6 month old not that interested in solids - should I introduce a 2nd meal?

[bcmummy]

My DD turned 6 months a week ago and for the last 2 weeks I have been offering her solids at tea time. She is not very interested! I am offering her a mix of finger foods and mashed fruit/veg and while she is happy to sit in her high chair while the rest of the family eat and play with the finger foods etc she is actually eating next to nothing and rarely willingly opens her mouth for a spoon of food either. I am trying not to get uptight about it as she is a very contented, happy little soul and to be honest I only started solids because of her age, not because I thought she was particularly showing signs of wanting them. However I am now wondering if I should start offering her breakfast too. I thought maybe if she was offered food more often she might get the hang of eating sooner, or should I wait until she is eating her tea well before adding more mealtimes? Any advice appreciated!

You can offer breakfast if you like. But if your LO doesn't look eager, there is no harm in just offering once a day either. As long as you keep offering, she will 'get' food eventually.

we started at 26 weeks although we gave him a spoon to play with beforehand and actually just tried three times a day! Bit mad. It's all self feeding with a bit of support. We're 3 weeks in and usually manage two meals a day e.g. Baby awake, has a milk feed, hour later we try breakfast e.g. Mango wedges, or mashed bananas on toast. And greek yoghurt that he licks off a spoon. Then nap. Then either lunch followed by milk, or milk then lunch after an hour if he's hungry so he doesn't get frustrated. E.g pitta dipped in hummous, sticks of cheese, fusilli with sauce, noodles, fruit, etc.

If we have time/he's in a good mood we'll try organic rusk biscuits (no sugar, but sweetened with banana juice), dipped in milk. Usually this ends up mushed up and offered on spoons for him to play with/lick off.

Some days he'll eat plenty, other days Bugger all, and it makes NO difference to his sleep.

There's no point trying if he's tired, v hungry or we're in a hurry.

Thanks ladies, all good advice. This morning I decided to just sit her in her high chair when I had brekkie and gave her some pieces of banana and she happily munched away at them/played with them while I ate. I don't actually think any of it was swallowed but she was happy! Guess that's the main thing. Think I just need to relax about it, offer food when we are eating and just not worry if she actually "eats" any of it. My DS adored food and shovelled it down his throat with great gusto from day 1 so this is a new experience for me!

DD isn't very keen on food either at 29w. I've stopped doing particular meal times, I'm just trying food at times when she is awake and slightly peckish, which changes day to day. Once she really gets the hang of it I'm planning on moving to meal times.

I posted on here a few weeks ago as she wasn't interested in eating at all and I was worried, but in the past few days she has figured out how to swallow without gagging like it is the end of the world, can occasionally use her hands to push food back into her mouth, and has even opened her mouth and asked for more when I've been offering bit of what I'm eating. Such a huge improvement! She will get there, just keep offering little bits and let her get used to the idea. I've heard that a lot of babies don't really start eating properly (i.e. getting a considerable amount of calories from real food) until about 8 months anyway.