Feeling like a SHIT mum

[CharliesMummyMeg]

Hi Everyone,
My DS is 7months 2 weeks now, been weaning since 5 months ish, we are doing 3 meals a day and he is still BF but we are struggling. I find it hard to feed him because after 4 - 5 mouth fulls he clamps his mouth and gets cross when i try and feed him, i've tried giving him things in his hands to eat as i feed him such as toast with butter on but i panic when he gets lots in his mouth and i think he is about to choke, utter panic mode then!
He also will not drink alot of water, so im struggling with feeding him solids, when to fit my bf in so that he is not full of bf and what times should i feed him?
I feel like a utter failure because as soon as he starts playing up i feel like giving up!
Help please

7 months is still so young. Neither of mine ate much at that age really - I think until they are 1 milk is still their main nourishment, and I always felt slid food was more about etting used to taste and texture than getting lots of food into them.

I used to breastfeed them after their meal, so they were hungry when they approached the solids rather than being fell! But fo a while with one of them I swapped it round - he was TOO hungry, and got too frustrated to eat!

Also, I used to chop things (toast, banana etc) into bite sized peces which avoides the too-much in mouth issue - but for that they do need a ood finger-and-thumb pincer grip.

Weaning is a bit stressful someimes - so much mess and wasted food! But your experience sounds really normal, I don't think you're doing anything wrong :)

Thank you for getting back to me :) i just worry he is not getting enough vits in his diet and that he will get ill or something! I do give him things to eat aswell as spoon feeding sort of a spoon and blw thing going on but i panic easy haha

Why don't you try offering soft finger foods as well as BF? If they are hungry they will give it a go. Sometimes it is the soft stuff on a spoon they object to, they like to explore new feelings with their mouths so stop trying too hard and take it slowly. You are not a crap mum..these things can take time and a happy BF baby who is gaining weight and contented is a great thing to have. Try solids at normal family meal times, finger foods on a high chair tray. If they don't eat you can be assured that they will BF later.

Oh and as for the worry about chocking..we all go through that, it is a constant worry for the first few months!

If you are breastfeeding, your baby will be getting every nutrient he needs. He will gradually need more iron than your breastmilk can provide but that is a gradual thing, it really is very unlikly to be an issue at 7 months if he's generally healthy. Your milk is the perfect balence of vitamins, fat, protein etc - really, much better than any weaning food you could offer!!

Someone once gave me some brilliant advice re: weaning, being that food is fun, until they're one (i.e. don't panic about amounts / nutrition etcetc until 12 months as until then they still get all they need from milk).

I've done it two years running (15 months between them - aaargh!) and remembering this advice kept me from losing my sanity at times! Particularly with DS who was useless at the whole weaning thing - he just didn't 'get' chewing and choked on everything (to the point where I wouldn't feed him in public because every meal resulted in several instances of thumping on the back, with the occasional heimlich thrown in for goo measure). He's brilliant now at 12 months - ate more Xmas dinner than I did!

Also that 99.999% of people are able to eat, they all learn to eat at some point. You sound like you're doing fine! Keep plugging at it.

My DD didn't really eat solids until about 9/10 months. She just wasn't interested and would turn her head away from the spoon. The only things she would eat were small amounts of baby cereal (that cow&gate fruity porridge stuff that you mix with hot water) and toast. The GP wasn't bothered and said as long as she could eat a piece of toast (i.e. chew something properly solid) it didn't matter whether she ate alongside bf before age 1.

The GP recommended just offering what DD would eat and then gradually introducing new things one at a time. I went back to the start and just offered baby cereal once a day for a while and then gradually offered new stuff. It took a while, but DD (now 19mo) will eat most things now.

Thanks to eeveryone im feeling much better about the whole thing now! Thanks xx