Baby weaning - please help

[Angeldelight21]

Hi mommas,

Our Dd is 7.5 months old and we started weaning at 6 months as per the Nhs guidance.

The issue us that she is just really not interested in food at all. I have tried all kinds of veg, fruit, meat etc. It's not like she does't like it, she wouldn't even open her mouth to try it.

Just wondering if she just needs some more time? Any advice or sharing your experience would be much appreciated.

Will LO pick any food up if you put it on the tray @Angeldelight21?

7.5 months is still really little. Just keep offering. Eat at the same time so mealtimes are social & she can copy you.

She would pick up some food but she would only play with it.

Have you tried spoon feeding as well as finger food? My first wanted to be fed and wasn't interested in finger food second was the other way around. Also found starting on things like baby rice/ porridge helped us. I know the emphasis is on veg etc but found mine got used to that easier

honestly I thought my daughter would never eat and I got so stressed - took her until nearly 10 months to be bothered

i just kept offering various things and ate with her and eventually she joined in!

let her play with it - totally all part of it

I really struggled with this as well. I should have just focused on a few tastes here and there really! As it was, mine started nursery at nine months and started to eat a bit more then. He’s now 20 months and eats really well! He’s not a greedy child and won’t overeat though.

She's doing just fine, she is gaining experience and will put things in her mouth when she is ready.

I worried about this too, mine really hardly ate anything at first and I was comparing him to friends' babies who ate like horses! He took till 9 or 10 months to have anything really substantial and now at a year he eats plenty (though doesn't like any green veg... the dog gets most of that sadly!). It feels a bit soul destroying, putting effort in making lovely things and having it chucked around or ignored, but sadly I think that's part of it - she won't still be eating like this at 18!

Let her explore the food and play with it, she will eventually start putting it to her mouth.

You can sit opposite her and eat also so she can see what your doing and copy.

My second was pretty much like this too.

If she's not bothered by the purées, I'd just stop offering them for a little while.

Concentrate on putting food on her tray and letting her play with it whilst you eat your food.

It really doesn't matter if she's not eating much yet and it sounds as if you'll both benefit from having a few days without any worry about food.

One thing that did encourage my DD was sitting her on my knee whilst I ate. She loved nicking things off my plate

weaning isn’t just the eating side of things it’s the feeling of it too

she will eat when she’s ready to :-)

Don't stress about it (aware easier said than done). Just keep offering a variety of things, mix of finger food and purées. She will get there - you don't see any adults drinking bottles of milk! Our baby was the same and only really got going properly with weaning at 9 months ish. She's doing well now at 11 months.

Thank you to all of you for sharing your experiences. I will try to be more relaxed about it. X

Did you know there's a Weaning Section on MN as well under "Feed the World"?

Glad you're feeling more confident

They used to have a health slogan 'fun til one' I think - basically you shouldn't stress about food until your baby is about one.

I think you need to think about food as less about consumption and more about the whole process of exploring food - texture and smell as well as taste. The worst thing you can do is to sit staring anxiously. Eat with her, be relaxed, praise her trying things. Let her make a mess. Try picnics and playing with food, bashing carrot sticks together, rolling peas etc.

Thank you for bringing it to my attention :-)