The Weaning Thread

caprilicious · 04-11-2010 3:49pm

I'm having no luck with this weaning lark at all!

If I hand her some food - piece of apple, cooked carrot etc its down the hatch no probs at all, but only small quanitities, not enough to qualify as a meal at all.

I've tried umpteen different pureed meals & she has no interest!
The only thing I can successfully get her to eat regularly is readybrek or melted rusk :rolleyes:

The thing is, she's over 8 months old now & should really be eating solids now.
She can manage the solid food fine, its the taste of everything I've tried that she doesn't like!
Her dad is a really fussy eater, I think I've got a baby with a fussy appetite on my hands

Its not just my home cooking either, I've tried a few types of food jars, baby puree/yoghurts & nothing seems to appeal to her!

r3nu4l · 04-11-2010 3:58pm

Das Kitty wrote: »

Maybe she doesn't like it or isn't hungry?

Nope, it's also happening with food that we know she loves as well as new food. It's not that she won't eat it, even when she's starving and kicking her legs for it the mouth only opens a fraction of what it used to.

Is she just after her bottle?

We usually stop just over half way through the bottle to feed her and then put her back on the bottle.

Our lad does this sometimes messing but the rule is that he sees the spoon and if his mouth doesn't open properly it's not coming near him.

Well once the messing starts we stop and if it means she misses the meal then we let her miss it. Then next meal when she's starving, it's the same craic again, she wants it but will only take tiny amounts in at a time compared to the huge mouthfuls she used to take.

He went through a phase of gagging and puking too. We blended his food again but kept trying him every few days on toast or rice cake. It took about 2 weeks to settle down. He eats everything now, chews for ages.

Yeah she chews like crazy now thankfully. I wonder is she just scared by the gagging and choking and is deliberately limiting the portion she takes into her mouth to avoid this? Who knows.

Das Kitty · 04-11-2010 3:59pm

Have you tried giving her a spoon loaded with the food and see if she'll put it in her own mouth? Could be messy though...

r3nu4l · 04-11-2010 4:00pm

caprilicious wrote: »

I'm having no luck with this weaning lark at all!

If I hand her some food - piece of apple, cooked carrot etc its down the hatch no probs at all, but only small quanitities, not enough to qualify as a meal at all.

I've tried umpteen different pureed meals & she has no interest!
The only thing I can successfully get her to eat regularly is readybrek or melted rusk :rolleyes:

Have you tried mixing small amounts of fruit purée into her ready-brek? We add pureed banana, apricot, peach, apple and mixes of those fruits etc into our daughter's porridge and that works out great. Maybe just start with really small bits in the ready-brek and build it up? Some baby's are just fussy so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Das Kitty · 04-11-2010 4:15pm

r3nu4l wrote: »

Nope, it's also happening with food that we know she loves as well as new food. It's not that she won't eat it, even when she's starving and kicking her legs for it the mouth only opens a fraction of what it used to.

We usually stop just over half way through the bottle to feed her and then put her back on the bottle.

Well once the messing starts we stop and if it means she misses the meal then we let her miss it. Then next meal when she's starving, it's the same craic again, she wants it but will only take tiny amounts in at a time compared to the huge mouthfuls she used to take.

Yeah she chews like crazy now thankfully. I wonder is she just scared by the gagging and choking and is deliberately limiting the portion she takes into her mouth to avoid this? Who knows.

If it's a new thing that's probably the case, it's not a nice feeling gagging.

MusRo · 04-11-2010 5:23pm

Hi everyone,
Our daughter is still not opening her mouth wide to take a spoon of food and she still gags from time to time. It seems that it doesn't matter how hungry she is, she is still barely getting a few spoons of food into her in comparison to when we started weaning... I think we are going backward instead of forward as we have now gone back to pureed food when she had moved on to accepting lumps before! She is just gone 6 months and we started weaning at 18 weeks as she was starving even with 5 x 7 and a half ounce bottles of hungry baby formula!! It doesn't help that I have just gone back to work full time this week and she is in nursery and they have started messing up her routine already... They have been giving her food late in the afternoon and leaving the afternoon bottle until later so she won't eat her dinner or have her bottle a when we get home... Maybe she is getting too much food and formula in the day (5 bottles (see below for volume) and 3 meals).... I've asked them to stop giving her food in the afternoon so hopefully she will get hungry enough again for her food in the evenings. I was wondering how many bottles and ounces do/did people give their 6 and a half month olds (obviously this is a question for the formula feeders)? I don't know when/if to cut out a bottle (I still make up 5 x 7 and a half ounce bottles a day but she rarely finishes the bottles).... and whether this *might* help... BTW, we've tried baby led weaning but she shows no interest in it and has no interest in even grabbing the spoon when we feed her. Also the nursery won't do baby led anyway as they are afraid of choking, so no point in pursuing that... Any advice greatly appreciated

Thanks
MusRo (wife of r3nu4l)

Nevyn · 05-11-2010 1:19am

Hi MusRo

This may sound daft but why not stop for a while.
Call a halt to her eating solids other then what she picks up and puts in her mouth her slef to chew on. Babies have very short memories and it could be she is fixated on the trauma of choking and throwing up, I'd suggest stopping for 2/3 weeks all together and then starting again with baby yougarts and see how she goes.

It should be a long enough gap that the assocation is broken. She would off course need all her bottles for the duration but a reset could be whats needed,.

implausible · 05-11-2010 1:34am

Thanks for all the sh*te info lads:D The book never said anything about this, "What to Expect..." my a*se :rolleyes:

Another quick question: is there a reason, other than them being sweeter, that sweet potato is recommended as opposed to the humble spud?

Hope the rest of you get over the food hiccups ye are having, I've it all ahead of me it seems.....

Das Kitty · 05-11-2010 8:33am

Sweet potato is more digestible and the flavour and texture appeals to babies. That said James loves normal potato. If there's anything he's not too keen on and you mix potato through he loves it.

miami2007 · 21-01-2011 12:11pm

just noticing there hasn't been much talk on this for a while but im hoping for some advice!

my lo is just coming up on 5 months and i started her on purees in the last 2 weeks. ive done pureed carrots, apple/pear and a chicken recipe in the HSE book from the phn. she mills into sunshine orange in the morning and has carrot for lunch and then the chicken recipe in the evening with some apple/pear for desert, but im kinda running out of ideas!

from reading here it seems the Anabel Karmel book is a good source of inspiration but wondering if anyone has any ideas on other purees i could try before i get my hands on the book??

fi1979 · 21-01-2011 9:33pm

Butternut squash is a great one, as is sweet potatoe! Definately recommend the books though, easy recipies to follow, and lovely for a nice variety of food.

Das Kitty · 21-01-2011 10:35pm

Peas were popular here (pushed through a sieve).

Any fruit really too.

January · 21-01-2011 10:42pm

My two love banana... good god we have banana's coming out of our ears in this house...

Addison's favourite thing is a "bobo (bottle of warm milk) and nana"

knipper · 27-09-2011 6:40am

Hi all am a little worried about our 9 month old. She's thriving in every way from her bottles bar not sleeping the night anymore but can deal with that.( prob due to hunger)
Anyway our problem is that she refuses to eat anything for us have tried all types of baby rice, fruit pots, yoghurts, pureed potatoes, carrots bananas etc as well as petit filous.
Basically anything we can think of and she refuses to take more than a couple of spoonfuls (only if it is something smooth) and then shakes her head and shuts her mouth have tried distracting her cheering her on, giving a weeks break but to no avail.
If given something like bread or a piece of apple she will put it straight in her mouth and chew a piece and when a piece goes into her mouth then gag until it comes up. She will then chew away again untroubled by gagging but will still not swallow.
Has anyone had any similar experiences or helpful ideas we are starting to get a little bit concerned at this stage.
I think maybe she has too sensitive a gag reflex while my wife says she may have a small appetite.
Sorry for long winded post.

How Strange · 27-09-2011 7:36am

My fella is 8 months and has been given solids since 6. We're doing a combination of finger foods and spoon-feeding. With finger foods or baby led weaning it is very common that they gag. It's actually a good thing! At that age their gag reflex is at the front of their mouth so gagging doesn't mean choking although it can be scary to watch.

Your little one is telling you that she prefers finger foods to spoon-feeding so just follow her lead. Give her toast, scrambled eggs, pancakes, home made chips, carrot batons, cucumber fingers, melon fingers (both great for teething!), slices of meat. As she gets better she'll gag less and swallow more.

Someone on here said to sit on your hands for 10 seconds when they start gagging and if the food hasn't come out by then you go into first aid mode. It was fantastic advice because the food will come out. I also looked up baby first aid and choking on you tube a few times to learn what to do with a choking infant.

How Strange · 27-09-2011 7:42am

Also I go by the theory that food is fun until one. Milk should be the main source of nutrition until 12 months so if your little one is getting enough milk she won't be hungry as milk is more calorific than food. I've found following that idea takes the stress out if weaning because oftentimes the food ends up on the floor especially if he's tired and cranky.

CarMe · 27-09-2011 12:21pm

Hi all, I'm really loving this thread! My daughter is 15 weeks so I haven't started weaning yet but I'm learning loads here and have bought the Anabelle Karmel -I think is her name- 100 puree book. I'd ove to try baby led weaning but I'm scared of her choaking? She's a very hungry girl, PHN has advised to start at 17 weeks as she's big too and I want to get into the swing of it before I go back to work.

caprilicious · 27-09-2011 5:48pm

Hi Knipper, I had the same with my daughter.
She was almost a year old before she started to properly take solids for me.
I tried all sorts with her but she's a stubborn little lady & just decided she wasn't ready for them!

She's almost 19 months old now & eats us out of house & home!
I did mention it to my public health nurse at the time as I was concerned, but she said once she was gaining & maintaining weight then told me not to worry about it.

jackben · 27-09-2011 6:01pm

hi, great thread, and some great advice given here. my little man is 8 and a half months old, and we started him on solids at just over 4months with baby rice to start then the baby porridge etc... now what he has a day is ready brek in the morning and for dinner he might have heniz jar dinners which he loves, or mashed up whatever were having.. in the afternoon he has a petits filous and in the evening he has some milupa rice or something like that. he has about 4 bottles a day as well about 4 oz each time...
i tired giving him mashed bananas too but he doesnt seem to like them at all. he loves bits of bread but im too terrified to give him a finger of toast or cheese etc as im so afraid of him choking on it as sometimes he gags on it... should i just go and give these too him or he will never learn to chew food. he eats beans too which he loves........... i havent given him any meat yet like chicken or beef. is it ok to be giving him meat at this age??
this weaning stage can be confusing not knowing what to give them..

sillysocks · 27-09-2011 6:55pm

We started on toast the last few days, our baby is just a few days off nine months, and while there's been a few gags and that it's been fine. We just cut the toast into pieces and butter it to make it a bit softer.

I think it's recommended to start giving meat from 7 months so might be worth starting soon.

How Strange · 27-09-2011 7:35pm

jackben you'll have to introduced finger foods soon so why not start now. It is nerve wrecking watching them gag but just keep reminding yourself it's a good thing and isn't a sign of choking. When someone is choking there's no noise so the more gagging noises the better.

For meat try strips of cooked chicken or steak. They might just suck the juices out of it and throw the rest overboard but the goodness is in the juices.

NextSteps · 30-09-2011 9:24pm

Our baby started solids just before he hit the six months. Six weeks in, he'll tackle pretty much anything - we had an Indian meal today and it was no bother to him (although I left out the chilli in case it ended up in his eye). I hand him spoonfuls of Weetabix for breakfast but otherwise he just uses his hands, and it's all finger foods. No allergies, and no choking so far. I found two books useful, 'Baby-Led Weaning' by Gil Rapeley and 'River Cottage Babies and Toddlers' cookbook, which is great for recipe ideas. It also covers pretty much everything in the Rapeley book.

Orion · 01-10-2011 3:48pm

This is too useful a thread for first time parents to keep disappearing so I've stickied it.

pwurple · 10-11-2011 4:29pm

Anyone have a kid with egg allergy? our little one is 8 months, and reacted to scrambled egg at 7 months. We have been to the allergy clinic in CUH for the scratch tests to get it confirmed, and told to avoid it for the next while anyway.

Problem is, breads, pasta, baked goods in general seem to contain egg. Her diet seems quite restricted, even though I am trying to vary it. She gets yoghurt in the morning, lunch of pureed meat or vish and veg, and then ready brek with fruit in the evening. But it's that every day now for a month. I think she's bored. I certainly am!

Any ideas?

caprilicious · 10-11-2011 9:19pm

I've an egg allergy too & although it was a real pain in the beginning finding (often through trial and error) items that contained eggs, I still manage to have a varied diet.

Not all pasta contain egg - certainly the fresher one's that you get that are part cooked to tend to have egg, a lot of the dried one's though thankfully don't have it.

Same with bread, once I stick to white one's or wholemeal rather than brown breads or soda breads then I'm grand.

Were they able to find out if it was the egg yolk or white or both that she's allergic to? I'm allergic to the yolk, but can safely eat egg white.
It might just open up your options a bit as to what foods she can eat, as egg white/albumen is used as a binding agent in a lot of foods. Hopefully it's just the yolk she's allergic to and that'll open up your range of foods for her.

Hopefully she'll grow out of the allergy as she gets a bit older

pwurple · 12-11-2011 9:34pm

Thanks... Didnt realise some pasta was ok. I have started baking out own bread, but hard to do that, and mind baby, and go to work.

It is both white and yolk, but like you say, she may grow out it. Fingers crossed.

ocy · 22-12-2011 11:50pm

my son now 4 was diagnosed at 9 months with egg allergy. It was a pain in the beginning, but you get used to looking at food labeling, all food manufactured / packed in the eu must have an allergy advice label.

Generally most dried pasta is ok. Some of the Roma stuff has egg in it, but tesco own brand and aldi own brand is fine. I make lasagna and use the tesco finest sheets wholegrain one.

Shepherds pie, be careful with rusks liga etc, as a pudding you could try pudding rice or semolina mixed with stewed fruit. Its actually easy enough to manage once you get used to it.

Mayo/custard are others to be avoided.

I find other peoples houses the worst as people say what harm will a little piece of cake do, people tend to forget that egg is a major part of cake.

My fella now asks as we go around the supermarket "is there egg in that"

Queen of Sheebs · 09-01-2012 7:58pm

Sorry just wondering can i use a tin of organic tomatoes instead of skinning and deseeding freah ones? DS hasn't had tomatoes yet...want to introduce them soon. thanks.

Ayla · 09-01-2012 8:33pm

Personally I wouldn't use canned anything (organic or not) for a very young child b/c of all the salts/preservatives that are used. I wouldn't worry about deseeding a tomato b/c the seeds are so tiny, and if you blend up the fresh tomato then the skin isn't an issue either.

January · 09-01-2012 10:03pm

Merged into the Weaning Thread

The Weaning Thread

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