6 Month old doesn't like food HELP!

[sidesplittinglol]

So I've started weaning my 6 month old and I'm finding it hard to get him to eat anything other than porridge. He literally seals his mouth closed and turns his head away.

I've tried all sorts of veg and fruit and he just won't have it.

Can anyone please help me with some tips, recipes and advice. I would be so grateful. Tia

It's very early days. I would carry in giving porridge and put other foods in front of him but his main food will still be milk so don't worry about it.

It does just take perseverance, just remember food is fun before one.
Maybe try baby led rather than spoon feeding then he can explore putting things in his mouth himself?
I wouldn't worry about it and just keep going and doing what you are doing. They all eventually get there.
My little one didn't really eat anything until about 9 months old, apart from yoghurts! Then overnight he just started eating what we gave him. It comes eventually!

Try doing blw so they can set the pace.

Are you doing traditional weaning? (Purees, spoon feeding) or putting food in front of baby to see what he's interested in? When does he have his milk? My dd only eats f food after she's had a breast feed.

Well I want to do BLF but I thought I'd start spoon feeding first just to get him used to tastes. But may be il just go straight Into giving him the food first then. But I worry about choking etc

Just offer it, and don't stress if he doesn't want it.
If you can bare the mess, let him explore with his fingers before it might make it into his mouth.
Don't worry, he is still tiny.

Choking is very rare, though gagging can happen as baby's gag reflex is very far forward in the mouth precisely to prevent choking (generally gagging is noisy, choking is silent). If you're worried go on a baby first aid course.

Tbh choking can happen just as easily with purees. Think about how you eat stuff off a spoon like soup, you kind of slurp it in so it could easily go to back of mouth/throat and cause you to gag.

My dd is also 6 months and we've gone straight to blw. It is really nervewracking but the only time she's gagged badly was the first time when I held up cooked carrot to her rather than letting her just pick it up and explore it herself! Sometimes she's not interested in food but will play with it (which is fine as she's getting used to textures) and sometimes she'll wolf it down! Especially banana omelette or spag bol.

The less you stress, the easier it is. DS didn't like puree/was fussy with it, especially when it came to texture but give him the same as us & he was fine. We quickly learnt how he wanted to be weaned & he's been great with food ever since.

It's worth adding that his eating progressed massively at nursery (he was there from 7 months) as he wanted to imitate the other children so it's worth socialising with other families for lunch etc as he gets older if you have that opportunity.

When my DS turned 6 months I started weaning him and for two weeks he sat there and refused . He just turned away and blew raspberries at me.
Then for one week only he took some baby porridge followed by another two weeks of complete refusal !!!
I was gritting my teeth while fake smiling the whole time...
He finally started to take food and we worked our way up to 3 meals a day with snacks etc and have never looked back!

I had a spoon refuser and was basically forced into doing baby led weaning. She liked bread and fruit and those pouch yogurts that she could suck to start with and then we gradually introduced more. She's still very fussy about flavours and textures at 6 but she eats a reasonable variety as long as her foods aren't touching!

He is only 6 months!!!
There is no rush. None at all.
He'll eat other things when ready.
Just keep offering them to him.
On another note - I do remember mixing in a bit of pear purée into DDs baby rice. So - you can try that too.

It may be the colour of the purée that is throwing him off.

Also - I'd be getting him to watch adults eating. Just sit him by the table. Put a baby rice cake next to him.
Eventually, when he is ready - he'll reach out for something on your plate too.

I'd probably take a break from it and try again in a couple of weeks, some just aren't interested at 6 months.
It took until about 8 months for mine to want to actually eat anything. Now at 10 months I have one that loves puree and being spoon feed, and one that hates it, still spits it all out, and wants finger food only. We found it a very slow process

My son didn't eat anything at all until 1. My daughter was 8 months when she took little bits, 10 months before she was on 3 meals a day. Both really healthy. Don't worry, there's loads of time!

Mine wasn't really interested in weaning. It was a very slooooow process. Around 12 months we were advised to cut her milk to see if she would then eat more food. She did but now at almost three every meal is still bloody hard work. Some kids are just not food oriented.

Also, it's very early days. He might "get" food in a few weeks.

I'm so glad to hear that it's not just my DS that is fussy. Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on myself to get him to eat.

So how much food did you introduce in a day and did any of you mix them before introducing them separately?

Thank you all so much for your replies. I will definitely be taking them on board!

DS1 refused to accept being fed puréed food on spoons, so we went down the baby led weaning route with him.

He took to feeding himself with finger foods much much better. I got a baby led weaning book from the library by Gill Rapley that had lots of advice and recipies in it.

DS2 mostly just threw things on the floor for a good few months. I just kept offering, all sitting at the table together. Eventually bits actually went into his mouth. Try not to stress about it.

I started both of mine off with a few pieces of whatever we were eating from 6 months - no separate tastes, no gradual exposure, no mashing/purées.

They ate far more interesting foods then than they do now, fussy sods (aged 7 and 5)

Distract yourself. Obviously be there in case he chokes, but plan to have something else to occupy you. Then stick some soft fruit on his tray and after 20 minutes or when he gets fed up, get him out.

They don't know or appreciate that we've been waiting this whole time to give them exciting food, babies have no sense of occasion

Sides - that's exactly right.
Don't stress. He will start eating eventually. Everybody does.

And you don't have to pick a 'way' - you can do baby-lead (i.e. give him safe and appropriate bits from your plate) AS WELL AS continuing to give him purées, as well as making special baby foods to finger feed (mine quite liked soft rice baby-pasta)

In the end - no matter how much energy you'd spend getting them used to various veggies - they'll all (most, at least) go through an addiction to kids menus - spaghetti Bolognese, anyone?....

😹😹😹

My DD was over 8 months before she took her first bite of food. I tried a mixture of giving her things like toast and hard veg/fruit, as well as spoon feeding. She kept her mouth tightly closed.

Try not to worry. Just keep offering food and let him see you eating so he knows what is supposed to happen. He'll get there eventually.

I'm in a similar position, and am telling myself not to worry about it.

DD (8mo) will occasionally take fruit purée and yogurt from a spoon if she's in the mood for it. She will pretty much always take weetabix from a spoon.

She will absolutely never take any hand-crafted-carefully-balanced-organic meals I've made or delicious scrambled eggs. She will guzzle Ella's Bloody Kitchen so long as its sachet to spoon, and never decanted into a bowl.

I was terrified of her choking (hence the purées), DH has been on a Baby First Aid course and it's still a bit scary, but I just had to bite the bullet she'll eat:

Bread sticks
Strawberries (we give them to her whole and she bites bits off)
Sticks of banana
Sandwiches (soft cheese or fish)
Sticks of mango
Cake 😶 (she's only had it once, and only a tiny bit, but it's the first thing she cried about when we took it away)
Banana and blueberry pancakes

Anything else just gets pulverised in her tiny sticky paws.

I worry about her vegetable intake. But I make sure she's offered several vegetables a couple of time a day (steamed asparagus, broccoli, red pepper, carrot, baked sweet potato or squash, raw cucumber, mashed peas etc.)

I tell myself that so long as she's being offered a varied and healthy diet, there's not a huge amount more we can do. But I still worry a bit.

Dd1 was and still is a nightmare when it comes to veg no matter how I give it to her she just won't have it!

I know I've been through the weaning stage already but with DS2 it's harder. And I feel like I've just forgotten everything!

So can u give them steamed broccoli sticks etc to start off with?

Yes absolutely. You don't have to do them one at a time or anything, just give them a selection. It's easiest if it's what you're having as well. Just cut veg into finger length batons or wedges as that's the easiest shape to pick up and get in their mouths.

I will try that out tomorrow!

Bit worried aswell as he doesn't seem to want to feed much. Today his last feed he had was at 4:30pm. He had a bath at 5:30 and was due a feed at 6 then at 9 but he has missed them both and slept right through since after his bath.