pls advise me, BLWs: DD howling at not being able to hold onto food!

[2jamsandwiches]

DD is 5.5 months. I'd decided definitely to leave starting food till after 6m, but she has been sitting up at table with us and looking SO left out at not having anything to play with that I thought oh well, she won't be able to do much with a stick of cucumber...

Well, I'm half right, half wrong: she grabs it, and when she gets it into her mouth she worries at it madly, and gets quite a lot of the seedy bit out (and down her throat, I think - it's not down her front anyway). But she can't hold on to it at all effectively, and if it falls out of her hand she absolutely HOWLS. So I tried to give it back to her, but no, that's no good either, she wants to pick it up herself, and she simply can't keep it in her mouth for as long as she wants to.

WWYD?
Go back to Plan A and not give her anything more to nibble till she's 6 months? (highly tempting, though I'll need some good distraction strategies for teatime in particular)
Or go on giving her bits of possibly less slippery fruit and veg and see how quickly her desire to get it in her mouth means she learns how to hold it??

Whole fruits are easier to handle - try a pear (take the stalk off)

Personally I gave DS toast at five and a half months too!

Hello WMMC! You just answered my other thread too!
So you reckon just go for it... Maybe I should. Just wondered whether she was going to get SO frustrated by her ineptitude that mealtimes would become an agony. Am pretty certain she couldn't manage a whole pear yet - she's quite wee still, with teeny tiny hands...

You'll be amazed what a hungry baby can cope with.

Breadsticks go down remarkably well esp the short ones you can get (mini breadsticks from Sainsbury dipped in Philadelphia are a particular fave round here).

Its really normal for them to get frustrated at the start, you do just have to bear with it. Give her lots of chances to practice, but just for short periods of time - obviously stop if she's getting too distressed.

Bananas and rice cakes were popular when we were first starting.

Nobody reckons I should just back off and leave it a couple of weeks? B*r! I only realise now that that's what I was hoping everyone would say, I haven't got my weaning hat on yet, and BF is so EASY... (and clean...)

Hold it in your hand and let your little one grab your hand and guide it in - the highjackings were how DS2 started BLW at 5.5 months. Dry things - like pitta bread, toast fingers - are a little easier for them to hold but appreciate you may want to start with fruit/veg. You could try baked root veg which is alot easier for them to grab hold of. Good luck...

If you want to back off and leave it a couple of weeks, of course you can - go with what feels right for you. You'll have to do it sometime though!

I would try her with an hourglass shaped wedge of banana.

I gave up on the six month weaning idea when ds2 nommed my banana while I was talking to ds1, and by the time I had noticed he had happily stolen half of it, and was looking very bananary pleased with himself.

Use a crinkle cutter.

Fruit and veg are generally reckoned to be safer than foods with gluten at this age

My DD has been weaning herself for 2 weeks now, but is also a bit frustrated with fruit and cucumber til someone said to offer bigger fruits sliced, and leaving some of the skin on (washed obviously) e.g. melon, mango
Cucumber sliced on the diagonal into 1cm wide chunks is also easier as they can use both hands.
I offer a choice of 3 or 4 things so there are always faourites to fall back on if new things are tricky.
Good luck, however you decide to tackle it.