7.5mo has just become really difficult at mealtimes?

[PregnantAndEngaged]

I started weaning at 5.5 months, and he just guzzled the lot back.. loved it all!

However in the last couple of weeks he has become really fussy. He grumps with his mouth closed and when I put the spoon near him he just keeps his mouth clamped shut, crying. He sometimes moves his head away. He also often wants to grab the spoon out of my hand and just wants to play with it. Loaded spoon doesn't work as he just plays with it or chews on it and the food just stays stuck to the spoon.

I have loads of homemade dishes in the freezer which can only really be spoonfed but I'm not sure he's going to eat them :( I don't have any finger food things really apart from toast but I have found bread seems to fill him up too much for anything else and then he just wakes loads in the night for a bottle.

Help! I need ideas. Calorific ideas too as my boy was quite a small boy, and since he's been on solids he's thriving really well. He was on the 9th percentile on formula, but since being on solids he's moved to almost the 50th and I don't want the wait falling off him. I'm convinced BLW will not provide him with the calories he needs as he doesn't really eat much of it, and like I said he was quite a small baby on formula alone, but then he keeps refusing to be spoon fed so what's one to do?

[PregnantAndEngaged]

*weight

[MiddleClassProblem]

He will go on and off food through out weening with things like colds and teething and just going off foods for a bit. There is nothing wrong with baby led weening and he may well want a bit of texture. You can just try putting your spoon food on the tray and letting him play and eat. It's messy though.

If I were you I would try BLW along side what he's having. It doesn't have to be one method or the other.

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Finger foods alongside spoon feeding is quite typical of traditional weaning I thought? So you could try any kind of finger food that you think would suit. If you're after higher calorie you could try things like cheese (batons or maybe grated), egg - omelette strips or boiled, avocado, nut butters on toast, cream cheese on toast or similar.

[PregnantAndEngaged]

I am offering finger foods, I just wanted to make the point that I didn't want to do solely finger foods as I didn't think it would work alone as he hasn't developed his pincer grip yet and he doesn't manage to feed himself much, so I still wanted to be able to feed him myself as well :) Thanks for the suggestions both of you. I will try the omelette strips actually.. I made sweetcorn fritters the other day which was basically a sweetcorn pancake and he did eat that so could be worth a try.

[Soooosie]

I think you need to calm down. He clearly isn't that hungry at the moment and it would be rather silly to obsess about calories. Both the 50th and 9th are healthy percentiles. Bigger isn't better or healthier.

Concentrate on offering him a wide variety of healthy food. If he's not interested, let him be. Don't pester him to eat or keep offering different dishes. At 8 months milk is his main food anyway

[CultureSucksDownWords]

I used to make vegetable fritters, by grating carrot/courgette, and mixing with finely grated cheese and some flour to bind it together and pan frying. They always went down well when my DS was about that age. Also the River Cottage baby & toddler cookbook has a recipe for courgette polpettes (eggy cheesy things) which was popular too. I think the recipe is online somewhere.