what were your dc's favourite weaning foods? need ideas for ds

[MamaChris]

ds (7mo) really not that interested in food. biggest success to date is baked beans (he can eat up to 10 in a row, but worried about the salt content so trying to persuade him to try plain cannellini too). he'll also manage about a quarter of a baby rice cake on a good day if fed tiny piece by piece, or a bit of spinach and cheese, again if fed from my finger. he's still milk feeding every 2 hours and I would really like to make a small step towards more solids in his diet.

nothing else really makes it past the first mouthfull. mushed food he likes to suck the spoon, but has worked out to keep his lips shut so he doesn't get any actual food in his mouth, iyswim. I'm not bothering with mush anymore as it makes no difference.

have tried letting him feed himself, but although he plays with the food, he won't put it to his mouth once he realises it's not plastic. we've had greatest success with him eating a tiny bit of whatever I eat from my fingers if he's sat on my lap (seems he'll take a first taste of almost anything like that, but no more).

I'm trying hard not to get hung up about it, but I was a very fussy eater and underweight as a child. Really don't want ds to go the same way.

So, I need ideas for flavours he might like. It seems to me that texture isn't a problem for him, but smells/flavours are. What was/is your dc's favourite?

Thanks!

Avocado - lovely and fatty, soft and a bright colour.

Banana - sweet and soft.

Banana he won't have - turns his head away at the smell of it

But I'd forgotten about avocado - haven't tried that yet! Pasta & avocado for lunch today then

mine loved a mix of avocado, banana and apple puree.

and if there were left overs (as there normally are as it is one food that spoils quickly), in is lovely spread on toast

Tuna, cream cheese and pasta - v easy to cook.

mashed potato - loads of combinations can be made, add cheese, toms, peas, sweet pot,baked beans, the list is endless!

rice pudding - add apricots/tiny bit of jam for sweetness.

Dd loved butternut squash and apple (not together, obv). Banana used to give her awful wind. Pear was good for constipation whilst her tummy was adjusting.

sweet potato huge success

also butternut squash risotto

raspberries

I was lucky and ds ate almost everything I gave him, but his favourites were roasted butternut squash. He likes it at the best of times, but roasted was always his favourite. He loves spinach with lots of butter and a scrape of nutmeg, sweet potatoes (again with a nice dollop of butter) If he's eating pasta, how about a cheese sauce with it? I just make a normal white sauce and add some mild cheddar, he's always loved that.

DS1 absolutely refused banana - such a pain as they are easy to just take anywhere and mash up! Cooked carrots and parsnip are good - quite sweet. Cooked pear and/or apple is nice too. Natural yoghurt either on its own or with a bit of cooked fruit added. Yeo Valley I think is the nicest. The Hip Organic blueberry pot is lovely and sweet - and actually it is cheaper to buy the pots than buy blueberries and make the puree yourself!

My DS loved pasta. I used to buy the tiny shapes used for soup,etc. Tuna, sweetcorn with cheesesauce or spinach and tuna in a tomato based sauce. He also loved cucumber

if he likes baked beans, have you tried other beans? my lo likes kidney beans.
have you tried toast with butter on?
also, what about tomatos?
am sure will come with time. have you tried just ignoring him / washing up etc and just leaving food in front of him? what does he do with it then? ignore it or throw it?

Cheese is popular with my DTs (nearly 8 months). I know you mentioned he will eat it from your finger but have you tried just giving him a big chunk of it so he can slobber at it?

Also cooked broccoli florets to munch on.

And you can get baked beans with reduced sugar and salt that now don't have the artificial sweeteners so they might be better.

Pureed sweet potato and butternut squash. I used to freeze it in ice-cube trays and just pop out a couple of 'baby food cubes'

Fruit always went down well

Brocolli and cauli were not liked

mashed Swede and carrot

Pancakes went down v. well with dd - you can put fruit, veg, cheese or whatever in them. She also liked pasta, roast butterbut squash - um - feels like a long time ago now...

Stewed apple and pear
Pureed cooked dried apricot - particularly when mixed into porridge
weetabix, and any loose cereal pieces
pasta shapes
baby yogurt/froamge frais
scrambled egg

playing with food is important part of eating ImO so let him play even if he doesn't eat this time. also keep offering - dd took four goes of playing with and talking about kidney beans before she would try them 'i DO like it!' - and dd (2.3) had some banana with me yesterday. She hasn't had banana except in porridge (which she puts in herself so knows it's there ) for probably over a year .

foods dd liked at that age (ifi can remember!):
baby corn
toast
broccoli
chicken
chunks of cheese
potatoes - espesh roasted

cauliflower cheese dd would eat it until it was coming out of her ears

butternut squash risotto also a big favourite once she got to grips with lumps

thanks all. ds doesn't eat pasta, but is happy to play with it while I finger feed him pasta sauce (normally spinach+cheese, today fried onions+courgettes+tomatoes, which was fairly successful )

used to tolerate buttered toast for one or two sucks, refuses it now. happy to play with food for a few minutes and we're happy to let him, although it rarely makes his mouth. he also enjoys dropping food on the floor .

he doesn't like being ignored in his chair (with or without food), so we try and sit with him to eat our food, chat with him, but don't pressure him to eat once he starts refusing. just try again in another few minutes.

thanks for all the good ideas. lots of new flavours we will try this/next week:

• cauliflower cheese (I should probably drop the mustard, right?)
• butternut squash
• scrambled egg
• other beans
• cheese
• pancakes
• avocado (plain or with banana)
• yoghurt with fruit

sounds like you are doing great - and having fun which is the main thing! he is still v little... def keep trying same foods - no pressure but keep offering...

Cream cheese! My DS loves this! Especially the laughing cow ones (I get the low fat one for him...).

Also, if you can get milk roll bread (it's actually just normal bread but it's smaller and sweeter and high in calcium!)...

My DS ate a whole slice of the milk roll spread with cream cheese plus minestrone (which he wasn't as keen on!) for lunch today, which is a real success.

Tomatoes - grated. Hands down winner every time. And she's a fussy one. I find I can mix little bits of other things in too sometimes.

Also good - cheese sauce. Soft cheese. Cheese chunks. Can you spot a theme?

And, strangely, minestrone!

MamaChris - he's getting loads of different tastes and textures, which is the main thing at this age - 7 months is still v early on in the weaning process.

I started weaning DS at 6 months, but it took him until 9/10 months to really get motoring. I thought he would never cut down on the milk, which was worrying me a bit with return to work looming, but then he just did and started to devour things with a vengance.

And I think sitting on your lap trying things off your fingers is as valid way as any... You sound like you're doing a great job!

We've just started giving our ds tastes of food, and he loves pureed mango (and if yours doesn't it's lovely on ice cream to eat yourself )

thanks again for the flavour selections. we've had a breakthrough in the last few days, with ds prepared to eat more. Anything in tomato sauce, mushrooms, spinach and yoghurt seem to be favourites. I even persuaded him to try bits of banana and nectarine again by hiding them in the yoghurt! Going to try cauliflower cheese today, with avocado at the ready for a second choice.

Feeling lots more positive that he will grow up to like his food

How's it going?

quite well! cauliflower cheese & peas for lunch today went well. yoghurt and nectarine for breakfast (nectarine not a hit, buy yoghurt is), still not keen on the banana I'm offering him for tea. Still doesn't like to try and feed himself, but I leave food for him to play with whenever we're eating to hopefully encourage that