"Until they're one it's just for fun" - am I taking this too literally?

[AliceTheCamelHasGotTheHump]

Ds is 8 months old, very big for his age and gorgeously chubby (all chins and belly and thigh dimples) and seems to be happy to give solids a good go. I have never spoon fed him.

On a typical day he will eat...
About a tablespoon of porridge or a handful of mini-wheats
A few blueberries
3 or 4 cherry tomatos
He'll suck some cucumber
Half a slice of bread
A few chick peas / half an avocado
A tablespoon or two of pasta with sauce
A dessertspoon of yogurt

He is still bf on demand and typically has 3 big feeds a day, a couple of little feeds, a bit of a feeding frenzy at bedtime and the couple of hours afterwards (4 or more feeds between 7 and 10 normal) and feeds through the night.

Questions as follows:

1. I've noticed my friends are giving their babies 3 proper meals a day plus proper snacks. Should I be doing this? (He eats with us at the moment). Should I be taking his eating more seriously?
2. He gets offered lots of food, but tends to play with it rather than eat it. Should I be encouraging more eating? Should I be feeding it to him?
3. Obviously, he would probably sleep better and feed less if I fed him more. Should I though? I am nervous about replacing milk feeds with food when his food isn't massively nutritious compared to milk.
4. If you have an 8-month-old or thereabouts, do they eat much more than this, much less or about the same?

About the same or more solids that my DD ate when she was that age and I also did BLW mainly because she hated mush and liked feeding herself from an early age. BF babies are often less interested in solids and also don't need solids as much as FF babies. However, he probably isn't that hungry with all that milk.

Thank you both. I am adopting my fall-back state of parenting which is to assume things will naturally sort themselves out. He'll probably gradually cut down on the bf and eat more food won't he?

he's fine
obviously thriving!!!!
just let him figure out how much food and how much breastmilk he wants
he sounds just like my DS, dimples and all!!

My DS ate only a little more than that (BLW) at 8mo, and between 8 and 10 months had 2 periods of a week where he reverted entirely back to BM because of illness.

He ate more when I was at work (odd days during that time) but other than that enjoyed his food but generally didn't eat much.

However, at around 10mo or so, he suddenly decided he was going to eat 3 proper meals, and now absolutely stuffs his face, and has snacks.

At just over 11mo I accidently dropped his day feeds (BM)(he now normally only gets one if I'm with him all day and he has it for his nap) as he was biting a lot and I was getting very upset about it. I offered a snack and drink when he asked for milk and he never got upset so we've stopped offering.

Anyway, my point is that they do figure it out. Some earlier than others, but eventually they all get the idea. It sounds to me like you're doing great.

My DD has now turned two and never figured solids out even though she self weaned at 23 months. Cutting down BFing never seemed to increase her appettite for solids. BLW isn't a guarantee of a child that eats anything and everything. I'm not sure what I am going to do differently next time round for weaning as pregnant with no.2, hoping my son to be will be alot easier than his sister. Off to make another meal that will probably end up in the bin...

Far more than mine ate til she was well over 1 (I did BLW too). She is now 2, and eats better than I ever imagined possible!

MY DS is 17 months and often eats less than that! Today he's had little more than a small square of toast (about 1/5 of a slice), a dozen raisins or so, a couple of mandarin segments and ...nup that's about it. Demands lots of milk though.
Here's hoping he'll eat a bit of spag bol for dinner!?