DS seems to hate food

[TheMaw]

I've been trying him with purees over the last week or so, he's had banana, apple, pear, carrot and turnip and he spat them all out. The only thing he'll eat with relish is baby rice. I'm trying him with butternut squash today. He's six months old and ff. Does anyone have any tips? It's starting to stress me out that he's going to be a fussy eater!

Please don't stress about it! It is not unusual at all and doesn't indicate whether he'll be a fussy eater.

If you think about it, formula doesn't change in flavour - he has been used to that one taste for 6 months. Now you are giving him different flavours and it must be a bit overwhelming in comparison. Plus I read somewhere (hopefully this is accurate!) that babies/children have more taste buds than us and can taste more flavours. So all these new sensations must be very different compared to milk. It will take him a while (maybe quite a while) to get used to it - your job is to keep offering a wide variety of flavours. Don't get put off by rejection, and don't restrict what you offer to what he seems to like.

If you made up the baby rice with his formula it will have tasted familiar which is why he was keener. Keep offering a range of flavours and he will get there in the end. At this stage of weaning it is not about getting volumes of food into him, it's about the variety of tastes and flavours.

Please don't panic. As Brighton says, these are such early days. Take a step back and look at the situation. Your baby has been exclusively drinking milk for 6 months. He has got used to the taste and texture in his mouth. It's comforting to him. All of a sudden he's given something completely alien to him. It's not unusual that he might spit it out. It's really new to him. The baby rice is familiar to him because it tastes the same as his milk.

Brighton is right, just because he spits something out don't write that food off as something he doesn't like. Try it again in a few days or a week and you will likely find a different reaction.

If it is any help to you my DD was slightly wary of food to begin with. We spoon fed with purée at the start and she wouldn't even open her mouth - instead she would clamp down on the end of the spoon and suck some food off the end. This went on for ages. Then after what felt like a month she got the hang of it and began opening her mouth. I also tried a few finger food to entice her. Now at almost 10 months she is part spoon fed and part finger fed. She enjoys her food.

Food is also just for fun until they are one, so don't panic if they don't eat much. Quantity is not the aim here. Just calmly offer them food and if they start to show signs of not wanting more etc then stop and remove it. Move onto the next meal with a fresh start.

Thanks so much for your replies, that honestly has made me feel a lot better. I'll just keep trying him with different things and see what happens!

My daughter never had purees, she went straight to finger food, that way she controlled the intake herself. Try some bland foods first, maybe soft boiled potatoes or bread.