weaning probs, does not put anything in mouth

[BlackberryandNettle]

I was wondering if anyone else has found weaning a struggle? I started my dd on purees at 6 months and she has not taken to them at all. She doesn't open her mouth in anticipation of the next spoonfull like other babies seem to and seems totally disinterested in the whole process. People have suggested I try giving her finger food, however she just plays with it - she doesn't tend to put anything into her mouth! She does chew a little on toys/books but not to the extend of other babies - Sophie giraffe tend to get a quick nibble but she won't hold and chew. Should I be worrying she is delayed? She is 7 months and 2 days old now, although she was just over 3 weeks early. She does have a small appetite in general and is on 9th percentile for weight. In other ways she seems fine - sits unaided really well and is v inquisitive etc

No harm in getting it checked if you're worried, but up to age one food is fun, so just keep offering finger food and hopefully interest will start. Maybe try offering milk after food, rather than before, if this is what you're doing. High chair at the table while you're all eating, so there's no pressure.

Excuse my typos. Should I just carry on offering food? She is bottle fed so I know she is getting enough iron etc. She still has lots of milk although not masses as she does have a small appetite. She's had a couple of colds over the last month and I was hoping once they cleared she'd just take off but it isn't happening! Should I progress past fruit and veg to meat, fish and lumpy textures etc even though she only swallows one or two spoonfuls at each meal?

Thanks HSM. I think I do need to chill out about it. I'm going to try to eat in front of her more, although she is in bed by dinner time for dh and I

Just have lunch and brekker with her and let her play with her food. If she has a small appetite anyway she's unlikely to inhale her food anyway.

Sounds a bit like ds was. We did baby led weaning and he didn't really eat much until 9 months or so. He also wasn't that interested in chewing Sophie, so maybe there's a link! That said, ds did drop centile lines from 75th to 2nd between 4-7 months... but there was no underlying cause found and he's a healthy three year old now, tracking 50th for the last year.

I've just started weaning his sister and she is loving her food! Such a contrast to ds and lovely to see. Ds still has a fairly small appetite.

Give your baby time, as long as they're happy and growing just enjoy a few more weeks of not having to worry about providing another little mouth with nutritious food! And definitely keep putting bits of what you're eating on the highchair tray to explore.

It's so easy to get very stressed about the whole weaning thing. So many people all with the right way of doing it. You have just got to listen to your DD though. She'll let you know when she's ready. Out of my four, one had absolutely no interest in anything until she was eight months, and then only wanted to fed herself. And that was after two boys who were interested in food from nearly day one and would gobble it up however it came! I tried to be patient and just kept repeating, 'Food before one is just for fun'. She was getting everything she needed from her milk, as I'm sure your DD is. Try not to worry, before you know it she'll be wanting to help you make her dinner!

My huge off the chart baby wasn't interested in solids at all until about 9 months, but even then it was very hit and miss.
She had 6 teeth from 7-8 months and chewed sophie and just about anything else she could her mouth onto, so I don't think there's a correlation in my very limited experience!
At 12 months eating has finally improved but she still doesn't have 3 meals every single day. I think you just have to be patient, stop worrying about it, and follow baby's lead. Do check with a medical professional if you're worried, but also bear in mind you might get some rubbish answers, especially if you ask a HV, IMO they're useless for anything milk/food related!