Weaning advice/reassurance! So overwhelming

[REKH]

Hi guys, I just wanted to get my concerns off my chest.. See if anyone has same issues or if it seems like I'm just panicking for no reason (like my other half thinks)!
Been weaning my ds since six months he is 7. 5m old now. Started on puree and still got some in the freezer so I've started putting them on toast and adding pasta.
He is so stubborn though after a few mouthfuls he won't have anymore and just wants the spoon... But if I give him the spoon he flings it everywhere and doesn't eat any of it. I know it's probably going to take him time and I am probably expecting too much but I feel like he isn't eating enough it all ends up on the floor! I try and do breakfast lunch and tea but only seems to eat most around 4ish.

Is I normal for them to want to play with it rather than eat it? Just feels like every meal time I fail cos he doesn't eat alot and I don't know what I should be doing for the best (re spoons or fingers & purees or finger food)

Thanks for ateast reading it and hope this ramble makes some sense!

Completely normal. They need to explore textures, tastes, what happens when they fling the spoon, which end to hold, how to get it to their mouth etcetc

This continues for some time. Then they realise they can feed it to the dog(s). And want to be independent. Or want to eat it alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll so stuff it allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll in then take it out again as they can't move it round/ chew/ swallow (that's delightful!)

Bear in mind, a few mouthfuls is quite a lot in comparison with their stomach size and they aren't used to food as opposed to milk etc

Keep offering, let him try. You'd be surprised how much does go in

We're doing mostly just what we have, cooled a bit and chopped up for him, now he's 11mo. Spoon feed a bit, especially yoghurt as he loves it but he's just starting, sometimes to accurately put a loaded spoon in his mouth.

I know from his nappies that stuff is going in and it's finally feeling like he might be BF less. Maybe. In the day. If there's an r in the month and a blue moon. etcetc

Totally normal my little girl does the same still at 10 months. She can hold biscuits and soft veg and feed her self but if spoon fed she is exactly the same

I give DD a spoon to hold whilst I feed her using another spoon. At almost 1 she’s just starting to attempt to feed herself a bit with the second spoon. She also has a lot of finger foods and can feed herself those with her hands. When she was younger, around 7-9 months, we did a lot of baby-led/purée combos so say some carrot sticks on her high tray to play with/eat if she wanted (mostly to play with) whilst I spoon fed her a purée.

Playing is how they learn so it’s totally normal

Thank you! Yeah I'm trying to do finger foods abit more cos he can feed himself with them more now. So doing toast, made pancakes gonna do sweet potato wedges tomoro too I think. He loves yogurts too! I haven't done much meat yet need to think of few ways to start doing that now he's of that age x

Any suggestions that anyone have found good and easy enough to prepare?

plain cooked chicken is pretty good but honestly, DS will have a go at any well cooked meat

That's really normal, my DD did variations of that until she was about 13 mo. She didn't eat huge amounts for a long time.

At 16 mo she now eats 3 meals a day by herself with a fork or spoon. They just progress at their own rate but they all get it eventually.

To a certain extent you just have to embrace the mess with weaning. Everything apart from liquids can be finger foods. Even yoghurt can be eaten with fingers if they are determined enough.

So for meat you could try mince and potatoes, spaghetti/pasta Bolognese (you have to chop the spaghetti down a bit) stir fries etc.

Start looking at the meals you are eating yourself, unless they are really salty most have elements that could be used as finger food, so just give a bit off your plate.

For example if were having a roast dinner I would give DD some roast potatoes, some bits of meat and a few cooked carrots.

My go to 'meal in an instant' is a children's rice pouch which has a mild curry rice in it with sweet potato and sweetcorn. DD absolutely loves them (although they make interesting nappies the next day).