My nephew is 6 months old and my sister is having a terrible time trying to get him to eat solids (he is breastfed). At first he would eat cereal but now he won't even it that and he throws an absolute fit when they try to feed him green vegetables. Does anyone have any suggestions I can pass along to her?

By Coopaveryben on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 09:43 pm:

Maybe they are too thick, my middle DS was this way. I had to mix his cereal almost like milk and very very gradually I made it thicker. To start him on Veggies I did the same thing, I either added the veggies to milk or added a little bit of the veggies to his cereal.

I don't know if he takes a bottle at all but I would also act like I was about to give him his bottle and put a spoon with a little cereal in his mouth and put the bottle in his mouth right after I did it, he did okay with that too.

He would also only eat Rice cereal, he hated the oatmeal and the mixed.

By Gammiejoan on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 09:52 pm:

I would just go very slowly at it since he should still be receiving the majority of the nutrition he needs from the breast milk. I wouldn't worry so much yet about the amount of food he eats. In other words, just a few bites of rice cereal will be fine even if she feels that very little of it is staying in his mouth. The important thing early on is for him to experience the texture and the taste and to learn how to swallow it. She should be sure to introduce solids slowly and in the order recommended. Has she tried any fruits with him yet? If so, does he seem to like them any better than the cereal. If he seems to like the fruit better, she can mix a small amount of applesauce or some other fruit with a small amount of cereal and see if he will eat a few bites.

By Melanie on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 10:06 pm:

I would just wait. Like Joan said, he is receiving his nutrition from breastmilk/formula. I would suggest putting him in his high chair while they eat as many babies become interested in eating from watching. I would even cut solid food up very small and place it in front of him to see if he tries to feed himself. Ds #2 was on table foods by 7 months. He simply preferred that. Perhaps her baby will skip the baby food stage altogether. Some do. No problem. Tell her to take a deep breath and just try different ways to try the solids. Her baby will let her know which he prefers. And he will be just fine.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 11:03 pm:

My younger daughter really didn't start eating solid food until she was about 7 months old. Whenever I would try, she would end up throwing it all up. I just waited a little while longer. Eventually, she ate just fine. She's now 12.