Flashing me a look of defiance/indifference to sweet pea puree
I am petitioning you - the blogosphere - for input on this very important issue. I introduced Scarlett to solids at 6 months. We began with rice cereal, then moved to sweet potatoes. She caught on very quickly to the mechanics of eating (i.e. opening her mouth, swallowing, leaning toward the spoon). However, she is such a busy baby that she won't take more than a bite or two before she lunges for other objects on the table, gets completely distracted by other people in the room, wipes the food all over her face, refuses to open her mouth, etc. The last few days she is especially uninterested in eating. I have found some success when I let her grab the spoon and feed herself. Maybe it's because the flavor of the week is peas? Here are my additional concerns....
- When I do manage to give her even small amounts of food, she becomes extremely constipated and goes ten days before painfully going to the bathroom.
- When I try to "unconstipate" her with a few ounces of fruit juice, she refuses to drink it. Apparently she is one of 10 children in the United States that doesn't like fruit juice.
I need input on the following questions...
- Scarlett receives breastmilk exclusively. Is it absolutely essential for her to have solids? Can i just give her an iron supplement and forget about solids for the next month or two?
- How did you get your baby to enjoy solids? Any tricks?
