Well let me just say that starting a baby on solids is not what I would call fun. Its funny to watch and I don't get frustrated because its totally not his fault if he can't or won't eat something. But I will say that sometimes I don't really know what to do. This is my first time around, and while my baby is learning so am I.
Let me just re-wind to the past week and and my random babbling will all make more sense to you.
Hopefully most of you have been here yourselves and can give me some encouragement or offer up any suggestions you may have that could help.=)
It all starts with a 6 month old birthday. We had a doctors appointment that same day for his shots. I had called the doctor when Cooper was about 5 months old asking if he could start eating cereal out of a bowl yet, I mean most babies start at 4 months, why can't mine. (they had told us to hold off since he was getting so much cereal in his bottle already from his reflux situation). Anyways, I called at 5 months and the nurse was adamant that we needed to wait until he was 6 months old to eat anything with a spoon even cereal due to his reflux. I was sort of bummed about this because I felt like he would be behind if we never tried to teach him to eat with a spoon but since this is our first time around we did just as we were told. At his 6 month App. the doctor gave us the OK to start cereal and baby food once the cereal eating was going good. He told us to do cereal, then Veggies first then Fruit. I know this is the standard way to start your baby on food. We are supposed to be feeding him cereal twice a day and his bottle on top of it with cereal in it as well.
First cereal experience went a little something like (stick spoon in mouth, spit cereal out all over the place, bib is COVERED in white sticky gooey mess, baby is gagging, mama is covered in white sticky gooey mess, both mama and baby need a bath now, chair is a mess, tray is a mess). I was concerned that maybe the cereal was too thick. So the next day I called the doc and asked them "what am I doing wrong". They tell me how to mix the cereal yet again and say it will take time. Possibly up to 15 times of feeding him to get him used to it. OK sounds like FUN!
So we keep trying, all week we try. After every single day of no improvement whatsoever for 5 days straight (Yes I know, 5 days is not 15 days). But no improvement whatsoever and it seemed like he hates the cereal.
Ladies I did the naughty! I bought sweet potatoes and tried the whole Baby food, then cereal bite trick. Oh ya, he loved him some sweet potatoes that's for sure. But as soon as that bite of cereal hit his tongue it was a mess again. He immediately starts gagging and spitting it out everywhere. Yet he was reaching for the spoon and trying to feed himself when it was sweet potatoes on the spoon. So I've now figured out that yes, he hates the cereal, its not that he's not ready or doesn't now how to push food to his throat and swallow, he just plain doesn't want to swallow that crap. I don't blame him, I tried the cereal and it was NOT good. No wonder he sits there with it sitting on his tongue with his mouth wide open and a look of terror on his face pleading with me and ready to start crying and wanting to ask me "mom, why did you just do that, why would you put that in my mouth"?
The next day I tried mixing baby apple sauce into the cereal. He took some small bites and then lost complete interest as usual. I understand completely why he needs to eat the cereal first. Its so bland now that he's tried other flavors he may never want his cereal. OOPS. Bad choice on mommy's part giving him the good stuff now also. Now he'll never go back.
We haven't given him the good foods since because I know he has to get used to the cereal, but how? He literally WILL NOT eat it.
Oh and I should probably tell you that we also didn't follow directions on the feeding schedule the doc told us to do of twice a day with the cereal. Ha-ha, twice a day, that's funny. I have to strip him down and give him a bath every time we feed him. I don't have the time or energy to bath him twice a day and his skin doesn't deserve that kind of punishment. Poor baby has to have soft smooth buttery skin. Two baths a day for gosh knows how long will totally ruin his soft lotion-ed skin he sports right now.
OK so spare me the "you should never have done what you did by giving him baby food" talk. And HELP!!!
Any advice because quite frankly I'm sick of calling the doc and them not really getting whats going on at my house and the fact that I'm scared and such a coward and I won't dare tell them that I totally did what they told me not to do by giving him food before he got used to cereal. Bad mama!
Alright ladies, what do you know, what can you tell me. I'm ready to listen.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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22 comments:
It's been a while since I've experienced the first feedings with my little guy, but seriously it does take some time. I remember going through the same thing, it SUCKS! :)
I always mixed his cereal up with apple sauce or other fruits to get that plain taste out of the cereal. Just keep trying. I know that didn't help, but that's the advise I can give. lol Good luck. He'll get it soon.
SO my question is.... why is it so important for him to have the cereal on the spoon if he is getting the nourishment from it out of his bottle? Is it that necessary for him to actually be eating the cereal off of a spoon? I mean he'll only be eating it for a few months anyhow so is it that big of a deal? He has proved to you he can eat off of a spoon just fine so it's not like he's lacking any skill. I would just forget about it and feed him the baby food.
Now if he needs the cereal first because it is coating his belly or something like that due to his reflux.... then i'd give him some of the bottle with the cereal in it first.
You don't always have to listen to the doctor. You are his Mommy and you know him better then anyone else!!!
Sweetie, you are a great momma! And don't worry, our doctor didn't let us start cereal until 6 months, and baby food until 7 months... And Jackson certainly doesn't have reflux and any problems eating with a spoon. Jackson didn't like the cereal much at first either. What are you mixing it with? If you use his formula, I'd think it would taste the same as his bottle. Anyway, maybe you should try oatmeal. Jackson eats 2 tbsp. of oatmeal in the morning, and 2 tbsp. of cereal in the evening. And if Mr. Coop just won't eat it, don't worry! I'm no doctor, but maybe he gets enough cereal in his bottle. Don't stress, Cooper looks to be a very happy and healthy baby boy!
I was told to make the cereal in one bowl. Then get a jar of baby food. Then take a spoonful of the cereal and dip it(just a little) in the baby food. That way they get the "good taste" but they are really getting mostly cereal. I don't think mixing it works that well since they still taste most of the cereal. I don't know but that's what I've heard to try!!! My little oinker will eat anything and everything (that's also why she has a buddah belly) but I hope everything gets better and definitely keep us updated on it!!
I'm in the same boat. The girls hate cereal so we skipped it. We had beech.nut and the package ingredient lists says its only rice flour. I read online somewhere that cereal was more to get them used to swallowing and feeling it in their tummy. It doesn't really provide much other than that. It has iron in it but our girls get vitamins with iron already. So don't feel bad skipping cereal.
I know they also say try a new food for 3 days before you introduce another one to watch for allergies. For us, food time is an hour to 90 minutes after their bottle. We eat as a family, so we each take a baby and it's a bite for them two or three for me and another bite for them. Butternut Squash seems to be a hit, we got a whopping 8 bites in each of them last night! It's a lot like pumpkin and sweet potato. DH said he was forceful with them and mixed in some bm so there would be something familiar and he said it helped. They got a bite, and if they spit it out it was scooped back up and went right back in. No games. I don't know if I can be that mean. I also don't push them once they start to pull away. I also read that you should let them suck on their fingers if they do that while they're eating. It will help them get the suck/swallow reflex with food.
I have also found that if I keep a wet rag around when we're feeding I can limit their mess. I have some flat cloth diapers that I use a rags and I wipe them down constantly which really seems to help. Sorry if it wasn't much help.
A lady at work told me that years ago (he kids are in their 30's) her dr told her to put baby food in a bottle and use a pin to make the nipple hole larger. Supposedly the baby will get a taste and want more but that sounds weird and I haven't tried it yet. I hope Cooper gets it soon!
From what I remember we started with the rice cereal and he didn't care for it much either. He would eat the oatmeal cereal much better. Our Dr said it was ok to mix either one with a little apple juice or even veggies or fruit. She said to do whatever we could to get him to at least eat "some cereal" I'm not sure if that helps, but good luck! At least you know he likes sweet potatoes :)
So who told you that cereal was so VITAL again? That seems plain silly. Clint wasn't having rice cereal, so we use oatmeal cereal instead. I mix it with organic applesauce, low sugar apple juice and prune juice. He loves it! But back to my main point... why is cereal so important? When we brought it up to our pedi that Clint didn't like the rice cereal, he said (and I literally quote) "Then just move straight to fruits and veggies. Cereal is just a filler at this point and he can get all the iron and vitamins he needs through his milk and fruits and vegetables." Clint's pedi has been in practice for 40 years. He definitely knows what he's talking about! And Clint is gaining weight steadily, seems just fine to me!
Go with your mommy gut and if that means Cooper doesn't have cereal "first" or even at all, don't fret! He will quickly be moving on up to other carbs!
Hi Lady! How the heck are ya?
I'm so glad you dropped by and left your kind comments. I'm feeling good and ready to get back to blogging regularly! I've been dealing with sick kiddos, Spring Break, a freak snowstorm (I know you know about that!) and general malaise from time to time!
Anywhooo....regarding today's post...
Mary Catherine took FOREVAH to master cereal...she never did take it. Eventually, the pediatrician's office told me to skip cereal entirely and go straight to fruits and veggies.
Mary was small (not preemie small, but small) and was a great nurser, but just wasn't ready for the spoon as early as some babies are. We did the "wait until 4 months" for cereal thing (no reflux issue), but she just didn't care for it...not just the taste, but also the spoon itself.
As for putting the fruit in the cereal...don't worry about it! Eating cereal is purely for mastering the use of the tongue and swallowing...not for nutritional value. So, if Mr. Cooper will only take the cereal flavored with banana, apple sauce, sweet potatoes,etc. that's okay! You are not going to scar him for life and turn him into a sweets eater! LOL Also, Gerber and some of the other cereal brands do have ready-made cereals that are fruit-flavored. Proof, that you and I don't have the only kiddos that hate the taste of bland cereal! HA!
And just you wait...in about 18-months down the road, you are going to be posting about how Mr. C will only eat chicken fingers and/or orange-colored mac-n-cheese...full of additives and preservatives and you don't know what to do!
Feeding babies and toddlers is tricky business! You're right...it's a learning experience with every baby...yes, I was a bit calmer with Ben (#2) than Mary, but he had his own challenges...lactose intolerance. You learn to just go with the flow.
Hang in there! You're doing great, mommma!
Val
Can you do baby oatmeal with his reflux?? If you can they have a yummy banana one that B loves & maybe Coop will take to that better.
If the doctor said that you can start the good food when he was doing well with the cereal but the only way to get him to eat the cereal is to mix the 2; then I say mix the yummy food in with the cereal! He will love it eating time & so will you!!
Okay I'm right there with ya. I just started feeding Tucker baby food too.
I don't feed him the cereal. I say, if he doesn't like it, don't give it to him! Mama always knows best, right? So what if he doesn't have cereal? He's not going to be eating that crap forever, so why not give him stuff he likes???
I feed Tucker baby food in the evening.
I have learned to strip him down to his diaper and feed him. This is the cleanest way. No baby food on clothes and no baby food on bib = less laundry for mama!
I also take 2 paper towels and get them wet and keep them beside me when I feed him so I can wipe him off easily.
The sitter feeds him the 2nd time during the day - shes done this for awhile so she's better at it than I am and doesn't have to remove all his clothes! He comes home totally clean! Just takes practice I guess!
I give Tucker no cereal. At all. Not even in his bottles. He just didn't seem to like it so why be a mean mommy and force him to eat stuff he doesn't like??
If you are dead set on giving him formula, there are flavored kinds he might like better.
Like a fruit flavored one.
Hope this helps! Hang in there! Practice makes perfect!!!
Well I don't see why it is so important that he gets cereal if he is already getting it in his bottle. It is the same cereal right?? I say just stick with the veggies, oh well that you gave him fruit to try, it's okay! If the Dr. still thinks it is important that you mix cereal, then mix a small amount into the baby food you are feeding him. I think since he is getting it in his bottle it's fine! Yes, he will get messy! They have those bib shirts, you may want to look for. Have you seen those? Also keep a wet wash cloth handy and clean him as you feed, it will make for an easier clean up when y'all are finished. He will make yucky faces at some veggies, just keep trying, and when he starts fruit you can mix some together. Sweet potato and pears etc! It's ok, don't worry dear, it will all come together! Let it be fun, if he doesn't like something after you feel you have tried it until you can't try it any more, move on to the next one. Plus he may like something next month that he doesn't like now, so don't count it out forever! As he gets a little older you can get the yo baby yoguart and 3-in-1 meals with fruit and veggies! Then soon he'll start eating smashed bananas, avocado etc. So don't worry you are doing fine, if he loves sweet potatoes then sweet potato it is!! xoxox
We had the same issue with Kaidence at first. I was using rice cereal and she HATED it! So, I bought to single-grain wheat and single-grain barley. She likes both of them alot better, and barley is her favorite. It has a LITTLE more taste and it's not as thick and gooey.
I also tried puttng 1/2 a scoop of formula in the cereal with the water. It also adds flavor and she likes it more than just plain.
Last thing - I don't know if he told you how much to feed him. But, when we started rice cereal at 3 or 4 months I literally only gave her 1/2 - 1 tablespoons at a time. It was just too much of a hassel to try more because by the end we had a HUGE mess. Eventually she got use to it and I started giving her more.
Just hang in there :) It may take a little while, but he will get it eventually!! :)
Hope it's sooner rather than later, though ;)
Oh and also strip down to diaper and feed that way you can just clean him off with wipes or a towel and skip the extra laundry and baths!
My kids HATED rice cereal and would NOT eat it. Try oatmeal! They loved it!!
However, if he doesn't like it, he just doesn't. Keep on with the baby food and don't worry about it :)
First of all, you're not alone. Have you ever tasted that cereal though? It's pretty gross! We had better luck when we mixed it with formula as opposed to water (I was trying to be lazy at first...gimme a break...I have twins). We introduced the baby food pretty early (dare I say at 6 months)...they were fine. Cooper will be fine. Try to stick to the new food every 3 days though b/c of allergies. It's meant to be messy. I don't remember a lot of fun (except for the faces). Your doctor sounds a little on the cautious side...go with your gut, Mama!
I can totally tell you that we had the same here with all the mess! :) I think that's totally normal! A few days after starting solids and everything being completely covered with food, I began putting BB in a high chair only in hid diaper and just covered him in the front with a towel, covering some of the high chair too... then the towel went off, the diaper went off and straight for the bath he went. :) But it totally gets better - the mess has never been as bad as at the beginning. Even now, as he's eating more food with his hands, it never gets THAT bad. :) So, for that one, just give it time.
As for the dislike for cereal, BB didn't like it plain either, so I always mixed it with other food - as he started eating more and more solids, it was easier to mix in a bit of cereal here and there, so he wouldn't get the pure taste of cereal he didn't care for.
I mean, Cooper gets his cereal in a bottle anyways, so wouldn't that be quite enough? I'd say keep on going with the bottle that includes the cereal and do what you do, slowly start giving him his single veggies, etc.
The thing is, babies are supposed to be intruduced to solids at this age and it isn't a big deal that they don't eat it all, etc. Up to 12 months old, they're supposed to be mainly on breast milk or formula anyways, so as long as he gets to slowly practice eating from a spoon and takes some cereal in his bottle, I think he'd doing perfectly fine!!! Make sure though that his formula has some extra iron.
You're doing great!
Yeah, we had a bit of a time trying to get the whole solid foods down, too. I try to mix peaches, or mixed berries, or prunes in with the cereal. I think the prunes are the best because the cereal and solids that you are 'supposed' to start with always constipate the baby! We found this out the hard way! So, the prunes and peaches sort of even out the cereal and potatoes. And, I don't think you have to worry too much about it. I mean, my kid is only 9 months, and I have fed her almost everything. I fed her strawberries yesterday, and then read today that by feeding her strawberries before her first birthday, it might cause later allergies. oops! All well, I guess it's the same with chocolate, which I might have given her a taste of! So, it seems, I'm the worse mother compared to you feeding your kid sweet potatoes!! :) I guess I just figure that it's your kid, and if you go with fruits first, so what? Now that Sahara is a little older, we have found that she loves to feed herself cooked peas, and there we go with the veggies!
i have no advise...finley is only 9 weeks old, so i havent gotten to this yet. but i sure am glad you posted this...i read all the comments, and all seems like good advise! and when i get to this point, you will be MY pro giving ME advise!!!
and you ARE SO NOT A BAD MAMA! cooper always looks happy! and healthy! if he likes sweet potatoes...i say, give him sweet potatoes@!
I dont even really remember starting alex on food other then it was always a mess! I hope you can figure something out. Maybe just start with very very tiny amounts. He will catch on :)
I totally agree with everyone else! Just skip the rice cereal or find another kind that he likes. My son didn't like the rice cereal at all. I tried it many times and he didn't like it. I tried oatmeal and he liked that much better. I mixed it with fruit though and he loved that. Don't worry about it too much, like other people said, he won't be eating that stuff very long anyways. He'll be eating all baby food soon and then big people food!
Caleb hates cereal as well. I always just mix the baby food with the cereal. We use oatmeal cereal, not rice. There are also flavored cereals that might work well for him. If not just give it to him in his bottle first before you give him baby food. Your doing a great job
LOL earlier there was 2 comments so I came back to comment and now you have a million ;)
Having not read what anyone else said I think its totally fine...I don't think anyone "likes" rice cereal its boring and plain and as long as he is getting it in his bottle for his reflux I think it will be fine... Veggies are GREAT for him so if fruit so it definitley can't hurt!
I startd feeding Faith more food food likes I just started blending a tiny amount of graham crackers into dust and adding formula for a little something sweet ( real little dont worry :) and just letting her try different foods .
There are the definite no-no's of course like honey nuts etc but she enjoy eating and trying new foods and we mox a lot of things . She hates Green beans we mix them with Yams and loves it ;)
Anyways looks like you get more than enough advice!
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