8.5 months and need ideas

Chris is 8.5 months and eating is getting hard. He only likes his bottle and crackers and these wagon wheel puff things. He will not eat anything but these things. He is not interested in his baby food jars. Any ideas on how to get him to eat? He looks at us when we are eating like he wants it as he mouths the motion but when something is in front of him he turns away.

Oh I can totally sympathize with you. Jack is just over 9 months and wont tolerate ANYTHING with any sort of texture. Today I tried some pureed spaghetti and he gagged till he puked. And that was just a tip of a spoon. So Jack lives on baby cereal  or any other cereal such as weetabix or redi brek. All my other kids were exactly the same way. They usually dont tolerate chunky foods till a year old! So I'm also running out of things to give Jack. My health visitor said its nothing to worry about but its just annoying.

Have you tried scrambled eggs? Or cheese omelette's?

I sympathise - I have had problems getting Ethan started on solids (he's almost 6 months). I finally worked out that part of the problem is when he gets really hungry he doesn't want to be bothered with a spoon and a bowl of mush he just wants his bottle because it's easier. So what I'm doing now is giving him his solid meal (if you can call mushed up banana a meal) 2 hours after a bottle feed so he is a little bit hungry but not so hungry that he cries for his bottle.  He now seems to be getting used to the idea. 

Are you giving him bought baby food or home made? As he seems interested in what you are eating maybe you could try a little bit of that mushed up?

not yet on the eggs. I guess with Chris I am so worried about him chocking I have been overly cautious as to what I give him. He tried mashed potato and liked it a little along with brownies DH gave him, but you can't give him brownies 24/7!

No but you could mash the potato up with other things.  I am glad I am not the only one with a fussy eater!

If he likes mashed potatoes, that is a start! I mix all sorts of things with mashed potatoes like sauteed & mushed zucchini (courgette), or shredded cheddar, or boiled and mashed rutabega (swede), or boiled and mashed peas (a favorite!)... all sorts of things!

Maybe he just wants to practice on some things? I know Philip loved chewing on celery. He never bit any of it off, but it was a good practice for him getting used to eating - especially by himself. Philip has had teeth from very early on so we've been careful about waht we give him since he's been able to bite off chunks since about 5 months old. :/ Have you tried bananas? If not little slices, maybe just mashed up on their own in a bowl? Try sprinkling some weetabix or wheat germ in it to make it thicker and crunchier. How about applesauce? We make ours homemade and put apple pie spice in it, Philip adores it. For finger food he loves little chopped up kiwi fruit, apple, and strawberries. We chopped them up into tiny little cubes to begin with and now they are bigger, as he has the hang of it (and plus he's 11 months old). Try sprinkling some shredded cheese in front of him and let him pick it up and learn to eat it. Something he can do on his own and have fun doing.

Would he not choke on apples? I guess in my world I would feed him everything with a straw so he doesn't choke.

Mixing things into mashed potatoes is a great idea.  You can also mix in some chicken stock when making them to give him a bit of protein.  Mac & Cheese is also something to try - if you're worried about choking you can cook the noodles until they are almost mush.  Also, have you tried giving him a spoon to play with while he eats?  You'd be amazed what a difference this can make in his attitude toward food.

He wouldn't chosed on mashed up apples. I didn't give Philip actual apple bits until he was 9.5 months old or so, tiny little bits mind you, to get him used to chewing something and still be able to swallow it whole if he didn't moosh it up enough.

Also, have you tried giving him a spoon to play with while he eats? You'd be amazed what a difference this can make in his attitude toward food.

That worked a treat for Philip. He really wants to feed himself now and tries to grab my spoon. That is fine, unless I'm actually aiming to get food in him! So he keeps a spoon in his hand while I do my work with another spoon - keeps him happy. For now, anyway. 

While we're on the subject, at what age did/will you start giving your kids food with salt and sugar in them? My grandma wants to give Ethan chocolate buttons for Easter and laughed when I said NO not until he is at least 12 months

I think Niall was over a year before he had his first taste of sweets.  Even now at two years old, sweets or puddings are few and far between when in my control.  I rarely cook with salt; we add whatever salt that is needed at the table instead.

I'm not too pleased with his father.  Every weekend he takes him for a walk (probably a mile round trip) and at the store, he buys one of those five-packs of large, American-style cookies.  He gives Niall one to eat on the way home.

As with the above post I do not add salt to the cooking process, it is all done at the table.

As for sweets with Sam we were lucky as she is 9 and would rather have veggies and salad or fruit than snacks like chips. As for Chris who knows what will happen!

I tried mashed potatoes last night and he wouldn't eat them. I think this will be a very long process. I will try the spoon thing tho.

The only salt Philip gets is on the occasional saltine cracker he gets at a restaurant. As for sugar, well - that didn't go as well as planned. He doesn't have it often, but he had a chocolate button over Christmas (9 months old), some trifle cream as well, and here in the States he's had some ice cream at a restaurant when his 3 eyar old friend has it. So yeah. I don't invite it, but I don't stress about it either. My worry was that once he tasted it, he'd never go back to wanting vegies - and that hasn't happend *at all*. He's still quite happy to eat all the food I make him despite having occasional junk.

I steer clear of sugar with the little ones. Coby never even tried chocolate till he was nearly 2. Now I give sweets in moderation. Even for my 10 year old.