Baby not interested in much - is this normal?

[ShyCrab]

Hi all. My DD is almost 8 months and she still isn’t really bothered with food. She will chew on a rusk/bits of fruit herself and melty puffs I’ve given her out of desperation but has showed no interest in anything else. I’ve tried to do a combination of purées and baby led finger foods but she doesn’t eat my purées (or when I mash them). She doesn’t show much interest in the finger food.
I eat my lunch with her every day to model eating but she just isn’t bothered. All she wants is breast milk. Is this normal? I’m concerned that she isn’t getting enough nutrients.
Saw a friend the other day whose baby is eating lots and it’s made me feel a bit shit!

Yes, it's normal. She's just playing around with food at the moment. And she might be a child who just isn't that fussed. One of mine is food obsessed. The other lives on peanut butter on toast. Both had the same BLW upbringing...

Don't make her first food exposure a UPF exposure . Rusk and melty puffs are pure junk. Have her near you in her high chair whilst you cook something. Let her see the preparation, smell the food in the pan, hear the sizzling.
Have at least 1-2 hours between breastfeeding and offering food.
You are shaping her food preferences with the first foods she eats. Try soups.

If DH/DP is home, I'd start to skip the first BF if you can and get them to take her downstairs and give her some breakfast instead.

Some things to try are:

Porridge Fingers, you can make in batches.

Berry Pancakes without the syrup. Great for everyone at the weekend of you can freeze some in batches

Omelette Fingers

Ready brek with chopped banana

Smooth nut butter or mashed avocado on toast

Left overs from the night before. As long as they're not too salty or sugary.

This. Don't buy anything branded 'baby', it's all junk. Focus on whole foods. And food is for exploring under 1 year anyway.

Food before one is just for fun

She's getting all her nutrients from BM so don't worry about it, she'll soon be pinching stuff off your plate. Don't make her special meals apart from reducing salt. If you are having scrambled egg on toast give her a bit off your plate etc. sit and chat to her whilst she plays with it then when you are done tidy up both places, don't force her to eat anything.

I could have written this. My DS has just turned 11 months and I’ve been so worried about the lack of interest in food. If anything went in his mouth, he seemed to manage to spit more out. I don’t know what happened, I didn’t do anything differently, but in the last two weeks he’s suddenly eating brilliantly and devouring three meals a day. I wish that I hadn’t worried so much about it!

Just to add, everything that I offered was homemade and the only thing he ate with any gusto was a UPF puff thing that my friend gave him. Just keep persevering with good stuff and try not to get demoralised. I was starting to get so exasperated with everything being launched about the kitchen.

Thank you everyone for the replies. I’ve binned the melty puffs and rusks and will persevere with offering her a variety of stuff. She did have a much on some carrot sticks and broccoli florets yesterday :) I think it’s mostly the spoon feeding she hates, she just clamps her mouth shut!

My second hated being spoon fed too. She just wanted what we were having. I'd give her a tuna mayo sandwich for lunch and some veg on the side, like grated raw carrot and see if she prefers food like that.