Advice please - 8 month old showing me he wants to BLW?

[Lillylemon]

Hi ladies,

My 8-month-old boy has been weaned from 6 months, mostly baby jars and spoon-fed foods but also finger foods. He is very independent, which is fantastic, but lately he is shaking his head and refusing anything on the spoon, apart from yoghurt. But even sometimes he'll refuse that. I try and offer him something at each mealtime. He was eating half or more of those 7-month texture jars at a meal but he just won't touch it. Is he bored with the food? He shakes his head immediately on getting the spoon anywhere near him!

He will pick up food from our plates but I don't know where to start. Breakfast isn't a problem - he opens his mouth straight away and usually eats it all (porridge with fruit).

I would much prefer to BLW to be honest, the only reason I didn't go down this route was he was waking 4 - 6 times a night and I wanted to see if it's the food. He's breastfed too. Well, he's gone to often only waking twice and I'm worried if we switch to BLW he will be hungry. What can I expect him to be able to eat/chew by 8 months?

Thanks!

 

[mumandco]

Il be keeping an eye on this thread my 6month old in the beginning would accept baby rice from the spoon but now hel only eat if he's holding it as I found out today,

 

[dinkiedoo]

Bump....

I'm interested in this thread too as my 8 month old eats 2 spoonfuls then clamps her mouth shut.

Very frustrating!

 

[Peardrop]

I'm no expert at this but I would just give him some foods and see. Maybe give him some spoon foods and then some finger foods. He may surprise you and eat well. At 8 months he can certainly try whatever you would like to give him. Maybe some soft fruit - banana or strawberries or some steamed veg. He needs to be given the chance but in my opinion he won't get confused if he has both in one meal. It doesn't matter if it's not true BLW - just have fun with the food. I hope that helps a bit. Oh and have you tried letting him have a spoon and pre loading it and allowing him to feed himself? It's messy, will take some time but it might help. He could also use some finger food to learn to dip into the other food OR just let him try the jars with his fingers. He might just want to explore the food himself first. Yes, it's messy but it might work. Lastly, the jars could be too bland. Try adding some fresh chopped herbs or some pasta (something that is holdable like fusilli or penne) and putting some on the tray (obviously better to make at home but it's no problem to add to a jar). The most important thing is to LET your baby feed themselves. If they are in control of what they are putting in their mouths then they will stop if there is too much going in before they gag. Have fun - you and them, nothing is wrong.

 

[DaisyBee]

By 9 months megan had decided that she liked to pick up her own food vs. me spoon feed her (she was tw). She would eat most everything herself - hotdishes, fruits, veggies, cheese, breads, pastas, etc. Its not really switching from tw to blw -as tw is a mixture of you spoon feeding & them picking up food themselves. I still help sometimes w/ things like yogurt as she doesnt have the patience yet for the spoon when she's hungry.

I think its common for kids to get independent & want to do it themselves. I would just stop the jars & have him eat normal foods.

 

[bubbles123]

My LO was TW and started to accept a spoon less and less after about 9 months ish so I started offering regular food cut up a bit. I also started to give him one entire self feeding meal - usually his tea as he doesn't eat too much for tea as his main meal is at lunchtime. I would still spoon feed him a bit of his lunch but also give him part of it to eat himself. So I would give him the peas to eat as finger food and the pasta and just spoon feed the odd bit of sauce for example and finish with finger foods. This meant he was fed a bit with the spoon so wasn't starving and was then able to experiment with feeding himself. I found that he was much more willing to accept a spoon when he was also able to eat finger foods. As he got better at eating he became less frustrated with finger foods and was able to fill himself up with them and gradually I stopped offering the spoon completely and he now self feeds. Don't worry, your Lo will get there X

 

[Kota]

Yep, as was said, its not really a 'mix' of the two. as BLW starts at waiting as long as possible and doing finger foods from the start without prior purees. BUT. it IS the next step of TW. Somewhere along the line the purees have to change to proper foods or we'd all still be walking around eating only with spoons. If he's showing signs of wanting to feed himself though, then definitely follow his lead and let him have some more finger foods when he wants. If thats dinner time then steamed vegies are great, broc, carrots in sticks, aspargus is a great one. mashed potato. even some stick fingers of meat will be fine.