10 month old weaning

[19annie86]

I just need a bit of reassurance

I feel like I'm a bit behind with weaning with my 10 and half month old

She takes stuff like porridge, weetabix, lots of different fruits (mashed lumpy of spoon) Greek yoghurt, dinners are usually lumpy type dinners like, mince and potato, stews again lumpy, mashed veg and mashed chicken

But when it comes to finger foods it's a bit more difficult, at the minute the only finger foods she will have is toast, cubes of banana and she will sometimes take them wafers or puffs just to get her used to feeding herself

I guess my question is am I behind with weaning, I'm a first time mum

Hey - we’re in pretty much the same boat! That’s just like my DD who’s almost 10 months 😄 Does she take the spoon off you to feed herself?

I started feeling guilty about all the puffs and wafers so now I mix it up and give her little strips of apple (put in microwave for 30 seconds and they go all soft and delicious, she loves them) and raspberries / strawberries so I feel like it’s a healthier option than just ‘baby crisps’! Or segments of avocado. Maybe try that?

I sometimes see posts on Instagram where young babies are feasting on large hunks of bell pepper with expert hands and practically whipping up their own cheese sauces but it’s all stupid misleading stuff (if that’s what’s got you worried) because they’re only showing a few seconds of a video clip, and helpfully omitting all the thrown food / smearing / refusing to eat that all normal babies do! Try not to worry :-)

No she doesn't take the spoon to feed herself, I know what you mean about everything online making it all seem perfect, she does take plenty of different food, but prefers to be spoon feed, she loves carrots, sweet potato etc from the spoon but doesn't seem to pick it up herself, she does have a good pincer grasp able to pick food up with two fingers with the things she will eat herself

Mine is 12 months and in exactly the same boat and tbh I've stopped caring about it.

It was really stressing me as BLW is everywhere right now and I felt like a shit mum, but then someone pointed out that their BLW baby is now 3 and still refuses to feed themselves with cutlery. This changed my mindset massively as she (very kindly) pointed out I likely won't have this issue as mine is now trying to spoon feed herself.

It's good you know your baby can pick them up and it's not a motor issue, mine is exactly the same - she will eat wafers/cheese/biscuits no problem but won't touch any fruit or veg unless it's on a spoon. Once spoon feeding she isn't fussy at all.

My view is I'd rather she was eating veg from a spoon than throwing it on the floor, so I at least know she's getting some!

Some babies just prefer to be spoon fed, some hate it and want to feed themselves and both of those are fine, so try not to worry.

I was getting really stressed about it and feeling so bad about it, but all babies are different and you are right as long as they are eating and not refusing food completely, I'm so happy I'm not the only one

I say this as if I'm super chill, I totally get the worry, I spent 6 months agonising about this and have only recently stopped being bothered by it! So not downplaying how you feel at all 😊

That sounds fine! Sounds like a good start.

Mine likes wet foods and didn't really get on with "proper" food until well after 1. Even the 1 year old meals you can buy are still very wet and lumpy.

The important thing is she's eating.

Don't worry about spoons - although it can be normal, it still very early to be using spoons at 10 months. She will get there when she gets there.

Just need some advice & maybe reassurance. My 9 & a half month old baby is breastfed I’ve been trying to wean him going down both BLW & purée but he doesn’t seem interested enough to try. I’ve tried spoon feeding but he turns his head away & clamps his mouth shut & tries to push me away so then I fully back away - the HV advised me to wipe the food on his lips to see his reaction & he’ll happily lick the remainder of but won’t open for a mouthful of food. Hes had buttery toast & the Ella’s kitchen crisps a handful of times but even then he’s not sucking/eating it it’s just the tiniest of bits & then gags alot but that’s it. I’m due to return back to work in June & i have a full 24 hour shift to return back to I was hoping to reduce breastfeeding so that I’m not worried sick as he wont take a bottle & the beaker is limited. I’m not sure what to do as I wanted to reduce breastfeeds but I don’t want to bombard him when he’s still not eating & then take away breastmilk. Can anyone give me any advice? Would really appreciate it 😅

I found that when they refuse the spoon-fed I had to do something to distract her, and I know this might turn into a bad habit, but sometimes not always, I played her favourite cartoons, or few toys on feeding table or even sang a song from the things she likes to watch, as I say I don't do this all the time, just when she turned her head away and refused the food, I found it worked well, I was just happy she was eating

I’m already using the distraction techniques with him i have to put something on the tv/sing to him/place toys on his tray I’ve even removed the tray. I’m finding when he’s sat in front of me or near me he will randomly open his mouth to receive food but just leaves it there until he takes it out himself or I do. I know they say food before 1 is just for fun but it’s not exactly fun for either of us at the minute 😅

My wee girl was like that especially with dinners, but when it came to sweeter stuff the mouth was open wide, I also found if the food was too dry she didn't like it, so I made sure it was wetter, I found that mushing up fruit and mixing it with yoghurt or custard was good way of getting her to take fruit, maybe if u keep trying the things he likes for a while he will get used to the spoon and not think twice about what is on the spoon when giving dinners etc

I’ve been going with sweeter stuff like yoghurts/baby deserts/fruit purées & I put some on his lips he’ll lick it of but won’t open his mouth. It’s really random because when it comes to brushing his teeth he opens his mouth & excepts it with no problem just not food he clamps his mouth shut & moves his head away. He was open to trying buttery tea cake this morning but it was literally a lick then that was it 🫣

What about fruit or frozen fruit in one of those dummy type things that they can hold themselves

I haven’t tried that yet but will give that a go & see how it goes. Thank you for the suggestion really appreciate it

My baby is like that too. Very verrrry picky. Gags on most foods. I'm not quite sure why she's like that. And it doesn't help that my friends baby has been eating solids almost exclusively since 9 months.

I'm a FTM and do BLW (have exclusively throughout) with my EBF baby. Personally I've found that when we leave her to it she eats more. We sit her at the table with us and we eat as normal. When she's not the focus she eats more. When I hover she plays with her food or throws it.
She's currently settling into nursery and we've told them the same.