Weaning baby- eats but not interested in finger foods

[Luckyelephant1]

Hi, just started weaning my 6mo. Its only been just over a week so I appreciate its early days yet but...

She's doing great when I feed her with a spoon. Leans forward and opens her mouth to receive the food. Have done baby rice and single veg purees/mash so far (carrots, broccoli, avocado, peas, sweet potato). Tried a lumpier puree today and she ate it.

However every time I do a puree I also give a softened finger food version for her to try as well eg an avocado finger or broccoli floret. She literally ignores it. She's never really been one to put toys in her mouth (except for her hands) but she does grab them, although she's always been more interested in inspecting her own fingers. If I put the finger food in her hand she'll glance at it then just let go. I've tried showing her by putting it in my mouth, or just sitting with her at the high chair and leaving the food there to see if she touches it in her own time. She doesn't even look at it. I've tried handing her the spoon I'm feeding her with but again, not interested.

Is this something I should be concerned about? Like I said I know it's early days but most weaning resources I've looked at don't even mention this could happen, and from friends that I've spoken to with similar age babies they have the opposite happening i.e. baby just wants to grab everything.

She’s only 6 months, I wouldn’t be concerned. My DD wasn’t picking up food until 8-9 months. If she’s happy being spoon fed just stick to that and offer finger foods alongside, she’ll eventually get the idea!

She can have anything - it doesn't just need to be soft, she might enjoy a range of textures so you could try some crunchier things too.

It's early days, one of mine didn't really eat anything till 9mo.

I think the BLW idea sometimes makes you think any baby will happily munch in finger food from the moment they're offered it. Mine wasn't really interested in any food until about 9m and I think many babies are similar.

My baby didn't each much of anything until they were a year old. Now they are 2 they eat everything so try not to worry. They all get there xx

We did the same approach as you OP. I had wanted to do BLW completely but DD was having none of it, coupled with allergies/high gag reflex and just a lack of interest in food we ended up mainly doing spoon fed until 9/10months or so!!! Don't get me wrong, I was making it all myself and offering a variety of foods and spoon fed textures alongside finger foods but she just had ZERO interest in feeding herself BLW foods! From about 10/11 months she would eat toast sticks just about but was still silly with them.

Now she is 16m and is still funny with textures (meat!) but will generally eat most foods bar all of her allergies. Won't eat veg no matter how hard I try or how much I offer unless it's in a soup - hoping as she gets older that changes when she is able to really sit and eat with us!

I will still persevere with BLW though for a second child, I do like a combo though as it means you can see how much they're really getting

I'm in a similar boat. DS1 took to BLW immediately. DS2, on the other hand, is not interested. Same as your DD, DS2 has no interest in putting things in his mouth.

I'm still preserving though and having him watch me eat finger foods. He is taking it in so hopefully he'll copy what he sees soon. It's very handy when they can feed themselves a little in a highchair so you can eat.

My baby was the same. She was never one to pick up things from the floor and put them in her mouth as well.
I had a lot of militant baby led weaning advocates in my mum group… it put the pressure on to get my baby to be feeding themselves, but she didn’t work that way 🤷‍♀️
We ended up puréing and kept offering solids, however we had to cut up “finger foods” to swallowable chunks as she would literally shove all of the finger food in her mouth at once and try and swallow it whole! She has only just got used to the process of chewing now her back teeth are coming in at 14 months, and it’s only now she can cope with bigger chunks of food to bite bits off.

Trust your instincts. Weaning is a looong process (years!) so make it enjoyable and it will all flow from there.

Thanks really good to hear other people's experiences. The other thing is that DD is a proper self soothing thumb sucker, she sucks during the night and when she's tired but also occasionally when she's a bit overwhelmed eg at baby sensory class. She's taken to randomly thumb sucking in her high chair, so she'll eat from the spoon but before she's swallowed she'll put her thumb in as well. Is this a sign of too much too soon? She's perfectly happy otherwise and I always stop feeding her if she gets cranky or turns away.

I wouldn't worry about it. Mine only ate wafers and melt snacks by himself until about 11 months and then started showing interest in finger food. Wouldn't touch toast/omelette strips/soft cooked veg (all the recommended things!) until he was about 1. I just kept offering different things alongside spoon feeding and let him manage in his own time as I figured a) it will happen at some point and b) I didn't want him to feel stressed or hungry.

He is now 1 year and we do a mixture of self feeding and spoon feeding. He ate toast for the first time today as I was eating some and he reached for it, so I gave him a few bites before making him his own slice.

You sound like you're doing a great job. All babies are so different and will all get there in their own time!

My son wasnt interested in feeding himself until he was about 11mo.

Hes nearly 2 now and wont accept any help whatsoever. He will only feed himself and nobody else should have the audacity to come near his spoon!

Dont let the BLW brigade indoctrinate you! Spoon feeding is fine. Finger foods are fine. Its all fine.