do i carry on with lumpy food even though he gags and vomits everytime??

[dirtgirlworld]

Hi! first time poster looking for some helpful advice with my 1st DS! He's 8 months next week with a massive appetite, loves his porridge for breakfast but then it goes down hill!he cannot handle lumps in food at all!he starts gagging then 9/10 he vomits!so do i carry on like this or go back to pureed?he's even started to stop eating all together!tried the BLW-didnt work, he chocked on everything!only finger foods he likes is cheese on toast and those organix crisps (tomato flavour)
my HV is so rubbish and keeps telling me off for not enforcing my child with carrott sticks and cucumber!
Any advice gratefully recieved
from a mum who's getting a tad fed up of cleaning up vomit!

well if you tried blw when he was younger, is it worth trying him on finger food now hes older - take it easy, steamed carrot & toast?
i think babies are less likely to gag when they're doing the feeding iyswim
you have my sympathy, DD gags a bit but has never made herself vomit

yes im still trying with the finger foods to be honest but he looks at me as if to say "yeah right mum" he wont even touch some stuff i put in front of him.worse bit is he now realises he gets a yoghurt or mashed banana for pudding so when he's finished gagging and vomiting i give him yog and it makes it all better so now i think he thinks if i tantrum all through my dinner i'll get my pudding!its such a massive battle this feeding business!! ps what does iyswim mean?

it means I see what you mean. What food have you let him try to self-feed with?

thank you!cucumber, cheese, carrots, melon, toast(only one he likes) banana.thats just off the top of my head

Try giving him a banana (since he'll eat it mashed) and maybe put some soft fruit on his highchair tray (chopped strawberries, nectarine etc.) Once he is self-feeding soft food, you can progress to lumpier stuff. Has he got teeth?

i should also mention that my HV said he was underweight last time i saw her 2weeks ago. (he's 19lb12oz)

no teeth and no sign either!when he's not feeding he's so happy so thats how i know there's none on way yet

sorry cross posted. Doesn't sound like he's underweight. My dd is 10 months old but 8 months corrected (as was prem). She is only 16lb 4 but is just underneath the 25th centile so am assuming your ds is higher up the charts. What does his chart say?
By the way if he eats toast (which is quite lumpy) that's pretty good - what about bread sticks dipped in soft cheese/hummus etc.?

You might find he suddenly wants lumpier stuff when teeth come through. dd has just got her bottom two and no longer wants mush - wants to chew/bite stuff

do what lady says but then don't pay too much attention to him and maybe stick his fav tv program on and leave him to it

I have a niece who is a fussy eater and if you leave her to it eventually she'll eat it, though it may not be within the 'mealtime' it might be a bit later and the more distracted she is and less attention she gets the less she protests

yeah-he is obsessed with chewing and biting things-he does it all day so maybe once his little teeth eventually get here it might get better.thanks for the good advice ladylush and stealthpolarbear! i sort of feel like the HV is judging me for not giving him finger food every meal-coz thats all the trend these days isnt it?
He is below what he should be to be honest, he was way above when he was on pureed-HV said i was overfeeding him!cant do out right!

what do you mean he is way below what he should be? It is very common for babies to lose weight or slow down in gain at 8 months as they are more active. Has he dropped two centiles? If not, I doubt you need to be concerned.

What's his milk intake like?

I just checked the red book - 19.12 = 9kg = 50th centile - on what effing planet is your HV on that that is underweight unless he was 99 centile for height or 99 centile day before.

Why do so many HV's seem to have an 'ideal weight' for babies?

On the feeding - I would second self-feeding soft fruits and foods - or even give him mushy food and let him use his hands.

Agree. Even if he was on 99th centile before, 50th may just be his natural line iyswim.

I went through this with DC5, who was quite abit older than your little one, and eventually he refused to eat at all! (so don't force him to eat it or keep pushing t if he is getting peed off with it)

The hospital advised me to go back to what he was happy with (purree) for another 2-4 weeks. Then we gave him stage 2 foods that were mashed up to kind of halfway in between stage 1 and 2. We gave him his purrees first and then a couple of spoons of the lumpy to 'try'. When we realised what he liked we just made it lumpier gradually until he was having it daily with one meal and then eventually most meals.

At the same time, we offered him chopped up baby crisps and choc buttons and then pancakes, potato, scrambled eggs, shepherds pie etc and really emphasied how to chew with him. We felt stupid doing it but it really works! Eventually we gave him bigger stuff/chopped fruit/toast etc.

I never thought he would get onto normal food but he did, albeit a few months after 1 year old. Some kids just take some time and have super gag reflexes till 10-11 months.

Do you think he's eating too much and that's why he's vomiting? Maybe self-feeding would help him regulate quantities. My son (like his mother) was a dreadful over-eater and used to do the odd vomit here and there afterwards. Still does, and he looks pregnant after every meal.

I don't understand this obsession with finger foods - surely the important thing at the early stages is to get them enjoying loads of different tastes and flavours, regardless of whether it is pureed.

DS wasn't keen on finger foods initially, but was a good eater if I served him mashed food. He's 18 months now and eats all around him, including finger foods. He still eats more if it's easy to eat - spag bol or cottage pie. But that might just be because he's lazy....

He dropped a few centiles as well at around 10 months, went down from 75th to nearly 25th, but is back up to 75th now! My HV told me not to worry, but to add cheese and double cream to his food to keep his calorie intake up.