trying not to worry - 2 months into solid food

[anjabibby]

I really am trying not to worry. My LO is 7.5 months and will only eat 1 meal a day at supper time - and when I say one meal thats 2 teaspoons of smooth puree. I have tried finger food - and everything goes on the floor. She eats with me at mealtimes and seems to want what i am eating, but in fact just wants my cutlery or plate to gnaw on, none of the food ends up in her mouth. we have also have an issue surrounding mealtimes - but recently as soon as she goes into her highchair she starts crying, I try and distract her with toys, but we always start badly.
Do I just keep offering 3 meals a day? should i get her a different chair as the one she has seems to provoke such a bad reaction.
Any advice appreciated as starting to get a bit worried.
Thanks

[vickyd]

When did you start weaning? Maybe she just needs more time to get used to the solids. Is she teething as I think this can put them off their food and want to bite the spoon. My son didn't like his high chair unless he had some milk from the breast/bottle first, just a couple of ounces was enough. We have been on solids for 2 months and even now there are some days where Michael will only have a few spoonfuls then just want milk the rest of the day.

[*Nicola*]

((Hugs)) Nothing worse than worries around food issues.

Personally, as long as she is taking good feeds of BM or formula I wouldn't worry too much about the actual amount of solids she is eating or not eating.  At 7.5 months she doesn't really need any solids for their nutritional value and food is really about fun and learning at this age.  We did BLW and often Callie would play with food for an hour and only maybe eat a pea

IMO, your main issue is with her crying at meal times so I would try and shift your focus from her solids consumption to happy meal times If she wants to play with bowls and eat spoons then I would let her do just that.  Put her in the highchair whilst you are eating/washing up etc and give her some things to play with and put some finger foods on there too for her.  Carrot sticks (raw) are as good to knaw on as a plate and she won't know the difference   Try and keep things relaxed and stress free and make the highchair a 'good' place to be

Don't know if you have checked out the BLW thread but lots of the babies there have taken a LONG time to eat anything   Ang's Josh took a while, and didn't even lick anything for sometime and now at almost 1 he eats great  

My only other thought is whether she is tired around feeding times as this could be causing her upset. Might be something to think about. 

(((hugs))) x

[anjabibby]

thanks for your responses - so good to know that its not just my LO!!
Well having said all of that - I tried just a bowl of finger food today for lunch - and just sat and ate my lunch without offering her anything. Lots more things were picked up and shoved into her mouth which was excellent - don't think a vast amount actually got eaten - there was loads of it on the floor - including the bowl at the end!!
Shall keep going and try not to worry so much
Big hugs for replying - thanks.
Anja xx

[*Nicola*]

Have you seen these links ...

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=92560.0

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=70142.0

xx

[mini me]

Hi Anja, we too have had a refusal problem, but after the other ladies on her put my mind at ease, there is no stress around mealtimes and DD has started to eat. Her teeth were playing her up and she would also cry in her highchair, but now she's starting to pick at things again (toast fingers and yogurt today!) But like Nicola said, food is for fun til one year old. One thing I did find was that DD "ate" better when there were more people around the table to watch/copy rather than just my boring face - she has it all day!!! So I offered her food when friends/visitors came over during her A time. HTH