September 2014 - 6 months already?!

[holls2000]

new thread!

Ella - She's so cute! Beautiful little outfit too.

Kitkat - My DD is 7 months in 2 days and is on 4 x 7oz bottles (but often leaves some). Like Ella, I spoon feed her so I know she's eating but also give her finger foods. Do you give her milk or food first? I always give food first so I know she isn't full up on milk, milk just fills her up the rest of the way after.

Welcome back whiteblossom! Good to see you. I said fitbit.

Kitkat, DS is still eating virtually nothing and I'm at my wits end with it. Everytime we have some success, it works a couple of times then DS just won't have it again. I'm tearing my hair out. We've tried not offering milk but the trouble is he just ends up screaming "Mummmmmaaaaa" and you can't feed him solid foods anyway.

We can get puree into him occasionally - but only small amounts - but other times nothing at all. I'm sick of it. Its like breastfeeding all over again, and that took him 4 bloody months to get the hang of.

We've been trying more baby led weaning as a result. Last night we all had pizza. And he did actually eat some. And got upset and frustrated when he couldn't get it in his mouth. Not much, but he's willingly having it. He'll play with toast too. But little goes in.

Today I have offered him food four times at times when he should be quite hungry. No joy.

I can't force feed him and I can't starve him. So I don't really give a shit, what's recommended as its only stressing me out and doesn't actually help DS eat. DH has been getting cross with me over it and has said all the friends he has spoken to had a nightmare with weaning and what they said doesn't reflect what's been said on this thread. I'm making sure he is taking baby vitamins as I'm worried about his iron.

Given DS is standing and cruising and generally racing around the place and his weight is staying on his curve there can't be too much wrong with him. He's been hit with teething and this skin issue and the weaning stuff seems to say teething, illness and other developmental leaps are not good for weaning.

DS seems to have started in the last couple of days having what I can only call 'mini tantrums' when things are taken away from him or he can't do stuff. Its not good, especially with this feeding lark.

However if you weaned babies on nappies, mobile phones and cables I'd be laughing.

Red, I totally agree with you about ignoring the "recommendations". All children are different. Some really take to solids and drop the milk quite quickly. Others prefer their milk and aren't too bothered about solids. As long as they are getting enough nutrition from whatever they are having, then I think go with what they want.

I've discovered that giving DD some food to play with distracts her and I'm likely to get more puree into her. So far she's loving chewing on toast, organix finger biscuits and sweetcorn rings. I managed to get some chicken and veg into her for dinner tonight. Still had to be mixed with pear puree, but was about two thirds savoury. Slow but steady with this girl!!!

Ella, your DD is sooo cute!

Thanks for the advice on the dribble rash. I've tried putting a bit of savlon on and that helped a little. I'll try the hydrocortisone and Vaseline too.

I'm doing blw so not much gets eaten here. The list of things he doesn't like is growing fast! I'm not worrying (yet), I'm believing the "food is fun until 1" and definitely won't be cutting down his milk. He's getting the general idea and can chew things well. He loves soup so we have that most days, though I give him a loaded spoon so far more ends up everywhere other than his mouth.

We had his dieticians appointment and it was useless as expected. I'd already read everything she mentioned. No tips about reflux. She agreed continuing to breastfeed is best for his allergies then a minute later said she was prescribing 8 neocate formula tins for him . The only good thing is she's getting a prescription for me for calcium. Ah well, thank god for the Internet.

Red my DS is also not fussed about solids. Luckily he hasn't dropped any milk so I am not too worried, but it is hard reading all the 'recommendations' and listening to others who are having more success and thinking why won't my DS eat.

He puts everything in his mouth though, so I have decided to stick with BLW. I don't think he eats much, but at least he is getting some tastes.

We decided ages ago that cow and gate were rancid compared to Heinz or Hipp jars. They stink. But he wouldn't eat off a spoon so we went to pouches.

He had tiny bits of Hipp and Ella's kitchen fruit pouches straight from the pouch so he could hold the pouch. Hipp are quite tasty He discovering he liked yogurt pouches and woofing those down. Then stopped. So we went back to the fruit and they were ok for a while. Then complete refusal. And forget the veg ones. Yukk.

He now stopped eating from the pouches and would occasionally take the odd spoon. This is after he chased me and my bowl of ice cream around the room until I gave him some. I then hid a pot of fruit in the bowl and he devoured the entire tub after a spoonful of ice cream. Worked for a while.

Then he figured out the ice cream bowl was a trick and he hates spoons. Except for chewing when he's holding. Without food on. And don't you dare take the spoon off him or he'll scream and scream.

Pizza now appears to be the greatest thing ever.

I am contemplating weaning him on ice cream and pizza. And I'm only half joking.

Red I'm actually quite relieved that you wrote that in a 'thank Christ it's not just me way'. I'm sick of weaning. Truly fed up of it. Loads of friends with babies about the same age keep telling me how their babies loved eating x, y and z and a couple of people have even commented on how strange Jessica is for not eating. I'm seeing my parents again tomorrow and EVERY time I see my mum she's like 'so, is she eating yet'? I know she means well but I just wish she'd stop asking. And although I completely see the HV's point today, she was a bit patronising about it (in a 'well, if she's having nearly twice the daily manufacturers recommendation of milk for a 7 month-old then she's just unlikely to be hungry enough is she?'). I wish now that I had pointed out that 1) she only turned 7 months yesterday, and 2) the manufacturers recommendations actually say that assuming a baby is weaned at 6 months then they advise 3 x 7oz bottles but there's actually no recommendation on the pack for an unweaned 7 month old. I will try and cut her milk back slowly but I'm not going to starve her either. I'm not convinced it'll work anyway as she just won't even open her mouth for spoons or finger foods, and I'm not convinced the more I think about it that the problem is just that she's not hungry enough. She just seems to have a real aversion to anything going in her mouth that isn't milk. If I pop a spoon of food in there when she's distracted and has her mouth open she just starts crying. It doesn't matter what it is - veg, fruit, yogurt, puree, etc she just hates it. I've tried different brands as well. I'm so fed up with it all. Sorry for the rant everyone.

Red how long have you been weaning for? My dd refuses Ella's, C&G, etc., basically anything ready-made. Homemade, chunkier foods go down much better. Or spaghetti hoops

KitKat cross post as I got distracted by new Game of Thrones writing mine, but try not to worry about her not eating. My best friend has got 4 los now, and 2 of them just weren't interested until 9 months. They all get there in the end. You could try thinking of any food she takes in as a bonus?

We favour Hipp jars for ready made stuff too.

No stress with little food intake yet. Just keep offering bits here and there as things to play with, without pressure to eat. I wouldn't reduce milk feeds kitkat, if she needs the calories then give her milk.

clinked onto this thread because of title but topic doesn't seem to match up is this a private discussion?

DS is very hit & miss with weaning. Yesterday he wolfed down all of his porridge, today he barely had a taste. Yesterday refused rice pudding, today ate loads. There is so much food being wasted as a result. He was great with finger foods initially but is quite lazy at the moment & will only eat them if we hold them or break them into small pieces as he can't be bothered to hold them!

Has anyone else had problems with nappy rash? DS has got diarrhoea connected to teething. He's still drinking all of his milk, eating a few bits & is happy in himself so I know he's not ill. It has given him awful nappy rash, it's so sore he cries when I try & wipe it. I've been using metatanium every nappy change since Friday & although some of it has improved some of it's getting worse. What have you found effective? Any ideas on what I can try & feed him to bung him up?

Apples, we started with the weaning at 5 and a half months. He's just shy of 7 and a half now. So we have been at it for nearly two months now. The lack of progress is depressing, so I'm really hearing you Kitkat. I'm actively avoiding MIL in part because she keeps on with the 'is he on solids yet?' thing since 4 months old and I think I might loose the plot if she said it to me now.

We aren't having any joy with home made purees either. I got to the point where I could face doing anymore on a daily basis when he just refused them anyway. The banana porridge went in a similar direction as the stickiness and banana (bluueerrrghhh I can not bare the sight or smell of bananas and never have) were starting to really get to me.

At least he is interested in food now. After the first time we gave him solids (which of course he woofed down to lull me into false sense of security) he was more interested in plates and glasses/bottles than food/drink. But that only happened a couple of weeks ago. He does keep trying to snatch anything off my plate at the moment which is encouraging to a point, but then when offered it, he totally looses interest. And not so practical if I'm eating something like mash. I'm sure there is a trail of bread crumbs across the front room though were he steals my toast in the morning (if he's in his high chair and offered it, its not interesting enough for him so I've just given in a bit, with the thought that if its working, stuff it).

I think the bigger pieces (of pizza/bread) have been more attractive to DS as he can control what he's eating, and tbh I think that's really the root of the problem. He seems to like inspecting his food in great detail, pulling it apart and sniffing it before deciding to put it in his mouth (which is kind of odd as he wastes no time in shoving cables, nappies - used and unused, remote controls and basically anything else liable to cause him injury or death into his gob faster than you can scream 'nooooooooo'). So bigger pieces mean he can hold them better and stuff them in his face.

When he was feeding with the pouches he had to be holding them. And grabbing the spoon thing fits with that too. He's an incredibly wilful and determined baby all round. So my gut feeling is we'll persist with the purees but it'll be down to his fine motor control improving so he can feed himself now. I think that forcing purees on him any more than I am is liable only to result in meal times being a battlezone which isn't healthy either. The baby led approach scared me because of the choking, but it appears I'm not getting much of a choice in it.

So yeah. Weaning makes me cry rant too.

Red, it sounds like BLW might be the way forward for your son!

We are using mainly Ella's and Hipp. I have loads of homemade purées in the freezer, but I just can't get them as smooth as the bought ones, so I'm saving those for when we start in textures.

At the moment I'm mainly working on trying to get her to have savoury. I have found that the first day she has a new food she reacts like I'm trying to poison her, the second day she begrudgingly has some, the third day she eats it. I do need to add some pear puree to most things though!

I have used c and g fruit pots (use them daily), hipp and ellas kitchen. purees not a problem, so far he is ok but I tried meals yesterday when he was tired and it led to screaming baby ans crying mummy!!!

my problem is finger foods. I am terrified of him choking. any advice welcome...poor boy will be on mush till he is 18 at this rate!

sorry can'tbelieve it may seem private because we have 'known' each other for quite some time now so conversation can flow quite thick and fast! please join us, we are v friendly and everyone (except me!!!) is helpful. we love having new members!

Can'tbelieve are you perhaps looking for the antenatal threads and clicked on the postnatal threads by accident? We're all mothers whose babies were born in September(ish) last year. If however you also have a 6-7 month old then feel free to join us like Holls said. :) x

And yes Red we're the same - started at 5 and a half months so have been doing this nearly 2 months now. Sigh.

In better news, lost another pound this week! Not bad considering a few weekend treats (although I stayed in the points allowance). The irony of the fact that I seem to spend half of my time getting Jessica to eat something and the other half trying to get myself not to eat things is not lost on me! Lol!

Holls think anything that goes soggy and soft when you put it in your mouth as half decent starters.

We went with baby biscuits (the organix ones are good). And then bread/toast (the trouble with bread over toast is it goes mushy in baby hands and falls apart whereas toast stays together a bit more - but then that's useful to know when thinking about choking). Cucumber isn't terrible as its good for sucking on.

We are still avoiding too much veg at this stage as much as anything as DS is only just beginning to get the idea of chewing. So far its been more suck and let it disintegrate in his mouth.

Oh and there is a clear difference between gagging and choking. DS will gag, and try and stuff more in his mouth at the same time. So its reassuring that he's not in any distress but its worrying the first few times it happens.

I think the bigger pieces (of pizza/bread) have been more attractive

I am terrified of him choking. any advice welcome

Red, Holls - Big pieces of food is exactly what BLW and finger foods is meant to be and you have both nailed the exact reason in these sentences.

Big pieces of food can be explored and investigated and inspected, leading a baby to learn what food looks like, feels like, smells like etc. I know a 10 month old who is often seen being pushed in a pushchair gnawing on a whole apple (with her two little teeth). She's not likely to eat it all, but will taste and try and it is good for exploration.

Also bigger pieces hold less of a choke risk than smaller pieces do. Also easier to manage when eating. For example my 5 year old has his toast cut into quarter triangles. Baby has hers as a whole slice. That way she can get hold of it better. Also fewer pieces to throw on the floor at least until it is ripped apart.

Harder, bigger bits of food is less of a choke risk because at this age their teeth can shred, but can't really bite chunks off.

Red - Try things like whole pieces of pasta (with a source, obviously) rather than mashed up pasta. He can grab hold of and suck chunky pasta better. Roasted veg works well too because you can make larger sized batons but when he chews it, it goes mushy easily.

cantbelieveimonhere - Do you have a baby born somewhere around September 2014? If so, please join in.