LO just isn't that interested in solid food. We've been feeding solids since he was about 6 months (so for about 2 months) and he still isn't eating very much more than he was when we began. He is still an enthusiastic nurser and eats 15-18 oz during the day when I'm gone and nurses 3-4 times when I'm home, and he's still gaining weight and on his growth curve.
I was reading what all of your babies eat and I can't wrap my head around getting him from here to there! We're doing purees and I've let him eat some of our food mushed up rather than pureed, and he's starting to pick stuff up, but his total intake is still really low.
I've kind of gone with it until now, by saying to myself that solids are for practice, but again, how do I get him from here to eating real food?
Re: s/o picky eating - eating in general
I dunno, I think he sounds right on target. Sprout wasn't doing finger foods until closer to 9 months.
Also, Sprout was 2wks late & I believe your baby was early, right? Sprout was born over 9lbs so probably needed more calories to begin with. Plus, I think he needed to eat more solids b/c I was strict about his formula intake (you're not "supposed" to give more than 32oz) whereas I don't believe there's a limit with BM. Your kiddo is doing everything at his own pace and really does seem to be the average.
That all sounds normal to me. It's a gradual progression. M was always iffy about being spoon-fed purees. He got most of his nutrition from breastmilk for a long time. I think we started giving him puffs and cheerios (his first finger foods) between 8-9 months, when I noticed he was starting to be able to grab small objects. For a long time, those were the only finger foods he would feed himself. We gradually gave him more foods over the next few months. I think it also depends on how many teeth they have. Some people swear that their toothless kids can gum any food, but M had a lot of trouble with some foods until he got his molars in.
How much is he eating? Maybe I missed that. I think it sounds pretty normal. He could just be a kid who doesn't dig the puree texture. Maybe look into the BLW technique which I think is more "table food" type offerings and skipping purees.
We feed mostly purees, but we just started giving puffs and yogurt melts about a week ago. She has no teeth so I'm still a bit terrified to give her real finger foods as of yet.
But for a while her only solid feeding was in the evening, she'd have about 1/4-1/2 c. of oatmeal and then 2-3 oz of fruit/veg purees. Only recently did we add a morning solid feeding (1/4 c. oatmeal and about the same of applesauce). So most of her calories are coming from milk/formula still.
What are some ideas for beginner finger foods? Puffs, Cheerios, what else?
We tried banana, but it was too slippery for them to pick up. I feel so clueless when it comes to all of this ....
You can roll things like banana in cheerio crumbs to be less slippery. We also did *very* soft carrot cubes, mango (also rolled in cheerio crumbs), sweet potato cubes...
Now, why couldn't I think of that??!! Thank you!!
For the mango, did you steam it or just let it get very ripe?it was very ripe. to be honest, i buy the frozen mango chunks from TJ's b/c they are ripe & already cut up! No dealing with the stone & slipperiness. I just cut them a little more for Sprout.
Oh! and peaches. he loves peaches. if you can find some good ripe ones still, that might be an idea. Otherwise, a nice ripe pear (maybe even canned?) could work too (again, rolled in cheerio crumbs until he gets the hang of it).
Some of our early finger food successes were pancakes with applesauce/leftover purees on top, watermelon cut in tiny pieces (they can't get enough watermelon), soft peaches, bananas, shredded cheese (they really liked shredded cheese at first), and soft bread/bagel thins with a thin layer of hummus on it. The hummus sticks to their hands making it easy to pick up and get into their mouth.