refusing purées - running out of ideas

[nathansmum]

Hi!
I'm hoping someone may have ideas for me. DD is 7 mo old and has been refusing solids in the form of purées since we began trying. At 6 months I gave up and started feeding her fruits & veggies via a mesh feeder - which I was fine with as long as she was eating and getting the nutrients, right?
But as of this week, she has started refusing the mesh feeder almost all together. So I tried introducing baby cereal and pureed fruits again with one evening being a success and the rest going downhill.

She now seems to have a preference for the food that is in the mesh feeder minus the mesh feeder!!! 
making me a little uneasy due to the choking hazard.

What are my options? I am running out of ideas as to what to give her that won't be too dangerous.

[Seona1973]

at 7 months finger foods will be fine for her - just give things that are soft and easy to mush e.g. cooked veg, soft fruits, toast, pasta, etc. Have a look at the BLW boards too as they are full of finger food ideas

[clazzat]

There's a fantastic book called "Finger Foods for Babies and Toddlers" by Jennie Maizels - there are some brilliant recipes in it, and they are all written by a mum who couldn't get her los to eat purees.

I would try not to worry too much about choking - as long as your lo is sitting up well and you keep a good eye on her you will be surprised at how well they can deal with food.  One thing I would caution against is raw apple - it breaks into funny shaped bits and can get really stuck.  Other than that, my dd was able to eat pretty much anything from quite early on.

Good luck.  Cx

[Samuel's mum]

Your baby is choosing baby led weaning herself! This is what my son did.
With my DD I started this way from the beginning. You can read the information about BLW on this site or buy the book which describes why BLW is a natural choice and alleviates a lot of safety concerns:
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-led-Weaning-Helping-Your-Baby/dp/0091923808/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232260004&sr=8-3

[nathansmum]

Thank you to all you ladies for your help! this is reassuring and I'll just keep going at it easy and look up those links and books you suggested.

It is SO interesting to me how each child is different! My DS was nothing like this. DD has me confused and is keeping me very alert because she is so different. There is obviously no cruise control option here!

[Mimi 2]

Also check out the Recipe Threads at the top of the board for some great ideas. 

[mum101]

hi, DS refused to be spoon-fed and pretty much wasn't going to happen, yet was interested in food in general. We started with the mesh thing but in all honesty he hardly got anything out of it.  So I just went to finger foods. The thing that stuck with me is that when they control the food going in and learn how to guide that food and manipulate it in their mouths the risk of choking goes down. But things like baked potato are good etc.

PS he only now eats off a spoon at 8 months! LOL so I can give him occasional spoon fed bits like yoghurt and weetbix but I limit that as he is quite happy feeding himself. Plus it takes much less of my time and I can eat too.

I now give him foods marked 1 year plus (like rice cracker things as he's a pro) and he hardly coughs and hasn't choked on anything yet. Long sticks of meat, and halved peaches not a problem.