My Baby sometimes refuses the food I am spoon feeding her, she hasn't quite got the coordination yet to get a spoonful of food into her mouth although we are building up to that.  The most effective way I have found to get her to start accepting the food is to give her a piece of lightly buttered brown toast during her dinner - this she takes in her hand and chews and allows me to feed her as she goes - she's obviously finding her independence and it's brilliant whilst she is teething as she gets great relief on her wee gums (- I have tried her with toast fingers since about 7 months, her first two teeth came through around 7 and a half months.)