We started weaning Piglet at 4 months on medical advice, as he wasn’t the big fat baby we expected him to be. That meant that we couldn’t go down the route of baby led weaning, as I had expected to do. Puree’s went down a treat with Piglet, and he was soon scoffing bigger and bigger portions.

He has always loved his food. There is very little that he won’t eat, and I’ve managed to keep his diet really varied. When he hit 6 months old we started introducing finger food, but the majority of his meals were still spoon fed.

And then, overnight, he changed.

Our Top 3 Weaning Woes | Piglet has changed course rapidly with his weaning recently and it's driving me a little crazy. I KNOW I'm not alone in this, plenty mums and dads have been through this before - but that doesn't make it any less frustrating! https://oddhogg.com

About 3 weeks ago Piglet suddenly stopped wanting me to feed him. He went from happily opening his mouth to clamping it shut and turning away. Little monkey!

So we’ve been trying to embrace his need for independence and let him do it himself, but he is so fickle! He has weird mood swings around his spoon. Here are the 3 things that are driving me crazy:

1. Sometimes I Can Use A Spoon, Sometimes I Can’t

For some reason only known to him, breakfast is a meal he wants to be spoon fed. He’s not interested in finger food, preferring the lazy option of opening his mouth and having the food fall in. Similarly, yoghurt is fine – which is just as well really because that could be a train wreck.

Thats all good and well. I know where I stand with breakfast. It’s the rest of the meals that I’m expected to be a mind reader for. One day I can present him with some pasta on his tray and he will pick it up and shovel it into his mouth. A few days later, he expects me to feed him.

There seems to be no reasoning or logic behind it (is there ever any with kids?). If I place it down and he doesn’t want to do it himself he starts a stubborn screech to make his point clear. Menace!

2. Spoon Preference

If I am being allowed to use a spoon to get some food into him, it has to be the RIGHT spoon. I thought those sort of fussy demands were to be expected of toddlers – not a 9 month old!

We have 2 types of spoon in the house. My favourite are these Munchkin spoons. They turn white if the food is too hot, are soft on Piglet’s gums and are the perfect shape. He has used them for months without an issue.

Now, he insists on having one of the other spoons I have in the drawer. I actually don’t know why I kept them – maybe I was anticipating some sort of spoon emergency? I hated them since the day I opened the packet. The groove is too deep, meaning food often gets stuck in it rather than actually getting eaten. They are a massive waste of time.

Obviously, these are the only spoons Piglet will let me use. So I’m stuck feeding him with what feels like a miniature ladle, cursing myself for buying them in the first place.

3. Spoon Refusal AND Finger Food Refusal

This is possibly Piglet’s most irritating type of meal. I dish him up something nice and easy to eat with his hands….. and he refuses.

As much as he thinks he’s a big boy who can feed himself, he doesn’t like certain textures. Particularly wet things – I can’t say I really blame thing. One of his favourite snacks is an orange or satsuma, but getting him to pick a piece up can be difficult. Instead, he sits with his mouth open waiting for Mama to pop a piece in for him!

Safe to say we are trying to not make a habit of this – but my goodness is he stubborn!

What sort of weaning peculiarities does your little one have? Make me feel better about my fussy boy by sharing yours in the comments below.

This post is linked up to Best and Worst, The List and Pic ‘n’ Mix