have I started too soon?

[MyMinnieMouse]

My 5.5 month DD was showing all the signs of wanting / needing to go onto solids - waking up in the night, having previously slept through, being more and more hungry, even after a feed, feeding more frequently etc, so I thought I'd try her on solids.

I gave her a few tastes of baby rice over the weekend, and progressed to larger amounts. Today I tried some carrots - first I gave her a steamed 'baton' to see what she would make of it - it went straight in the mouth (as most things do!), and she seemed to bite it, and even chew a little bit. She then pulled a face of total disgust (!) and spat most of it out. I thought perhaps the texture was too much for her so I mushed some up and spoon fed her to see whether that made any difference. Again the spoon went straight in the mouth - she chewed on the spoon a bit and then pulled a face of horror again! So I thought maybe it's the flavour she didn't like so I tried the same experiment with apples, with pretty much the same response.

Do you think I've started too soon and she's just not ready for food, or does she genuinely not like apples and carrots and is she likely to be a fussy eater? Or perhaps I'm over complicated things?

I'm sure I am worrying too much about this now, but do you think I should just wait another few weeks and try again or keep going with more flavours / less flavours, eg baby rice?

Any advice would be gratefully received!

I started my DD at 25wks, initially with mashed/pureed fruit and veg. If she doesn't seem to like something I don't try to persuade her to eat it. In some cases though - notably peaches - she makes hideous grimacing faces but then grabs really eagerly for the next mouthful. It reminds me of the feeling I get in my cheek muscles when I eat blackcurrants - I enjoy them but sometimes they make me shudder!

It would only be tiny amounts she'd take even if she took it happily with no grimacing, it's not worth worrying about just yet. Are you bf or ff her?

Generally they start all that night waking and being ravenous before a growth spurt. I'd up the milk if you can, and just keep casually trying her with bits of food, it doesn't matter right now if she doesn't like it, she'll soon get the idea and she'll still be getting 99% of her nutrients from milk for the next couple of months anyway.

I believe they grimace at every new taste until they get used to it! Just keep offering different things here and there. My DTs are just in the first few weeks of weaning and DS2 was much less keen than DD at first and spat most things out for the first few days.

Thanks for all your replies.

The grimace was a total surprise, and it really threw me - I had always thought that she'd be one of these babies that would enthusiastically reach out for more and more and take a real interest in food!! But I suppose I was expecting a bit much from my first few days.

But I'll keep going gently and not force anything on her - and up the milk feeds. She's bf by the way.

DD used to grimace at most things then be desperate for more!

Keep going as you are, offer, and if she wants it great, and if she does not, don't worry about it.

The point of it right now is to get her used to experiencing flavours and textures, rather than for nutrition, that is what the milk provides, so there is no rush for this. You will also find that she may like something one time and not be too keep another time, or in a different form, for example DD liked peices of banana when she was about 6-7 months but was never keen on mashed banana.

My son (9 months) still makes a face at the first spoonful of anything, then eagerly opens his mouth for more! He'll eat anything, he just always seems to get a shock at that first taste.
It's early days, just keep offering tastes of things and she'll eat what she wants. My son always really liked the sweeter veg like parsnip and butternut squash.

have a look here

DD also had a "new food face". She'd grimace, and then look for more .

I think first thing, is to chill out! Food is fun, especially before you are one year old - so just give her things and smile and encourage. She will take your opinions and emotions very seriously, so if you're enthusiastic rather than worried this will encourage her so much.

I've just started BLW and there's quite a few stumbling blocks, i.e. DS has projectile vomitted quite a bit, winced, gagged, etc, but every time I give him some food he reaches for it and tries it - this is the main thing! Just keep trying with different foods. Some people find roasted sweet potato a good start, some broccoli, my DS seems to prefer plum and rice cakes for his first successes. Good luck and enjoy it

Just a thought - it might be a texture thing? If you're planning on going down the spoon feeding route (plenty of people to recommend Baby Led Weaning or BLW on here, I'm not one...) maybe you'll need to make things really smooth to begin with? It's just you mentioned 'mushing' so I wondered if maybe you were just forking it (excuse the almost-pun) rather than blending?

I certainly had to make sure there were no lumps initially with my DD. Fork mashing would not do for her - she didn't know what to do with the lumps - even tiny ones.

Don't worry at this stage - just keep offering the same food for a couple/three days... sometimes they just don't know whether they like something or not - it's just unfamiliar and they take some time to get used to it and make up their mind IME...

db
xx

Again, thanks for all the replies.

I've really chilled out about this all, and just started taking it one day at a time - tried a few more flavours and textures, and I'm just going to keep on experimenting - and most of all, have some fun with this.

We tried broccoli and bananas (not together!) at the weekend - with great results and a lot of mess!

Aitch, I've been loving your blog - the pictures are great - and the rest is just so inspirational! This weaning lark is going to be fun, isn't it?

well, that's the whole idea really.

that's brill to hear, MMM :D