Weaning help!

[Lindseyjai23]

My DD will be 8 months old next week and I'm concerned that she is not eating enough. Been weaning for two months now (started weaning at 6 months) but she won't eat anything lumpy or textured and bearly eats half a pouch a day. We struggled with bottle feeding as I exclusively breast fed her up until 6 months old. She has only just started taking a bottle but only has 3floz a day as well as a few breast feeds. She was small when she was born on the 9th percentile and since 4 months has stayed within the 25th percentile. I am worried that she hasn't got an appetite and will grow to be underweight or be a fussy eater. My boyfriend says I worry too much however after 2 months of weaning I would have thought she would be eating much more than she is. Any advice would be much appreciated. X

We did BLW rather than purees so my DD didn't consistently eat and swallow much food until about 8 months so don't worry.
As a thought have you thought about trying BLW? Or keep going with the pouches but offer more finger foods for her to feed play with herself including stuff you're eating obviously no added salt, honey, whole nuts etc.

That must be stressful for you, what has your HV said?.

They say up until 1 they need to have around 500 mil which I think is near 20 oz. I'd be inclined to buy the wellbaby vitamin drops you get from Boots and put that in her milk to ensure she's getting the right nutrients. They are really good vitamins for babies, bit expensive though but totally worth it.

Do you only give her pouches? I find they are quite bland and if you were blind folded would you really know what you are eating? People say babies like bland food but they don't know any different really. I found by sticking with flavoursome homemade food that my DD was getting used to stronger tastes. She's 7 months old and eats anything, literally. Garlic, onion etc goes into her food. I think because she was used to different tastes from the outset really. I do give her pouches though of course, but s couple a week for ease. But u might already do this anyway.

Some people would say try putting whole foods out on her high chair and see what she picks up, but that's if you feel comfy with her eating that way. I dislike the whole baby lead weaning approach. A lot of older women who have kids don't understand it either. 15-20 years ago people gave their kids smooth food until they were gone 1,or at least had a few teeth and are shocked by how we are expected to feed babies these days. If she just wants smooth things for now, I wouldn't worry, she will get past that stage when she's ready. Especially when she's older and won't be able to resist a piece of cake or a pack of puffs or something!

My dd is tiny too, it's so worrying isn't it? Milk is still the main source of calories at this stage so i'm concentrating on ensuring she is getting enough milk with food secondary to that. My dd will usually eat the equivalent of around a pouch a day but some days has very little interest in food.

Have you tried Avocado? It's high calorie and can be made smooth/lumpy or as finger food (that said it's so slimy my 7 month dd struggles to hold a slice). Mashed Avocado and banana together is a popular choice in my house. My dd has it a couple of times a week.

She also really likes readybrek and Greek Yoghurt. Readybrek is very smooth and doesn't clog as much as larger oat porridge or baby porridge. I usually make it with formula.

I tend to make my own food too. I use a pouch when out and about but my dd does tend to eat more of what I make compared to a pouch. I often add formula to recipes (especially rice/pasta dishes) which ups the calorie content and I give a variety of textures. Generally the textures become larger during the day so smooth porridge for breakfast, puree for lunch and a bit of finger food like eggy bread then lumpy pasta/rice for dinner

Thank you so much for all of your advice. I have contacted my HV and she is paying us a visit next week so I'll see what she says. Great idea with regards to the vitamin drops, I will go and get some to ensure she is getting enough vitamins. I don't know too much about BLE but the thought had crossed my mind as she loves to hold and chew on rusks so I'll try some avocado sticks today and see how we get on! I haven't tried yoghurt with her yet as I have no idea what she can and can't have- any advice? My friends recommend petite filous and also wheetabix- both of which I have yet to try with her, however I worry about the sugar content in both?
X

My DS never took to spoon feeding and hated baby food in any form.i gave up and swapped to BLW full force at about 7mo. He didn't eat very much at all until around 9mo though. I just gave him whatever we were having (added salt to ours after is dished his up) and adapted/chopped/deconstructed for small fingers if need be. Penne pasta and any sauce and sandwich fingers were some good first foods that he actually ate well. He would take yoghurt (full fat Greek yoghurt at that age) from a spoon though. He wasn't silly. He still hands us a spoon now if he wants to shovel something in quick and he's nearly 2!

Don't worry. Same here at 9 months. Food is all about 'play' at this age, milk is the main source of food. They all get there in their own time xx

Just to answer a couple of your questions. Petit Filous are pretty high in added sugars, but you could stir fruit puree through natural or Greek yoghurt perhaps. Weetabix are a good low sugar option, though the crispy minis are higher in sugar. My little boy liked shredded wheat bitesize, which don't have any added sugar. You said you weren't sure what was ok for your DD to have, but after 6 months they can eat just about anything apart from honey (not till after a year) and whole nuts (a choking risk till 5), but nut butters are fine.