Solids struggle with my 10mo special needs baby

[@llli*cathyceiger]

Hi all,

I'm new here -- my DD is 10 months old, has been EBF with no issues since birth, and since she turned 6 months I've been trying to introduce her to various solids. She has a chromosomal abnormality (balanced translocation of chromosomes 6p and 12p, with a duplication of 6p24), and thus in large part has been developmentally delayed. It's really only been a few days since she's been able to sit on the floor unassisted for more than a few minutes, and she's not doing the pincer grasping yet. I've been okay with taking solids slow with her up until recently -- she's been waking up three times at night to nurse, up from her usual twice a night, since she turned 10 months. My mom assumes it's because she's so hungry, but she's a very healthy, chunky baby. I feel like I'm going to go nuts if I don't get some time to myself and more sleep; she's never taken a bottle, doesn't know what to do with it if one is offered and still wants to nurse every 3-4 hours around the clock. I feel like maybe my timing is not great, sometimes I don't wait long enough to feed her solids or other times I wait too long and she's fussy and only wants to nurse.

She's in the Infants and Toddler program in our county and we have an O/T who is also a feeding specialist, who comes to work with her on motor skills and feeding at our home twice a month...we've had three sessions and so far no improvement in feeding. I tried to do BLW off and on -- she likes to pick up finger sized food sometimes but then once she brings it to her mouth she lets go, or she bites off more than she can chew and gags to the point of vomiting. She can still only manage even purees or a liquidy porridge consistencies.

When I spoonfeed her, she bites the spoon a lot and more often than not the food drools out of her mouth after accepting only a few spoonfuls, even if she's happy and alert. I've tried mashed banana, applesauce, peas, beef stew and various fruit combinations and lightly boiled egg yolk. Yesterday evening at the request of my mother I relented and fed her some brown rice baby cereal, which she liked for several spoonfuls then got too fussy so I nursed her to sleep. She only woke up once last night to nurse after that cereal feeding. I guess I'm wondering if I'm on the right track or if I need to actually offer solids more often than nursing -- she won't eat any solids if I BF beforehand, so I've been trying to do the opposite.

I appreciate any advice!

Thanks,

Cathy

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

Well, you're probably not going to like what I have to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. Everything you are saying is normal for any baby at 10 months. My almost 15 month old nurses more often than that and wakes more to nurse than that and she is normal in every way. Same thing went for my older daughter, who is now 3.5 years old.

Before a year, solids are only for fun and experimentation. Your milk has everything she needs, and she clearly wants to nurse. Maybe if you squeezed in a few more nursing sessions during the day, she might stop waking up that third time at night. But seriously, I would love it if my baby only woke three times a night.

[@llli*joe.s.mom]

Could she be teething? That can also cause increased night wakings, regardless of hunger. (For that, you might want to try tylenol or motrin and see if that helps?)

I agree with PP in the sense that MANY 10 month olds hardly eat any solids (mine sure didn't) and wake up at least that much per night (at that age, my lil' guy was up every couple hours to nurse, all night long, and he was also a big boy - he definitely wasn't starving!). At this age, I would not assume that night waking is correlated with solids at all, honestly. There are a lot of reasons that baby wake up at night wanting to nurse. At this age, they really haven't learned to settle themselves back down to sleep when they wake naturally at night. Nursing provides comfort and is their natural way of going back to sleep.

[@llli*cathyceiger]

@llli*mommy2lilah Oh my goodness, I hope she naps during the day at least!

Why yes she is teething, I hadn't considered that because she hasn't been really uncomfortable this time around during the day but the drooling and hand-gnawing is increasing again. She already has eight teeth! I am glad to hear that it's normal, just not thrilled haha. I guess most babies I'm around these days that are close in age to my DD took to solids quite early.

One other question: Are non-GMO, organic, whole grain baby cereals okay for babies under a year? I've heard and read mixed things. Our pediatrician says that our DD is at risk of developing anemia if we don't give her cereal with fortified iron. She's not crawling yet so she doesn't have much, if any, exposure to "iron-fortified dirt."

[@llli*cathyceiger]

P.S. It's probably worth mentioning that DD just had bloodwork done to check for underlying health issues resulting from hydronephrosis (kidney dilation) but our pediatrician said the blood platlet counts were excellent, even better than her children at DD's age. That's after giving her zero cereal under yesterday. So clearly she doesn't have anemia but I don't know if that's something that happens gradually or not.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

She does take naps during the day. I cosleep with her, so it's not that bad. She wakes up, I latch her on and we both go back to sleep.

If you want to give her the cereals, that's ok, but you could also try giving her meat or other foods that are high in iron. That's a personal preference.

Personally, for me, it's really annoying to get the spoon smacked out of my hand, so I just gave my baby regular food. It was up to her to eat it or not.

[@llli*cathyceiger]

That's good to hear! I'd rather give her regular food myself but she tends to gag pretty badly on chunks of food, even Mum Mum rice rusks. So I've resorted to spoonfeeding for now.

[@llli*mommy2lilah]

I just saw your post about the iron. It sounds like everything is going great mama. If spoon feeding works for you, keep doing it. She'll start eating more solids eventually.

[@llli*jenna562]

My son gagged on a lot of food too. He is 13 months and still not a huge solids fan. Have you tried chunks of soft cooked veggies like sweet potato or ripe avocado ? That's what I did with my son because he could manage it better.

[@llli*mommal]

So clearly she doesn't have anemia but I don't know if that's something that happens gradually or not.

As far as I know, anemia comes on gradually. You can't go from having normal iron levels to being anemic in just a day or a week or even a month.

You can give cereal if you want, but don't feel like you must. Some breastfed babies develop anemia, but most of those probably fit into 2 categories- 1) babies whose mothers are anemic (and whose breastmilk therefore has less iron than normal), and 2) babies who were born prematurely (because iron stores are not fully developed until term). It's not like every breastfed baby needs iron or needs cereal! If you or your pediatrician ever get concerned, you can always check your baby's hemoglobin levels. It's a simple heel stick.

I am glad to hear that it's normal, just not thrilled haha. I guess most babies I'm around these days that are close in age to my DD took to solids quite early.

It is totally normal for a baby less than a year old not to be into solids. Neither of my girls ate much solid food until the middlesbrough of their second years. I too have seen other people's babies going to town on solids, but that doesn't mean every baby should or will.