Help!! I Can't Get My Almost 11 Month Old to Eat Table Foods

Maybe he's telling you he's not ready for table food...!!!???? You could try to make the pieces smaller?? I added some small pieces to my daughter's apple sauce and other veggies (baby food) and once she got used to the "crunchy bits" she did better...

I just went through the same thing with my daughter, we even had a speech pathologist come out and watch her eat. My daughter has a high palate, and it's very immature, she can't figure out how to get the food from the front of her mouth to the back. This isn't the healthiest, but try cheetos puffs. They are long enough to hold and they disolve quickly. This is good practice, we've been doing it for two weeks and slowly introducing other things. Good luck!

Have you tried mixing the #3 baby foods with the #2 so it is sort of an interim thickness? I would use one teaspoon of #3 and the rest #2 of the same thing. I would increase 1 or 1&1/2 tsps a day.
I would also suggest getting a baby food grinder. It is at Babies R Us. You put any food into the cylinder and grind it thru a grinder. Mixed with #2 it makes a kind of soft slightly lumpy food. Does he pick up anything and put it in his mouth? Our 9 month old does not do this step so he rejects the #3's. If your son picks stuff up try bread crusts or teething biscuits so he gets used to harder things in his mouth. Good Luck, I am going to be following this thread to see how you do,
C. R

Don't worry about your son taking his time to enjoy table food. My son is 14 months old and he has JUST started eating from our plates for about a month now. The only things he would eat were pure fruits and vegetables in the stage 3 jars. Any kind of food with "chunks" in it would not be tolerated. The funny thing is, he is still like that with the baby food, but he doesnt mind with our food.

We started him out with bread and crackers and then tried to see what kind of textures he did like. He likes yogurt, cut up bananas (but we have to feed him, he doesnt like his hands to get dirty), ravioli, rice, thin, tiny pieces of beef (he will chew on it to get all the flavor and then spit it out), pinto beans, macaroni and cheese and broccoli and cheese. The key is to make sure the food can be easily broken up in his mouth. If it can't, my son will spit it out even though I know he likes it.

Take the doctor's advice about offering the same food for awhile. Even if he spits it out, eventually he will get used to it and let it stay in his mouth longer and then he'll be eating it. It is just to create familiarity.

On a side note, if your child is picky and isnt getting enough fat in his diet (mine definitely was not), you might want to try pediasure (or the store brand version) mixed with milk (this is when he turns one) so that he can still get his vitamins, fat and calories. It really helped my son a lot.

I hope that helped

My best advice is to relax. Two of my daughters didn't like table food until well after one year. I think it's really a novelty until then. Keep trying, but know that the baby is getting enough breastmilk (or formula) to be healthy. A child will not willingly starve. Just continue offering and pretty soon he'll be eating more than playing. Please don't force him to eat, I think this just contributes to an unhealthy attitude towards food and eating when you're not really hungry so becoming fat. Food habits are learned as a baby and you are teaching your child about his relationship with food now.

Just keep putting it on his plate and be patient. He should come around.

I read somewhere when my son was smaller that they have to try things up to 7 times before they decide if they like it or not. My sons father is an extremely picky eater so I did this and it works. I was determined for him to be as picky as his father. He eats very well now at three and is still good about trying new things. I say your doing well, stick to it.

Some things that my 10.5 month old loves: string cheese, peas well cooked, cheerios, graduates freeze dried fruit, brocolli, pasta, barbecued turkey shredded into bite size pieces. In other words, stuff that she can feed herself. She is refusing to be fed.... Don't know if this helps, but I hope so.

I think you are doing great. They start kids and food so much later then 30 yrs ago. I have a 17 mo in my Day Care that was a preemie and he will not eat any reg food. He will make himself throw up. If I hide it under smooth food he will eat it. But he is so set on baby food. I think they much put in a lot of sweeting things in it as every thing is sweet. Years ago I gave my children little baby food. It is so expensive. Mashed potatoes and pureed peaches and pears. Just a different world today. I cannot get this kid to use any of his teeth. G. W

J.,

My son is now 1 but when he was that age he did the same thing, I swear he was eating toast everyday, it seemed that was the only thing he liked. After about a month he changed and now eats everything, he is funny about pasta but I think it may be a texture thing, that may be your son's thing too, he may think the textures are weird. You may try putting a couple of things on his highchair tray and then walking away, stay where you can make sure he isn't choking but i notice that if i sit in front of my son he doesn't do as well if i walk away.

Good luck and just do you know, it will pass!!

It sounds like he may have some sensory issues. If you google sensory integration you can find out more info. Try massagin his mouth daily and there is a book on sensory issues too.

Hello J.,
I do understand! Try "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. Or thesneakychef.com.

Good luck,
J.

Your job is to offer and his job is to eat. Offer healthy choices and don't worry about it.

My 18 month old is just now starting to really eat. She refused most solids until after she was 1. We could get her to eat cheerios and occassionally rice and bean. We would just offer and let her decide if she wanted to eat. I would say breastmilk still makes up 80-90% of her diet.

I say just keep offering it and he'll try when he's ready. I would only give him a tiny bit of whatever you're having to introduce him, that way you don't waste it if he just won't eat it. He'll start swallowing when he's ready. After you're done eating, if he hasn't eaten much then I'd offer something I knew he would eat. Does he like the stage 3 baby food?? He might just need that a little longer. Good luck!!

It's all about texture. What he won't touch today may turn into his favorite food in 2 weeks. The "experts" say you are suppose reintroduce foods even if they won't eat it the first time. It's all about texture.

Mine did not like that stuff either!! It is not really like real food!

I made spaghetti, toast, eggs, anything soft and cut in a shape/size that would not choke him. But I have to say at 10 months if he is eating any table food, he is doing good. My oldest hated that transition and wanted his soft food. He loved bananas, cheerios, oatmeal, eggs. He did not want to chew and work to get it.

So relax and just let it come. But stay away from too much processed stuff. You want him to have a healthy eating habit and that comes from learning to like the unsweetened, unprocessed, unfatted foods first.

So go with very simple things. Cooked carrots with only a pat of butter and a dash of salt. Spaghetti with only a pat of butter and dash of salt. Toast with only a pat of butter. I know that sounds like lot of butter. LOL But realize you are only giving him enough seasoning of any kind to make the food have a bit of flavor. By the time he is 3 he will have a good base acceptance of healthy food and totally be into his happy meals too. ;-) Take my word for it--I had 2 picky eaters and 1 health food eater. I got them all to eat veggies and fruits!

Hi J.,
My son would never eat the #3 foods. I tasted them and they are gross. He would only eat sweet potatoes or squash. At that age, my son also enjoyed bagels with cream cheese, string cheese, oatmeal (made really smooth) and yogurt. They are biologically engineered to dislike bitter foods, so it will take a while for him to acquire a taste for everything. I now sneak broccoli puree in his chicken nuggets (you roll the nuggets in egg, then in broccoli puree before cooking).
My advise is he will tell you when he is ready. Try just giving him table food, what you eat, and ditch the #3 foods.

I read in a brochure from Gerber that research on infants and toddlers shows you may have to present a food to a child 15 times before he will accept it. Bottom line - offer a variety of foods to him and eventually he will try it. I don't know any essentially normal 2 year olds who still eat baby food.