Weaning going backwards - help!

[ClodiaF]

I just started weaning my 6-month old son onto solid food a couple of weeks ago. At first we were doing well - he would eat as much as I prepared for him (about 2 tsp of mashed whatever) and seem to want more. However now he acts like i'm trying to poison him whenever the spoon comes near his lips (even things like banana he seemed previously to have enjoyed) - clamping his jaws shut, twisting away,crying etc. I wondered if he just wanted to do it himself so I've been trying to give him finger food instead - he seems to like squashing it up in his hands and spreading it around the table - but very little if anything goes in his mouth. What can I do? I really do want to be able to spoon feed him at least sometimes but should I just give up on the spoon-feeding and let him go at his own pace for now? Or should I stop completely and try again in a few days? Or are there some other tricks I could try? I'm a bit worried now at the lack of progress as I am going back to work ft in 6 weeks and I don't think anyone else is going to be able to take the trouble. Anyone else faced this problem? Any tips?

I wonder whether he might be teething and have sore gums at the moment. That might explain why he is not keen on having a spoon in his mouth or eating very much.

Rather than try to force the spoon issue, I would continue to offer finger food and let him try to feed himself. He may play with the food for a while before he begins to eat much. His nutritional needs are still being met by milk (breast/formula) at the moment, so it doesn't matter how much he is really eating. Playing with and exploring food with his hands is a brilliant learning experience anyway.

6 weeks is a long time in a baby's life so I'm sure by then he will be well into his eating. Also, any decent childcare provider would be able to cope with a baby that is not that keen on eating. That's their job after all! I would be amazed if they had a problem with it - after all they must encounter lots of different babies who are all at various different points of being weaned.

Thanks, that is useful and reassuring. Still getting nowhere with the blw, but I'm trying not to stress about it for now.

We did blw and for the first 4 weeks my dd really just played with the food until one day she just " got it" and ate every single thing on her plate! I was amazed as I also was getting a bit worried- now she eats anything and everything you put in front of her!

Also are you using plastic baby spoons? My dd hated them but loves normal metal teaspoons for things like yogurt/ porridge.

It's really common; don't worry and don't force the issue. We did BLW with DD from 6 months - only now at 15 months is she showing much interest in food. She can feed herself with a spoon and fork but at present has finally decided that she likes being spoonfed, so long as she can play with the food as well

She hardly ate at all until 9 months and has had several reversions to milk only from teething and illness. She's developing well and is healthy enough, so we don't worry too much now.

Good luck!