Struggling with weaning, what does your seven month old eat in a day?

[Peterbishopssarcasticsmile]

My DS loves food but really isn't keen on finger food - he seems to get frustrated with it and he's a bit of a cougher and splutterer, largely because he rams it into his mouth and obviously bigger bits break off, then he ends up coughing because he's not paying attention properly.

He loves puree, thicker puree, mashes such as potato and vegetables, he's also happily eaten spaghetti in vegetable sauce (whizzed in the food processor so it's chunky but not really big bits), usual pasta with sauce, mashed banana, porridge, mashed veggies and lentils...

But just won't really go for finger food. I'm worried he's not getting enough variety at the moment but I only have a tiny freezer so can't prep much and freeze it, I'm having to make it as I go.

A typical day is scrambled eggs or mashed banana, sometimes with yogurt, lunch can be porridge or mashed sweet potato, other veggies or something like pasta and sauce, dinner veggies and lentils, sometimes with a bit of cheese baked on top or another variation. Doesn't like rice.

I just feel like he's having the same things on repeat. I've got an Ella's kitchen cookbook but the few recipes I've tried he doesn't like - cried after every mouthful and got frustrated.

What does your seven month old eat? Do you manage to get a lot into them?

The other thing is, he still seems really hungry for his milk and is drinking a fair bit more than the recommended amount for this age with two to three meals a day, but if he doesn't have it by the time it's time to eat solids he's frantic and ends up coughing again because he can't cram it in quickly enough!

[dementedpixie]

Are you vegetarian? There isn't a lot of protein there. What do you eat? Can you mash up some of what you are having?

[Peterbishopssarcasticsmile]

We aren't vegetarian no, but don't eat a huge amount of meat. We eat quite a lot of spicy foods so haven't been giving him any of that.
Dietician advised us not to give him meat yet but I've seen conflicting advice

[Peterbishopssarcasticsmile]

I thought the eggs/yogurt/lentils would be protein but perhaps not enough

[NoImNotPregnant]

@dementedpixie don't worry! When DD was that age she age mostly as you're describing - she wasn't a big fan of finger food, so all I did was pop a few bits on her tray as I was giving her some veg purée e.g some broccoli she could pick up, or a few pieces of sweet corn. Sometimes she'd bother, sometimes she didn't.

She was also still big on her milk, probably until about 9/10 months (constantly felt like I was feeding her

She also ate very little meat as she didn't seem to like the texture, and we aren't big meat eaters either. Now, at 2, she does enjoy it she ate lots of cheese and yoghurt and I was happy with that. However, she did like some flaked salmon in with her mashed up veg so you could always try that.

[NoImNotPregnant]

Sorry @Peterbishopssarcasticsmile I tagged the wrong person there! Been one of those mornings...
Sorry demented

[CrimeCantCrackItself]

It's been a while, DS is nearly 4 and I did mainly baby led weaning, but at 7 months he was probably having wearing, smearing a bit of banana and some yoghurt. Steamed veg and a bit of toasted buttered milk loaf. Pasta in sauce etc like you said.

There's a BLW app by a woman called Natalie Peall (I think) that I liked using (and still do occasionally for inspiration!)

But at 7 months his main source of nutrition should be milk, he's just learning about eating and combined with learning coordination and everything else.

[BrokenLink]

He sounds like he is doing great. My kids didn't really take off with weaning till 9 months. Have you tried offering fish? Or peanut butter? I used to make tiny sandwiches for finger foods.

[HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime]

Until about a year old the majority of his calories should still be coming from milk and he won't fill up on food. Weaning is about introducing different flavours and textures, and developing fine motor skills and not about filling them up. Give him a short feed 30 mins before the meal if he seems really hungry, probably having a growth spurt. Cous Cous is good for baby's, traditionally eaten with fingers anyway and sticks to their fingers so they can suck it off. Don't prep tons and keep it in the freezer just give him a tiny portion of what you are having and take the stress out of the situation.

Parenting nowadays is so competitive, every child is different so as long as yours is a healthy weight don't compare him too much to what he 'should' be doing. The frustration might be because hes teething and it hurts when he uses finger foods. Coughing and splattering is normal, obviously stay close by but he is learning a new skill. He needs to know how far to put the food in, how big to bite etc. Its scary at the time but it's a huge skill to learn.

I once saw an xray image of a baby's wrist compared to a 3 year old, compared to a 7 year old and then an 18 year old. The development of the wrist is very very different and it explains why baby's struggle to feed them selves using spoons etc something worth keeping in mind when you get to that stage.

[minnieok]

By seven months mine ate our food (unless very unsuitable) I shredded meat with two forks rather than purée. (Admittedly we weaned at 4 months then). Summer is a bit harder because salad isn't kid friendly (my experience) but as the weather cools try making shepherds pie, casseroles etc using low sodium stock cubes,

[Peterbishopssarcasticsmile]

I can't offer peanut butter as I have an allergy, but will try fish.
Thanks for all the advice and reassurance!
I'm really confused about his milk. He was previously having 5 x 7oz bottles but now he has 2 x 7oz, two 5s and a 6 and tbh I think he would probably prefer three 6s, but I tend to give him bigger meals after his smaller bottles. However I've been told I should only be giving him 600ml of milk at the moment - I think he'd be starving on that!

Question about rice cakes and those kinds of things, I really worry about him choking - those are the kind of things he's interested in grabbing when we eat them so I was tempted to try him on them, but because he coughs quite a bit, it's made me very nervous


Thanks for the app advice crime I'll check it out

[Peterbishopssarcasticsmile]

That's really interesting. He's pretty good at feeding himself with a spoon - although he watches the bowl not the spoon, he seems to know instinctively where it is and guides it into his mouth - but I'll persist with finger foods. I always get so stressed about how soft to make them etc

I was supposed to do a baby first aid course before coronavirus started and it got cancelled and it's just made me feel ill equipped and worried about choking

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Don't overthink it - the most valuable bit of advice I had is food is fun until they're one - most if not all of his nutrition will come from milk, so food is more about experimentation with texture, taste and learning fine motor skills.
Just take sensible precautions when trying finger food with size and shape etc - coughing is completely normal.
Perhaps look up infant first aid techniques to put your mind at rest.

[dementedpixie]

I dont know why they would say not to give meat as its fine from 6 months. Strips of chicken or fish or mince based foods e.g. bolognese, cottage pie, etc would be good.

[reluctantbrit]

We did BLW but DD basically was a milk baby until she was 10 months. The only spoon fed food was porridge and yoghurt (plain with fruit purée)

She wasn’t a big meat eater but what worked was mild curries with really small cut or shredded chicken, cooked in the sauce not pan fried and bolognese sauce with pasta (preferable naked apart from nappy and then into the bath).

She was on 4 bottles of milk each day,

[Camomila]

DS2 is 6.5m,
I've not really pureed anything, things either get mashed with the potato masher/fork (sometimes with a bit of water added) or given as finger foods.

On an average day he probably has about 5 spoonfuls of mashed food and a few bits of finger food. His favourite things seem to be those giant strawberrys, mashed avocado on toast fingers, and carrot organix puffs.

I think its partly because he's teething - he loves biting stuff. I wouldn't worry too much though, DS1 was at least 8 or 9 months before he got the hang of chewing and swallowing. He never really gummed toys either. He's a good eater now though.

[CrimeCantCrackItself]

And remember there's a difference between gagging and choking. Gagging is good (although scary for parents), that is how they learn to chew and swallow and to regulate how to eat.

I was told this rhyme Loud and red, let them go ahead, silent and blue, they need help from you My DS used to occasionally gag and vomit, it's normal.

Not to sound like a BLW knobhead but I liked it because its about teaching the baby how to chew before they swallow, so they're less likely to choke. Depends on the child though, my friends DS hated blw as he didn't like dirty hands.

[OhToBeASeahorse]

Honestly dont sweat it. Just keep trying new things when you have the time and dont give up on something, if he doesnt like it offer it again in a few days. Lentils and eggs will be offering plenty of protein and as others have said he will be getting most of his nutrition from milk anyway.

[Trashtara]

I did BLW with mine and they literally ate what I ate (including curries etc) but in terms of how much they ate - DS would eat anything and everything in sight. He loved his food and still does (despite still being skinny).

DD - sucked on a strawberry at around 7 months and then didn't tough food until she was abut 9 months. She now eats fairly consistently, but isn't a big lunch eater.

DS was a big cougher/ splutter as he used to ram everything in as fast as he could, that has calmed down but it did take a while! DD is much more deliberate in how she approaches her food so didn't gag and cough as much.

[Trashtara]

Oh and until DS was about 15 months he was still mad on milk, DD is down to 2 feeds a day now at 18 months and has been since around 11 months - once she 'got' food, she really got it.