Start weaning 7mo- how not to force?

[mianita]

My DD is 7mo and I just start to try to give her some veggies as a purée. She has multiple food allergies, that is why we are starting little bit late than I've planned. I don't want to force her of course and trying to make it fun. But she turns her head away even before trying. Should I still try to put a spoon into her mouth? So at least she will try? Yesterday I did this and she continued to turn away her head, so I offered her water which she looves. And then finished the feeding. I made a butternut squash purée, so it was pretty tasty )
As for the finger foods, she never takes anything to her mouth, so will just play with it.
Any advice?

[*Kara*]

Try using your finger instead of a spoon to get her to try it... or try sitting her in your lap when you offer her food.  Some babies find comfort in being held for feedings and the transition to solids can be tough for them... seems clinical to them.  The spoon is foreign to her - you might see it as a spoon, she has no clue what you are trying to push at her   Your finger will be much less scary and she may be more receptive to the spoon once she figures out what is coming!

Good luck.

FWIW - I will often touch the spoon to DD's lips when she is reluctant to try something new... makes her lick it at least

[~inbalance~]

PP has some good suggestions, definitely try some different approaches, or even a different time of day.  If she is tired she is less likely to want to try it.  But certainly don't try to force the spoon into her mouth, the last thing you want is negative associations with it.

Some babies though just do not want to be spoon fed.  My DS2 was just like this and still is, so we did finger foods/BLW instead.  Here is a link with some BLW info:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=92560.0

When it comes to finger foods, it takes some babies a lot longer to figure it out.  It's perfectly ok if she is not doing much with them to start, it's all about exploration.

Here is another link for some reassurance:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=182686.0

HTH

[mianita]

Thank you so much ladies for your ideas!!!
However it was too early for me to worry on the second day she was opening her mouth and today (3rd day) wanted more and more LOL
It seems that she loooves butternut squash the same as she loves water from sippy cup with the straw So I was totally surprised how she ate the whole ice cube! We have lot of fun during feelings, she plays with spoons, watching our dog sitting next to her and waiting for some food to fall LOL
I'm sure that your advices will be very useful in case we will have any troubles, LOs changing their minds so fast

[~inbalance~]

Great news!  LOs will always go through phases of eating more and others where they don't seem to want to eat much at all.  It's all very normal. 

[*Kara*]

LOL!  Great that she is into it again!