BLW - baby showing almost no interest in food

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My baby is 6 months. Started BLW about 5 days ago. She mostly doesn't even look at the food, and always finds something else to be interested in, e.g. The straps on her high chair, or even the plastic tray. I've tried removing all distractions, even holding her on my lap during mealtimes instead of a highchair. Occasionally she will absent mindedly touch the food. Once she sucked a piece of carrot, but she's no way near regularly bringing food to her mouth, breaking bits off or swallowing. I've tried handing her food midair and sometimes feeding it to her, in which case she will suck it or break a tiny piece off that she spits out.

All I'm asking is, should I be concerned? Did anyone else's babies start like this? Is it ok if she doesn't swallow anything for quite some time? Is this normal? All my friends are saying that their baby is so enthusiastic with food, grabbing stuff off their plate, and reacting to different flavours.

Apart from this she's a very normal, happy, sociable baby that engages with all her toys.

No you shouldn't be concerned in the slightest. Don't worry at all about how much they eat for the first few months. At this point she will be getting all her nutrients from milk not food. Remove the stress and the pressure, plonk her in the high chair every time you sit down to have your meal and put something in front of her. If she tastes it or eats it great. If not it doesn't matter at all.

I wouldn't worry. It's normal. Some start off with no interest/ chuck food on the floor and then gradually take to it over time. Others start off eating straight away. They're all different.

That’s a lot of pressure at six months, after only five days. Take a week or two to reset and try again if you want. Really do not stress about it.

Totally normal, she hasn’t read the books so has no idea what your expectations are.

Also take other things people tell you about what their babies are doing with a massive pinch of salt. Always.

This is completely normal. For the first few months of weaning, it's important to get baby used to the concept of different foods/textures/flavours/smells but a lot of babies don't actually eat much to begin with.

Weaning at 6 months isn't a hard and fast rule, so don't put too much pressure on yourself or your baby to eat. Doing a mix of purée and BLW can help them to ingest more if you're really concerned, they tend to eat more of the purée whilst the BLW allows them to play and discover the foods.

Keep up the exposure to different foods and she will pick it up as and when she's ready

My youngest was happy to be spoon fed but completely disinterested in feeding herself.

They are all different. The clue is in the name... baby led. Not all babies want to lead by the same method!

It’s only been 5 days, doesn’t mean anything! Although I had one child who did only finger foods and wouldn’t be spoon fed whilst their sibling would enthusiastically gobble purées but not feed themselves at all until over 1. So I wouldn’t be too rigid about sticking exclusively to the BLW.

Completely normal. The whole point of blw is that they eat when they’re ready. You put food in-front of them and they choose what they do with it next. No stress or pressure to actually eat the food, especially at 6 months.

Is being in the Highchair a new experience for your DC aswell?

I'm assuming this is baby number one so completely understand your anxiety!! I feel you!!! However, from an outsider's perspective it really has been such a short space of time. Baby had a lot of figuring out to do. Remember, food before one is just for fun, he/she will get there in her own time 😊

Waahhhh sorry baby is a she! Also, try not to compare against your friends kids! You'll drive yourself crazy if you do, no good comes from it. Do you, know your baby and trust your maternal instincts.

Looking back I was so stressed about weaning with my first, but then again it was during the first covid lockdown so I felt like I had all the time in the world to nail it. My baby hated food for ages, but eventually she took to it, especially when she started nursery. It comes with time, some babies are more keen than others. Be kind to yourself - there’s no reason to stress (easier said than done, I know!).