My 8 month old will only eat porridge

[Station19]

He might have a go at some finger food but he mostly gags and vomits on it. He might eat some puréed fruit if I’m lucky. Otherwise he clamps his lips shut. I’ve tried different times of day, before and after his bottle, all sorts but two months of weaning and he’s basically having a bowl of porridge in the morning and refusing anything else.

I’d go for more of the BLW angle with him if I could but as I said, he just gags and vomits on everything. He does have eight teeth already so sometimes I think he literally bites off more than he can chew.

I have three other children and none of them have been this challenging to wean. He is a twin and his brother is eating just fine - a mix of spoon fed lumpy stuff and finger foods. My other two - one was BLW from the start and the other was more “traditionally” weaned moving from purées + finger foods to eventually just eating what we were by nine months.

Not sure why I’m posting. I guess he’ll get there eventually but it’s just frustrating in the meantime. I hate weaning!

gagging is normal and something you want, because it shows the baby how to feed themselves safely. I know it’s scary but you NEED to let them do it if you want them to be able to handle food safely as they get older. Just be reassured that most choking incidents in babies and toddlers occur when parents feed them (and with puree) not when they feed themselves.

BLW means Baby Led doesn't it? So if he only wants purées and refuses anything else, it's still baby led. Just offer it. Maybe putting it on a plate between him and his twin would encourage him to try? One of mine was like him, the other swiping things off our plates as soon as she could reach!

Are his teeth coming in straight, or could e.g. the bottom ones be hitting his top gum or vice versa making it painful to bite?

you can offer weetabix i add hot baby formula and it mashes really well .Plus its stodgy so they can grab it and try to feed it them selves

i went with blw my daughter was like a duck to water easy but my son has been a lot more tricky. At 9 months he still not really chewing just wants to inhale his food .I gave him soft chopped at the start for him to self feed but he just gags .So i had to make it more mashed before letting him feed him self

I would mash their food and place in front of them see what happens. So for example one meal i make my son at the moment i steam potatos,carrots,brussel sprouts.I also fry and drain fat of a little beef mince ,fry with onions and add a little water then low salt gravy powder just a touch .I mash the steamed veg and add a little unsalted butter/milk then add the meat mix .If he throws up you may need to blend it

What about mixing different fruit purées into the porridge so he gets used to different flavours?