My baby has stopped eating certain foods she usually eats

[Bee232]

My 9 month old doesnt like solids still at the moment so she eats food pureed.
she usually likes pouches like tomatoey pasta, cheesy pie etc. all of a sudden shes refusing and only will eat the fruit pouches which i barely give because i dont want her preferring sweet.
is it normal for her to stop liking them? She ate a chicken dinner one the night before but she wont eat the 2 i said that she used to

At nine months milk is still the main part of her diet. She needs chance to explore more solid food, you need to stop giving her purées. Sit her in a high chair with you during family meals and give her finger foods, so she can pick them up and explore them. Weaning is all about a child learning to eat what the rest of the family eats. Whatever you do, don’t get into any sort of battle with her and or let her see that you are anxious.

i previously said that she will not eat solids, I’ve been trying since my HV said to. My nursery nurse said it’s fine to give pureed. I’m giving her chunky foods to start getting her to eat solids. When solids are offered she gags and throws it.

looking into it more as I haven’t had much response yet, I found it’s because of her teething, so I don’t see why you have decided to lecture me on giving purées to my child. You can’t tell someone to stop doing something that works for someone’s child.

I think puree are fine. My first wouldn't tolerate much else until they were twelve months but they did have a Tongue Tie. Could that be an issue with your DC?

Even if they are eating purées, I woukd try and steer clear of Teddy made ones are they can have a high water content and low nutritional value. Try things like Banana-Cado, root vegetable mash or Roasted Butternut Squash and garlic.

Will she eat things like a decent Greek yoghurt and some chopped banana?

Giving finger foods can be difficult if they aren't interested but I'd still put something on the side for her to grab. Things like a bit of grated cheese or some steamed green beans, just so that she practices grabbing things really.

Once she's reached 10 months the advice is to drop to 450 mls/ 13.5 floz of formula a day. You don't say how much she's having now but if it's well over 20 floz I would consider dropping a bottle.

You could try a bottle on wake up, before the 2 naps and one at bedtime?

Sorry forgot to add a couple of things. If she's teething have you tried Ibruprofen? It's much better for dental pain than paracetamol.

And the other thing you could do is this simple progress checker, just to see if there is any other reason for her refusing solids.

I would t try and work out why she now rejects something that she's eaten before either. You'll just drive yourself mad . If she's not eaten toy can just assume she's not hungry and clear away when you've finished eating.

It's pretty normal for some babies to eat barely anything some days and more on others.

When solids are offered she gags and throws it.

That's what they do. How they learn to eat. Gagging stops them choking until they learn how to chew etc.
Throwing, playing with food etc is all part of the journey.

As long as you watch them carefully, this is fine.

Pureed goo is gross.

Give her a proper dinner. Totally normal for them to like them dislike stuff. Apparently takes them 14 tried of the same food before they actually have context of they like/ don't like it.

But the pouches are pretty gross especially if you're at home and have access to really food.

They do that! Even as older kids. Very annoying.

Don't they just! DD will happily Rick into things for a good while only to declare that she's gone off them.

And sorry for the typos

Really normal for them to go through stages, my youngest didn't really start enjoying food until about 10 months and he still sometimes goes off things for a while.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with purées for a 9 month old but I will say that my youngest didn't really start properly enjoying his food until he was on normal food textures. Anyway what I'm trying to say is that purées are fine but I would also definitely offer finger foods with every meal so that she has the option to try. Also if you're not doing so already, have you tried preloading the soon for her to feed herself? Gagging and throwing is all a normal part of learning for them, the solid starts app is great for showing how best to serve finger foods based on age to minimise choking risks.

Lastly on savoury vs sweet I am a firm believer of balance and I really try not to restrict what my children eat within reason however 9 months is a great age to instill a love of savoury flavours. I personally would stop offering sweet pouches for the moment, if she chooses not to eat then it's ok because milk will still be her main source of nutrients and energy at this age. It's much harder when they are older and not drinking milk so you're just desperate for them to eat anything. When she is onto more solid foods I would offer sweet alongside savoury at mealtimes rather than afterwards as that can make it seem like a reward and therefore a preferable option. I usually serve my children their meals along with fruit and yoghurt etc all at the same time and they just eat whatever they like in whatever order they like.

Teething can have a huge impact on eating though so I wouldn't worry too much x

I know this, I offer her solids everyday, she has purées if she doesn’t touch solids, which is everyday. I can not give her anything except milk. As long as she’s having nutrients. My issue is her teething.

Like I’ve said, she will not eat solids unless it’s rice cakes. I offer her solids everyday and give her purées if she doesn’t eat. You can not just give her anything. She enjoys her purées.
and the issue I have is teething, not her eating purées.

It's quite normal for them to go off food when teething.
Are you giving Calpol or similar. Try feeding after that has had a chance to work.

Yeah I’ve asked the nursery nurse what’s the best ones and I’ve bought the ones she’s suggested. I’ve looked and she doesn’t look tongue tied. I haven’t tried ibuprofen yet but I was gonna get some today. She’s super grumpy since the teething. I do offer solids everyday for her to try but so far only rice cakes she will munch on and that’s it, but I give her purées because I don’t want her not having nutrients. Thank you for being more understanding than others on here. She’s offered 7oz but she doesn’t always drink it all and she has 5 bottles a day.

She will be getting plenty of nutrients from her milk. I wouldn't worry too much. Just keep offering a mix of everything. Just because she refuses something one day isn't a reason to not offer it again. It takes ages for a baby to accept a new food.
You could try some chilled cucumber or pear slices as finger foods as that would sooth sore gums.

Ok so if she's on 35 floz a day, I'd drop her down to 28 this week by dropping one of the bottles. Then in a couple of weeks drop the morning bottle and start offering breakfast straightaway followed by a mid-morning snack.

Once she goes below 20 Floz a day she'll need a daily vitamin.

Like I said, you're aiming for 13.5 floz s day between the ages of 19 and 12 months.

Purees are fine.

However, avoid pouches. If you are using shop bought baby food get jars you can see into. There have been several cases where babies were fed pouches that had gone mouldy due to not being stored properly at home or in the shop / factory cycle or where they pasteurisation simply didn't work. Obviously parents didn't know the food was mouldy until they cut them open.

Their tastes change to prefer sweet things as a quirk of evolutionary development. You wouldn't want your Hunter-Gatherer tot to help themselves to the wrong berries so this is a hangover from that. Just keep offering a range of foods in a range of textures.

She might not be hungry enough and mostly wants the sweet tasting things. I would ditch the fruit pouches now and offer her the savoury puches and finger foods with am aim to move onto more solids.

Sorry I posted too soon. The recommendation is 13.5 Floz a day between 10 and 12 months.

It could be the quantity of milk that's causing her jug to be interested in food. Once the milk is cut down she'll probably be more interested.

And I'm not sure you can diagnose Tongue Tie by looking in her mouth?

Does she have any of these symptoms?

There is a great article here on gagging. Like others have said it's perfectly normal, although I appreciate it can be difficult to watch the first time or two.

If you are worried about choking then there's a good video here on what to do.

Can I ask whereabouts you are as we don't get a Nursery Nurse in the UK and pre-made baby food isn't really advised

I was always told food is for fun until
1 - some kids get straight into food early but its still only about exploring.

We did roasted veg batons for a finger food - mushy texture but easy to grab.
And yes gagging is normal and not the same as choking. There used to be free watering first aid courses available - my friend said it really improved her confidence with blw- don't know if they're still available? - It covered normal gagging vs actual choking. They're learning oral dexterity and manipulating food can look gross, terrifying and downright ineffective but they get there.

I was always told food is for fun until1

I think that advice has changed because some people were taking it a bit too literally. Now it's 13.5 Floz between 10 and 12 months going to 10 floz of Cow's milk between 1 and 2

Purées are fine. My youngest hated solids till she was nearly two. She ate completely normally after that. We also had to feed her as she was very late sitting and walking and would slump in her high chair so struggled with feeding herself. Again she developed normally and by 3/4 you wouldn't have known she was a late starter. Not all babies are the same.

Reading your message has made me feel a lot better, thank you for sharing with me! My little one was also a bit late with sitting up and was always slumped over or went to the side.
this has made me feel so much better comparing to a few other comments about cutting out purées completely

this has made me feel so much better comparing to a few other comments about cutting out purées completely
If I'd done that my first would have starved. Sometimes you just have to go with what your LO wants and needs right now.

FWIW DC2 barely touched a puree and wanted proper food right from 6 months and wanted to feed themselves.

They're all different

How long has she been like this? My baby is 8 months and is like this when she is getting ill or teething.

I feed her purees but I do give her finger food even though she doesn’t really eat it. I’ve noticed suddenly in the last week she’s very interested in what I’m eating and will try and snatch from my plate, maybe your baby just needs a bit more time.