Or should I be worried about 9 month old eating habits?

[Dinglewoop]

Our 9 month old has been weaning since 6 months. He took to purees really well initially but won't eat anything solid (i.e finger foods) and gets hysterical if we try to feed it to him. He also won't feed himself, we spoon feed him. If we put finger food on his tray he'll throw it on the floor or cry. He also seems to be getting worse at eating purees and to get him to eat we have to offer toys to get him to open his mouth which obviously isn't ideal - he just doesn't seem very interested in eating at all.

He was under weight due to some health issues so initially we were just glad he was eating well and gaining weight but now starting to get concerned. I know you shouldn't compare but other babies we know of a similar age are all eating solids. I guess I'm wondering if it's too soon to be worried as he's still only little or not? Has anyone else had this? Thanks in advance for any thoughts

They always say that "food before 1 is just for fun!" So try not to stress too much yet, but i totally understand where you are coming from ❤️

Is your little one teething? My 2 year old always goes off his food when he's teething - when he was about 10 months he didn't eat solid food for a week once! IT was a nightmare at the time but just a small blip in the grand scheme of things really! I hope this puts your mind at ease a little bit!

Could you try chunky purees and let them play with it in the bowl? I would put it infront of my little boy and just let him play with it to get used to texture etc.

Thanks! That's made me feel loads better. I will try the chunky bowl idea 😁

My little one is nearly 9 months and I can relate. He’s also not great with finger foods so we usually have to spoon feed him.
Have you tried making slightly thicker food? Like a bolognese is somewhere between solid and puree, so can be a good step up to proper solids.
I also found that my little guy was interested in what we were eating. So I ate my lunch sat on the floor with him and he reached out and grabbed part of my sandwich and ate that himself. So kind of tricked him and didn’t make a big deal out of him eating.
But also, if you are concerned could you talk to your health visitor as they’ll be able to give you peace of mind.

Also came onto say food is fun until one!

I had a fussy eater and remember how stressful it was…10 years on and he never stops eating!

Agree with PP who say don't stress about it, it'll make it worse. Keep offering stuff but don't go to a lot of effort with making baby specific stuff or you'll go mad. Give a finger of toast. A shred of chicken. Bit of your veg. A blob of yogurt or peanut butter straight on the high chair tray. Also agree to offer stuff like bolognese or curry mashed up just to play with.

And the eating your food thing also works. Sit on the floor with them on your lap and eat your breakfast and lunch, and they will be in your bowl faster than you can pick up your fork My DD was also particularly interested in rich tea biscuits dunked in my tea, and they were a bit of a gateway food to proper solids!

Often in parenting if you're having an issue, if the first things you try aren't effective you'll inadvertantly focus in on it and the child picks up on this as pressure and that makes it worse.

So the best thing often to do, when you notice this happening is to just step back and back off, just for 2 weeks. A nine month old baby is still having enough milk that it would be totally fine if they ate no solids at all for two weeks.

So I would try this. Stop the toys, stop any attempts with other kinds of food. Offer him the foods you know he likes and don't worry about whether he eats it or not. Be prepared to offer extra milk if he wants it.

At the and of the 2 weeks, try offering the chunky stuff or finger foods again in various ways as you have been doing. It might be that the break is enough to sort of reset the messages about food and he starts to try them. If you are still having no luck at all or very strong reaction against, seek advice from GP/health visitor.

Thanks for all the advice! I will definitely give everything suggested a go but also try to not stress about it as PP have said ☺️

Make 1 plate of finger food and share it with him.