How to get ds to open his mouth?

[TiredofTelford]

Hi there, ds is 6 and a half months and I have been giving baby rice then puree for three weeks. He is taking a quarter to a third of a 50/60g jar at each feed and seems to be fairly happy with all the different flavours so far (except banana!) but my main problem is getting the food in his mouth. He seems to lunge at the spoon with his mouth almost closed, putting his head down and pushing the food up the spoon with his top lip. I manage to get in about a quarter of all spoonfuls without getting it smeared across his face but this involves waving toys madly in the air with one hand and feeding with the other. Does anyone have advice on how to get a better hit rate with the food?

Bigger chunks are so much easier for them to handle, and are no more of a choking risk than little bits, in fact probably less, as they are less likely to try and swallow something whole.

The other thing to remember is that is is perfectly normal for them to spit out anything that they do get in their mouths initially. They are learning about moving food around their mouths and how to chew, and invariably at the beginning it pops back out again. This is fine, don't try to pop them back in again, but let them keep experimenting.

Leave the baby in control and he will get along just fine