doesnt like 'thicker' or lumpy food and doesnt like finger foods at 8 and half months,should i worry?

[vivivoo]

Hi..my daughter is 8 and half months old, i started weaning her at 6months,i feed her 3times a day now but the last time i went to the health visitor last week she panicked me when i said i still give my daughter between pureed and mashed food as she seems to really not like thick or lumpy food so i havent pushed it,she gags on anything lumpy and doesnt want to or isnt interested in holding her own 'finger foods'..i have tried steaming bits of carrot,parsnips and broccoli,aswell as cut up bits of cheese and soft fruits but she just backs off and keeps her mouth tightly shut and looks at me like im mad!
I have also noticed she is not interested in holding anything when its meal times in her high chair..out of her high chair she will occasionally try a rice cake or a 'packet' finger food but doesnt seem to take to holding anything fresh!I have put bits of fruit in her mouth but i want her to learn to do it herself..she just looks at it and squishes it then drops it!..has anyone experienced this?..I am starting to get worried since the health visitor panicked me that she wont learn to chew and will therefore have problems later?!Am i doing something wrong?.. i dont want to force lumpy or thicker food and she then starts to relate feed times to being stressful times!..can anyone help??

Just keep putting bits of food on her highchair tray - ideally stuff that you are eating yourself. Talk to her about it, and pinch bits off it to eat yourself. Make a little picnic of it, with a blanket on the floor for a bit of added fun.

Don't worry if she gags - it's fine and natural. Just encourage her to chew

One thing I found worked well was sticks of roast veg (parsnips, butternut squash, carrots etc) - very very soft and easy to chew, but also easy to grab hold of - a bit grippier than steamed veg.

If she's more interested out of her high chair, have you tried a picnic - plastic tablecloth on the floor and things for her to try/play with/chew/mush into the floor? That might be a way of taking some stress out of it?

My niece (11mo) was exactly like you describe until about a month ago, but is slowly getting more interested in feeding herself.

Don't worry about the gagging - it takes time for a baby to learn how to move food around their mouths and chew, and she will get there!

Just noticed that CMOTDibbler (surprised you're not recommending sausage onna stick ) recommended picnic way before I did.

In exactly the same situation here, my HV is worried that my DD (now 10.5 months) still isn't interested in finger foods, but I'm trying not to panic myself.

We got past the gagging on lumps recently, I'm not sure whether it was down to me doing very exaggerated chewing motions in front of her (looking a right idiot!) or that one day she just "got it". I always offered her something lumpy or mashed, with lots of praise when she had a mouthful but had a back-up puree out of sight somewhere in case it all went horribly wrong. Perhaps you could try this?

I'm now trying the same sort of thing with the finger foods. Offering her something different at every meal each day. She's got as far as picking them up but not interested in eating them. I've made the fatal mistake of sometimes putting the food into her mouth for her and I think now she expects that all the time - don't follow in my footsteps there! I'm hoping that it'll just click soon.

Also, try having a meal somewhere where she can see other children eat finger food, maybe she'll be encouraged to try it if she sees other babies eating and enjoying food?

great,thankyou..i will try the picnic option so she can play etc..i think i am just a bit worried that she doesnt like the sensation of anything lumpy in her mouth so she gets aggrevated when i try new things with her..i guess its going to take a bit of perseverance and gradually trying thicker foods too..its just that she blankly refuses to eat it?!..i will try maybe roasting veggies too!thanks

...i have tried the putting the bits of fruit in her mouth too!..but like you say i didnt want to start doing that incase she started to expect it!..thankyou!

My 10.5 month old also doesn't do too well with finger food. She will eat small lumps of cheese or cheerios, but can't seem to get used to eating sticks of veggies, meat etc. When people talk about finger food, do they mean pieces the size of a finger?? I think if I gave her a piece of this size she would choke on it??