Eight month old feeding problems

My son Christian is eight months old and all the sudden has decided that he doesn't like being fed. He has to feed himself but he's not very good at it yet and I think most of the food ends up on him or the floor instead of his mouth. Does anyone have any good suggestions for foods I can give him? I'm running out of ideas for things to feed him. He doesn't have any teeth yet and maybe I'm being too paranoid but I'm terrified he'll choke on stuff. Plus he's way more interested in nursing than he is soild food. He still wants to nurse every two or three hours. Shouldn't a baby his age be nursing less than that? Do you think I'm not making enough milk? Any advice would be really helpful, thanks!

Hi!

How do you know he doesn't like being fed? Does he not open his mouth and turn his head, or does he try to take the spoon out of your hand? My daughter always grabs the spoon out of my hand before I can get it in her mouth and bangs it around, so it's hard to get food in there. So what I do is put some finger foods on the high chair tray, stuff like shredded cheese or little bits of banana, so it keep her hands occupied. Like you said, most of it ends up on the floor, but her hands are busy so I can sneak little spoonfuls of pureed foods in her mouth at the same time. Plus, breastmilk or formula is the main source of nutrition until they're a year old, so I think it's okay if he's not eating a ton of solids. My daughter is 9 1/2 months and still nurses a ton too.

Good luck!

He'll eat if he can feed himself (hold the spoon, scoop the food, etc.) but if I try to do it or help him when he doesn't want me to he'll get mad and won't eat anymore even if I try to offer the spoon for him to hold. And if I sneak bites in when he's otherwise occupied he screams. It's either his way or no way. I think a high chair would help us though, he still sits in his bumbo to eat because we don't have a high chair yet. My Aunt was going to let us borrow hers but I still need to get ahold of her to get it.

I'm glad he's not the only one who nurses a ton! I thought by this age they were supposed to go more like 4 or 5 hours between nursings but I guess every baby is different.

Chloe is 9 months and bf about every 3 hours, so I'd say it's notmal. She also likes to feed herself. I give her small pieces of canned peaches. They're soft enough she won't choke, but they do make a sticky mess. I'll also thicken up the baby food with rice cereal and then just give her the bowl and spoon, she dips it in, or uses her hand, but it's thick enough some makes it to her mouth

Oh... I never thought of thickening up the baby food! That would be very helpful. Thanks!

I'm not much of a stickler for the rules of feeding when it comes to kids. I have five children and my youngest is almost a year. All of them were eating foods by the time they were six, seven months. My babies were bigger and did need the extra nutrition. I wouldn't worry so much about not having teeth, because they really don't use them a lot until they are older and know how to use them. My youngest son hardly ate pureed food anyway. He didn't like it. I gave him very small bites of soft foods, mostly fruits and dissovable crackers and cookies. You really only have to watch out for the foods that are definite choking hazards like peanut butter and grapes and stuff like that. He will make a mess, but feeding himself is a skill he needs to learn, even from a young age. Right now, breastfeeding is still his primary source of nutrition, so I wouldn't worry so much about how much he is getting, just that he is getting some and learning the skill.