1 month in and little progress...when to worry

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DD2 was EBF til 5 months then it took a month of trying bottles everyday to get her on formula. now at 7 months (almost) she will take 30 oz a day (which we thought would never happen) in 5 6oz bottles.

Started weaning 4 weeks ago and will only have porridge in morning and nothing more without a fight. tried my own food pureed (nothing lips smacked shut) will open for ellas kitchen or organix tins but only for about 5 teaspoons. nothing more. Finger food is far from convenient as i only manage to eat when kids gone to bed as work fulltime with two children and DH works nights.

what now, what should i try next? DD1 was bad but not this bad but had to resort to trickery (sweet thing on one spoon and savory coming in for attack ). no detrimental effects, she is a fantastic eater now aged 4. I have tried the same to no avail. DD2 must be smarter?

i am worried about weight gain and feel i should maybe cut a milk feed to 'force her appetite for solids??'

how is finger food 'far from convenient'? toast and chopped up fruit/veg isn't much effort surely?

Certainly don't cut milk, milk should be the most important part of her diet at the moment with food still being for experimentation and fun. Try not to stress about it.

I eat after dcs have gone to bed too but they still eat the same as us, we just keep a portion back for them and reheat it the next day. You could also make some simple pasta sauce to freeze in pots and then just cook pasta. How old is dd1? Do they eat together? Would it be less stressfull to just plonk some of what dd1 is eating on her tray and let her explore?

5 teaspoons is ok for a meal for a 7 month old so long as she's still having plenty of milk. Some babies don't really get into eating til a bit later.

i think there is a huge misunderstanding on my part as to what is a 'meal'. how many teaspoons IS ok. DD1 is 4 and DD2 is nearly 7 months BTW.

its soo hard not to worry and stress about it all.

At 7 months, however many teaspoons she seems to want.

Assuming she's healthy and still gaining weight, at that age the calorie intake is mainly coming from milk. You shouldn't be trying to reduce milk in favour of solids at this point.

She may prefer finger foods and tbh they're easy. There's no reason why you can't give her the same as dd1 with all the usual honey, nut exceptions. Would make your life much easier!

At 7 months you really don't need to worry about her getting "meals" at all - it's more important that she tries different flavours and enjoys eating. I honestly wouldn't worry about her having meals until she's a year.

I wouldn;t worry until she's a year old really. I did worry about DS, and that is what the HV told me, as long as she is having plenty of milk. He is now 18 months old and I can't fill him up fast enough. His previous record for not eating at all was 3 weeks, at 10 months last summer.

2 bottom teeth are just emerging. Can this affect solid feeding do you know?

How do you cope mentally with refusal. I wonder how you go from this to full meals by aged 1.

Remember she has a tiny stomach too.

If she's included in meals and just has appropriate bits of what your other dd is having, she'll probably join in in her own time.

just posted on another thread, it took DD2 2 months to swallow anything. try not to worry

OK; I read these sensible posts but I am still worried. Today was frankly awful. Mouth clamped shut for all 3 spoon feeds except for the occasional 'sip' off the spoon. Two teeth definetly cutting through and pooing 4-5 times a day. Whatss going on! Milk intake increased so definetly hungry. Also sleeping through the night......what's that. Last night up from 12 - 3am even after a feed. Not crying just up.

I am in a panic and don't know why. Actually got chest pains at one 'sitting'. Actually the truth is I am nervous that she is going to start losing weight and NEVER take to solids.

spent today telling my baby that I was sorry I was her mum as I am just not cut out for motherhood [feeling sorry for my self emotion].

Really, you should stop trying to force the issue if she doesn't want to eat - it'll just stress you both out and put her off eating entirely!

Don't worry about weight loss unless it actually happens - just keep giving plenty of milk.

She sounds perfectly well nourished - have you just tried giving her finger foods to gum in her own time?

Mouth clamped shut = not hungry or stressed about the whole thing. I have to be honest, I think if I were her I would be stressed, you pudding!

Solids aren't in any way necessary until after a year when iron and other things not present in milk become necessary. I started to wean on the advice that you should do so when they sit up - my son was 10 months old. I started him on purees but wished I had i known about Mumsnet then and been more confident about finger foods. Weaning is about fun and texture and playing with food. My son did not take well to purees, but turned out he was quite ill, which I did not find out for another month of trying, thinking I was doing the right thing, but stressing us both out. Yes, I remember feeling rejected! It seems bizarre now.

I gave up when I found out he was ill, and just kept with the milk, but I often used to sit him on my knee when I was eating. When he was 13 months old, and I was eating smoked herring risotto he just started grabbing handfuls and stuffing it in his mouth. He was ready then! He is 5 now, has a sterling appetite and will eat virtually anything.

Just relax - make porridge pancakes and cut them up for her to play with the next morning - give her steamed brocolli, carrots, bits of apple.

Milk gives her all her calories. She doesn't need food - she needs to play with it

Relax sweetie.

My ds refused to eat any solids at all until he was 8 months old. Lips clamped together firmly at all times. At 8 months I stuck a ripe, juicy peach in front of him and he took a mouthful. After that there was absolutely no stopping him. He suddenly seemed to "get" eating and from then on ate lots and lots. At that point I abandoned purees and let him take control by sticking finger foods on his plate - essentially BLW I guess.

I think the main thing to do is to try to be as zen about it as possible. (I do know how difficult this can be!) If you get anxious, your baby may learn that meal times / food is something to be worried about and a vicious circle could evolve that could come round and bite you.