Food and my (nearly) eight month old

[lemonpoppyseed]

DD (8 months this weekend) is showing no interest at all in solids. With purées she clamps her mouth shut at the sight of a spoon, and maybe has one spoonful a day. We are trying BLW alongside (the mix worked well for DS), and in two months I have yet to see her pick anything up, let alone get it close to her mouth. I know food is fun until you're one etc but she seems to have a real food aversion. She is nonetheless a happy, alert girl, and I don't know if I'm just overthinking this. I am currently BF her, and have reduced feeding a little in the hope that it might inspire her to eat. No effect at all. She is a big baby, 21lbs at our six month check, and she has another check at the beginning of April.

Any advice? Or inspiration? DS was also a slow starter re solids but I felt confident he'd 'get it' in the end. This one, I'm not so sure...

Have you tried loading spoons and handing them to her?

Does she pick up toys etc and bring them to her mouth, or is it just food that she doesn't touch?

When you give finger foods, are you eating the same food as well?

(Sorry for all the questions!)

Please, ask away!

She will ignore a loaded spoon placed on the tray, or the bowl and spoon in front of her.

She doesn't really bring anything to her mouth at all. She is an occasional finger sucker.

When she has finger foods it is usually what's on our plates, I'll often do her steamed veggie strips too.

She has two lower teeth, and buds appearing up top. I thought at first it could be related to teething, but we've been at it two full months now.

What does she do if you give her the spoon in her hand, or won't she take it from you?

You could try doing regularly messy play to encourage her using her hands to explore things. There are lots of ideas on the Internet for things you could do.

Thanks, culture. She ignores it wherever we put it. Also, she'll clamp her mouth shut if we put some mush on our finger and try using it like a spoon, or pour it out on the tray and rub her hands and fingers in it. She likes that, but won't transfer it to her mouth.

I've done some pretty extensive research already, but will take a look using your suggestion. Thanks again!

What happens if you put toast strips and beans in front of her?

I wonder what her response would be to something like brightly coloured jelly chopped up and put on a waterproof mat? So not in an "eating" environment. Would she play with it?

I'll try toast and beans for dinner (although toast is usually ignored), and give the jelly a try tomorrow.

We just had 'lunch' (-5 hrs behind UK). She opened her mouth for a nanosecond and I managed to get a spoonful of banana in. Most of it dribbled back out again. I wonder if she is having trouble moving food to the back of her mouth.

Another idea is to get her tonsils checked. My little one had large tonsils so eating was difficult and she just came across as not interested.
Nearly 8 months is still very little though. It could simply be that she's not ready.
It can be very stressful having a little one who doesn't eat. You have my sympathy

Could she have a lip or tongue tie? It's unlikely if you've breastfed without pain or difficulty, but possible.

Does she babble much?

Assuming you started offering solids at 6 months, that's about 8 weeks of no joy, right? I think that's about how long my DD took to get off the mark, and I was stressing by then! Another 8 weeks later and she's packing in the pasta. You will get there, just try not to let it become a major source of anxiety for you, and thus for her. Everyone learns to eat eventually.

Keep offering stuff and act indifferent to whether she eats it. Keep mealtimes well clear of breastfeeds so she's not full. Or eat your own lunch, enthusiastically, in front of her and let her get curious about it. If she shows interest offer her a taste. The social side of eating might be what hooks her rather than thhe food itself.

Lots to consider, thanks everyone. I think we will plug on until her nine month check-up, and will investigate further if there's no change.

She is a loud coo-er and babbler and sits with us at the table for every meal. She loves to be in the action! Just not the actual eating part...

Try whacking beans mushed up on top of toast fingers for tea and let her make as much mess as possible. Let me know, watching with interest

We all had beans on toast for dinner tonight. DH and DS ate theirs with their fingers to try and inspire some eating. DD poked at it a bit, gave herself hiccups from laughing so much at her big brother, but did not pick up or eat a single bean. I also gave her some Cheerios and cucumber strips - untouched.

I think it's the indifference part that is particularly worrying. I know children can be stubborn, sometimes with good reason, but it's her complete lack of interest (when she's so interested in everything else) that concerns me. Nonetheless, we shall continue to offer as normal, and reassess where we are in a few weeks.