6 month old not eating

[emilyurse1]

Hi!
Can anyone say what their food routine is for their 6 month old?
Ours just sort of dribbles any puree or baby porridge or yoghurt we give him out of his mouth.
He sort of gags sometimes too.
I'm worried he should be eating regularly at this age, but its mostly only a couple of spoonfuls a day, and most of it ends up on his bib.
Scared to try him with anything actually solid.
Where to start? Thanks!

Scared to try him with anything actually

Is there any reason you are scared to offer finger foods? even when they weaned at 4 months, most babies were having a fair proportion of finger foods a day

Following as I have been having the same problem with my 8 month old since he was 5 months....

It's very early days of weaning and that sounds entirely normal. They need to get used to new textures and tastes and temperatures plus figure out how to chew etc. Just keep offering small amounts. It's fine if you want to just do puree for now or you can do baby led - I always found that a bit scary.
Some babies take to food like crazy, others are just not fussed for much longer. The best adage I have heard is "food is for fun until they are one" ie milk (breast or formula) is their main nutrition source for another 6 months. You can relax and enjoy the mess for now.

Gagging is normal, as is dribbling it out their mouths, spitting it out and being completely interested! It's a brand new skill and can take some babies a bit of time to master. Just keep offering a range of different foods and he'll get there.

My 18 month old now was the same at 6 months... he would only have a couple spoonfuls a day, some days he didn't. Just keep trying everyday. He also gagged loads which made me really scared. He soon got used to it all and few months later and he was eating all sorts.
Great book with lots of ideas... what mummy makes by Rebecca Wilson xx

Gagging is completely normal! Babies have a gag reflex almost in the middle of their tongue, to prevent choking on anything! Even smooth purées.

Exposure is your best best, I'd try and let your LO play around with the food themselves and explore with no pressure, and they may be more inclined to taste it. Make into a sort of messy play activity perhaps.

If you want to check it out, Solid Starts have some great reading on gagging and why it happens. They are a baby led weaning account but it can help everyone I think

solidstarts.com/starting-solids/safety/gagging/

6 months is still tiny. Milk should be his main source of nutrition, just introduce food a couple of times a day to expose him to it and he’ll get the idea! Don’t worry about how much he is or isn’t eating at this stage; some babies take to it better than others but exposure is the key.