3 ways to overcome common weaning problems

With Baby Boy often getting comments about his ‘rugby-player’ appearance, it doesn’t look like he’s a fuzzy eater, but in reality mealtimes have been hard work at times. That’s why I keep having to try different techniques to encourage him to eat more solids and enjoy a varied diet. Here are three things that have worked:

When baby fails to open his mouth
Some days Baby Boy is simply not opening his mouth during a meal even though he should have been hungry by my calculations. To be able to feed him, I give him a toy, spoon or rice cake to chew on, and as soon as he opens his mouth for the toy/spoon/rice cake I feed him the puree instead. It’s not ideal, but he doesn’t seem to mind as long as we take turns and he gets to chew on his chosen piece in between.

When baby cries when being spoonfed
Some days I’ve felt that Baby Boy has preferred processed food on pouches, and since he’s teething and has sore gums I’ve concluded that perhaps he simply wants his food presented differently. I’ve received the Beaba Babypote Squeeze Pouch to try, and this wide-neck, easy-to-clean, reusable silicone pouch has been great for these days. I’ve filled the squeeze pouch with my homecooked baby food, and Baby Boy has been able to eat straight from the pouch instead of from a spoon. The Beaba pouch is also brilliant for use on the go, making it easy to take homecooked baby food out and about.

When baby seems unimpressed with the food
When I’ve tried making really plain purees for Baby Boy, he’s not liked them as much as expected. For some reason, the purees he seems to like the most include thyme, and I’ve heard others suggest garlic.

Apparently babies don’t necessarily like to keep things simple!

Tags: Baby, Beaba, Homemade purees, Nutrition, Processed baby food, Review, Seven months, Starting solids, Vegetable purees, Weaning