Starting solids

[FedUp196]

Hi all, baby turned 6 months on Wednesday. We’ve been trying some fruit and veg purées and breastmilk porridge for a couple of weeks now but she won’t swallow anything! She pulls a disgusted face, dribbles as much as she can out of her mouth then gags if any gets to the back of her tongue- to the point of being sick! We have also tried those ella’s kitchen ‘melty puffs’ which she will suck but again when any gets near her throat she gags and vomits. Have tried different temperatures and consistencies. What to do? Keep trying a little something each day or wait a bit? Does that gagging reflex just suddenly go? So worried about making food a negative experience and putting her off!

I'd give her whatever you're eating, cut into grabbable chunks, and just let her try feeding herself. Even if none of it goes in her mouth, it's really good for her fine motor skills and manual dexterity, as well as exposure to texture. The gagging is normal and will go. Keep giving her a normal amount of milk, and let her explore the food - she'll eat more of it as she gets older.

I would stop spoon feeding purees and give her finger foods so she's in charge of what goes in her mouth. Things like bits of toast, lightly cooked veg and fruit cut into fingers, chunks of plain omelette. She probably won't eat much at the moment, she's still learning, so continue with the milk. A mat or something like a clean shower curtain under her highchair means that food that ends up on the floor can be picked up and given back to her.

Some babies just hate being spoon fed, Dd was one of them!

Agree with the above posters, let her take control. Don’t make it into a ‘thing’ as you'll get stressed, baby will get stressed and it’ll be horrid.

Babies gag - this is VERY normal and is a mechanism to stop them from choking. It’s horrible to see, but sit on your hands and let them work it out, you can do more harm than good jumping straight in to help.

General rule of thumb is: loud and red - let them go ahead, silent and blue - they need help from you.

I agree with letting baby have control. We did that with our dd and she was so much happier. Dont worry about her not eating anything, it can take a while for them to get it, its totally new experience for them! Milk is still their primary source of nutrition. Anything else is a bonus!

Things our dd liked:
Breakfast - weetabix, just soggy enough to pick up. Scrambled eggs
Lunch - toastie (she pulled it apart and eat it part by part, still does!), soup, pesto pasta.
Dinner - macaroni, strips of chicken from a roast, quiche anything with pasta or rice!

Good luck op, she'll get it!

Oh and banana, tangerine and apples!

Thanks so much for the replies, I feel better already! Will try the finger foods as suggested. So on the choking front, what if she’s gumming a bit of toast or banana or something and a chunk comes away in her mouth and gets to her throat? Will she be able to deal with it? So worried after seeing her gag on smooth purée that she will actually choke on lumpy stuff

The idea is that it does go into her throat haha :) Its how she manages process that is the issue. They are better at managing chunks than we expect!
Shes learning so yes, she may choke. I'm not going to lie but most of the time is gagging. Noisy and scary sounding but completely normal. Its how they learn to manage their food. You just need to sit in your hands and smile and encourage. Only intervene if shes in danger. Panicing or putting fingers in their mouth to fish things out can make things 100 times worse.
Watch some YouTube videos on the difference and book onto a kid first aid course if you can. Baby lead weaning groups can be very helpful too.

Manages that* process
I wish there was an edit button

Avocado and broccoli are great finger foods to start off with if you’re worried about the consistency, they literally melt into nothing! Orange is a good one for them to suck on as well, just make sure it’s got no pips in :)