Weaning advice needed

[toffee83]

Hi,

I'm just after some advice about weaning. It's not going too well. I started weaning my baby at around 6 months as is recommended. I gave him homemade purées of veg and then fruit once or twice a day and he seemed to like everything offered - even things like courgette which I thought he may not like! Then around 7 months he started becoming fussy and would refuse the spoon. Tried sweet fruit like apricots and plums but still refused them. Even tried rusk mashed up & mixed into formula milk but no luck. Gave him a bit of a break from solids to see if he would be interested then but still no. Talked to a HV but felt even more worried after - was told he should be eating what I'm eating as needs protein & iron etc and should be on lumpier foods than just purées.

His weight was ok last time I got him weighed - still tracking his centile (always been quite a slim baby since birth) but the HV's comments made me feel I was doing something wrong. Have also tried giving him finger foods to pick up to see if he would eat by himself but no joy - nothing goes in his mouth. He doesn't even attempt it. Just plays with it then throws it on the floor. He doesn't put toys or anything in his mouth so can't see him putting food in there. Not sure what to do as he's now 9 months and still EBF. He wakes up multiple times in the night and I feed him as think he may be hungry if not taking any solids.

For a few days last week he let me spoon feed him some baby porridge in the morning and thought great he's now interested in eating! but now the novelty has worn off again he's back to flat out refusing the spoon...

Has anyone had a similar experience with weaning and what did they do? Thanks in advance! x

[letsbehobest]

How strange he started then stopped! Little monkey!!! Try not to worry too much, or let the hv panic you. Your son will pick up on your worry and anxiety! All id say is persevere! My son has had some faddy phases and I just kept trying and doing it with confidence! My boy has always been a skinny thing too! 9th centile at birth and stayed there!!

Have you tried petit filous fromage frais, Custard, whizzed up rice pudding, anything milky and rich tasting to get him back into it? Also if he still refuses, get some on his lips so he gets the taste so he actually realises its nice rather than just point blank refusing the spoon?

Hope this helps a littke

xx

[Phoenix85 in reply to letsbehobest]

Just a word of warning, petit filous are full of sugar, they really are not a good food to feed, you may as well melt a chocolate bar and spoon feed that to your baby.

Depending on what custard you get, that can also be very high in fat and sugar. Which although I am sure will work in getting a baby to eat it, it's really not encouraging good eating habits by feeding them high sugar & high fat foods so young.

If you stick to fresh fruit and veg they will eat when they are ready.

[letsbehobest in reply to Phoenix85]

Milk is also full of sugar! The levels of sugar in fresh fruit are just as harmful as it is in sweets and chocolate. My nephew is 6. Refuses to eat sweets and hates chocolate but is obsessed with fruit and he already has cavities in his teeth despite good oral hygiene!

[Phoenix85 in reply to letsbehobest]

Cavities and naturally occurring sugars in fruit and breastmilk isn't the same as refined sugar added to sweets and yoghurts aimed at young children.

[letsbehobest in reply to Phoenix85]

Sugar is sugar. Weather its natural or not it still causes damage and encourages a taste for sweet things

[toffee83 in reply to letsbehobest]

Thanks for the suggestions. I know, odd how he started really well then just stopped! Yeah I did actually try some custard to get him back into it and he did seem to like it but then after a few days of him eating a bit he again starting refusing. Like the novelty has worn off. Just don't think he's interested in food. He's more interested in playing with bowl and spoon haha. Will keep trying and hope its a phase. Thanks again x

[rachf]

This is an old post but you might find some of the replies helpful:

healthunlocked.com/nct/post...

[toffee83 in reply to rachf]

Thank you, will have a look x

[Hidden]

Read, Baby led weaning by Gill Rapley. No need to spoon feed then, your lo will enjoy playing with different textures and exploring putting different foods in his mouth. Also reassures you that they don't need nutrients from food until they are a year, it's just to give them the experience of different tastes and textures, they get all their nutrients from their milk. it's messy but weaning gets messy at some point so you might as well get the messy stage over with early on. I did it with my lg (2 1/2) and she has been using a spoon and fork for ages now, started before a lot of her peers. She's also brilliant at using a paintbrush and pens and pencils as she's developed amazing pincer grip from having to pick up peas and sweetcorn and other small items. It's really fun, I'm doing it now with my second and my lb is amazing at getting the food in his mouth, it's fab to see and the evidence is in the up digested lumps in his poo!

[toffee83 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the suggestion. Will take a look at that book. Have heard about baby led weaning but just didn't really think it would work as he doesn't put toys or anything in his mouth. The HV got me worried saying he needs protein etc but then have heard some people say food is just for fun before 1 years old. So hard to know who to listen to! I can't help but worry he's not getting enough nutrients from breast milk alone. Will try not to as nothing I can do anyway - can't force him to eat. Will keep giving him food to play with til he's ready to eat it. Thanks x

[manu29 in reply to toffee83]

my daughter is now 14 months and I can assure you from my recent experience that food is for fun until they are 1.

I did spoon fed at the beginning and worried a lot, thats natural for every mum on this planet!

Then I allowed her to eat by herself, although she dont even know how to chew a teething ring and would rather cry in pain then chew those keys, yet she was excited and the floor was messy (there were days when we could have just licked the baby for our dinner, it was a lot of messy fun!!)

she is 14 months now she use a spoon to self-feed have now started jiggling spoon and fork together to make a music and spill the food, I always get amazed how much these little people are hungry for new experience and knowing how things work instead of food.

Until 1st year i did not reduce the milk, I fed on demand (also formula fed on demand, because after she was 6 months i started feeling very deficient and as I am not very persistent with eating my multi-vitamin I just switched her to formula which takes care of all that D, B12, A and iron etc).... I gave her a lot and lot of variety - she got her first tooth at 8 months (just one for many weeks later) so I gave her bite size instead of mash - there was less mess

at 10 months I started giving her from our plate whatever we are eating. Still lots of mess

I started getting worried about her calorie intake here as she reduced her milk intake, so I started feeding her greek yoghurt in the morning and that is wonderful

She is now running and jumping around eats with the family, gets a milk bottle in the morning around 7 am followed by yoghurt at 8, then some fruit (mostly a whole banana at around 10:30is) lunch at 12, she eats what she wants how much she wants (I keep enough on table for her to choose, fruits always later) nap, again some fruit or snack at 3 ish play play play dinner at 6:30 in bed preparation at 7:30 milk (11 pm a dream feed of milk bottle again, although lately she is not finishing it up so I think eventually she will cut it out) and repeat

so dont worry how your child is eating at the moment, just give a lot of texture and taste and let the baby decide how and when to eat things would go on track soon - good luck

[toffee83 in reply to manu29]

Thank you so much for the reassurance. Really great to know that you had the same worries but now your daughter is happily eating and feeding herself, even if it is very messy! And you're right, I'm sure all mums worry about their children, it's only natural that we do. As for the teething toys - my son's the same, he doesn't bite on the keys even though it might help him with teething pain! Hopefully he will start putting food in his mouth when he's around a year old. Until then will keep reminding myself food is just for fun and try not to worry. Thanks again x

[Hidden]

Hi yes, first don't worry as your little one will pick up on it and mealtimes will become stressful for him. If I were you I'd go with the creamy options as suggested above and also offer lots of different types of foods he can pick up. Don't worry too much if he plays with it rather than eating it as at least he is forming positive associations. Babies also learn by copying so if you can eat the same food at the same time, and show him how nice it is. "Broccoli, yum yum, so tasty" it might help him get the idea. My lo loves being given a banana whole, peeled as normal and she bites the top off! Also might help if you just put the food in front of him and then get on with your own meal, so you are not looking at him the whole time, and see what he does. I moved on to Gill Rapley once my lg had got the hang of things but I started with recipes from Dr Rana Conway, Weaning Made Easy which you might like as she combines Rapley's Baby Led Weaning approach with a more traditional method. She also has quite a few recipes which can be picked up with fingers but then melt in the mouth so good for transition from purées if you are worried about your little one gagging(which is natural) and choking(which is not!). I recommend the polenta and red pepper fingers for this. Never cooked with polenta before but they are great and really easy to make and freeze. My lo is on a bit of a hunger strike at the moment as she is teething and really miserable but I'm just making sure she gets lots of breast milk and offering her the food and I know it just a phase. Don't worry and good luck!!

[toffee83 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I know, am trying to not let my worry show so he doesn't pick up on that. Will keep trying creamy/milky things and things he can pick up and when he's ready he will eat I suppose. I did think he was possibly teething and maybe that's put him off eating. So hard to know! Reassuring to hear others having issues with weaning as it sometimes feels like all babies over 6 months are on 3 meals a day and he's not. I guess babies do everything at different speeds so best not to compare. Thanks again x

[mamator]

I second all of the above recommendations for this book:

amazon.co.uk/Baby-led-Weani...

Really, it is one of the only baby books I recommend to anyone and certainly the only one that I felt was actually worth the money I spent on it.

Right now your baby is getting everything it needs from milk and will continue to do so until he is somewhere around a year old. Take a break, don't force him or worry if he doesn't eat anything. Start again by just putting different finger foods in front of him and see what he does.

We did this type of weaning with our son, and we'll do it again with the next. At two years old, our son is a brilliant eater (although, like all toddlers, he sometimes does eat - just because it's Wednesday) and his all time favorite food is broccoli!

[toffee83 in reply to mamator]

Thanks for this. Yeah will definitely try offering him finger foods to see what he does as trying to spoon feed him is too stressful for him and me! I don't think he will attempt to eat anything as he hasn't so far when have offered him finger foods but hopefully one day he will! In the meanwhile will try not to worry. Thanks x

[NCTcharity]

We have lots of information on our website on introducing solids, but you may find one of our Introducing Solids Workshops useful too: nct.org.uk/courses/postnata...