if ds really doesnt like a taste/food do i try again or just leave it and move on?

[PipIsOutNow]

i posted this in weaning but got no response so...

my ds is 18 weeks...started weaning him last week on advice of health visitor. he didnt like the baby rice at all so he currently has baby porridge once a day. some of my friends started weaning their babies on veg purees so today i thought id try him with a sweet potato puree which he really didnt like, he spat it out and heaved and kept on heaving even tho id taken it away!! i left it at that and didnt force him. what im wondering is do i try him again with the sweet potato and if so when or do i just accept that he doesnt like it and move on? i know its only been a week and im looking forward to the next few months and lookin at it as a journey for me and ds. i know there's plenty of time to try new tastes but i dont want him only liking sweet stuff or ending up like me and dp who are really fussy eaters...any advice?

He's very young for weaning, so be prepared to take things extra slowly for him.
It is generally acknowledged that it can take up to 15 introductions of a single food for it to be accepted by a baby. Therefore don't give up on anything just yet, but it's not a good idea to present the same refused food too many times in a row. Leave it a while before reintroducing it.

There's no reason to suppose that he'll be a fussy eater yet. Give him as wide a variety as possible and try to let him see you enjoy eating a wide variety of foods, even those you may not necessarily like.

Eating habits are built up over years, not the first few weeks.

just to add that while yoy may think he didnt like the taste it may have been the texture...

sweet potatoe is a very different texture to milk / porridge.

He is very very young to be weaning.

you can always try mixing fruit / veg purees with milk so the taste / consistency isnt as shocking to baby

yeh, my hv said i could start him at 17 weeks coz he was showing signs he was ready and he was very hungry!! im planning on takin it slowly, just first time for me so its all new. when should i try the sweet potato again?

Move on. Mine were very hungry as babies - spat out the baby rice and when I tasted it I would have too. Loved fruit purees and carrot puree first of all (after the blander stuff had been tried and failed) and it didn't upset their tummies. Acid test I have always thought is that if it tastes and smells yuk to you, it probably would to them too. If you have a taste and it's nice, they are more likely to like it.

And - don't stress - they pick it up fast. don't want it - fine - no big deal.

At risk of getting flamed on here - it's much easier IMO if they spit out a good quality baby food from a jar than when they do with something you have scraped, steamed, chopped, pureed and frozen into Annabel Karmel type ice cubes.

DD doesn't like most of what I give her (she's 14mo) but I'm not fazed by it. As RuthChan says, it takes loads of introductions of foods for children to start to eat them. DD mostly squashes her food and plays with it, she eats none/some/all depending on her mood, what it is, how hungry she is.

DD didn't actually like purees, she preferred lumpier foods. Not suggesting that this is appropriate for your DS at 18w but just not to worry about it and things will come in time.

However, DD will do anything for a biscuit, crisps or chips (and she hardly has any of them!!)

I agree with Ruth chan - your baby is young and if they don't like something leave it a month or so and reintroduce. I found health visitors were very pushy about starting weaning early as "I was breastfeeding!!" It is also best to stick with one taste for a bit and then maybe mix in something new eg mix in apple puree with the rice. There really is no rush out of my 4 I would say that the younger ones who were weaned later are the best, most varied eaters

homeboys he will takethe porridge fine off the spoon and swallow it fine. with the sweet potato it barely reached his tongue, he just kept spitting..then heaving!! texture was smooth as it was an organic pouch.

shall i stick with the porridge and introduce new flavours in a few weeks?

thanks haggis maybe i could mix in with his porridge?

im not in any rush for him to be eating lots of different flavours, im happy to keep him on porridge for a bit. just wonderin what is best to do...

I agree with onceamai about jars. I hate cooking and when DD rejected a couple of meals I had bought stuff especially for and lovingly prepared (and I found myself getting annoyed with her) I switched to Ella's Kitchen pouches. They tasted nice to me so I was happy for DD to eat them.

She now only has them occasionally but for a while they suited both of us perfectly.

18 weeks is very very young. I think possibly you should just give him what he likes right now and not worry about it too much. In fact, maybe just not bother with food at all and go back to milk if he's not really enjoying actual food? In a month or two, you can start to introduce more tastes and textures and he will be much more able to participate in the process - eg able to swallow without sticking his tongue out all the time etc. If you were talking about an older baby I'd say add a tiny bit of what he doesn't like to lots of what he does like but actually, at this age, he's pretty young to be on any food other than milk at all and you would be silly to push it IMO.

horton im not pushing it at all...thats why im on here to see what to do for the best. im a new mum and have been advised to wean him by my health visitor. he loves his porridge so il just stick to that...thanks for all advice :)