I need some food help for my 6 month old

Yellow_Daisy · January 2012

All right I need some food help/suggestions for Max. He didn't like butternut squash, just spits it at me. He's now doing the same thing with yams. What should I try next? Should I take a break on purees or keep trying with different things? I don't know if he doesn't like them or he doesn't know what to do. I put the yams/squash in his mouth and they just sit there on his tongue, he doesn't swallow, eventually they just fall out of his mouth or he spits them at me because he doesn't swallow. Is he not ready for food, hence why he doesn't swallow or does he just not like the tastes I've given him thus far?

beebe929 · January 2012

I would take a couple week break and try again.

povo · January 2012

Did you try baby cereal? I wasn't a huge fan of it when we started solids but we ended up doing baby oatmeal per pedi suggestion I mixed it with BM and it was mostly so DD could get used to texture and swallowing before worrying about different tastes and flavors. Sweet Potatoes were a big hit in our house. Also at that point banana was a big one too! GL

itsmevkb · January 2012

I second trying one of the baby cereals which don't have a whole lot of taste and that you can thin out as much as you like. Over time you can thicken it up so he can slowly get used to the texture and swallowing something other than just pure liquid.

superned · January 2012

Would you be open to doing something like baby-led weaning? We gave DD chunks of soft food that she could hold and move to her mouth herself at 6 months. I think children at that age are naturally curious and automatically put things in their mouths, so giving him the experience of doing it himself (rather than having it done "to" him, as so much stuff is for babies), might help.

RoxBride · January 2012

I'd try some different textured cereals, see how it goes, and try some table food - it just takes practice. You can't go wrong at this point except by overthinking it.

Yellow_Daisy · January 2012

superned:

Would you be open to doing something like baby-led weaning? We gave DD chunks of soft food that she could hold and move to her mouth herself at 6 months. I think children at that age are naturally curious and automatically put things in their mouths, so giving him the experience of doing it himself (rather than having it done "to" him, as so much stuff is for babies), might help.

Honestly I don't know anything about BLW, but maybe I should look into it because he is very independent. My only worry is that he will choke. Do you know any good websites where I can read more about it? He tries to grab the spoon when I feed him, but can never get it in his mouth so he just makes a mess, but if I can give him chunks maybe that would be a good compromise.

desabean · January 2012

Are you making them yourself? I really tried to do this but Garrison hated almost everything I made her (aside from mashed banana and avocado) so I just went to organic gerber stuff and she did MUCH better.

Some of her favorites were peas and sweet potatoes.

superned · January 2012

Yellow_Daisy:
superned:

Would you be open to doing something like baby-led weaning? We gave DD chunks of soft food that she could hold and move to her mouth herself at 6 months. I think children at that age are naturally curious and automatically put things in their mouths, so giving him the experience of doing it himself (rather than having it done "to" him, as so much stuff is for babies), might help.

Honestly I don't know anything about BLW, but maybe I should look into it because he is very independent. My only worry is that he will choke. Do you know any good websites where I can read more about it? He tries to grab the spoon when I feed him, but can never get it in his mouth so he just makes a mess, but if I can give him chunks maybe that would be a good compromise.

I worried about choking too, but everything I read and then my own experience showed me that babies are very, very good at gagging on something well before it gets far enough back in their mouths to choke on it. You can expect lots of gagging, but if you stick to really soft foods that will naturally slide down, choking should not be an issue.

This is a newer version of the site I used: https://www.babyledweaning.com/

Googling anything by Gil Rapley will get good results too, and I think the Wholesome Baby Food site has info.

If he's grabbing the spoon, it sounds like he's naturally curious and independent, which would probably make BLW fun for him. : )