Baby uninterested in food - how long to keep going for?

[NellyBluth]

DD is 27 weeks. We've been offering her food and trying to get her to eat for about 6, 7 weeks now, on and off. She really isn't interested at all! Every now and again she will open her mouth for purees or yoghurt on a spoon or a finger, but recently she has been keeping her mouth firmly closed against anything I offer. We have more success with finger foods or letting her hold the spoon and put it in her mouth herself, but its hugely limited success - basically, she just doesn't swallow anything at all, she dribbles it all out.

I'd prefer not to do BLW, though sadly (for me) its looking like she might prefer to feed herself. I would just prefer that some of her meals she ate off a spoon so I have some control over the amount.

What I can't decide at the moment is whether it is better to a) keeping offering her food at specific times, in the high chair etc., and hope she gets the hang of it, or b) just wait a week or so and try again. Trying to get her to eat is a little stressful at the moment, and obviously I don't want to make food stressful. I can't stress quite how much she is not eating anything that goes in her mouth

And at what age should a complete lack of interest in food become something I should talk to a HV about?

(If any remembers me from a thread on weaning confusion before, that's because I'm really not at one with this!)

Don't worry about food, so long as she's still having milk, she's getting all she needs. Stay relaxed. During meal times sit her in her highchair and put tiny bits of food on the tray for her to feel/play with/taste. As she eats more, gradually increase the food, give her cutlery to play with too. Have one spoon yourself and one for her. And have fun!
(sorry no paragraphs, on phone)

I would just sit her on your lap when you eat, with some finger foods in reach. She is only a week into weaning age so it is totally normal for them not to be ready to swallow anything yet. Most babies have the hang of it by 9 months.

If she's having more fun with her own spoon and finger foods I'd let her get on with it, making food a fun exploration is more important than getting lots in at this stage.

It's just my opinion but I really don't find purreed carrot appealing so I didn't expect my DC to either, I just let them get on with eating what they wanted to eat (DS1 shovelled everything down from day 1, DS2 took about a month to really get going).

You have just find out you can't control the amount they eat, spoon or not. Your LO sounds like my DD who is very stubborn and insists on doing things herself. She used to keep her mouth firmly shut at 6mo for the spoon. Now if she wants a spoon or fork preloaded, she will hand them to me or DH. If we try to feed her, she will sometimes shake her head until we put down the fork. Some babies are just more independent than others.

I'd pop her in her highchair and just give her appropriate finger foods to play with, she'll get the hang of it and as she realises she likes the taste, she'll eat more and start swallowing. DD has been self-feeding for a month or so now, she still gags on some stuff but swallows quite a bit. I've found that she gets on better with cooked food at lunchtime as she is less tired then so where we can, we do that. She too will not allow anything to enter her mouth unless she puts it there but that's fine by me as I always wanted to do BLW.

Thanks all, if it has taken some babies until 9 months to really start eating then I feel better! Every other baby I know has just taken to eating like a fish to water . I'll keep offering her finger food in her high chair and see if she gets better. I think I'm worrying a bit too because she has never been a huge milk drinker and at the moment is only getting about 24oz a day...

24oz sounds fine. Formula fed babies need a minimum of 18oz a day between 6-12 months to get all the vitamins etc that they need - less than 18oz and they need to be supplemented with vitamin pills. Bear in mind that milk is a complete food and solids are just supposed to be complementing milk until around 12 months. After 12 months most babies should be getting the majority of their nutrition from food.