HELP! Dont know where to start

[JustForMe]

Ok so basically im starting to feel like im failing my DS when it comes to feeding.
He is 15months and still on baby jars age 7/10months for breakfast lunch and dinner. I do mush up fruit for breakfast aswell, and he does have biscuits.
Ive left it so long now I dont know how to start to get him on solids.
Ive always used the excuse that because he has no teeth (He has just started to get his first 2) he wont chew it but now im just kidding myself.
This is my first child so never really knew what I was doing.
Please help.

Sorry if it doesnt make sense lol. It doesnt help that I got DP in my ear going 'you need to start feeding him other stuff' etc

bump

Try giving him food that he can hold and gnaw- my 15 mo DD loves cucumber sticks, breadsticks, slices of cheese. Or just give him a bit of whatever you and DP are having. And let him make a mess. It won't be forever and he can feel free to explore the different textures.

Also, is he healthy, happy, and active? If so, he's probably eating fine.

That said, this works with my DD, but your DS may be different. Hope this gives you a starting point at least.

If he is on jars exclusively I would start by mixing some mashed home food in with it, small amount then increasing the amount and texture as it is more likely to be accepted like this. Also peer pressure if great so if you have friends with children who eat finger foods get them to sit with your DS and offer the same, no pressure or fuss, you may find in time he will follow.

Moving his onto foods he can chew will help with speech development too.

Good luck

I would add some mashed food into the jars, so for example, if the jar contains sweet potato, add some mashed potato in so that you are slowly changing the texture but not the taste too much IYSWIM?

I would also make sure you are acting confident, lots of smiles but not over the top praise.

Can he use his pincer grip? If yes, then he may enjoy picking up things like peas (these are a favourite with my 12 month DD) - is a good time waster when I want to do things in the kitchen too and they are too small to worry about choking. If this is a goer, then try small pieces of soft meat - like chicken and casseroled beef or lamb.

If he can manage biscuits, then he will be ok and will be able to manage other finger food, I would do what the others have suggested . Don't worry!

Have a look at Baby Lead Weaning - there is a blog by Aitch which is very good and will give you lots of ideas.

As mentioned above if he can eat biscuits, he will be fine with other food. There might be a bit of gagging (which is different to chocking but might freak you out a bit at the time!) but he will get there. He just needs the practice at swallowing more than blended/mushed up food.

Oh and invest in a cheapy shower curtain - stick it under his high chair to catch the mess that escapes from his tray/bowl etc

www.babyledweaning.com/ have a look at this, just to get your own head round what kids can eat from 6 months. and he's having biscuits, so he can chew, he's just not getting the opportunity.
why did you keep him on jars for so long, do you think? are you (not unreasonably i might add) scared of choking? was it easier? did you not meet up with other mums? i can totally see how that could happen.

Would you find it easier to just give him what your family eats? It's a pain to cook separate food for the little one. But even from 6mo, babies can eat the same food as us. Like Aitch says, the fact that he can eat biscuits means he can eat dry lumpy food. There's no harm in just put him in his high chair when you eat, and give him family food to play with eat.

Thank you all for your help. I shall try some of these ideas today. It is a scary thing to do lol.

that's assuming you cook, though. i know for a lot of people that's daunting, since unless your mum could cook, no-one teaches you any more. agree, though, about the family food. and maybe a wee infant resus course if you think you might be unusually anxious? (PS why hasn't dh given him food before now, if he reckons it's a problem... this isn't just your job, is it? )

it IS scary, don't worry. www.babyledweaning.com/2012/baby-led-weaning-diary-and-its-goodbye-from-siobhan-and-some-stuff-about-choking/ some info about resus there, just to cast your eye over.

www.babyledweaning.com/2012/baby-led-weaning-diary-and-its-goodbye-from-siobhan-and-some-stuff-about-choking/

Aitch I did the red cross baby and toddler first aid course, and I found it very useful. It doens't just cover choking. But what do to if there's bleeding, if they have a seizure, if they got an electric shock. It's a 5 hour course, but I found I'm much more confident in dealing with a reckless LO. I decided to do it when she started crawling and pulling herself up. At that point, I realised I have no idea what to do if she bleeds or scalds herself.

so true... i'm always a bit amazed that they don't make a first aid course kinda mandatory, tbh.

I did assume the OP (or her DH) cooks their family meals. I love cooking myself, and unless we eat out, we never get takeaways or pre-made meals from the supermarket. However, you don't need anyone to teach you. I taught myself cooking when at uni. Neither my mum or my grandma can cook. I've never seen my mum in the kitchen once when I grew up. We celebrated all family holidays like mothers day, christmas eating out too, as my grandma won't cook either.

the OP will tell us, i imagine. it's just that i've found that often one of the reasons weaning scares people is that they think they can't cook. of course i believe personally that cooking is a piece of piss, and anyone can do it, but then i didn't pass my driving test until i was in my thirties because i didn't think it was for the likes of me, so i get how an irrational fear is nevertheless a valid fear, iykwim?