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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

6 month refusing veg

21 replies

Needsleeptime · 15/08/2018 18:33

Hi all

My 6 month old will eat Ella’s pouches with veg in them, but they are still 70% fruit, he refuses food that isn’t high in fruit. Any advice to get him eating veg?

Also he does not like spoon but would rather directly eat out of packet. Again any advice? Is this just a phase?

OP posts:
IgglePigglesAnnoyingGiggle · 15/08/2018 18:35

Just go with it and keep trying. Six to twelve months is mostly experimenting new tastes and textures. Calories still mostly from milk.

Original poster
Needsleeptime · 15/08/2018 18:37

Just worried he might never eat veg Confused

OP posts:
Dilligaf81 · 15/08/2018 18:39

Milk is sweet so going to veg which mostly is on the bitter end of the scale will be a shock. I started on carrots, sweet pots with pear mixed into bitterer mixes.
Keep going with it they will refuse it loads then all of a sudden lap it up.

pastabest · 15/08/2018 18:39

My advice is don't worry.

At 6 months they hardly eat anything anyway.

As he gets older if he still isn't eating veg you can do the usual stuff like hiding it in pasta sauce etc like everyone else Grin

JiltedJohnsJulie · 17/08/2018 11:44

Like others have said, try not to worry. If you are giving him finger foods, try him with sone sweet potato wedges or steamed carrot, if you are doing purees, try a carrot and parsnip purée, which should be quite sweet.

If he refuses anything, it’s safe to assume he’s not hungry and not to offer an alternative. Milk should be his main source of calories at this age anyway Smile

rubyroot · 18/08/2018 14:39

Same here Needsleeptime- 7 months and 2 weeks old.

Gave up in the end and went with fruit first as thought some food, better than none.

Just imagine if someone tried to feed you pureed brocolli!

Now my baby has tried a bit- he will eat avocado (in small doses), loves hummus, has eaten bits of mozarella, chicken, toast and some of the Ella savoury meal pouches- there's a couscous casserole one- has small anount of mango in it (still loves fruit tho).

I worried, but he's getting there- slowly.

rubyroot · 18/08/2018 14:40

Oh and he gobbled down a small brocolli floret - but wouldn't touch brocolli puree.

rubyroot · 18/08/2018 15:08

Another thing I do is to give him teaspoon of sweet and then teaspoon of veg. However, he has wisened up to that a bit now. I also give him something to play with such as a spoon or a lid whilst I am feeding- stops him thinking about rejecting food I think!

TittyGolightly · 18/08/2018 15:11

If he refuses anything, it’s safe to assume he’s not hungry and not to offer an alternative.

Wow. If someone else made you food without you having any input, then tried to force it into your face when it wasn’t something you wanted to eat, would you refuse it? And if you did you wouldn’t expect anything else to eat?

TittyGolightly · 18/08/2018 15:13

Just give him actual veg. Purée isn’t teaching him anything about food.

Broccoli florets, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, peppers, olives, baby sweet corn/normal sweet corn, green beans, cauliflower, sweet potato, butternut squash - all stuff that’s easy to gently steam/bake and give him to try with his hands.

rubyroot · 18/08/2018 17:26

then tried to force it into your face when it wasn’t something you wanted to eat, would you refuse it?

Hmmmm, not sure that purees are forcing babies to eat, just because blw is all the rage doesn't mean there's anything wrong with purees.

Just give him actual veg. Purée isn’t teaching him anything about food.
Don't agree with this either, I feel that my baby has needed this as an introduction and is now ready to move onto more textures and solid food etc.

TittyGolightly · 18/08/2018 18:05

You’re distracting your child in order to trick him into swallowing food. You’re alternating sweet stuff and veg. Bound to be fostering a great relationship with healthy food that way.

Original poster
Needsleeptime · 18/08/2018 18:57

Thanks all. If he likes what is on the spoon he will take out of my hands and put into his mouth, just usually that is fruit. I have started buying Ella’s pouches that are just veg but mainly sweet potato etc so sweet taste. Just bit worried about moving onto the next stage.

I will try sweet potato wedges and see how we get on

OP posts:
rubyroot · 18/08/2018 20:17

Yep! That's right. There's actually quite a bit of advice that says to give baby spoon to play with etc. And what is wrong with alternating sweet and savoury? Again lots of advice which suggests this- not just one person on mumsnet. What makes you such an expert?

He'll be fine. I have to distract him with milk feeds to as sometimes during the day (even a hot one) he'll go hours and hours without milk because he's an active baby and easily distracted.

TittyGolightly · 18/08/2018 20:23

Yep! That's right. There's actually quite a bit of advice that says to give baby spoon to play with etc. And what is wrong with alternating sweet and savoury? Again lots of advice which suggests this- not just one person on mumsnet. What makes you such an expert?

I didn’t claim to be an expert. The UK’s kids have an unhealthy relationship with food that is leading to rising numbers of children being diagnosed with diabetes. That relationship starts with weaning.

I take an interest and read up on scientific and societal journals etc. It’s also my responsibility as a parent to encourage a healthy relationship with food. Feel free to share any papers that suggest that hiding veg, or distracting children in order to shove in puree is beneficial to them.

MarshaBradyo · 18/08/2018 20:26

Drop the pouches and try sweet potato, potato and even broccoli

rubyroot · 18/08/2018 20:49

Diabetes is due to children being given unhealthy food. Puree was the way to wean many years ago and there was not a diabetes problem then- rather this is growing.

Alternating sweet and savoury is really no different to mixing savoury with sweet. If my baby did not want to eat it he would close his mouth and spit it out.

As it is, he is now eating a much bigger range of food, more textures and also finger food.

I do not appreciate your condescending tone

LanguageAsAFlower · 18/08/2018 21:04

When you're mashing vegetables you could mix in a bit of milk (breast or formula) that worked for us quite well in the early stages!

mindutopia · 21/08/2018 20:28

I would just offer only veg and not fruit. They only like what they get used to, so if you only offer veg and not fruit, he will enjoy it eventually. Mine pretty much mostly had veg and savoury foods to start. She’s 5 now and still cleans the veg off her plate at every meal before she’ll even touch the rest of it.

Original poster
Needsleeptime · 21/08/2018 20:48

I have tried finger food over the past few days eg sweet potato wedges and broccoli florets, but he is not remotely interested, he didn’t touch any of them.Feels like a lot of effort to go to - how long does it take to get used to finger food?

We have had a lot of success with giving spoon of fruit followed by spoon of veg, I give really small amount of fruit on the spoon.

OP posts:
poppet131 · 19/05/2023 12:30

@Needsleeptime How is your little one with veg and food now? X

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