What to feed my 8 month old?

[Em1503]

Hi, I started to wean my 8 month old DD at 6 months, mainly following baby led weaning. However nothing was going in at all so I introduced some purees too to sort of top up what she was having. The problem is she will only eat soft cheese, yoghurt and fruit purees. She won't have anything savoury, although I think this is more due to the texture than the flavour - the food I blend for her just isn't as smooth as the yoghurts and Ella's kitchen fruit purees I buy. I know she's still young but she can't just live on these foods! She won't eat weetabix, eggs, mash, porridge or anything like that. If I give her a breadstick she will use it like a lillipop and just suck the soft cheese off then drop it on the floor. She will occasionally eat bread if it's got cheese on it! I am really struggling with what to feed her at meal times!

Any tips or ideas would really be appreciated. It's starting to stress me out. Thanks so much.

My 8mo isn't eating much either (also blw). Every now and then I worry, but then I look at him and he's obviously perfectly healthy and not starving! He'll eat a bit of toast, and likes Weetabix in oat milk - won't take anything if it's in formula. Used to take mashed potato, but now not fussed. I give him fingers of pepper sometimes, and he enjoys playing with those, but really it's all playing, very little eating.

I'm giving him another couple of months at least before I start worrying too much (obviously I'll keep an eye on how he seems, his growth etc).

Can you buy ella kitchen savoury pouches to get used to those flavours? Then gradually cook adding lumps slowly. Fish pie has always been a favourite with my ds soft but full of flavour? Pasta is quite a good one- leave some whole so can have finger food and some cut small to spoon feed. Maybe mix with cream cheese as it's something that she is used to flavour wise?

Soup springs to mind! I make one out of a sautéed onion, salt free canned butter beans (Asda), salt free veg stock (home made or boots cube) and plenty of water. Then I blend and sieve. The good thing is once you ladle out some for baby, you can add salt and chilli to the rest and lunch for you!

Dd1 was like this - mashed potato and rice pudding were our saviours!!

Could you try blending up some veg and mixing with a bit of your dd's usual milk - breast or formula.

Also try sweet potato, on its own or with the milk.

My dd likes oven roasted veg. I think this brings out the sweetness a bit. The best ones have been broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, carrot, parsnip. These aren't mashed up, just sliced and roasted in a small amount of olive oil.

Another thing she enjoyed was carrot blended with pear and apple, and I put a little bit of ginger and cinnamon in for flavouring. Still sweet but has some veg.

Sweet potato, carrot and parsnip are really good for getting savoury food past a sweet tooth. Sweet potato is great mushed up or make some little wedges in the oven for her to gnaw on.

You can be a bit crafty too, try alternating spoons of yoghurt with something savoury. As she had a spoonful of something she likes she'll be willing to try the next one and you might just get her to start eating the savoury when she realises she enjoys it.

She's also enjoyed mashed sweet potato, mixed beans (not baked), sweet corn, and spring onion, which I mixed in a bowl with some cumin and coriander and moulded into a burger shape and lightly fried. That went down very well. The beans were mashed and she didn't eat it as a burger, she picked up lumps and I spoonfed her bits too.

I could have written this post! My DS, also 8 months, is exactly the same. Watching for ideas.

Sorry one more I just thought of - cooked spinach mixed with cream cheese! I cooked spinach in a frying pan with no oil, only for a minute or two, and stirred the cream cheese through it.

Another - bread, toast or a v low salt cracker (e.g. matzo), with either cream cheese or mashed avacodo on top. That's breakfast. She doesn't always eat much.

Another meal idea - egg fried with peppers, mushroom, sinach and a little grated cheddar. All sprinkled with thyme. The egg was broken up. Not a whole fried egg. I spoon fed that one and dd loved it.

My dd does not eat a lot of food all the time, particularly when she's teething or ill. What's helped me the most is sticking to three meals a day at approximately the same time each day. Remembering the majority of their nutrition is from milk for the first year. Their stomachs are small.

And also what really helped me was when I realised that babies don't know that eating stops hunger. They know milk stops hunger. So if they are actually hungry they might not eat! If dd is like this I will sometimes stop feeding her food, give her a breastfeed and then attempt to go back to the solid meal.

Thanks for all the replies, plenty of ideas for me to try! Just hope she goes for them!

I also found a beaker of water sometimes helps - she eats more after a few sips!