I started weaning DD at 6m a few weeks ago. We tried BLW but it resulted in most food ending up on the floor or too slippy to hold (I'm looking at you mango).
I then tried spoon feeding. She refuses to let anyone spoon feed her but if you hand her a loaded spoon she'll eventually put it in her mouth (via the eye socket, ear etc).
So basically we were making a good start even though only a tiny amount was going in. We tried most fruits & veg that I could think of, bread, pasta, dairy, beef and kidney bean stew, mushrooms with cream cheese, home made tomato sauce, so I think her diet was quite varied.
About 10 days ago (so only in the first week of weaning), she started to refuse food. She would whinge and cry and I didn't want to force it. She also soon after developed a rash which turned into full blown eczema which has needed steroid cream. She looked so sore, rubbing her face on any available surface and then screaming in pain. :(
I thought it might be related to a specific food so I've stripped her diet right back to non-allergens and non-acidic foods.
She's had since thursday: sweet potato, cucumber, carrot and apple (pouch), butternut squash, melon and potato wedges. The only food that actually went in were the wedges which were a hit.
This morning, the rash had gone and she had been clear for 2 days so I introduced peach. By mid morning she had a rash again. I restarted the steroid cream and it seemed to soothe her.
I gave her potato wedges again for tea.
The question is (eventually getting there) is it bad if I mainly give her wedges for her meals? She likes them and eats them. I spread avocado on the wedges tonight and that was greeted happily too. I don't know what else to give but I want to start her actually eating. Weaning her on what are effectively chips wasn't my original plan though.
Also how do people deal with food refusal? Should I put food in front of her and let her choose to eat it or not or take more of an active role in trying to get her to eat?
If anyone has any thoughts about eczema too that would be helpful, I feel like I'm floundering here.
Thanks for reading this epic and meandering post. :)