9 month old - toast for every meal?

[MumDesign910]

My 9 month old is a very picky eater, only eats seemingly small amounts of sweet purees or yogurt, will gobble down any crisp puff or piece of toast that I put in front of him but won't really eat anything else. Very beige pallet!

When I put something new in front of him after he has a play with it and doesn't eat it or straight up turns his nose up at it, should I give him something he does like so that he eats something at meal times? Or is it part of the food journey if he doesn't eat what's in front of him he's not interested in eating?

He still has 4 bottles spread through the day, between 5-8oz at each one so he's not starving, he has a breakfast, lunch and dinner time each day (although usually ending in toast at each) and he does sleep through the night so he doesn't wake up hungry.

I'm just conscious if I end up giving him toast and melty sticks after every failed attempt of trying a new food/puree sachet/baby recipe Instagram has inspired me to make then is that me making sure he doesn't go hungry or reinforcing his love of toast?!

Anyone else have a weaning picky eater or had a similar beige food only issue?

At this age milk is their main nutrition source. My DC1 was like this and didn't really start picking up eating until they had turned 1 and we started to reduce their milk.

I never offer an alternative for a meal. They either eat it or don't.

If he’s used to purees, solids might seem like hard work. Just keep sticking a selection of food in front of him three times a day. He’ll soon start scoffing.

'Food before one is just for fun'

Keep offering lots of different finger foods. Let him investigate and do exactly as he likes.

Worry at about 13 months if no progress has been made. He is not a picky eater, he is a normal 9 month old.

Don't offer toast at every meal because he doesn't need it. Just offer a wide range of foods and accept at some meals he will not eat any.

'Food before one is just for fun' is something you will only read on MN.
Food before one will shape his food preferences, gut microbiome and taste for the years to come.

Melty sticks are junk food. Cheetos for babies . They have no nutritional value and will make accepting real food, with real taste and texture very difficult.
Same with pouches. The high heat and high pressure drastically changes the taste. Try it, take a single veggie pouch and taste it. It is nowhere near what the real version tastes like. So of course they are rejected. You also don't see the food in the pouch and it is just squeeze and suck.
Unless you remove the industrial food, with its unique taste, you will struggle to have him accept and enjoy real food.

I'd stop offering him puffy sticks as no nutritional value and if he likes them he'll hold out for them knowing after he turns down his food you'll give in and give him those or toast. I'd only offer toast for breakfast. He's getting his milk so will be fine but if he does feel a bit hungry he might start to try foods you offer once he realises puffy sticks or toast won't be on offer. I'd try banana.

Melty sticks: get rid. There's no positive purpose to them, and they're already causing you problems.

Toast: every day is fine, but I wouldn't give it every meal. For one, bread contains a surprising amount of salt. And I would start experimenting with different spreads on the toast, like mashed avocado, carrot puree, cream cheese etc. And then you take the ones he likes and try mixing them into some pasta.

Also, if you're making purees, try mashing rather than using a processor, or maybe do half and half.

You've misunderstood the meaning of the phrase.

What it means is offering a wide range of foods for them to investigate (through touch, sight, taste, smell) is more important than how many calories they actually consume from solids. This is because the expectation is that calorie needs are still met by milk. It means that playing with food rather than eating it is fine in this age group.

Of course offering healthy food is better than offering unhealthy food!

Don’t give toast for every meal. Just give him the food you’re eating, he’ll see you eating the same things. If purées then at 9 months make him proper purées yourself, with proper vegetables in not sweet pouches. You’ll be setting him up for fussy eating if you just give him toast and sweet pouches.

Agree with the others - I definitely wouldn’t be offering toast at every meal. That might end him in only eating toast/beige when he’s a toddler. Personally I’d just get rid of the purées packets, melts sticks etc and stick to real whole foods. Solid Starts is a good app I found useful. I remember reading that your job is to offer a well balanced selection of food and their job is to decide what and how much of it to eat!

I've been reading up on the phrase 'food before one is just for fun' after reading your comment @Cormoran

It seems there is now concern that people are not offering a range of food as you describe, because they think feeding solids doesn't matter until after one. The problem used to be different - early switching to solids, trying to cut back on milk in favour of solids etc.

So now I understand what you were referring to.

Thank you everyone! This is all incredibly useful, the weaning journey has been very much a solo effort of persevering through rejected meals which I know is just the norm for weaning but doesn't make it easier every time!

Hearing that if it is a failed meal he doesn't need the toast (or food he likes) top up to replace the failed meal is quite relieving, makes it easier to accept any untouched food plates.

Hopefully in the coming weeks/months he gets more of a taste for things and I'll persevere on the Instagram BLW recipes!