6 month old does not like baby food

amother

OP ↓

Today at 9:20 am

Looking for advice!

Until now I was almost always nursing or pumping for my baby. We gave him formula a couple times when needed, and he used to like it. Until he had allergic reaction to it, after that he refused it (we were trying to do an allergy trial, that’s why we were feeding it to him again.). Our pediatrician said to assume we should keep him off cows milk until he gets a little older, but we have to be careful when introducing new foods because of other potential allergies.

This happened when he was about five months, fast-forward to now he is six months old. I’m having a hard time keeping up with the pumping as he needs more ounces now, and he won’t drink the soy formula we offered. My assumption was that once he starts food, I will be able to keep him full without increasing my pumping output. We tried feeding him a baby jar earlier this week and he hated it! Because of potential allergies I can’t try a different flavor for another week and a half. But it’s looking like new flavors are not what he wants so getting him to eat solids will be an uphill battle.

Any advice? I need to pump whole at work, and I’m not keeping up with the ounces he needs. He refuses the formula he can eat safely. And he has no interest in food. I’m getting really overwhelmed! At the moment we are using my small freezer stash but it’s not going to last that long!

How do I get him to like food? My others always got excited by food and ate happily!

amother

Slateblue

Today at 9:38 am

How about feeding him real food? Avocado, sweet potato, banana, shredded chicken, eggs, steamed carrots, yogurt. My favorite thing to give babies that age is chicken soup “mush” I blend chicken from soup with all the veggies and freeze in cups and defrost as needed. Obviously start with one food at a time for the allergies.
You can also research baby led weaning, which is giving them the food that you eat, but idk how that would work with allergy testing.

care4u ↓

Today at 9:41 am

What food did you give your baby? I find my babies will eat the fruit or the fruit mixed with cereal but they do not like any of the vegetables.

Some babies like a few of mine are not able to eat anything without gagging in the beginning unless the food is extremely pureed which I was only able to accomplish by buying.

After sometime I was able to add things that were thicker and more textured until they ate regular food.

amother

Salmon

Today at 9:44 am

The ounces you're needing for pumping-- is this an amount somebody told you you need or what your baby is actually asking for?
Many babies at that age are full from breastmilk and solids are just for play.
It may seem like they don't like the food but really they're just not that hungry.

amother

Eggshell ↓

Today at 9:44 am

My kids always hated the first time but took it slowly to like it.
Can you make your own with the same fruit or veg that was in the jar so it's not a new food?

Is allergy a thing in your family?
DD used to have formula occasionally and then one time had an allergic reaction to it at the babysitter so weren't aware about it until she had it again at home after I forced her to take-she was refusing it - she was approx 4 or 5 months.
Dr wasn't at all worried about there being allergies with regular food of course no regular milk until 1 yr like all babies. He said it's very common with babies to suddenly develop an allergy to formula and nothing else. Of course if you have allergies in the family it's something different.
Usually with trying new foods it's giving it to them twice within a few days of eachother and no other new foods.

ETA she was sensitive if I had milk when nursing her and still didn't have an allergy and Dr said it's very common to react through the mothers milk and still have dairy formula or regular dairy

amother

↑ Midnight ↓

Today at 9:44 am

care4u wrote:

Gagging is a natural reflex meant to prevent choking. They need to keep eating food to practice and use the gag reflex correctly only when a piece is too big or blocking. Better not to switch to purées and let them use the skills. It sounds scary but it’s not.

amother

↑ Eggshell ↓

Today at 9:50 am

amother Midnight wrote:

This. I had it with my youngest it's very scary but the more you expose them the quicker they get over it. I would put crumbs of rice cakes in the baby food so they had the bumps.
There are special spoons with bumps on it my niece was given in the hospital when they saw she had the gag reflex (she had a heart problem so was taught to eat through therapists etc)
After 9 months you can do biscuit crumbs.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 10:13 am

I mentioned the allergy info because I can’t just give him food off the table. The doctor gave a specific order to introduce foods and I can’t do any overlap until we know it’s a safe food for him.
It has to be first orange vegetables, then green vegetables, then fruits, then carbs. But always one at a time every two weeks.

So I can’t do baby lead weaning or food from my plate or blended soup!

amother

↑ Midnight ↓

Today at 10:15 am

amother OP wrote:

Of course you can! You can cook the veggies in water alone and give them like a carrot and then broccoli etc.. You can make individual foods until you rule out the allergies and can then combine.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 10:16 am

amother Salmon wrote:

I’m following his lead on ounces needed, he used to take 5 ounces per feeding, and now he needs closer to 6.

I also offered the food a couple hours after nursing, meaning he wasn’t specifically hungry or full.

↑ care4u

Today at 10:17 am

amother Midnight wrote:

I have many children, bh. I know what the gagging reflex is. I also know that I have had two children who in general had very low muscle tone and physically did not have the muscles to be swallowing textured or thick things, initially. Food would sit on their tongues & they couldnt swallow it. It took a lot of time & patience to help them.

So no, it was not just a gagging reflex.

Last edited by care4u on Thu, Jan 16 2025, 10:19 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 10:18 am

amother Eggshell wrote:

Thank you! I’m going to keep trying but this gave me hope. I’m going to try that, I offered sweet potato jar yesterday, I will try to bake one today and mash it up.

We don’t have food allergies but we do have medication allergies and food sensitivities in our family.

amother

Catmint ↓

Today at 10:22 am

amother OP wrote:

This is extreme. I'm an allergy mom of a baby with multiple allergies. And I have friends with many allergies. My children have seen five different allergists. But I've never heard this much. Both the specific order and waiting 2 weeks between is very extreme for even a child with multiple known allergies in a family with multiple known allergies. Even for FPIES this is overkill.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 10:24 am

amother Midnight wrote:

Of course you can! You can cook the veggies in water alone and give them like a carrot and then broccoli etc.. You can make individual foods until you rule out the allergies and can then combine.

Well yes I can do that, but it’s not easy food off the table 😉
But I will try this, thank you!