7 m/o Doesn't put anything in her mouth except hands

[CradleCrapNap]

DD is 7 m/o ( but was 8 weeks prem). She doesn't put toys or anything in her mouth other than fingers/fist. She can pick things up easily and pass them between hands, although does seem to let go of everything within a few seconds so drops things a lot. I'm getting worried that she's not exploring things with her mouth. We are weaning with purée/ mashed foods and have been for over a month now and it's going well (guidelines for weaning prem babies are different to term babies so we started just slightly before 6 months). Despite me encouraging her to taste food with her hands she is not interested in putting anything in her mouth food wise, as well as toys.
Has anyone else had this problem? Should I be worried!?

My dd never put anything in her mouth. She has low muscle tone, which might have had something to do with it. She's now 3 and is normal. See your health visitor to get an opinion, but I doubt you have anything to worry about!

My son never put anything in his mouth ( and to a degree nor did dd) , im not sure it's connected but he's 21 now and he has always had a touch of OCD about things being clean . Other than that he is perfectly normal so I wouldn't worry about it . I must say most of my children's toys looked as good second hand as when they were new despite being played with .

Ds never put toys in his mouth, ever. He just didn't. Do you mind me asking, is LO bottle fed? I only ask as DS was, and other babies I know who didn't put things in their mouth, were also bottle fed and I would like to
see if there is a link!

Mine was bottle fed .

Mine never had a bottle.

She is bottle fed.

I'm hoping it means nothing and that we might not pick up as many horrible bugs! Her tone is fine so it's not that. Thanks for the replies. Good to know it's not just us.

I have childminded a little girl who did this although the was 11 months when she came to me so a little older.

I got her to start pushing my hand to get food to her mouth by holding it just a bit too far away. Then I started putting a loaded spoon in her hand and helping her to put it in her mouth. After that I would put pieces of biscuit or toast not quite into her mouth so she had to push them in the last bit with her own hand and in the end she got the hang of it and never looked back.

I never ever allowed this process to upset or stress her. It was a long, slow, gentle process that took months.

Her mum found it hard when she suddenly had to start moving choking hazards out of her way.

I've tried showing her me eating things, hoping she'd take it in. She watches with interest but that's all. I've given her soft cooked parsnip (her fave) to hold and helped it to her mouth but she just pulls it away again when I let go of her hand then can't do it on her own. Same today with a spoon although she did keep the spoon in a while once we found her mouth together. I don't force it and give lots of praise when we get anything in her mouth. I'll try the technique you suggest Gold where you bring the food most of the way and she has to bring it the rest. I am glad I don't have to worry about choking as well as less bugs but I still worry. It just feels like she's missing out developmentally.

My DS2 was exactly like this (breast & bottle fed, btw). He never put any toys in his mouth & didn't feed himself with spoon or finger foods until around 18 months. He used a cup by himself slightly earlier, though.

I don't know if it's linked, but he is now 2.9 & has a fairly severe speech delay & he was also late to learn things like blowing, using a straw, giving a kiss etc.

If I were you, I'd be inclined to mention it to HV, in case there is any possible link between that & feeding/speech or any other oral motor skills.

Hi - DD1 was like this. She is now 2.9 and has got over it though still a bit fussy with her food! I can't remember exactly when she started to feed herself with her hands but it was later than 18 months. Her speech is absolutely fine, slightly advanced for her age and she was bottle fed.

DD2 just turned one, also bottle fed puts EVERYTHING in her mouth and I am not used to having to hoover all the time!!

Miaow....I have a huge suspicion that laziness is exactly the cause of this problem. We spent 5 weeks in hospital when she was born early trying to get her to breastfeed. She was having none of it and would rather scream til blue than take the effort to breastfeed. She was tube fed so didn't have to do anything initially to get a full tum. I finally caved in when I could see all these other bottle fed babies going home before us and the first bottle we ever gave her she drained in seconds. We left hospital less than 48 hours later. She just did not want to work for her milk. I continued trying with breastfeeding but I'm afraid it was game over after that.

I also think my DH has a very lazy character. It my biggest bug bear as I'm not lazy at all, yet if he can find a way of getting out of something or a 'shortcut' he will. It drives me mad. If it's something that matters to him though he's the complete opposite. Doing an ultra marathon this year! Cleaning the toilet though, ha! He'll throw some bleach down. Job done!! DD is like him in so many ways it seems!

Sorry for the late reply! We have had a horrendous week, starting last Friday when I had to take DD to GP, infected eczema. 4 x a day oral antibiotics, which have upset her stomach and which she hates. This plus cat had to be rushed to vets and back the next day for an operation on an infected cat bite! Argh!
On the plus side, as is always the way when I post anything on mumsnet, She has now started doing what I was worried she couldn't do and has been gumming Sophie la giraffe and loving a stick of cucumber at lunchtime today! So pleased she is making progress. We're not baby led weaning exactly but she's getting there with the finger foods.
Miaow, that sounds exactly like DD....you want me to work for this milk? Get real mummy!
Thanks mumsnetters x