9 month on solids
Need some advise please!
My baby has just turned 9 months. He’s always loved his food from the start and never really refused anything I’ve given him. I’ve never done the baby led weaning because I was always so scared and didn’t really understand it. So from the start I’ve been feeding him with a spoon. The last month or so I’ve been really trying him with finger foods like fritters/banana pancakes etc but he ends up just playing with them..chewing some and spitting it out, or even gagging so much that hes sick and throws everything up. I feel like he’s progressing really slowly with his food, but at the same time when I give him smoother food and I’m feeding him I can tell he’s getting frustrated because he doesn’t want to be fed with the spoon, he wants to do it himself, Which I do often let him do, but just uses the spoon as a play toy, so I do have to keep taking it off him to refill it. I’m feeling guilty, thinking maybe I should have done baby led weaning, I know he will get it eventually but I don’t want him to fall behind.
Please some advise would be appreciated 💜
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Just let him play, “food before one just for fun” you can try smaller pieces if he has pincer grip. Things like rice, baby pasta (piccolo do one) they can just fist in to their mouths. My daughter hated being spoon fed but gagged so much it gave me anxiety! (Didn’t have that with my first) so I just did very soft foods, some corn on the cob without corn on to let her mouth map! She rarely gags now and she’s almost 10 months x
Hey I’m not sure if I’ve got any good advice but my 9 month old has Ella’s kitchens mango breky, and overnight oats and fruit in pouches (so I know he’s getting something) and I also baby led wean him. To start all he did was play with it and sometimes he still does now and he will feed himself and spit it out still too. But he is still eating and only does this with new foods for a first few tries. I put it down to he’s just experimenting and getting used to the texture and taste as it’s a much different texture than he’s used to. Over the last month he’s gotten much much better. I’ve continued every meal giving him some of my food as he always tries snatching it off my plate anyway and letting him do what he wants with it to experiment for now. He still has all of this milk regardless how much or little he eats and then I give him a pouch if I feel he still wants something or I feel bad that he hasn’t had much flavour that day other than milk x
Don’t feel guilty, some people don’t baby led wean at all and it is only supposed to start from 3 months so even if you’re doing it now it’s only 3 months from when some people do start. He will pick it up he’s just having fun with new flavours and textures and getting his own little liking and tastes for what he does and doesn’t like, as long as he’s having his milk and getting his nutrients it’s okay. They recommend baby led weaning because the gag reflex is much further forward than it is after they turn one so it’s essentially safer when it comes to risk of choking, if he is coughing being sick or gagging that’s a good sign as he’s learning to bring things back himself rather than it getting stuck x
Also just to add I started pouches at 4 months with doctors approval and I did little bits of baby led weaning at 6 months but he wasn’t really interested it’s taken until 9 months for him to become better at it and actually love and enjoy all kinds of food and even now he still plays with it, spits it out etc. He HATES the feel of broccoli and pasta there’s much more too but those two I’ve repeatedly tried and he’s having none of it so I allow him to play with it get the feel for the texture and he still brings it to his mouth x
Fritters and pancakes aren't the easiest things to chew and swallow. My little girl used to gag on those too. I would go for something like cucumber sticks. Corn on the cob. It's harder to bite bits off but they give the jaw a good workout and give the practice for chewing. Scrambled egg is a good one too. X
Two spoons - refill one while he’s playing with the other, rotate. Rest of the advice above is pretty much spot on, chewing and spitting is very normal as they get familiar with textures, teething can also impact intake.
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