feeding becoming a battle of wills!

[DivaSkyChick]

Help! What am I doing wrong?

We've only been on purees for three weeks and it's become instant tears and turning her head away from the spoon... She rejects apples, sweet potato, peas and carrots, baby rice. She didn't hate them to start with, just made funny icky faces but would open her mouth and let me feed her. Not she clamps her mouth shut and cries.

I fear I've created a battle that is bigger than whether she likes the food. She's six and half months old. Anyone have some advice for me?

Have you thought about baby lead waening? you could chop things up and let her feed herself they love to do it you'd be amazed. There main source of food should still be milk at them moment so there is no rush. I'm sure other mums could give you advice as I'm only just starting too mine is 6 months and loves chomping her gums on finger pieces of banana, cooked carrot etc

Thanks GH

I would love to hear more about this. She's got six teeth already so I feel pretty comfortable giving her a slice of apple (under supervision, of course.) Is there a book or something to explain the process?

Wow 6 teeth mine has none yet, bless her. I watched a video on it at my breastfeeding group and they had a 7 month old eat a whole pear not cut up or anything, I was amazed it can be messy though. There is a really good website I will try and find the link.

www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/rapley_guidelines.html

german but in english.

Try this

Great resources, thanks. I guess we can't start yet since she cannot sit up on her own yet.

If you guys who are converts were going to write a cheat sheet for a newbe, how would you say one should get started? What have you had the most success doing / feeding? Looks for your fav tips.

Thanks!

I have a fussy eater on my hands too. She has just turned six months and is taking her time getting used to tastes. I started at around 5 months - just with veggies, tried fruit but she hates it. Then I moved onto baby menüs. She also does not take well to baby cereal or baby rice and to be honest it is a total nightmare to feed. I follow the instructions on the packet (if I add less water or add more powder it goes lumpy, so follow the instructions )- it looks lovely when it is first made, the right consistency. Then gradually through the time it takes to feed her, it turns to a milk consistency... milk from a spoon? IMPOSSIBLE...drips everywhere. I hate the stuff to baby feed. Now after about 6 weeks or so into weaning she is slowly taking to a mixed fruit compot with apple and pear. But she is not a great eater. I even have her sat in her highchair while I have breakfast and lunch. She looks at me a bit, but certainly never seems eager for food. So my I think, although my baby is 6 months, she is not really ready. I am just doing it for her to get used to tastes. I think it will be ages before she guzzles down three jars of food a day. Right now, just lunch is a battle ground. My sister said she had feeding problems up until around 8 months. Then her baby just started guzzling. I am under pressure from my mother in law who insisted I weaned at 4 months and could not understand why I wanted to wait until 6. I feel more under pressure because my baby will not take to solids quick, so I fear I will get comments later like "aaah she is skinny and not growing because you started too late..etc.. etc..", even though I started weaning at 5 months. She was even going on about potty training on the phone to me last night, saying her daughter was potty trained before the age of one??! GODDDD...I mean she is only just six months and has no clue what toilets are about and cannot even SIT or CRAWL!! Anyway, do not worry, i am in the same boat and I think many ladies have said right now it is milk that is more important in terms of nutrients. There are of course exceptions, but most babies really only start to get stuck in at around 8 months or so..

Diva - cheat sheet already here: www.babyledweaning.com. Aitch is lurking under some weird name, but is a good source of advice. Raw apple is the one thing I wouldn't start with, by the way, as it breaks off quite easily and is a choking hazard. Soft pear or steamed carrot sticks are good things to start with. Many have started with steamed broccoli!

Thanks Bekkie. Some days are better than others. I've decided to pack it up the moment she starts fussing so the battle doesn't get out of hand.

I hate to hear about MILs stressing us out. Have you tried diminishing her power with a smile that says, "you poor dear, you really are backwards, aren't you?"

When she says the baby is too skinny, you counter with "well now, the GP says she's perfect so I think we'll go by a professional's opinion."

If she says it's your fault for starting "too" late, you can counter with "That's okay, lots of OLD grandmas think that. We're going with more modern information." or something like that.

It takes guts but if you practice to yourself you could pull it off!

Habbibu,

How about pepper? I was eating slices of sweet red pepper and she clearly wanted one so I let her knaw on it. It was raw but she couldn't bite thru the skin so she just got the taste of it. She got so upset when I took it away finally!

I'll check out that cheat sheet. Thanks!

pepper should be fine, it's just apple that's a bugger but some people slice it really thin or grate it.
remember that milk does the job of feeding her for a long while yet, so there's no rush, whatever you decide to do. basically as i see is, if milk's doing the job, all our role is with food is to encourage them to have fun with it. sounds like it's going really well with the pepper, at any rate.

Can't advise on pepper, as I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than eat it raw - bleeee!

I can get one glass a day in (190g ) if I am lucky (and that is usually split - midday and afternoon). But that amount is huge. i just wonder where it goes... Sometimes I have polished off her dinner if she does not eat it and I get full . She will be one year of age and as skinny as a rake, by the time we move onto 2 jars.. Maybe when she starts crawling and getting really active things wil turn. I think it is a problem now as she is still too young to really know it is food. good luck!