Just after some advice...?

Question

Hi there. My son Sebastian is 4 and a half months old and we are gradually starting to introduce pureed baby food (on advice from his doctor for those 'breast is best' advocates) He is formula fed due to complications from his birth but any way, the point is that he only seems to enjoy sweet potato, pear, apple and banana. Everything else seems to make him gag. Is it normal that he only prefers sweet things? Has anyone else experienced this? Have his taste buds not fully developed yet? Should I keep trying?

Thanks so much in advance for the advice.

Cheers

-Chez

Answer 1

When I started solids with my son, I was told to start with green vegetables, then orange vegetables, then fruits. At the time, I thought it was just the way it was done, so that's what I did. The theory is that if you introduce the less sweet foods first, they won't reject them after having a taste of the sweet stuff. I know people also have success doing it other ways, but that's what I did and it seemed to work. I never had any trouble giving him vegetables and at 3 years old, he still likes them.

Based on my experience alone, I would discontinue the fruits and orange vegetables and instead just offer green beans and peas for a while.

Another thing you can do is to mix the different types together. For example, one week add just a little green beans to his applesauce. The next week, add more. Keep adding more green beans and less applesauce until you're giving pure green beans.

The gagging could be a texture thing. To me the beans and peas always seemed to be thicker and chunkier and the fruits were a little smoother and runnier. It's probably more that he just doesn't like the taste, though.

As a side note, did you know that you're supposed to wait several days between introducing each new food? It's easier to pinpoint an allergic reaction that way. I'm just mentioning that because it sounds like he's tried quite a few already.

Good luck!

Answer 2

my daughter was the same.  just keep trying.  i would introduce something and if she didn't like it at first I would alternate between a sweet and savory for the first two days then just the savory one for up 5 days before i gave up.  then I found that she just preferred what ever we ate pureed with a stick blender, usually a meat with veg and potatoes and a bit a gravy.  good luck, don't give up on one thing too quickly.

Answer 3

that's normal he is only 4 months he has a whole life ahead of him to start eating the other stuff.. Keep trying but not to the point where you feel like you are forcing him. If he is your first you will notice in the future how much they change habits and they do surprise you. Things you feel that will never change gradually do overtime so don't stress too much..

~MeL~

Answer 4

Oh he is just like most babies and us as adults loves the sweets the most.

With my children I added what they liked to the vegetables sounds gross all mixed up but they liked it.  :)

Answer 5

Any human, no matter the age prefers sweet stuff over everything else. Would you rather have a cookie or a rice cake lol?  Yes keep trying, I am sure he will get the hang of it! If he is eating the fruits ok, but only gagging on the vegetables it doesn't sound like a gag reflex problem, sounds like he's being picky. Good luck!

Answer 6

Yes this is very common.  All i could seem to feed my son was pureed apples, banana, peach, pear etc - all sweet things.

A great book to have  is by Anabel Karmer Foods for Fussy Eaters. (im pretty sure this is her name)

I purchased this from the Huggies website which gives great recipes for first timers.

Answer 7

They say it can take up to ten tries with a new taste before a child can decide whether they like it or not. Don't give up!!

Answer 8

That's normal .. my son's the same way (yet opposite! :)

He loves veggies! (and meat!) .. he's not a huge 'sweets' person; like his daddy =]

He'd rather have meat and potatoes than fruit or ice cream.

Babies have their own 'favorites' just like you and I =]

And yes, their taste buds have developed; they're actually stronger than ours =]