16 months ans still on jars

Hi everyone!

I am just in need of a bit of reassurance, really. My 16 month old eats very well and though I occasionally cook for him (most of which he either refuses or throws on the floor) he is still primarily eating jarred food which my mum is concerned about because she thinks that he will become dependant on food that is "slop". He eats 10 month plus jars and enjoys eating them so I don't know if it is my anxiety that is stopping me from abandoning the jars or simply that he isn't ready. I don't really know what to do. Do any of you have experience of this? Please reply so that I might have some idea of what I am doing because he is my first, I don't really know what to do.

We have never used jars, so I'm not entirely sure on their consistency. But a lot of children wean from mushy food by 15 months, so it doesn't mean you have to stop him having jars. I personally think child lead weaning is the way to go, you could make sure that you always provide some finger food at dinner time, he might eat it, might not, if he does eat it praise him, if he doesn't just ignore it, unless he is throwing it on the floor.

If you leave him on jars it is very unlikely he will become dependent on them, babies are fed on milk, but they don't grow up to be dependent on it. Grand parents can have opinions, but until they are looking after your son 24/7 well, then I think they can bugger off!

google baby led weaning and give it a go - we sterted at 6 months but i know others who have not started till 8 months old

go slow and start off with a few banana chunks or cheese chunks rather than a meal

or lighty toasted/buttered toast cut up into fingers is nice and soft

I experienced this with my son a few years back. He was perfectly capable of eating more solid food, but had just grown used to jars. I decided enough was enough and he had to learn to eat the same food as us.
I didn't make a big deal of it if he didn't eat it, but wouldn't give him anything else if he didn't eat what he was given. It was tough at first, but he soon realised he had to eat what we were eating or he would go hungry. HTH

Camilla