My daughter is nearly 8 months old now and for the past 1.5 months she quit eating. We began experimenting with cereals at 4 months and jar foods at 6 months and shortly after she quit eating. The funny thing is, is that even if she really didn't like the food, she always swallowed everything and she really loved the oatmeal and rice.

She just decided to not open to mouth and I can't shove it in because she won't open, but also because it will cause negative effects, etc. I never forced her before and others have mentioned teething as being a culprit.

Basically I am wondering if this is normal, how long did yours do it for? And whatever else you know about it. (I am not really concerned, just trying to figure out why they do this and how long I can expect it to go on.)

My nephew did that. My sister started him on cereals at around 6-7 months, and progressed from there. At 8 months she took him to South Africa to visit his grandparents, and on the plane on the way back he just refused to eat -- and kept his refusal up for months! By the time he was 12 months old he still only deigned to take three or four mouthfuls of solids a day. When he hit 13 months, my sister became pregnant again, and she had to stop nursing because it became very painful, so she took him to an eating clinic, where they advised putting a selection of foods in front of him (only two or three pieces of two or three types) several times a day and ignoring whether he ate them or not. They also recommended giving him very high calorie things -- mixing sour cream in with the yogurt, for example. Eventually he did start eating, but till today he's a picky eater.

My dd is 6 months and does the same thing. When she was around 4 1/2 months, I tried the cereals. She has also tried every stage 1 food known. At first, she would eat something new, but just wouldn't eat it any days after. Now, she flat out refuses, only drinks her breast milk. It's kind of funny- she'll open up for the first spoonful, then she lets the food just sit there on her tongue with her tongue hanging out of her mouth- after all of that food has fallen off her tongue (about 20 mins later), she seals those lips shut. Even if she wants to cry she won't because she's afraid she'll get food in her mouth. Hopefully, this won't keep up that long. The crazy thing is that if I am drinking something, she always wants to drink out of the cup like me. No matter what it is, her face is buried in that cup, but she refuses to eat, plain and simple.

my ds does this occassionally. tbh i part feed him myself as well as allowing him the opportunity to feed himself just to make sure he has taken enough food to survive on, but i allow ds to feed himself finger foods. i wonder if your daughter is keeping heer mouth shut because she wants to feed herself? i give sam foods like broccoli carrotts and pasta and chicken and fruits to feed himself he is becoming a self feeding expert lol. Ds is almost 9 months. Also my ds has started to not want to eat at the moment i think his teeth (fingers crossed) are finally about to pop through so his gums are sore so he does not want to eat.

i give sam foods like broccoli carrotts and pasta and chicken and fruits to feed himself he is becoming a self feeding expert lol.


Your baby can eat all of that without any teeth?? How long has he been able to do that? dd is 6 months and I am paranoid about her choking on regular food.

i started giving them a month ago maybe a bit longer. he does not choke although once he did gag and sicked up a bit of food. i never leave him unattended. i also give him toast which he just sucks on forever. I have just introduced different foods bit by bit. Tbh he fights me to feed himself so i let him. The good thing is when we go out to eat now i can order him some regular veggies as long as they have not been salted. yes we still have no teeth either!!! my friends dd was exceptionally late getting teeth - she was 2 years old! and she still ate normal food. btw i give the broccoli in its little tree type style iykwim and carrotts in batons i use the fussili (sp) shape pasta and give toast or bread in finger strips. hth.