6 month old who won't pick up foods!

[Lina]

I am doing BLW, now I have a very keen baby who loves food but does not have the patience to pick up bits of food and feed himself. He will try and then quickly throw a tantrum when he fails. I have tried placing it in his hands/close to his hands but he just flaps his hands and the food ends up on the floor. I have been giving him it in a spoon slightly mashed as a result of this, but I don't want to continue doing this on top of the EE.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 

[amy_1234]

Do both not all baby's take to BLW if I were you give LO his own spoon to hold and you give him his meal with a spoon, that way he will see what a spoon is for and he can practice eventually his coordination skills will improve and he will be able to feed himself x

 

[punk_pig]

Are you giving him his food when he's hungry? This often causes frustration, it is much easier for them to learn co-ordination and chewing skills if NOT hungry. Give him a milk feed before hand then his "food" is just like a toy to play with afterwards.

 

[Lina]

Are you giving him his food when he's hungry? This often causes frustration, it is much easier for them to learn co-ordination and chewing skills if NOT hungry. Give him a milk feed before hand then his "food" is just like a toy to play with afterwards.

I have offered both times, when hungry and not and he reacts the same way. He would easily drink 9oz of milk in one sitting and is always hungry, so he wants to pick it up but because he is so frantic he cannot and then cries. It's frustrating and slightly funny.

 

[punk_pig]

Maybe he's not quite ready for weaning? (blw style anyway) as one of the signs of readiness is easy transference of object to mouth. I found the easiest foods were well cooked sticks of carrot/sweet potato/parsnip and my LO never had an issue picking them up first time - sorry I can't be more help!

 

[OmarsMum]

Does he put random objects in his mouth?

We tried BLW at 6.5 months when we started weaning but it didnt work. Omar's milk intake was very low & he didnt put random objects in his mouth. He also hated the feeling of food on his hands. So I had to spoon feed him from what we're eating. He's not into food & I still struggle to get him to eat & he still hates to feed himself.

It's still too early for your LO to start self feeding. With BLW it might take few weeks or months for some babies to figure out how to hold food & eat it. From your post, it sounds like your LO is getting enough milk, which is much more important than solids at this age. If you want to continue with BLW just give it some time hun, solids are for fun before the age of 1 yr esp if your LO is getting enough milk.

 

[Lina]

OmarsMum, thanks for that. He does put random things into his mouth which makes me think maybe he finds it difficult to do the same with food or he is used to being fed like when he has his bottles. He will happily bite into foods if I hold it to his mouth but has no interest to use his own hands. I will continue spoon feeding and offering him and hopefully he will learn in time.

 

[punk_pig]

OmarsMum, thanks for that. He does put random things into his mouth which makes me think maybe he finds it difficult to do the same with food or he is used to being fed like when he has his bottles. He will happily bite into foods if I hold it to his mouth but has no interest to use his own hands. I will continue spoon feeding and offering him and hopefully he will learn in time.

I forgot to ask if you are offering him food that you are eating at the same time you are eating it? The desire to mimic Mum and Dad is one of the key ways babies learn that they are supposed to try eating these objects and not just throwing them around. My LO would only put in her mouth food that looked exactly like what was going in to mymouth when we first started out. Now she is older she has started to categorise objects in to food,toys etc but at your LOs age it will all be the same to him. If you haven't done it yet I'd really recommend a family meal time to encourage him.