Baby just not interested in weaning

[lavenderandwisteria]

Hopefully someone can reassure me.

My baby is six months and we’ve been trying little bits of solid food since he was 5 and a half months.

He has had porridge and broccoli, carrot, courgette, peas, avocado and a little bit of salmon.

But in all honesty he’s had the tiniest amounts, I mean maybe less than a teaspoon at a time. Is this normal? I can’t do baby led weaning with him because he just isn’t interested.

He’s dropped a centile so the reason we tried him on solids a little earlier than six months was to get his weight up. Can anyone reassure me?

It’s clearly making you quite anxious and I just think that milk is fine for now and perhaps wait until he is showing signs of readiness. Babies don’t read books or calendars so he doesn’t know he is 6 months now and “should” be eating solids. He’s clearly happy chomping his toys and growing from his milk.
He WILL eat. But I do think that it’s worth considering how to model good eating habits moving forward. Where is he going to eat if you don’t have a table? Why does working from him mean you can’t eat as a family? Doesn’t your husband eat lunch? So meals could be at the table with the work stuff moved aside for that time slot? Get baby used to seeing you guys eat and gradually get him sitting at the table as it shouldnt be long before he’s sitting. So maybe the next month could be spent seeing how to make this possible and try again from 7/8 months. Then he could do BLW without pressure- just putting out food as you’re eating anyway and leaving him to it. Even if you’re dieting you should be eating… starvation isn’t a healthy diet. And it’s great you’re making positive changes but make sure you’re looking after yourself too as it’s a tough time in the first year (or 15!) of your baby’s life.

I think you are right and you should hold off a little bit and you should wait. Easy to feel a lot of pressure with solids but there's no rush.

I would take a break too.

Thank you. Sorry if I sounded grumpy. I have managed to put my back out and it’s making me so irritable and overreacting to stuff - was ready to leave DP over some curtains this morning!

I think I’ll leave it a week and come back to it. I was so upset when breastfeeding didn’t go well that I just wanted this to go smoothly and have my baby munching on organic veggies … ha!

My little girl started off slowly but with some interest, then by 7 months showed no interest in eating whatsoever after a couple of allergic reactions and I was getting quite stressed. She’s recently 9 months and over the last few days has suddenly started putting everything on her tray in her mouth and gumming it! We have had to go fully baby led as she still mostly refuses me feeding her. It’ll come in time.

Ah it's tough when they're not at the point of getting it just yet. Then they do and it's great fun for a nanosecond, and then you're fed up with the cleaning

Food before one is absolutely NOT just for fun, but at six months you're a long way off needing to worry.

I'd give it a rest for a week or two to let you both regroup, and in that time focus on letting him see you eat. It's fine if you don't have a table, but recreate that kind of setting by popping him in a highchair next to you on the sofa while you eat (or whatever set up you have). As others have said, they learn eating by copying just the same as everything else.

Then when you're starting again, try a variety of stuff, purees, soft foods (Weetabix, porridge, yoghurt etc), finger foods. Try eat similar stuff at the same time. Gently encourage him without forcing - so don't just put the carrot stick on the tray, hold it up for him to grasp. With spoon feeds get a little on his lips so he can taste that it's yummy, all those old tricks.

As he starts to get it, feed him solids when he hasn't just had milk.

Don't worry, he'll get there.