7mo

[TwoArmadillos]

Our baby is just over 7 months and we're really struggling with weaning.

We've been trying a combination of spoon feeding and finger foods for about 6 weeks. While she's interested in the finger foods for a short while she quickly gets bored.

She's also not interested in spoon feeding at all. She'll happily hold an empty spoon and put it in her mouth, but once there's food on the spoon she'll possibly put 2 or 3 small spoonfuls in her mouth at best, she regularly won't eat any, whether she is fed or self feeds. This hasn't really changed or improved since we started.

We've tried home made purees of fruit and veg, as well as different jars and pouches and porridge, but nothing makes a difference.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks

Have you tried giving her freshly expressed breast milk or formula (whatever she has) on a spoon? That did the trick for my DD. We then gradually added a little puree to the spoon and built it up until she was eating the puree alone.

I wouldn’t worry about it too much though. It takes some babies longer to figure it out than others but they all get there.

I could of wrote this post. Baby is nearly 8 months and I feel she is pretty much the same as when we started weaning at 6 months. She also likes her finger food but I would say 90% of it she spits back out and gags a lot. I know it is totally normal but definitely looking forward to her consuming and enjoying food more!

Thanks for the suggestion. We hadn't tried that but we have now a few times. So far she's still pushing the spoon away, meaning the milk is spilt, but we'll keep trying.

I don't think it's what we're trying to feed her, rather she has no interest in purees/eating from a spoon.

Some babies take a bit longer with this.

My daughter wasn't keen on spoon feeding despite loving food.

Make sure you're eating with her. That helps show her what to do.

Then just put some of yours on the plate and see how she goes.

My second wouldn't tolerate the spoon at all, we quickly ended up giving her finger foods. Have fond memories of her tucking into a roast dinner with her fingers after 2 weeks of weaning

Even if she is just touching and playing with the food, it is good exposure and will help her get more confident around it. Take the pressure off. Most of her nutrition is coming from milk just now anyway so you want to make sure you keep mealtimes relaxed and enjoyable for her and for you too. She might be more interested in food from your plate if you are beside her eating something. Is she comfortable in highchair? My 2nd was a small baby and when we started weaning she needed a cushion underneath her to raise her to a better height for tray. That helped her to reach for foods herself but she hated the highchair for a while.
The other thing to look at is how you schedule your day. Try offer food at samepoint in her routine and think about whether you want to do it before or after milk. Maybe she's not hungry or too hungry?
Keep going. She will get there.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

We're sticking with mostly finger foods for now, occasionally trying food she can eat from a spoon. Nothing has changed so far but we'll keep at it.