Weaning

[stevie123]

Hi everyone.
So I have a nearly 6 month old (24.5 weeks) and I thought this week I may as well start weaning him as he has really started to stare at us eating and grab our food. He can sit up straight and hold his head and he picks things up and puts in his mouth etc.
Started him with some baby rice, he grabbed the spoon off me and started feeding himself. Or so I thought. Today I kind of realised he isn't really eating it and now I think he's actually just grabbing the spoon and putting it in his mouth to chew it, not to eat the food. It almost looks like he still has his tongue thrust reflex as when I looked closely it just looks like he's pushing the food out everywhere.
Tried him with some blw type food like banana and soft carrot and again he initially seamed interested picking it up and putting it to his mouth but on closer reflection he wasn't eating it and was just spitting it out and gagging. Lastnight he choacked a bit on some carrot and it made him sick.
I dont know what to do now. It's only been 3 days but I'm worried now he's not ready. I'm scared to give him any more blw type food now. What would you do? Should I persevere or leave it a few weeks and try again, by which time he'll be over 6 months old. Any experienced mums think it sounds like he's not ready? He isn't a very hungry baby so I didn't start because of that. He still wakes at night a lot but again I didn't start because of that as he only has one night feed so he isn't waking up from hunger.
This is all new to me as my first son i weaned at 17 weeks on the advice of a hv and it went really well and he took to his food straightaway so was clearly ready.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

 

[happynewmom1]

It's totally fine for him not to have solids yet. I would personally wait awhile and try again later. Food before 1 is just for fun.. Especially that young it is totally fine for him to still just have milk and should be his main form of nutrition until he is 1 anyway

 

[Eleonora]

Definitely don't feel pressure to get him to eat. I've seen an 8 month old baby who couldn't really manage banana and definitely still had the reflex to push thing out of the mouth. If you do want to try some other blw foods, I've found ripe pear and cooked broccoli among the easiest for babies to manage in terms of holding on to something and being able to smush it up in the mouth.

 

[CRWx]

My DD started doing that when we first started weaning, I think she was just experimenting because she'd only ever had liquid before then so had to get to grips with the difference... we just carried on so she could get a taste and she soon got the hang of it! Also, babies gag reflexes are so sensitive and so far forward... gagging is completely normal and as long as they're not turning blue and obviously having trouble, it's just something that happens when they're beginning to eat food! It's definitely scary but I just had to sit on my hands otherwise my DD wouldn't have ever ate anything, she's a pro now though and I still worry!

 

[xdxxtx]

If you're giving your little one soft solids, they're probably not actually going to choke, but they might gag and throw up. This happens a lot with baby led weaning, and it's not a negative thing. Three of my four babies would gag and throw up when they first started baby led weaning. I'd just wipe it away and let them keep munching if they wanted. And my little chunkers always wanted to continue. lol. I love to let my babies play with food when they're around 6 months old or so. 3 of my babies started eating right away. My fourth-born played with the food and then fed it to the dogs for weeks before he started even trying to really chew it (he would spit it out after chewing a bit). He's now 11 months old and eats EVERYthing. Except for peas. I think you're doing fine. You're the parent, and your instincts are usually all you need to make these decisions. If you think your baby is really choking and isn't ready, first of all, make sure you know how to dislodge something from your baby's throat (Youtube!) JUST in case you ever need the information, and then follow your instincts because you know your baby better than anyone.

 

[mara16jade]

At 6 months old, solid food was more of a fun adventure for my son. I didn't wean Ds off the boobie until 21 months, but for the last probably 3 months of nursing, we were only doing it 1x a day (at bedtime).

I'd have fun with the food for now, we didn't really start to highly encourage Ds to eat until he was ~9 months? But he was very excited with food, and is still a pretty good eater.

We didn't do blw, I made all sorts of delicious mashed foods. I compiled a huge recipe book that I sorted for kids 4-6 months, 6-8 months, etc. Lol I had fun with it, and Ds loved the foods. I gave him chunks of avocado and banana between 6-7 months when I was really sure he wasn't going to choke.

And don't worry, nursing won't discourage sold foods.

 

[staralfur]

I'd just leave it for now, there's really no rush. We tried my LO on solids at 6 months but she didn't actually eat anything until she was 8 months. Even then she rarely ate solids until after her first birthday.

If he looks like he's interested in what you're eating then maybe give him a bit to play around with and if he doesn't want to eat it then no big deal.

 

[vaniilla]

As others have said it's not important at the moment, 6 months is the ideal time to start but that doesn't mean they'll all be ready then. We've done BLW both times, DS wasn't really swallowing anything until 8 months, DD didn't start really swallowing much till she was closer to 7 months.

 

[stevie123]

Thanks for your replies ladies! I feel a bit better now a d reassured Knowing your babies didnt eat much at this age either.
Like I said my first was weaned at 4 months and was scoffing everything by 6 months so this is all a bit odd and I feel a bit lost with it all.
He is now over 6 months old, and we gave it a break for a week or so. He still isn't really eating much. He's had a bit of mashed banana. I'm just taking it slowly now. I've been giving him what we eat at mealtimes like some broccoli but he just plays with it and drops it on the floor! Hopefully he will get there eventually but you've made me feel better it's not a problem at the moment thankyou!

 

[CRWx]

He'll learn! I've never met an adult that didn't eat (that's how I think about it when my DD is later doing things ) don't worry

 

[noon_child]

It's great that you are including him at meal times. He's learning the social aspect of meal times and what the dinner table is for etc. This will all mean that when he is ready to chew, he'll know what is expected of him at the table!