u/Life_Walrus_4780

TLDR: our daughter didn't really eat anything until 9 months, it's been very slow progress and we're still on the journey, but hopefully this is a story of hope for those going through it as I know how stressful it is!

I'm making this post because I've read many a post on here along the lines of "my X month old doesn't eat", but rarely is there a progress report later on. I hope this is interesting or useful for these parents, as I was and to an extent still do struggle with these issues.

Our daughter had shown interest in our plates from about 4 months so we were fairly optimistic about our weaning journey. We started off by following the book "how to wean my baby" which recommends starting with vegetables and then proteins. Our daughter was mostly touching the food but showing no interest in eating it. We started doing our own thing a bit more after a week or two, trying things like hummus on a spoon. She showed no interest and would just pull a face of disgust if we tried to get a spoon in.

We had very limited progress in the first 2 months. Around Easter, when she was almost 8 months old, I remember her eating a tiny bit of mango and almond puree (bought to expose her to an allergen). But she would only have some by holding the spoon herself, and IF she put the spoon in her mouth we would quickly dot some on the end of the spoon.

We had our first minor success around 8.5 months, when I was eating ice cream in the park and she was suddenly bringing my hand to her mouth. On the same day she also ate a bit of a baby wafer which a parent friend had. That started a couple of weeks of essentially an ice cream and wafer based diet - certainly not ideal, but I was glad she was at least eating something.

I was going back to work shortly after she turned 9 months so my partner started concentrating on breakfast with her and presenting the same foods - Weetabix, yoghurt and toast. Very gradually, she got used to these foods, along with a few fruit-based purees (I know, not just BLW). Things slowly progressed from a couple of spoons and a tiny nibble of toast crumbs, to now eating a decent portion of breakfast (~2/3 Weetabix).

Things have gradually progressed since. After showing no interest in fruit for a while she started enjoying strawberries around 11 months and now eats all forms of berries and grapes. Savoury foods and meals continue to be a bit of a challenge, but even in just the last week we've seen progress. For instance, tonight she ate several mouthfuls of lasagne, half a piece of garlic bread, then some mixed berries with cream. It's the first day we've not reverted to purees or yoghurt as a top-up.

If I could give any advice to anyone feeling desperate because their baby eats nothing:

- relax your criteria about what you give them and where. My daughter still prefers to eat out of the highchair, ideally outside or sitting on the floor.

- "bad" foods are not bad if they get them used to the mechanics of eating. My daughter used to gag a lot but getting comfortable with things like toast and biscotti have helped her navigate new foods with confidence

- it's all about the general trend, you'll have better days and worse days (teething always derails eating!), but if they're eating just slightly more than a month ago or being slightly braver then things are going in the right direction

I hope that helps and happy to answer any questions!

Hi all,

Wondering if this is a completely rogue idea or if it has actually been done before.

I've been in policy for a while and while I think I'm reasonable at it, with the current competitiveness I'm very unlikely to be promoted any time soon.

A current vacancy in HR got me thinking that this probably plays more to my natural strengths, though it's something I've never considered before now. When I reflect on the times I've done well or received an in-year reward it's normally been due to ways of working or helping out with recruitment campaigns. I'd say compared to my colleagues I care about people management/colleague experience a lot more than average, and I tend to be more organised too.

But if I were to put together an application, would I be automatically discounted without official HR experience? The role says holding a qualification is not required.

Thanks for any help!