Won't Eat Textured Foods

I had the same problem with my son at that age, he would eat all of the stage 2 food but not the stage 3. He would actually throw everything up. With him I believe he was just stubborn and lazy. We continued to offer the thicker stuff every day, would sometimes try to sneak it in between food he liked and sometimes he would catch us and others not. It took quite a while, he's now 13 mos and is doing much better but not perfect. We didn't offer much table food at that age and I wish we did. I would keep offering her the ticker food and offer the food you're eating and hopefully she is the same and will catch on sooner than later. With the cherios and puffs, i would also continue to offer, maybe have her see you and her brother pick them up and eat. Also, if you haven't done so already, I would suggest you introduce her to a sippy cup, we had problems with that too! I can understand how people just give up and give their children what they want, but just keep up offering and hopefully it will get better. Good luck!

She's really young still. I wouldn't worry about it. Kids eat food when they are ready, not when we are ready for them too. Just offer food at every meal and don't stress or force it. Have you tried the Gerber puffs? I don't blame her :)

hello,

my youngest son was like this...anything over the consistency of baby food he would gag...we actually ha him work with a speech therapist to help him "learn" to swallow...he eats like a chap now. however, this led to speech therapy for talking as well. whether the 2 were realated or not we do not know but he has sensory intigration dysfuntion, which many kids that have that have problems with eating, touching certain things, tags on the shirt..etc...talk to your doctor about a program called early intervention..the therapists come in and evaluate your child to see if he or she needs help in the following areas...speech, occupation, developmental, or physical. this is usually done about 18months of age if the child is still having problems swallowing or talking ,like mine did...now he is a chatterbox and weighs as much as my 5 year old..something to think about..we have been through the program and it seems pretty effective..

My daughter was this way. She grew out of it and now eats everything.

This is probably not helpful, but answering this is helping me avoid work! Our child (now 8) was just diagnosed with Sensory Integration issues. I don't even know if it starts that young, but one of the characteristics is an extreme sensitivity to things like seams in socks, textures of clothing (e.g. He'll only wear the softest shirts/pants) and food textures. The good news is, I suppose, is that it is very common in Gifted Children, to look at the bright side...your baby may be brilliant! At any rate, here is the help for picky eaters page from the sensory processing disorder website. Even if it's not applicable, there were some good tips for picky eaters. good luck! http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/picky-eaters.html

Keep trying and keep trying! The whole eating experience is completely foreign to her and she needs time to get used to it. It certainly not as "comfortable" as getting her feeding from you! You may want to put the food away for a week, but keep her in the highchair at the table whenever you & family eat so she can watch.

When you are ready to start trying again, you could try putting a banana (and other harder fruits) in a mesh feeder. She can practice biting and chewing without any choking danger.

Good luck!

My brother ONLY NURSED until her was 18 mos or older. He would not eat anything AT ALL! He was very healthy, very chubby and impossibly smart. Today he is 27 y/o, he is built like a brick wall and eats mostly what doesn't eat him first. As with any baby try something new, if she won't take it wait a week and try it again. one day she may just gobble it up!

My daughter played a lot with her food at that age, and yes, the dog got lots of treats!

My daughter was eating finger foods around 9 months, though.

Whatever you do, don't try to get her to eat. Your only job is to provide a nutritious meal. Keep providing it, keep ignoring all the food you throw out, and eventually, she will eat.

Hi M. talk to your daughter peditrican and see what he says.

My 4th child was the same way at 10 months. I had to feed him 2nd foods because he didn't like the 3rd's textures. He wouldn't eat puffs at first but does now at 11 months but he will spit out some baby food. I think your child is not ready for those foods yet. Wait a little longer and try again. Mine does eat yogurt, cheese, boiled potatoes... Keep trying. Be sure to try when she is hungry.

Are you sure it is a texture thing? Sounds like shehas an allergy and that is why she will not eat it. Kids/ Babies can put food up ti their mouths and they tingle and burn and that is a sign of an oral allergy that happens often... especially you say she cokes and eyes water. Her throat and mouth could swell and burn and that is why she cannot swallow and chokes. i would really look into this and you can also get Early Intervention to come and work with a feeding therapist to make sure it is sensory but most kids with the sensory have an allergy making it tough like this.
J.

This may be repeated advice...but, just have patience and keep trying. They eventually will get the hang of the new textures. As my pediatrician always says when I would come int with a concern "You don't see High School students eating baby food!" It will happen when it is meant to happen.

Hello M.,

I know exactly what you are going through if not worse! I have a 3 yr old son who has given me hell with eating since he could eat! Things to think about if you haven't already. Has she been tested for acid reflux? Is she tongue tied? Does she have control issues? These are all the things my son has and we just in the las 6 months have figured out why he wouldnt eat. First thing if your daughter is tongue tied I highly recommend getting it clipped not a big deal and the ENT Dr. would do it. If she is and you do it, she will be able to use her tongue correctly and get over the fear of choking on her food. since my son couldn't use his tongue correctly he got this huge fear of choking and wouldn't try or eat anything except for stage 2 foods and pudding and yogart. It had to be really mushy or he would spit it out and believe me we tried to trick him in so many different ways just to try stuff but he is smart. after he got his tongue clipped i had to force him to eat the foods I already knew he liked and once he had it in his mouth he realized it wasn't so bad and liked it. It has taken a while to get him to try new things but this kind of stuff doesn't happend over night. He also has a speech problem he just started talking 6 months ago. Getting his tongue clipped was the best thing so far. His pediatrician said he was fine and didn't need it but I disagreed and the ENT agreed with me, thank god for those mommy instinks. Anyway, please feel free to email me if you have any questions I would be happy to help if I can, I know how frustrating it is when your child won't eat. Also I've been told by therapists that stage 3 foods are bad to feed to babies cause they can choke easily so you are better to just give them stage 2 and go directly to table food that you can make and control the consistancy. Good Luck, S. Bradley my email address: ____@____.com

My son was the same way at that age. Truthfully, he did not start accepting/eating textured food until he was around 13 months. Now, at 17 months, he eats EVERYTHING! He just took his sweet time getting there. We just kept offering textured foods to him until one day he just ate them. Like a previous poster suggested, pasta was a big hit with our son. When your daughter is ready, she will let you know. Until then, there are still plenty of good nutrients in stage 2 foods and breast milk or formula.

Have you ever tried the stage 3 foods? YUCK! No flavor at all. My son would not touch them. I just continued with the jar food he would eat and started to experiment with our food for him. Spaghetti with red sauce was a favorite. Little bits of of whatever was on our plates. It is fun to see but very messy! She just might be a little young too. There's nothing wrong with the jar food but keep trying to introduce other stuff too.

My son did a very similar thing at that age. He would gag at anything other than smooth baby food. Even the babyfood with noodles or anything like corn in it, he would gag. Just wait awhile and try again in a month or two. Just try periodically. He eats textured things with no problem now. They just each have their own likes/dislikes and sometimes it takes awhile for them to start eating different things. Just give her what she will eat and eventually she will as she gets older.

My daughter did the exact same thing at the same age. My niece was also like this. Then all of a sudden after her first birthday she started eating things with different textures. I didn't bother with the stage 3 foods because she hated the smooth and then lumpy texture in those. Wasn't even worth spending money on them. We went from stage 2 to "real" food. My son hadn't done this as well, but for some reason my daughter didn't like anything "solid" until after her first birthday. I just kept giving her different things with every meal - puffs, cherrios, etc. and eventually she started to eat them.

I am by no means trying to worry you at all, just letting you know what my situation has been with my daughter (now 2). Around 7 mos. of age when I used to try & feed her table foods or even switch from stage 2 to stage 3 lumpier baby foods, she would gag at the sight of it. The more I would persist, the worse it got. She was on stage 2 for quite some time. At about 15 mos. of age I had her evaluated by Early Intervention, because I still could not get her to eat well. It turned out she has a 'texture adversion' and 'oral sensitivity'. We also had issues with spoon feeding & switching to a sippy cup. Anything going near her mouth pretty much. As I said, NOT trying to worry you, just passing along my experience. She is still in EI, and she refuses to eat any meats, veggies or breads, pasta's. She is into pretty much just crunchy things. I have had a Nutritionist do an evaluation, and she gets ALL of her nutrients.. somehow. My advice is.. since your child is still not quite a year old, keep introducing new foods to her but do NOT force the issue. Just put it on her tray & let her be. If you push it, she will resist & you'll be in for a big food battle. The previous post about putting fresh fruits, veggies in the mesh bags is a GREAT idea! Good luck to you, if it continues, I wouldn't hesitate when she's maybe 1 1/2 of getting things checked out. It could be more then just pickyness. Good luck to you & your little one :)

My daughter did not eat any foods at all until she was 14 months and then she began to really eat with gusto. I would not worry about it. She is getting all the nutrients she needs from your milk.