Weaning going badly - advice needed please

[Abe99]

I started my daughter on solids 10 days ago at 6 months and its not going well at all. She refuses to open her mouth at all for the spoon (tried various fruits, veg and baby rice) and generally tries to bat the spoon away and becomes distressed.

She had the classic signs of weaning from about 19 weeks but i stubbornly held of thinking she would reduce her milk intake too quickly if i started before 6 months.

Could someone advice whether its best to carry on with the spoonfeeding in the hope she will get it one day or do BLW. I wasn't keen on BLW as my DH works long hours so meal times would be just me and the baby plus we eat a lot of spicy food that wouldn't be too suitable for the baby. Additionally, I will return to work when my baby is 10 months old and I can't see her grandparents ( who will look after her when I am at work ) being keen on the mess of BLW.

Any advice would be gratefully received. I am very worried she isn't receiving the right nutrients as she isn't taking in any solids ( FF now but I exclusively expressed for 5.5 months due to bf'ing problems).

Will she pick up food & put it in her mouth herself?

First thing is not to worry about her getting enough nutrients. At this stage milk is still the source of those and solid food is just an extra.

I think BLW may be worth a try since spoonfeeding seems to upset her. I would guess that the last thing you want to do is make her associate food and mealtimes with upset. Maybe if you get her interested in food via BLA, she will then be happy to accept the spoon? I'm no expert, but this would probably be my approach. Good luck

thanks for your reply.

she can pick up food but it doesn't make it to her mounth yet.

That should be BLW, of course. V poor typing!

She sounds like a contender for BLW - I did it with DS2, not for any idealistic reasons, but because he hated being spoonfed so it was an easier option.

Maybe give her some finger foods - banana, melon, cooked carrot etc, and see how she gets on.

DS2 wouldn't be spoonfed at 6 months, buit by the time he'd explored food himself and realised it tasted nice, he would be spoonfed from about 8 months, so don't assume you can never spoonfeed. Don't worry about what may happen when she's 10 months old, just do what is right and easy for now.

I think it helps if you let her copy you. Don't get stressed about it, just sit calmly with a pot of food, have a spoon for you, a spoon for her and let her watch you eat, then try her.

You may find she's better with finger food anyway, which will be messy, but is actually fun.

We gave DS a spoon to play with, and when he opened his mouth to put his spoon in, put a loaded spoon in quickly. Only a few times to get him used to it though!

My DD was not keen on spoon feeding to start with either, it took a few weeks of persisting before she improved, she does a combination of spoon feeding and finger food although more spoon feeding. The giving her a spoon to play with thing didn't really work for us as she used the empty spoon to scoop the food back out of her mouth and throw it.

I opted for BLW which was just as well because my 6MO DD won't feed from a spoon. Finger food is going great though.

Don't worry about mealtimes and eating as a family. Yes, it's preferable but not essential. I eat breakfast and lunch with my DD but she usually eats dinner in the kitchen while I'm pottering around doing chores and keeping an eye on her.

As for mess, I'd rather pick up large chunks of food than the splatter from purees. My sister says her kids still leave a mess under the table (aged 4, 6 and 8!!). give it a go and hopefully it'll be well under way by the time your parents take over.

This website has lots of good info and ideas for BLW: www.babyledweaning.com/

Please don't worry too much - it's perfectly normal for it to take a little bit of time before babies figure out what to do with food.

I did BLW with DS from 6 months, and (silently) worried on and off as it seemed like he was hardly eating anything.

Gradually he began to put food in his mouth and eat though, and within a few months he was eating huge amounts. At 16 months, he still has the odd day when he hardly eats anything, but I feel a lot more relaxed about it now and know that he will make up for it the next morning.

If you are spoon feeding, it may be helpful to add a few finger foods into the mix. That way your daughter can play with different textures and tastes, and eventually she will start eating, either from a spoon or by feeding herself.

She will still be getting most of her nutrition from milk until she is about 1, so she has plenty of time to get to grips with solids. It's a new adventure for her, so enjoy it together :)

My DD is now 7.5 months and still won't accept a spoon, so we have had to go down the finger foods / BLW route. Its not been easy but she is starting to eat slightly more (there were weeks and weeks of picking up food but never actually eating it! - very frustrating after I'd cooked for her). However, she is still fit and well so try BLW and don't worry if little or nothing is actually consumed for a while.

We also had trouble breastfeeding and exclusively expressed up to 3-4 months. The main problem I have now is that she makes her preference for breast milk clear and its not easy to get her to cut this down in favour of solids (actually, still pretty much impossible to date).

Thanks for all your messages.
I will commence BLW as and continue to try with the spoon in a relaxed manner.

One qq though. Should I be worried about her iron intake. She is now FF and I'm told that the iron in that is not absored as well as the iron in breastmilk. Are there any drops she should be having?

the advice is that FF babies shouldn't need supplementation as it has extra iron added. Copied this from a leaflet on www.NHS.uk

Will my baby get enough iron?
Babies are born with iron stores so they do
not need to take in much from their diet at
first. Most breastfed babies receive enough
iron from breastmilk to keep the stores
they were born with topped up. Babies born
with low stores, perhaps because they were
premature or small-for-dates, may benefit
from iron supplements. Also, a baby whose
mother?s iron level is low may benefit from
an iron supplement before six months. If
you think this applies to you, talk to your
doctor, paediatrician or health visitor.
Only part of the iron in formula milk is
absorbed so all brands have extra iron
added. This means formula fed babies do
not generally need any extra iron, although
premature babies might.
However, anaemia (low iron levels) is one
of the most common problems in young
children, so iron-rich foods need to be
included once your baby starts taking
solids. These can include red meat, pulses
(peas and beans), and iron-fortified cereals.
Vitamin C (in fresh fruit, and fresh or frozen
vegetables) at the same meal helps your
baby absorb the iron.

Hope that helps.

that does help. thanks very much