I didn't give Avonlea solids until 6 months. It wasn't some kind of weird stance or anything--it was mostly because I was (let's face it) lazy. It was just easier to cart Avonlea around without a bunch of other food and equipment, and with how my brain is working lately, I would forget half the time, anyways.
At 6 months, we started giving her solids. Purees, mostly--apples, peaches, pears, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes (of which she is now allergic). I would also give her slices of apples and carrots to gnaw on, which worked well.
She took to purees pretty well. She wouldn't eat a lot at one sitting, but she was still being breastfed, so I wasn't worried about the calories.
She figured out how to use the pouches at 9 months, sucking the food out on her own, which was nice and helpful. Again, she still wasn't eating a lot, but she was trying out new foods, and seemed to enjoy whatever we would give her (well, except peas. She hated eating peas by themselves.). She did show signs of stubbornness--if I gave her a spoonful of something she didn't like, she wasn't eager to try anything else from a spoon that meal. It was like she didn't trust me or something.
About a month ago, she really hit her stride. She figured out how to hold the pouches, and could eat everything in it (or almost everything). I was excited because we were finally to the point where we weren't throwing food away! She would be quirky, and one week not eat from a spoon at all, and only eat from a pouch, and the following week, it would reverse--but she was still eating. I continued to give her bits of "real" food, too--a stalk of steamed broccoli, apples, some rice puffs, a bit of pancake, a cracker, some goldfish, some Cheerios. She would gnaw on them, but she wouldn't swallow anything solid. If it was too big, she would just work it with her tongue until she could spit it back out.
Well, about 3 weeks ago, she decided she no longer wanted food. Nothing. No purees, no solids, no finger foods. She won't let me feed her, and she won't take purees from a pouch herself. I will put some "real" food in front of her, and she will play with it, but next to nothing goes in her mouth (the dogs have learned to sit by her high chair, because she will often drop the food off the side). If I try to put something in her mouth, she turns her head away quickly, or spits it out immediately--she doesn't even taste it.
Around 9 months, when she got on the food kick, I slowed down her breastfeeding during the day--but as a result, she was waking up every couple of hours at night to eat. Since she's been on the food strike, I am breastfeeding her more during the day, and she's letting me sleep 5 hour stretches at night. Yes, I know she should be sleeping all night. I KNOW. I was hoping that by bumping up her calories during the day, she would sleep better--but that is blowing up in my face.
I am just really frustrated. I try new foods, she won't eat them. I try "favorite" foods, and nothing. I try purees from a spoon and from a pouch, and I may get her to eat one bite or one sip from the pouch, then she won't eat any more. She won't eat ANYTHING chunky. I have been a successful getting her to eat Greek yogurt--but if she gets any fruit bits, she works and spits them out.
We're on a strict budget, so I HATE buying food that she ends up not eating, and then I have to throw out.
Did any of you experience this problem? Should I just ride it out, or should I worry that I'll be serving my baby a pureed 1-year cake?
Hey Allison! This is Jodi...we were in China together :) I ran across your blog about a year ago and then randomly (or not so randomly??) looked at it today. My son has several food intolerances and allergies. Have you thought about some intolerances, maybe she's not feeling well after eating certain foods. My son started throwing up about every other day, was bloated, had eczema etc. at about 10 months old. By 13 months, we finally figured out food was making him sick. It then took a few more months to figure out that soy and gluten were making him sick (along with an egg and flax actual allergy). He didn't stop eating all together but had major issues trusting us with food we gave him, even a year after we had figured out his issues. He's 3 now and eats pretty well. Long story, but I hope you figure it out! Food issues can really be stressful! (and p.s. he CRIED in terror at the sight of his second bday cake, probably because we were shoving gluten and egg into him at his first bday - poor kid!)
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