Need some advice - eating question

ediep wrote: ok, Jason has been eating solids for 3 1/2 months. About 1 1/2 months ago he decided that he does not like rice cereal anymore. He would cry and cry whenever I tried to feed it to him. So, we stopped rice and started just jarred food and oatmeal for breakfast. It seems lately that he is getting so picky!! He hardly will eat any veggies, he will not eat oatmeal, he even is getting angry when I try to feed him the 2nd stage meats...which he ate fine last week. It is getting very frustrating that every meal is ending in him crying. What should I do? Should I keep trying different foods? Call the doc? Maybe try to wait longer between meals so he is hungrier? I am so confused!!

MommyToAshley replied: Ashley had been on solids since 4 months and she did this too...it was soo confusing. How many meals is he eating? Ashley was eating three meals a day and I cut back to two meals. That helped some.

But, there were still some days where she didn't want any solids. I think it might have been because she was teething becuase not too long afterwards, her bottom teeth popped out. It may have been a coincidence, not sure?

HTH.

ediep replied: We try to feed Jason 3 meals because that is what his ped recommended. Two weeks ago, he was eating 5-6TBs of cereal in the morning, 1/2 jar or fruit or veggie (stage 1) for lunch and 1 to 1 1/2 jars of stage 1 fruit or veggie for dinner. Of course, he was also having bottles. It seems that every day that passed he would eat less and less solid food. Yesterday, every meal we tried to give him, he just cried or refused to open his mouth. This morning, I offered him a jar of oatmeal with pears and cinnamon, he did not eat it. The I tried just plain pears, he ate a little of it. Then he drank half of a bottle and fell asleep for a nap. He doesn't have any teeth yet, so maybe the bottom ones are trying to come through and that is what is making him irritable? I am so confused!
My parents are taking care of him tommorrow because dh and I are going to his g-ma's funeral. Maybe my mom will figure it out!!
I appreciate any advive that you may have!!!

MommyToAshley replied: Sounds just like Ashley. My Ped recommended 3 meals too, but I cut it back anyways... I figured two meals was better than her eating none at all. She ate more with two meals but still didn't eat much while teething. Maybe try two meals until he is done with the teeth. After her teeth popped thru, she got her appetite back.

Is he drooling a lot, or have rosey cheeks? Or any other signs of teething? My Ped also shined a small flashlight on her gums and there were little white dots. She said those were the teeth. I never would have known what to look for.

Just a note, I was told that as long as she nurses (or takes a bottle), has at least 8-10 wet diapers a day, and isn't losing weight then not to worry. They get most their nurishment from BM or Formula at this age. However, it didn't keep me from worrying.

CantWait replied: Robbie went through a stage like that, unfortunetly he never outgrew it (he's 7 now). He would go through I really like that and he would eat it all the time, then he didn't want to eat it anymore. Or he just didn't want to eat other foods and such. He even went through a stage where he would only eat foods of different colours. Now he's just plain picky. It just doesn't get any better. Hope it does for you.

MommyToAshley replied:

Bumping this back up so others can see it.

ediep replied: Thanks! I think it may be getting better. He is just very picky!! I called the doc because I was wondering if bottle and some fruit was enough nutrition for him. The doc said that he should also be having veggies, but really the bottles are the most important. She said to just give it a few days, keep trying foods and he'll eat what he likes, but he should go back to eating in a few days. She said not to worry if he doesn't have a temp and he is having dirty diapers.

I think he may have inherited my eating style....(blush) I am also very picky!

MommyToAshley replied: Glad the Ped put your mind at ease. If you do have a picky eater, I hope he likes the same things you do or dinner time is going to be fun at your house. I am sure he will start eating again soon.

ediep replied: I know! You are totally right!!! LOL!!!

MommyToAshley replied: Just some food for thought (LOL)

I thougth Ashley hated carrots..she would eat a few bites of carrots and that was it and the jar would go to waste. However, I gave her some steamed carrots that had been mashed with a fork and she ate the whole plate and wanted more. She just doesn't like the baby food carrots -- can you blame her?

So, I think I am going to make some more fresh veggies and mash them for her since she seems to like them better.

Maybe Jason just doesn't like the taste of the baby food.

supermom replied:
No, I can't blame her at all - some of those foods are downright nasty - like the meats - giggle - and some of the fruits and veggies too, and I am NOT a picky eater!

Well, with Anders it wasn't the taste of the food, it was the TEXTURE - and for a long time he wouldn't eat anything that had the consistency of baby food (mashed potatoes, pudding, applesauce, yougurt, etc, etc). Finally in the last 6-8 mos or so, he has decided that not all foods with a smooth texture are so bad and is eating those types of food again.......like all of the above.

So, that just may be another explanation of why some of your babes don't like some (or all) baby food.

supermom replied:
I was going to answer this one earlier, but I forgot and got sidetracked at work ("This job keeps cutting into my day"!)

I had read some where a while ago (several years) that a toddler can survive on about 1/2 a banana and a glass of milk a day....after I read that I quit worrying so much about how much/what mine were eating and just concentrated on serving them something nutritious. If they are hungry, they'll eat it - smile - and if they are not, well.....then it wasn't that big of a deal......

I guess what I am trying to say is that if your baby is happy, healthy and otherwise "normal" then it's probably just a stage and nothing to get too concerned about.