Please tell me weaning gets better?!

[squadronleader87]

My DD is just over 8 months and I feel like weaning is going terribly. I don’t know what to do! Sorry for the long post below..

Things started fine, purees and spoon feeding. Then one day she refused to take the spoon and moved onto finger foods only. Again, this started ok but things have regressed again and she’ll reliably eat only a handful of things. Typical day is:
Wake @ 7.30 - 8oz milk
Breakfast 8.30 - small bowl ready brek & fruit or banana pancakes
Lunch around 12 (after nap) - scrambled egg or veggie/cheese muffin; sometimes toast fingers and peanut butter; sometimes mashed avocado or fruit
Mid-afternoon 8oz milk
Dinner @ 5ish - fishcake; sometimes eats a bit a mashed veg off a spoon
Bedtime milk - 8oz (6.45ish)

I feel like we’ve been in the above routine for weeks. When I try and introduce something new it’s a flat no and she won’t eat any of it. Hardly any veg and fruit now either. I can’t find any guidance on how much she should be eating and I’m constantly worrying she’s going hungry or I’m doing something wrong.

She’s a happy and cheery baby otherwise, busy crawling and getting into mischief. No teeth yet. Everything else is fine, but weaning is making me so miserable I want to go back to work early.

Is this normal?

Yes. Don't worry. Just keep offering a variety of foods and take them away without fuss if she doesn't eat them. Children learn by coping too so try eating the same things and sharing. My DS actually loved crunchy things at this age, toast, low-salt breadsticks etc. Babies have hard gums and can chomp surprisingly well. He was also a milk monster and didn't start eating much until he was well over a year old.