Stressed -7 month old won't eat veg at all!

[Alicia870]

My dad was really great when we first started weaning and now all of a sudden the past week she is right off her savoury food. It's stressing me so much! She will happily munch on fruit purées, yoghurts and custard but will not eat any breakfast cereals, no veg or savoury purées at all.
I do try to put it some finger foods and she sometimes has a go but doesn't actually eat much of them.
What is the best approach here? Should I just accept that if she refuses any veg, just not give her anything? I'm afraid she has learnt that I give her fruit if she refuses savoury? So should I just keep offering veg and f she won't eat it just let her go without? I don't know what the best thing is to do!

Keep offering the savoury and veg and some meat maybe and if she refuses just try again Later/tomorrow. 7m olds don’t really ‘need’ lots of foods as such, they are just learning about tastes and textures. I would never offer sweets if they refuse savoury, you’re getting them into really bad habits there.

Don't sweat it, just keep offering a range of new flavours and foods. They go through so many phases while weaning, and she will pick up on your stress. At 7m weaning is mostly learning about taste, texture, how to manipulate food in the mouth, learning to chew and swallow. She will be getting everything she needs from her milk at the mo.

If you are offering finger foods, just stick some steamed veg down along with maybe one thing you know she will eat, e.g. some fruit. Don't put any pressure on her to try the veg if she isn't keen - in a few weeks it will all change again :) just keep offering a variety and a no-fuss approach to any refusals. It's very early days, if there's a meal where she doesn't eat anything don't worry - no need to offer something sweet if you don't want to, just try again the next meal.

She's only 7 months, so this is still really, really early days. The most important thing to remember here is that food before 1 is just for fun. Your goal is to expose her to different textures and flavours and let her experiment. Your goal is not to fill her up on food - she should be getting the bulk of her calories from milk until she's 1. I say this in the nicest way, you seem fixated on what she is consuming, but forget that for now as it is not important.
Step away from sugary things like custard or petit filous style yoghurt. Stick to veg sticks or puree veg, give her finger food like toast, omelette fingers, pitta and hummus, crumpets. Try with some meat, pasta etc. Keep things savoury for a while and reintroduce fruit gradually. Instead of kids yoghurt give her full fat greek yoghurt with a swirl of fruit puree. Much less sweet.

Try to mix yogurt with vegetables. The advice I was given add something they don't like with something they are familiar with and will eat.

Thanks everyone some good advice- I know I probably made a rod for my own back giving fruit. I was just confused as I thought it was fine to give them fruit as well as veg and didn't realise she would be clever enough to suss out that it's different.
I suppose it is just really frustrating to spend time cooking and blending and with all the clean up for it to inevitably be thrown out and for the place to look like a food fight has just a happened - after every meal! I'll definitely try to avoid the fruit until she comes round a bit more.
Any other tips on breakfast? I try ready break and weetabix and she spits it out every time unless it's sweetened with fruit!

Also when people say pasta, how would u give that to a 7 month old? Sorry I'm just so confused with it all!

Hi @Alicia870

My son is 15 months so i very recently went through this myself. At 7 months my son would only eat super smooth fruit purees. Eventually he accepted avocado and tomato purée. I went from there (around 8/9 months) started adding to the tomato sauce, making purees lumpier. Ten months he started eating some solid food. Now he gobbles up a roast dinner - esp his veg!

I decided when he rejected veg that I just wanted him to practice eating g, rather than reject everything- so we were led by his sweet tooth and it turned out okay for us. Go with what you think is best for you and baby- everyone’s advice is different, but it’s what works for you. X

And food before one is not for fun in my opinion- they need nutrients that they can’t get from milk- iron for one

Normal pasta shapes make a great finger food so I would just give it like that, either plain or with a bit of sauce. You can get baby pasta which is tiny and can be added to purees but there's really no need to blend everything. As a pp said, trying a variety of finger food alongside the spoonfed stuff may help spark some interest.

How is she with the sweeter tasting vegetables like carrot and sweet potato? They might be a good way to start gradually shifting her towards accepting things that are less sweet.

Another pasta option if you are having spaghetti is to chop it up into shorter lengths in a bowl using scissors. For some reason my baby likes this but not baby star pasta.

My baby is similar, she was eating really well until she got a cold and went off solids. Now she'll only have savoury if its mixed with a fruit puree so I'm just doing that.

My mum says I was the same, wouldn't tolerate lumps or savoury baby foods at all and I'll eat anything now except meat!

I feel really annoyed about this. Today she took a tiny bit of ready brek in morning(a few teaspoons). I put her out some orange and cucumber and she threw it all on the floor.
For lunch she did eat a few teaspoons of squash puree.
Then for dinner I tried potato and carrot and she screamed blue murder. Then tried both in their own but she tapped and tapped. Tried a bit of toast which again ended up on the floor or down the side of the high chair.
Meanwhile the kitchen is in bits, I feel frustrated and just like my child will never eat again! I really don't know what else to try. I know I need to be laid back about this but seriously it is really hard work to put so much effort in and for it all to go in the bin.
I knew she would eat fruit but I avoided it today as I know it will just reinforce her love for sweet things.
She seems to really dislike anything that isn't sweet.
Guys, this is tough!!!

It might not sound like it, but that is progress. She has eaten something. Just do the same again tomorrow. Don't offer too much, she is still only little, she's not going to be eating full meals. Try maybe a bit of purée and some finger foods. If you make your own purées then make an ice cube trays worth and just defrost a couple at a time, then slice up some finger food to offer alongside. If the mess is bothering you put a plastic tablecloth under the high chair. If she throws it on the floor then calmly put it in the bin. Rinse and repeat. She's learning to eat, so this is going to take a while.

Don't panic my DD did the same. Then I realised it's because she likes more flavour. She now eat veg in stuff like curry, casserole, home made pizza xx

Thanks for the reassurance. Love the idea of the plastic under the high chair- it is such a mess to clean up!
Rome wasn't built in a day eh

Exactly! Honestly i mean this is in the kindest way possible, i think you are expecting too much too soon. Weaning a child into a fully fledged eater is a really long, long game. Take a big step back. I say this as someone who has weaned 2 kids and they are now 3 and 6. My 6 years old is a great eater but she went off on little tangents for a while, as they all do. Just keep trying them with stuff. If they refuse, they refuse, that doesn't mean you don't try it again. Move on and try something different and keep revisiting. My eldest was really enthusiastic about rice until about a 12 months old. Then all of a sudden she hated it. She hated it until she was 3 and gradually she started to like it again. That's what i mean about it being a long game... That's virtually 2 years of serving rice on and off for her to refuse it! She got there in the end. It can be soul destoying at times, but dont take it personally! Good luck.