Should I just give up?

[eggsnbeans]

DD is 8 months, started trying to wean her 10 weeks ago but we are getting nowhere. She will play with food at lunchtime, picks things up and moves them towards her mouth then changes her mind and throws them on the floor. Breakfast and tea time she just sucks her thumb, even if she's just woken up from a nap. I have tried spoon feeding but she just grabs the spoon from me and throws it. About a month ago she started eating a little bit (I mean about a teaspoon), then stopped. I have tried heaps of things (sweet, savoury, sour, fruit, veg, cereal, toast, crunchy, soft.........) the only thing she will sometimes take a bit of is peach.

She is bf, I have spaced out her milk feeds more to see if that helped (she is now on 6-7 feeds a day) but has made no difference. She has always been a big, hungry baby and I think she has definitely stopped gaining weight, although not losing it.

Should I just give up for now and try again in a month? I'm just so sick of the wasted food, mess and stress (none of which i would mind if she was actually eating something). I have even contemplated removing all the toys from the lounge floor and replacing it with food as everything else seems to go straight into her mouth !

Thanks

[HappyAsASandboy]

I would stop making stuff specifically for your DD as you'll just get wound up by the mess.

I would offer her bits of whatever you're having - some bread from your sandwich, some cucumber from your salad, a piece of meat from your dinner etc and see how she goes. Once she is reliably putting stuff in and eating it, then start of give more thought to the variety/nutritional content of what you're giving.

It is only anecdotal (but then most of MN is!), but my nephew didn't start to eat until he was just over 1 year old. Before then he would gum bread and the push the crumbs out, or accept purée but then his tongue would post it all straight back out, still in the blob from the spoon! My DSis tried to offer him a whole range of stuff (eventually giving up and just giving him bits or her dinner, not worrying of there was nothing suitable to give on the odd mealtime), but his tongue thrust just hasn't stopped yet: he wasn't ready to eat.

I guess when they say babies are ready on average at 6 months, that means some are ready at 4 months, an some are ready at 12 months. As long as she is gaining weight, drinking enough milk and seems happy, try not to worry. She'll get it in the end :)

[GingerPCatt]

DS didn't actually ingest anything until he was about 14 mo. Just give him a bit of whatever you're eating. I took DS to a salt and she said not to worry about nutrition (they're getting all they need from bm) just give him anything that he will eat. Food before one is just for fun. If after one he's still not eating, talk to your HV.

The hardest part is being relaxed. Just resign yourself to the fact that DC doesn't eat much YET. It's the baby thing of never let them see you sweat.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Yes, if you want to just stop. Give you and dd a couple of weeks to relax and then start again.

Have you read My Child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez? Might help

[eggsnbeans]

Thanks for your reassurance I'm generally offering roughly whatever we're eating but some things are just too difficult as spoons are out, so try it as a sandwich or on crackers or something. But nothing goes even remotely close to the mouth!

It probably feels worse as everyone else I know with babies the same and and younger the babies are eating heaps, and I'm really starting to get soooo over BF ( defiant little toad will not take a bottle either ). But looks like I'm stuck with it for a long time yet and need to increase feeds again.

[eggsnbeans]

Thanks Jilted , will have a look for that one!