Weaning

When I first started everything that went in came back out. Some days he wanted a go and others not. I am a week in and it’s still the same. Yesterday he actually enjoyed cauliflower purée and managed to swallow some whereas today he wasn’t interested in peas. I’m just taking it as they are getting used to tastes whether they swallow it or not. It took a fair few days before he realised he was meant to swallow it rather than just looking at me with his mouth open wondering what I’d given him.

From my experience, When they’re ready they’ll eat. You shouldn’t ever force feed - this is why baby led weaning is recommended too.. it stops people over feeding and pushing spoonfuls of food down babies throat. I did baby led weaning with my first , started at 6 months and I don’t think she really ‘ate’ anything for a couple of months ; just her milk. Then from 8 months she actually had an appetite and would eat lots of things and it was totally led by her. I would put food in front of her and she decided if she wanted more or not. My personal view on this is, don’t force it. She won’t starve; food at this stage is just for fun, she’s only 6 months old, take it slowly. Hope this helps xx

Yeah I just let my little one guide us on what she enjoys. Thankfully she sees to be really interested in food. She’ll eat purées and give others a good nibble but she’s eating little of actual ‘food’. I just like offering it to her and seeing if she’s interested. I think the saying is ‘food before one is just for fun’ as their nutrition still comes from milk

I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong! It’s very common I think for them it to not like it at first. Ive put some breast milk in with everything our boy has tried. He enjoys it more when I fully purée it rather than mashing with fork.so I got one of those tommee tippee blenders which are so easy to use. Avocado has been a big hit for us - he didn’t like broccoli either x I’m still a bit too wary to give him sticks of food altho I know everyone says it’s fine to do. I got one of those small spoons they can feed themselves with and he likes to hold that and play with it in his mouth once I’ve put some food on. But all babies are different - what one does another won’t, don’t think you’re doing anything wrong, just try different things :) x

Yes same as others have said plus gagging isn't a sign of not liking the taste it's just they have a strong gag reflex to stop them from choking! So just offer a little bit each day with new tastes. My boy probably swallows 1 or 2 teaspoons max each day and plays with the rest 🤣 for me it's something fun to do a new game for him x

I think this is completely normal, it's a new texture new taste. Just keep offering, a variety of things and keep offering. It can take them around 10 or more time to realise that they like something.

No that all sounds very normal. The gagging is a reflex to stop them choking Don’t force feed them anything as that can cause choking, let them do it in their own time. It’s okay if she doesn’t eat a huge amount at the moment, it’s all about exploring it. Certain things like iron and zinc levels start to drop in a baby around 6m so keep going with it and offering different foods. Milk is still their main source of nutrients until they are 1 but it is important to keep offering. Let her listen to her body and decide what she does and doesn’t want to eat, really important for a healthy relationship with food. Have a look at info from solid starts, you can create a free account and they have loads of information on weaning and how to prep each food and how to encourage self feeding. Yesterday our little one had veg stir fry and hated all of it so I just left her to it and didn’t force it, the day before we had chili con carne and she ate loads, same with when we had steak!