8 month old will only eat porridge!

rawn

Hi all. I have an 8 month old boy and I'm having trouble getting him to eat anything except porridge or baby cereal! He refuses anything else from a spoon. I've tried mashed potato with/without carrot, i tried a blended mince/butternut squash/onion dish i saw online. I've tried 6 or 7 different types of jarred baby food to try and get a feel for what he likes but so far he won't eat any of them, you'd swear i was feeding him poop from his reaction so he's having baby cereal or baby porridge for every meal right now, it's all he'll take. Today i added mashed raspberries to the porridge and he ate it so that's progress

If anyone has any tips, tricks or recommendations i would be very grateful! I'm worried about him being malnourished or that I'll prolong his fussiness by only giving him what he wants

Loveinapril

Have you thought about baby lead weaning? Maybe its the texture/ feeling of the spoon he hates. What about trying sticks of steamed butternut squash or similar?

rawn

Loveinapril wrote:

Have you thought about baby lead weaning? Maybe its the texture/ feeling of the spoon he hates. What about trying sticks of steamed butternut squash or similar?

Sorry forgot to add that he does enjoy finger feeding himself, but he won't take carrot or squash, he just makes faces and won't go near them again. When it comes to snack foods there's no problem

fits

I just offered mine finger foods of what we are eating. Usually fruit for breakfast. Toast with soup or avocado or cheese and some tomatoes for lunch and meat and veg for dinner. Let him work away at it. I spoon feed mine too ( soup and porridge) but they mostly feed themselves.

rawn

fits wrote:

I just offered mine finger foods of what we are eating. Usually fruit for breakfast. Toast with soup or avocado or cheese and some tomatoes for lunch and meat and veg for dinner. Let him work away at it. I spoon feed mine too ( soup and porridge) but they mostly feed themselves.

He only has 2 teeth coming up, would he be able to chew toast or fruit? I live in fear of him choking tbh

mel.b

He'll use his gums to mash up food. Dietitian say it can take up to 20 exposures to a food before children will accept them, so it is important to keep exposing him. It is very important to expose him to different tastes and textures at this stage to avoid him getting stuck. A couple of good resources are
- Baby Self feeding
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baby-Self-Feeding-Solutions-Introducing-Lifelong/dp/1592337228/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508863486&sr=1-1&keywords=baby+self+feeding

Raising a happy healthy eater
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raising-Healthy-Happy-Stage-Stage/dp/B071J7WLBF/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508863524&sr=1-4
(that's the link to the audio copy but if you hunt around you should find the book itself)

scarepanda

rawn wrote: »

He only has 2 teeth coming up, would he be able to chew toast or fruit? I live in fear of him choking tbh

Ya he should be able to eat them no problem. I used to chop everything up to just bigger than bite sized so she wouldn't be able to shove a whole piece in her mouth all at once. They have a natural gag so they will splutter and cough when they are learning to eat solids and it doesn't mean that they are choking. You only need to be extra careful with slippery foods like grapes (cut in sideways to avoid this) and unpealed apples etc.

fits

rawn wrote: »

He only has 2 teeth coming up, would he be able to chew toast or fruit? I live in fear of him choking tbh

They will mouth away at it. They can gag but get used to it very quickly. It's nearly worse when they have teeth as they can bite large chunks off.
My lads had porridge plus pieces of melon pineapple and plum for breakfast. Pumpkin soup and toast for lunch and fusilli pasta with a homemade tomato based sauce )( with chilli and rosemary in it) for dinner today. Breadsticks for a snack and water from an open cup. Twin 2 didn't really eat much before eight months.

catrionanic

HI rawn, I remember you from the January 2017 thread

Honestly, you have to just keep persevering. If it’s only porridge and baby cereal that he will take, it’s likely the texture he is objecting to. So you just have to keep offering him a variety of things - eventually he will accept!!! My boy made such hilarious faces of disgust to everything, and spat it out, for the first few mouthfuls for a couple of months. Now he loves his grub and eats ANYTHING!

The gagging and coughing is totally normal - that’s how they learn to move things around in their mouths. He isn’t choking, don’t worry.

We also do a lot of finger foods. For a good while they mostly play with stuff, but then bit by bit they start eating more. My wee man’s favourites at the moment are bread, cheese, yoghurt and fruit, rice cakes and porridge!

Perseverance is key, really!

waterfaerie

He's only 8 months. You don't need to worry about him eating meals for now. Food before one is just for fun!

You say he enjoys feeding himself finger foods and that snacks are no problem. If he's snacking on healthy finger foods that's great.

My little girl is 7 and a half months and I just offer her whatever I'm eating. Anything she can pick up, she tries. It's great for me as well because it makes me only eat healthy food because I have to share it with her! I've never tried spoon feeding her but I doubt she'd be up for it as she's really into being independent. She's still nowhere near eating 3 full meals a day but every week since we started she seems to be taking a little bit more.

I know everyone's different and, if you're happy with spoon feeding, sure keep trying, but I wouldn't stress about malnourishment and how much he is or isn't eating at this stage.

I don't know if I'd continue to give him the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner, though. Like you say, you don't want to prolong his fussiness and for him to end up being really picky. Maybe you could keep up the porridge / ceareal for breakfast and try offering him some different finger foods or just some of your own food at your other mealtimes? If he doesn't eat much of them, it's ok.

rawn

Thanks all, I can't describe how much better I feel reading all the advice! I've been worrying myself sick thinking I was doing it all wrong.

He actually refused to eat anything at all today (would only take bottles), I tried porridge, toast and some fruit but he bawled his eyes out at everything. But he has two teeth coming down from his top gum so I imagine he's just sore so I'll try again tomorrow.

And hi Catrionanic! Nice to see a familiar face/name

catrionanic

rawn wrote: »

Thanks all, I can't describe how much better I feel reading all the advice! I've been worrying myself sick thinking I was doing it all wrong.

He actually refused to eat anything at all today (would only take bottles), I tried porridge, toast and some fruit but he bawled his eyes out at everything. But he has two teeth coming down from his top gum so I imagine he's just sore so I'll try again tomorrow.

And hi Catrionanic! Nice to see a familiar face/name

Yes, just keep trying! You’re doing the right thing