not ready for them.  We didn't even offer solids until my son was 8 months old. 

[nessy1980]

My youngest was like your dd and we gave him our food and he loved it. Just whatever you eat blend it and trust me your baby will eat it.