8 month old refusing food unless it's pureed

[Whyohwhydoesthishappen]

Hi

I started off with jars and he did fine, however when I moved onto the more lumpier food he started refusing to eat it. He only likes pureed food/fruit

I spoke to HV and she said no he definitely needs to be on the more lumpy food now, so don't go back to the pureed stuff. I am just worried as he's not eating more than 2 spoons of food and feel like I should go back to puree as atleast he is eating then (but HV has said not to)

I have been offering whatever I am eating but most of the time he will just play with it. Do I just go with the flow at this point? Thanks

Simply yes. Food is for exploring and trying under 1 year old. Playing with it is a big part of this. Milk is still the majority of their calories at that age. Ideally shouldn't have done purees in first place, but do perservere with actual food now.

My eldest son only ate puréed food for the first two and a half years of his life. The panic, anxiety and worry I felt were off the scale. Health visitor and friends all adding to my worry that he "should" be moving onto solids. It was eventually a GP who told me that as long as he's eating something not to panic and just offer other foods alongside the food I knew he would eat. He's 22 now and eats everything.

Thank you both. That has given me reassurance and taken some of the pressure off mealtimes!

Just offer him finger foods/whatever you’re eating and let him feed himself. Mine didn’t really eat significant amounts until about 9/10 months and if he’s only starting now, it will take time to learn. Just keep on going.

I wouldn't stress too much at this age. What i did with both of mine was offer finger foods with puree/blended food so they get used to textures. Doesn't matter much if they don't eat much of the finger foods though it's more about them getting used to it.
HV doesn't sound very helpful tbh!

Give him purees but you could start adding in a little crushed Weetabix/ Readybrek/something to give more texture. Finger food for baby to learn different tastes/textures.
And please ignore the comments about "should never do/have done purees".

Pop some food on his tray and let him play with it. Toast fingers, pasta, veg and fruit and so eat. Sit and eat at the same time as him if you can. He’ll get there when he is ready.

My ds was the same OP. He wouldn’t eat lumpy food and used to gag so I was still giving him purées for long past the “recommended” age.
Absolutely don’t stress about it. As long as he’s eating and healthy it’s fine. As mentioned just give him bits of food to play with and eventually he will get there.
DS now 28 and 6ft 3 and eats everything so didn’t do him any harm.

Thank you all for the great advice and tips. I really appreciate that! Has definitely taken the stress away and helps to know some of you have also had the same with your children! I will offer finger foods and let him explore for now 🙂