My Almost 1 Year Old Won't Eat FOOD!

I think if you are giving him a variety of babyfood -- esp. the veggies, then you can wait until he decides finger foods are good. I wouldn't stress so much. I got my kids to eat a lot of the babyfood veggies especially the ones with stronger flavors (like broccoli or spinach) by mixing them with mashed potatoes first and then gradually taking out the potatoes. My kids still love broccoli, spinach and cauliflower. Also, I did something that I never saw anyone else do when my kids started eating finger foods -- I bought regular canned vegetables -- corn, green beans, lima beans, peas, etc. and just took them right out of the can (maybe warmed them in the microwave a little bit). I know that fresh vegetables are healthier, but I reasoned that if my kids are eating vegetables at this age, then they will like the fresh ones (they taste better) later. It worked very well because my kids at 6 and 9 will practically eat whatever vegetable ends up on their plate (with some understandable limits -- my son doesn't like beets or squash, my daughter doesn't like tomatoes). I would give them a variety plate and let them eat whatever they wanted from it, as long as all of it was healthy, and whatever got knocked on the floor, got knocked on the floor. Let him get hungry, offer him the finger foods variety platter first (without the crunchies and graham crackers -- and mostly fruits and vegetables) and then give him baby food. He'll get there -- no kid graduates college not eating solid food!

I don't know if he'll be "that kid".....

I know this much:

If he's getting too much to drink he will have little appetite.
If you cater to him now, you'll be opening a catering company b/c it won't end!
Kids have to try stuff many times before they "like" it. Many.

My kid has always eaten what we eat. Period. End of story. My 7 yo was eating mussels at the beach last summer (I don't even eat mussels!) And he is the least picky person in our house!

Good luck!

I would cut out the juice, he doesnt really need it and it is just filling his belly. Also give him other foods and not the foods he will only eat. This will be hard for a few days but he will get the hang of it. He isnt a picky eater since he really isnt an eater.

Wow Suz. That was a bit harsh! I personally love your comments and posts.

What's up with the third child being like this? My youngest will be 1 tomorrow and he's hard to please. He doesn't like meats too much either. He will eat lunch meat but if I make spaghetti, he spits out the meat. My son's favorites right now are bananas, yogurt, applesauce, mac & cheese, spaghetti (w/out meat). I wouldn't stress about it. Just keep offering him new things.

Also, I wanted to add we also make our kids eat their food and not waste. We only give them a portion size we know they can eat. Sometimes they might even want a little more. My parents did it to me, My husband's parents did it to him. We're both healthy eaters, don't have weight issues, we will try anything at least once b/c we don't go based off looks, etc. So, don't let Suz beat you up b/c you have a different parenting style than her.

i wouldn't stress too much over it as long as he's eating, maybe introduce a solid food that you want him to try then with the other baby foods that he likes, and use the baby foods as a reward food. ex: he eats that solid chicken you give him, THEN he can have his gerber crunchies, or baby food or what ever it is he wants that you allow for that meal, start small then SLOWLY work his baby foods out of his diet, then start rewarding him with the crackers he likes. maybe for lunch you give him a serving of greenbeans, then he can have his baby food or whatever he perfer's, then next meal, a meat, so on and so forth. then eventually he you can make his less solid foods less of an option, eventually he wont even realize no more baby foods!

Children can be very different. My oldest didn't eat solid food on a consistent basis until after 18 months. He had (and still does to some extent) some kind of texture issue. He never ate cheerios. He would gag on anything with texture. He ate stage 2 baby food for a long time. My second was eating table food around 6 or 7 months and wanted nothing to do with baby food. He wanted what we were having. I wouldn't worry about it. Neither of my children are extremely picky. Just your average kid pickiness. Keep offering that solid food and one day he will take off. You can mention it to his Dr. if you are still concerned.

Have you started stage three foods yet? I am exactly in the same stage you are...My son will be a year old two weeks after yours. He has been slower than my first two to take on solid foods. Get the stage three jar foods and feed him small amounts with the "chunks" in them. Also continue with the 'crackers" and the bitter biscuits and cheerios that are still easy to swallow. I have also stocked up on potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas and carrots and ditalini pasta (small ones), bananas..I cook them so they are very soft but yet he can still pick up and eat...We just started this last week. While, more food ends up on his bib and lap he is slowly getting the idea that it goes in your mouth to eat :)
He is very picky about texture...And you can tell by his facial expressions and gag reflex...but I keep introducing solids every day regardless of him making an effort or not to try it out.
We've also introduced the sippy cup at each meal before the bottle...I want him to be bottle free by his birthday:)
Keep trying daily!! Eventually he will come around and find that solids are very tasty :) Good luck

Sounds like he's drinking too much which is filling him up. By the time my son was 10 months old he was off the bottle and drinking only from cups. He was also eating table foods by that point. He got a cup of milk with his meals and got snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

He's always been a great eater, granted, he has his picky moments, but what 2 yr old doesn't?! LOL We never force him to finish a meal, I don't believe in that, but we also have rules about not getting snacks/dessert if he doesn't eat a certain amount of his meal.

Lol--I had the opposite problem--2 children --one my own and one a daycare child that very suddenly refused to eat baby food around 9-10 mths of age. Scared me when my DD did it because she had like 2 teeth! What I've noticed with solid food is that both of these children did not want me to spoon feed or hand feed them solids --they wanted to do it themselves. I think they want to feel the texture of it before they put it in their mouths. Keep feeding him baby food--you could try stage 3--but both of the babies I've raised hated the mix of mush and chunk. Maybe he needs that slower transition? I always thought the stage 3 foods confused them because they see the spoon and feel what feels like mush they can swallow but wait--they are gross chunks in there --What do I do now? Anyway keep with the baby food for now and offer him non-starch finger foods--he doesn't really need to eat graham crackers and puffies. He probably eats them because of the sweetness anyway and you don't want to reinforce that early on. Try chunks of fruits and soft cooked veggies, slow cooked and shredded meats etc instead. You could also see if he would eat off your plate?

R.! do you seriously demand that your kids obediently eat everything whether they like it or not AND clean their plates?
girlie, you are setting yourself up for both defiance AND eating disorders! stop that!
i'd butt heads with you too. do NOT run around trying to accommodate madly (which is certainly more your pattern!) but stop stressing about force-feeding the poor boy! he's not even a year old. if he likes baby food and is getting nutrition from that, for heaven's sake give him baby food. better yet, get a blend-tec and make your own. if he eats baby food he'll probably eat a nice carrot and butternut soup, some well-blended oatmeal and fruit, and endless smoothies.
your goal should be children who are well-fed and interested in experiencing different types of food, not obedient robots. they won't *like* experimenting with different cuisines if all they know is 'eat what i give you even if you hate it and stuff your maw even if you're full because i said so!'
you are such a pleaser, to the point of ridiculousness sometimes, in most things. why take a hard line with this particular issue?
khairete
S.
ps, you're right, luvmylife, that WAS harsh. sorry, R.. i just kinda figure we're old friends at this point and don't pull my punches much. my apologies if i gave offense.

Maybe the combination of the snack food and the liquids is causing his little tummy to feel full. Try sticking with baby food-meat, veggies, fruits and cereal. Less formula-maybe 4 oz after each meal-two watered down juice drinks/day and no snack food.

He is being breastfed. Could be he is just not a huge eater at this point. The Breast milk is filling him up.

Just be sure to offer him what you all eat. We used to ask if our daughter wanted to "share" our food. She loved being able to eat what we ate at this age.

Will he hold food in his own hands? Or are you placing things in his mouth?

Also maybe add chunks of regular food to his baby food. Do this before you give him the food. If you are giving him carrots steam ups a few carrots and cut them into tiny pieces. stir them into the jar. He will never know it did not come that way. Also place a few of the cooked pieces on his tray while you are feeding him and see if he will put them in his mouth.

Just keep trying. He may like being fed. Is he teething? Maybe that could also have something to do with not wanting to eat solids..