Weaning, baby won’t eat unless distracted

[Kezzababe]

Hi!
Im having some issues with weaning my 9 month old baby girl. She will only eat more than a few bites if I distract her by putting toys on her high chair to play with whilst I spoon feed her. She does seem to like finger foods also but will only eat a limited number of foods ie grated cheese, Cheerios, blueberries and occasionally avocado. I’ve tried bread, toast, brioche, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, strawberries, bananas, pancakes, broccoli, eggs, I’ve even tried giving her puréed / mashed foods to play with and see if she will eat some herself that way but she is not interested. Any ideas? It’s getting very frustrating!

Thanks!

Is she actually hungry for food? How much milk is she having and how close to meal times?

I think she is hungry, she’ll refuse the spoon feed then if I give her grated cheese she’ll gobble it up! She takes 3 bottles a day, approx 6 oz per bottle and gets these an hour or so after solids.

It's natural to be wary of new things. Keep offering a selection of things for her to try. A baby needs to see a new thing several times before trying it, and needs to try it multiple times before deciding It's nice!

Put a few different things on the high chair tray and let them pick and choose. Do you eat at the same time as your baby? That can help. You can then offer bits of what you're eating - seems to make food more attractive. Of course if they can actually steal it off your plate, that makes it very attractive!

You need good solid habits from today that may feel slow but will work over time (unless she is in ten vanishingly small number of children with arfid or food related sen issues)
Set meal and snack times so she starts to learn the routine
Eat as a family as much as possible - even if you're mimicking what she's having and you both snack on blueberries and Cheerios
No distractions - no toys / tv / gimmicks. If she's not hungry take the pressure off immediately and abandon that food session until the next one is due.
Offer a mix of 'safe' and new foods as often as possible. Eg Cheerios / grated cheese and a stalk lf brocolli. Let her see you eat the brocolli with no fuss.
Try to keep both pressure and praise away from eating. The food is there she eats or not (as long as you are providing consistent safe foods she won't starve or feel overwhelmed at a plate of food she doesn't like)
Eat the same meals as much as possible, this may mean lowering your spice levels or eating things a little bit more boring than you and your partner may usually eat but a few months of rolemodellinf is crucial and then you can start to increase complexity.

Oh and don't offer alternatives (providing you've allowed a safe food at each meal) so don't offer a full plate of garlic pasta then offer toast when she refuses the 'new' pasta. Offer the pasta with a side of cheese and toast.
Keep giving her foods she 'doesn't like' children need exposure so many times before they may co sister eating it and abandoning peas after one attempt may mean she never eats peas for years. Keep putting them on plate with no pressure or fuss to eat.

Really good advice above. Especially about eating as a family.

I’d add don’t react to what she does/ doesn’t eat. Just serve what you’re planning on having and if she eats it give the same reaction as if she didn’t.

At 9 months lots of babies don’t eat very much, she’ll get there eventually. She sounds pretty normal to me.

Thanks for all your advice! I tweaked a few things and she’s had some different foods since e.g scrambled egg.

I also realised she wasn’t totally over a bad cold she’d had recently and I think she was just a bit off form - she’s happier now thankfully!

Great advice above.

Just relax about it. Don't make food an issue. Don't distract or bribe or worry or offer something else when the first thing is refused.

Just offer a range of healthy food. She eats what she wants. You clear away the rest. That's it.