Saturday, March 1, 2008

Do not be fooled

This child may look sweet and innocent enough. He may even look like he just finished a wonderful meal of homemade butternut squash puree. That may be what it looks like, but it is not the truth.
The truth is, this child will not willingly let one single speck of food cross his lips. He absolutely refuses to eat solid food. He refuses loudly and animatedly with much crying, throwing back of his head, arching of his back and making his face turn bright red. I have tried every trick imaginable to try to convince him to eat a little. I've played games and made silly noises and faces in an attempt to convince him that eating is fun to do. We've had to stop using anything that is associated with eating, such as bibs, high chairs, spoons, etc., because as soon as he sees them coming, he starts yelling. I've tried letting him just play with the food, as you can see in the picture. I've tried all different flavors and textures, finger foods and biter biscuits, he rejects them all.

Gustin is nine and a half months old now. I have be patiently trying to convince him to eat since he was about six months old. I'm tired. I'm out of ideas. Can anyone help me? Please?

P.S. As I was finishing this post, I had to go remove a crayon from Gustin's mouth. How come he'll eat crayons but not any real food? Is there any nutritional value to a crayon? Never mind, don't answer that. I don't want to be tempted when I'm feeling desperate. :)

7 comments:

Jill said...

Well, I have no good advice but am looking to see if anyone does. We just started solids last week- I always wait until my babies are at least 6 months. So far Henry has not taken a bite I don't think. My other babies seemed to enjoy it. I'm not sure if he doesn't understand the mechanics of it, or doesn't like the taste. Sure likes Mommy's milk, though, so I know he's not starving!
Great picture. You would never know he wasn't eating. :)

Lillian said...

You know, Isabelle didn't start eating until she was 10 yo. I was FRANTIC!! One wise mom told me to not worry and to try soup. She loved it!! And eventually she started eating food off our plates. She skipped EVERY type of baby food there was.

She never had cereal, applesauce, cheerios (would gag), etc.

But she loved scrambled eggs and soup. And just ate what we ate. So he'll eat when he's ready. He really will. And my understanding is they are okay for up to a year if you're nursing him.

You'll be laughing when he's sixteen and eating everything in the house!!!

Lillian said...

OOOPS!!!!! I didn't mean to say 10 yo!! I meant to say 10 mos old!!

I would hope I'd be freaking if that was the case! LOL!

Christine said...

I'm not much help at all - but does he show any interest in what's on your plate?

Maybe if he sat on your lap and could reach your plate he might grab something and try it? Of course he could always just grab your plate and try to pull it off the table or flip it over.

I'm not sure how helpful this is. And I've heard that it's okay if they don't eat real food until a year too - especially if you're trying and the little one isn't interested.

Good luck. Let us know what he ends up liking in the end.

Colleen said...

Thank you all for the comments. I've been telling myself from the beginning that I just need to be patient and keep trying. But, it was taking so long that I was starting to doubt myself. I thought that maybe I was doing something wrong. Thanks for all the encouragement, it's what I needed. It also helps to know that we have until he is a year old to get this eating thing figured out. I'm going to try to feed him more of our food from the table and see how that goes. I'm sure I'll be posting again about how it all goes in the future!

Tracy said...

My son Matthew was just like this!! He would only eat a little Gerber rice cereal and we tried everything and I thought about it all the time.. the doc told me to just offer him the foods but not to worry if he wouldn't take them, he was taking his fluids and a little cereal and he would get hungry soon enough and be ready to eat... and at 16 months (yes 16) he started eating and never stopped, lol!! Just don't stress.. offer it to him but if he refuses.. just stay calm.. he will know if you are upset.. he will eat.. this I promise.. good luck!!!

Colleen said...

Tracy, Wow! 16 months! I hope it doesn't take that long! Thanks for letting me know about you're experience. It sounds like I better settle in for the long haul.