2 issues re BLW - DD not keen on holding wet/cold food & general reassurance

[abigboydidit]

Hi - with DS I did a mix of spooned purees and finger foods and he took to it from day 1 and was on 3 meals a day within a matter of weeks. DD is proving to be a very reluctant participant and I just wanted some reassurance and advice on what foods might tickle her fancy.

She likes to sit on my knee and grab things off my plate and prefers this to her high chair, which is fine. Toast is proving to be a huge hit, as are rice cakes but she will not hold anything cold/wet/slippery eg fruit or veg. Although I am totally fine about the fact she's not eating a huge quantity, I do worry that she's not getting enough tastes and that I am missing a window of opportunity. Everything I read seems to suggest you need to expose them to lots of flavours early on and I'm just not managing to - despite providing opportunities. Is this pretty normal for BLW? She flat out refuses a spoon anywhere near her unless I let her hold it herself so by the time it gets to her mouth any mashed banana tends to have fallen off. I have tried spreading mashed banana on toast and avocado on rice cakes but wonder if I am forcing the issue unnecessarily because I am an obsessive worrying type!. Any experience or feedback would be appreciated, thanks

Can you cut things so they aren't wet and slippy?
e.g. partially peal a banana from the stalk end, and leave the skin attached so she has a handle?
whole, small strawberries, not straight from the fridge?
Would you dare use a fork? so she could stab the food?

How would she react to messy play with food? So jelly, angel delight, dry and cooked rice / pasta / porridge etc to get her used to different textures without the having to eat stress (and if some of it makes it into her mouth, bonus).

Would she help you roll and cut cookie dough (suggest 1-2-3 biscuits if your prepared to let her try it, as no raw egg)

Keep offering.

Thanks for the advice. DS has cow's milk protein and egg allergies so am still a bit wary but I know there's no need. Have tried stabbing a fork in but the same problem as the spoon - she gets so exited she beats her arms till it falls off! Messy play sounds like a good idea though - even just to get her used to the feel. At the moment she drops everything the minute she touches it as it seems to give her a wee fright almost. Ridiculous considering she spends the rest of the day with her fist jammed in her gob!

My 14mo DS is the same. I have tried every fruit and vegetable out and he refuses all except sweetcorn and raisins.

DS took a while to get used to the feel of slimier foods and be able to pick them up. E.g. he was about a year before he got the hang of banana but now he loves it. Just keep offering different textures as it will help to get used to them, even if she doesn't eat them yet.

Try not to worry about whether she's actually eating enough different things. As long as you're offering her different things, you're doing your job and it's up to her what she does after that.

Thank you. Am just getting anxious that she won't even touch anything, let alone taste it

My DD is the same re: touching wet/slimy foods.

She will eat pretty much anything and will nibble, suck and chew on finger foods but won't hold them herself.

Because she wants to eat them she gets very frustrated and screams so we have to mash it up a bit and spoon feed (which she is fine with) or hold the food to her mouth so she can eat it unmashed.

Bizarrely, she will hold broccoli though. Have you tried that? She holds the stalk and rams it into her face and is disappears within minutes. I am going to focus on messy play and keep offering the finger foods but until she is happy to hold the food for herself we are spoon feeding/holding the food for her. Could you try holding it so she can get the different tastes/textures in her mouth? If she will tolerate that for a few weeks you won't need to stress that she is missing out on different flavours and textures?

My DD is only 7m/o though and she is my first so there are people on here who will no doubt have much better suggestions/advice.

Thanks. Been trying more messy play and she actually held a bit of banana earlier without recoiling, so that was progress. She absolutely will not have a spoon near her. Not sure if still her tongue thrust reflex?