We are in such a mess! 7 months starting nursery but not eating solids

[pookey]

Weaning is not going well. Ds is now 7 months, i started weaning at 6 months by trying babyled weaning but he wasn't really eating anything and a nutritionist advised me that it is important that he actually swallows some food and also said that it can cause tummy problems as the food doesn't get chewed properly. The only things he seems to like are carbs; I gave him some french bread in a cafe as he was desp for our food and he loved it (well sucked it lots at least) but I am trying to avoid wheat as he seems a bit sensitive - since starting weaning he has been having dry skin/eczema and has had an allergy rash which may have been from food. He also likes the apple flavour rice cakes (again he mainly sucks them) but they seem to make him rashey on his cheeks and any eczema patches get redder. I have tried pureed carrot recently but he wasn't anymore impressed with that than he was with carrot sticks.

Problem is he is starting nursery on Monday and he will only eat baby rice at mo I think they will think I am neglecting him and am also worried about what they can give him! I am reluctant to give him fruit as his nappies have been suspicious when he tried some babyled style pear and banana and dp is allergic to some fruit.

This is a really rubbish message sorry, thanks in advance if anyone can make sense of it and give me some tips/ or moral support if in same boat!

[shellybelly]

its not a rubbish message and i'm sure there are loads of mums with similar probs, dd has been ok weaning so I'm sorry that i can't offer any real advice tho I should add I was worried about dd having nursery food and if I'm honest she is fine infact she loves the food there and I'm feeling guilty coz i'm now a SAHM and she is coming out, I can only say keep perserving but just offering little amounts (have you spoke to your HV about it) really sorry I can't be of more help

[alliebaba]

hey, you're not rubbish.. my dd has red bumpy dry cheeks and now i know why! thanks. hope you get sorted.

[Twiglett]

firstly at 7 months he is getting his nutrition from milk mainly ... when you drop him at nursery tell them you are following WHO guidelines and weaning slowly and dictate what they should feed him

the point of weaning is to get him accustomed to taking food from a spoon and introducing him to a range of tastes .. over the next couple of months he'll probably be more into it

so a few spoons of baby rice are great .. trying different vegetable and fruit purees also great

he obviously doesn't have a problem as he's trying to eat things

Am confused as to what you mean by a suspicious nappy after pear and banana .. the texture / colour and types of poo naturally changes with foods being introduced

if you're concerned about wheat don't give it .. give plain unsalted rice cakes instead of apple ones ... try the organic ranges of pre-made baby foods if you want or cook at home ... do you have a weaning book like annabel karmel to help you introduce stuff

[Mosschops30]

what is babyled weaning?
dont take this the wrong way but do you think you might be being a little over-sensitive with not giving him wheat based or things with fruit?
There is really no benefit of not trying your baby with anything after 6 months, if they are going to have a reaction they will have it at 6 months, 9 months or a year, it makes no difference.
I am the worst person to advise as I weaned both mine on jars but they are both healthy eaters with good appetites so I cant complain.

[WigWamBam]

Not a rubbish message at all!

Firstly, don't worry about what the nursery will think about him only having baby rice. If that's all he will eat at the moment then let him have it.

Banana is sometimes not tolerated very well by babies when they start to wean; did you give the pear and banana together? If not, maybe you could try just the pear and see if he's OK with that.

I wonder if it's worth asking for allergy testing for him, as it seems as if he's reacting to more than one type of food. Have a word with the GP or HV if it continues to cause concern.

[FrannyandZooey]

Agree with Twiglett. Hard not to worry unduly when babies and food are involved, but slowly does it is the best way at this age :)

[pookey]

Thanks for the reassuring and helpful messages . WWB, F&Z and Twiglet I guess I will have to believe in myself re nursery and slow weaning. Will print off some current recommendations for them perhaps. Some of the nurses are a bit set in their way - some severe eyebrow lifting and how old is he was going on when they heard what he has tried! Think I might ask them just to give baby rice for a couple of weeks telling them I will concentrate on weaning at home. Will try not to think about them saying ‘isn’t it awful that poor strapping boy only eating baby rice’. He is only there 2 days and I can give him veg for his last meal at home. He is having 1 afternoon with my mum but she won’t be judgmental because she couldn’t get us to eat much either app

Moschops the baby led weaning is about giving finger foods rather than puree. Maybe you are right about being over sensitive I think I will try pear again in a couple of days, I can't remember exactly what the problem was with fruit as I wasn't too worried at that point and didn't write things down - think he was windy and the poo was a bit green (then again he has been doing lots of green poos recently). The nutritionist (a guest speaker at a mother and baby group) warned against fruit as babies can be allergic to fructose (I think) and it can also aid a sweet tooth and put them off veg.

Twiglet I have loaned out my AC book to a friend whose 5mo baby is wolfing down his grub but tbh the recepies were quite complicated and not really right if being careful and introducing things slowly - can anyone recommend a good one?

Shellybelly its funny that we will feel guilty no matter how we choose to look after our babys. How old was your when she started nursery and what sort of foods was she being given. The babies I have seen eating there were older and having mash, beans and some sort of meat also being given slices of banana and apple.

Hope you dd’s cheeks clear up allliebaba!

My action plan is to concentrate on veg but loosen up on wheat and fruit over next few months and just note any reactions.

Thanks again everyone x x

[beansprout]

If it helps, ds didn't want to eat anything at all until he was 7mo. We started down the puree fruit slowly and at 16m he's fine. A bit of eczema too but it is managable (seems to be triggered by dairy).

A good nursery will just go with whatever you tell them your child needs. You are not supposed to be at any particular stage by now, where you are is fine. Babies are not supposed to be weaned until they are 6mo. Ignore the ones who were given food earlier. It is not a race. As long as you offer decent food to ds and let him make his own choices, you will be fine.

Also, it can be stressful for us when they start at nursery, so it might be that you have a lot going on at the moment, but are putting it all on the food? Ignore me if I am talking poo but I found putting ds into childcare when I went back to work a difficult time.

Hope it all works out ok

[geogteach]

I wouldn't worry too much, DD did baby led weaning by default, she had a spoon phobia, she wasn't eating off one when she started nursery at 9 months! One thing about nurery is they get used to seeing other kids eat and often want to 'join in' so he may learn there. I recon dd was pobably going on 11 months before she ate off a spoon and doesn't seem to have suffered for it, just take it slow, milk is still most important at that age.

[tribpot]

Don't worry, my ds is nearly 9 months but not much further on than yours. If you have doubts about food intolerances, by all means delay wheat (I waited til 8 months and now he only has it occasionally, ditto dairy). There was a report out last year that said for the children of coeliacs, delaying wheat past 8 months can be as bad as introducing it before 6 months, but it couldn't comment on whether that applied to people with other food intolerances/allergies in the family.

I got some grief off my hv recently about ds' progress with weaning but Mumsnet soon set me straight on that. I would take no grief off the nursery - you are paying them to look after your ds for you, after all.

[pookey]

beansprout and tribpoint I don't know why I am so worried about what the nursery staff think, if he wasn't going to nursery I would probably be far more relaxed, so not a poo theory that I am prob investing all my worries into food - didn't occur to me but makes sense.

It's a relief to hear these stories, the mums I know with babies my ds' age or younger seem to be feeding their babies lots of food but even they get stick from the HVs - why haven't you introduced meat yet, she should be having deserts as well as a veg at lunch etc - which is partly why i haven't gone to the clinic in recent weeks {{shush}}

geogteach hopefully nursery will be a good influence on ds' eating habits - that's a nice thought

[fob]

hi-ya pookey!
you shouldn't give a stuff what other people are doing - this is not the baby olympics and you have tp trust yourself in that you know whats best for your wee one!
my ds is nearly 6mnths and he takes fruit and veg purees, but above all still loves the breast and baby rice made with breastmilk!
i just go with the flow!
hope it all goes well

[hermykne]

pookey does he have a liquid feed (breast or bottle) prior to u attempting to entrance him in food?

[kiskidee]

my dd is 10.5 months and only in the last week, yes, week has decided that food is not just a fad she can overlook. I started weaning at 25 weeks.

she swallows fine and is just getting used to hard bits of things (cheerios) touching the back of her throat much to my amusement.

Me? worried? nah. Have you heard of any grownups who did not wean by 7 months and have to suck everything thru straws because of it? Your baby will eat when he's ready.

personally, I think the nutritionist is talking bollocks. in some parts of the world now and not so long in the UK and Ireland, weaning on food did not start till nearly a year.

[shellybelly]

hi Pookey
dd was 7mths when she first went into nursery, she has had all sorts to eat, some things i was little shocked at but she has had no ill effects, she has had tinned spag hoops (not really happy about that) quiche, pies, everything we would eat basically, and can I just add that you shouldn't worry what the nursery thinks, you aren't paying them to think you are paying them to look after your child and they should do what you request iyswim again I think with weaning its a case of perserving what he doesn't like one day he might like 2/3 days later

its funny you mentioned a rash tho, dd has got funny red dry patches popping up all over, somedays they are worse than others, gp prescribed a steriod cream but its not really doing any good, wonder if she has an allergy to something, god hope not

[pookey]

Thanks fob at baby olympics.

Kiskiddie i am begining to think the nutritionist might have been talking out her ass, I don't know anyone who chooses to only eat baby rice as an adult so I guess the window of opportunity for getting a baby to eat solids can't be that small!

DS had his first proper day at nursery today but as I am on annual leave till next week I only left him there for 4-5 hours. The food he is trying at the moment is sweet potato and as I had some spare I packed him a pot for his lunch and told them not to worry if he didn't eat it. Although he wasn't been too interested in it on sat and sun at home he ate the whole lot at nursery!! App the nursery nurse has a real knack for getting babies to eat who don't want to know at home!

hermykne I have tried giving him solids both before and after feeds but doesn't seem to make much difference. Nursery gave him his bottle at 11 then a break and food at 12 so I might try that tomorrow.

Shellybelly hope your dd doesn't have any allergies, it sounds like she has a varied diet so it would prob be hard for you to pin point any allergies esp if only mild reactions. Might be worth looking at the allergy section for tips on treating her skin, I have started using Aveeno since looking there and it seems to make his skin much softer wheras E45 was making it worse. Our babies were the same age starting nursery which is nice, ds is the youngest there by quite a bit, its good in a way since he seems to get lots of cuddles

[shellybelly]

hi Pookey
so his first day went ok pleased for you
I know what you mean about nursery staff getting babies to eat, dd does really well when they feed her and then at weekends sometimes I have a right battle, for instance this weekend was really hard and I ended up a little upset and frustrated shouting at dh 'how come she eats at nursery and not at home' weird isn't it

[velcrobott]

There is a very good article on weaning (baby led weaning) in this month Junior Pregnancy and Birth.... this might give you some positive ideas

[pookey]

Shellybelly guess there is nothing wrong with a bit of peer pressure even when they are babas -app ds was feed at the table with the other little ones must'nt have wanted to show himself up in front of the girls !

Thanks velcrobott will def look at that mag (your name reminds me of kids transformers - except instead of turning into a car you prob turn into an aerobics instructor!)

[hermykne]

pookey i am glad his day went well.
i would say an good break between the fluid and solid should aid a btter appetite, becuase milk is a foodstuff. there was an article also in junior on it, i think its on their website about how it can hinder the appetite.
but thats great he did well today.

[pookey]

Thanks, I was really anxious last night but now feel much lighter, hopefully little successes will continue to happen.

Sounds like Junior Pregnancy and Birth is quite a good magazine. I think looking at Gina Ford routines recently made me think the solids and milk feeds should be together, but also when I first started weaning I was concentrating on finger feeding but demand feeding breast milk as that is what the article on blw I read advocated and tbh I think that confused me but also isn't it natural for the baby to breastfeed until full from the milk rather than just quenching thirst?