9 month old refusing the spoon!

My DS started refusing the spoon around 8 months and is only accepting it again now, at 14 months (and making up for last time by eating litres of yoghurt & cereal ;)). He has been living off only milk & finger foods all these months. I was upset at first and tried everything to get the spoon back into favour, then got used to finger foods and realised that it is actually easier in a way to just let them eat themselves ;) Some finger foods that my picky DS actually ate (well, sometimes!) included: Eggs (if you have introduced eggs) - My DS finds scrambled eggs disgusting, but he loves a fried egg (turned over), cubed. Cubed french toast is another hit. Yum. Cheerios ;) - Dont worry he will get bored of it eventually. When he has more teeth you can also give him broken weetabix etc. Unsalted rice cakes. They really melt in the mouth so good for small babies. There are also flavoured organic baby rice cakes. Later you can try bread sticks, crackers (just read the label for salt content) or those organix puffs (if you're comfortable with the concept). And the little rounds of long life pumpernickel bread. Fruit pieces (if my DS had a choice, he would live only on fruit)- almost anything that is soft & very ripe. Strawberries, pear, melon, peach, quartered grapes, kiwi, plum etc etc. Apple pieces - initially soft cooked, now he eats them raw. Pineaple & orange, after 1 year. Those tiny Indian mini bananas eaten whole, he hates sliced banana & avo as it's too slimy. Soft dried apricot pieces (if they're a bit tough, boil them!) Vegetables - boiled or roasted sweet potato cubes, soft boiled baby carrots / carot slices, my DS loves raw quartered cherry tomatoes and cucumber pieces now that he is 1. Frozen mixed vegetables (carrot, pea, green bean & corn) cooked very soft Chickpeas - soft cooked. Peel & squash a little for young babies to reduce the choking risk. Cheese - small cubes of almost any cheese. Annabel karmel finger foods - Chicken & apple balls; Mini meatballs, Chicken nuggets (cut into tiny pieces), banana muffins etc etc, most of her stuff is pretty good and firm on the outside but soft on the inside. Make big batches & freeze. If your DS likes cheerios, shape or cut everything as small as you can. Pasta - try those multicoloured Carrefour kids pasta wheels, my DS loves them. They look very cheerio like ;) His all time favourite is plain pasta with butter and a little grated parmesan stirred in. You can also try "Macaroni cheese" with the same pasta shapes, chilled (so that it sets). My DS doesn't like tomato sauce etc as they make his hands yucky ;) Overcook the pasta! Table food cut into small pieces - whatever is gummable & low in salt from your plates e.g. tiny chicken pieces, fish pieces, veggies... Toast/sandwiches/pitas/quesadillas - plain with butter or add a little marmite... or try grilled avo & cheese,cheese & tomato, tuna mayo, apple & cheese etc etc. Melted cheese helps to hold things together so you can cut it up into little pieces ;) Mini muffins / fritters / pancakes etc. - if you google you will find lots of reciped for mini muffins/fritters/pancakes/frittatas etc. containing veggies & fruit. DS & I aren't big fans but your DD might like it. As already mentioned below, even if she refuses the spoon, she may allow you to pop finger food into her mouth with your hand. I still do this when the food is saucy or slimey as he doesn't like to touch it. And just keep trying the spoon, eventually she will accept it again! This website is really great for finger food ideas for babies: http://blog.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/tag/finger-food/

Use the spoon as toy. Give it to her not only during eating time, but when she is playing. 9m, she should be putting everything in her mouth :) Once she gets use to having the spoon as toy you will not have any problem. I went trough the same thing and then my sister told me about an article somewhere on the Internet that was suggesting to use the spoon as a toy first and then as a feeding tool. It worked :) I did the same thing with the fork :) Let her choose the spoon in the shop and then give it to her to play with. Also if you are eating with a spoon when she is eating will help a lot as they are like sponges at this age and repeat everything mama is doing :) Hope it works for you as I know what workout it is when they are fighting you over the food. Good luck :)

Mine hardly ever let me feed her. She also started solids very late - she was just not interested. She was exclusively nursing until about 8 months and even after that it took until she was about a year old until she did more than just taste the food. And from the time she started to eat solids she most of the time fed herself. She turned out to be an excellent eater who, will try anything we serve her and we hardly ever have any stress at the dinner table. I could never unerstand the obsession with starting solids some parents have. From what I was told the purpose of starting solids in the beginning is to introduce different textures and flavours , the main source of nutrition would still be milk (formula or breast) until they are older. So I wouldn't worry too much if at 8 or 9 month they have a phase of not wanting to have solids. Keep offering and eventually they will become interested.

I am sorry that your babies are not eating from a spoon but REALY pleased to hear this is normally. My 8 month old has been sick and went off her food, at first I did not think anything of it but now I can not get her to eat from a spoon, I was starting to get worried (before reading this thread) as I thought she was not getting the right nutrients. Before meal times used to be a pleasure but now they are very stressful. What drives me mad is she will not eat things that she used to love. I have read all your figure food ideas, but please if you have anymore suggestions let me know as I want to make sure my LO is getting a well rounded diet. Also because she is is refusing food she is now waking at night for milk GGGRRRR....I thought those days where over..... To the mums out there with older babies, is this something they grow out of?