This is part 2 of transitioning your baby to table foods, since I had so much to say on the subject! In the last post, I taught you how to start off with puffs and moving to soft cubed foods like bananas and cooked vegetables, if you missed it, check it out here. In this post, I will lay out how to completely make the transition off of baby food, avoid choking hazards, and what to do when it isn’t going well.
And, look out for the free printable cheat sheet if your baby is having a hard time transitioning to table foods at the end!
Transitioning from Baby Food to Table Food
How do you know they are managing (eating) foods well? When they are chewing it with little to no coughing, choking, or gagging, and swallowing easily (not hard gulps), consistently, for a week or two.
Some examples of softer foods to move onto are (increasing in difficulty): avocado, banana, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, muffins, pasta, deli meat, cheese.
At this point you can also try pairing crackers and other crunchy foods with spreads like jelly, hummus, and cream cheese to maximize exposure to table foods and different textures. Spread right on the cracker or show them how to dip it into a glob on their tray. Then, start giving them these foods first, before the baby food, at a meal and allow them to eat as much as they want or will.
Continue to present a larger variety of table foods slowly and as they eat enough of them give less and less baby food during the meal. There will come a meal when you will say, “I think they ate enough of the toast, eggs, and strawberries. I don’t think they need the baby food.” Once you reach this point, it is okay to dip back into baby foods for a meal here and there, but ultimately you have to take a leap into letting go of the security baby food gives. Keep trying different table and finger foods. If you are looking for finger food inspiration, see my Mega List of Table Foods.
I have been mostly focusing on actual cubed food that babies can easily feed themselves, but as they eat those softer foods and the spreads well, you can start to slowly experiment with mixed textures like soups and casseroles. Again, you will want to keep this slow, maybe starting off with macaroni and cheese, and then moving to spaghetti and meatballs and then chicken noodle soup. The latter has a lot more changes in consistency in one bite of food. You can give baby a couple of pieces on the tray of these types of food, but will probably be mostly feeding by spoon.
The Big Picture: Step by Step Introducing Table Foods to Baby Guide
Let’s sum up everything we’ve talked about in this saying bye bye to baby foods series with a list that you can use a quick guide. Remember to ONLY move onto the next step once your baby is safely and consistently eating the previous step for a few days to a week or so, depending on your comfort level and the time it takes your baby to learn, which varies widely.
- Give baby puffs (this is my favorite brand) as their very first table food. (Follow instructions in part 1)
- Give other food that have a crunch but melt easily, like cheese curls and graham crackers. (See full list in part 1)
- Give soft foods that you’ve cut into a small cube.
- Give soft foods with irregular shapes like scrambled eggs, noodles, and ground meat crumbles.
- Give crunchy foods that don’t melt as quickly like cheerios, toast (add toppings like hummus, avocado, etc.)
- Give mixed foods like casseroles and soups (start off with foods that don’t have a lot of chunks in theme and monitor closely)
Helpful Tips for Babies Learning to Eat Table Foods
- The best way to present most of these foods is in a small cube shape. This will make it easier for them to pick up and control the size of the bites they are eating. Babies will often choke as they are learning to eat, it is normal, but we can minimize risk by giving them smaller pieces until they are ready to manage more.
- Puffs have next to no calories. They are great to use when they are just starting on table foods, but as you pull away from baby food they don’t offer enough to fill their little bellies.
- I am using the word “transition” intentionally. Getting your baby onto table foods is a process that is a little like a dance, taking a few steps forward and then one back. Many parents find this to be a challenging time.
- Hot dogs, grapes, marshmallows, large dollops of nut-butters, nuts, lettuce, popcorn, hard candy are all potential choking hazards. Hot dogs, grapes, and marshmallows can be cut into small pieces. Spread nut-butters thinly on foods. Food larger than a pea could get lodged in the airway.
What to do if Baby Won’t Eat Table Food
Some children have a hard time moving onto table foods. Often these babes were pros at baby food, but turn their noses up and refuse many or all table foods. It is common for this to be related to sensory defensiveness and/or difficulty chewing. Generally speaking, as every child has specific instances and circumstances, it would be helpful to encourage play with food.
If there is sensory defensiveness, this will help break it down. Try bins of dry foods like rice, beans, and birdseed first. As they tolerate this, move onto wet bins such as cooked noodles (Check out Sensory bin ideas and instructions). Depending on the age of your child, this will require close supervision.
Also, try playing with their food during a meal. Take the pressure off of eating and make a game out of those bananas they won’t touch. See Exploring New Foods for more help on this.
Lastly, your baby watches you closely and will be motivated to imitate. Show them how to chew by leaving your mouth open and dramatically chewing for them to see. Be positive about foods they try, even if they refuse or spit it out. Keep presenting it over and over, at least 12 times. And, if your baby allows you to, place small bits of food (at whatever table food stage you are in, see the list above) directly onto their gums, where their molars will be.
Some babies have a very sensitive gag reflex if that’s the case head to What You Need To Know About Baby Gagging, you’ll find tips for how to overcome and when to know if it’s a problem you need help with.
If you continue to struggle with moving forward with this process, consider feeding therapy. If you are in the states you may qualify for free help from Early Intervention.
Do you feel like your ready to tackle table foods?
Still Have Questions? Get the Free Printable!
I totally get that when your baby or toddler isn’t eating table foods it can feel super stressful. That’s why I have the free Learn to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet printable . I’ll send it right to your inbox.
Click here to get your free printable and put those worries to rest.
More on Baby Table Foods
The Best High Calorie Foods for Babies
The Ultimate List of Baby/Toddler Meal Ideas
Ultimate List of Mealtime Must Haves for Baby
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There’s a lot of info in this post, you might want to get to it quickly again later!
My 19month old baby has refused solid or any table food he only eats cereal and milk sometimes eggs. I’m really worried that he might not eat solid and it is affecting his stooling too
Hi Adijat! Thanks for reaching out! Definitely consult with your pediatrician, who may recommend feeding therapy. Since he is comfortable chewing cereal and eggs, it sounds like it could be a sensory thing. Allow him to touch/feel/play with his food and practice feeding himself. You may even try some oral motor exercises that can help strengthen his oral muscles- use a toothbrush to brush inside her mouth, make silly faces, suck on straws, etc. We do have a free table foods workshop that goes more in depth about all of this information. Save your seat here!
Best,
Kalyn
My grandson who just turned 7 years old STILL won’t eat regular foods!!! His Mom cooks him amazing & healthy meals with fish, chicken, all kinds of veggies & seasonings (which takes her hours to prepare). However, if she doesn’t puree it into small pieces, he won’t eat it! She has tried to increase the texture without much success! (I wish we had had articles from you years ago!) He loves macaroni & cheese but she limits that to a weekend meal.
When he was a toddler, he would eat a meal (not solids) & then have projectile vomiting of the whole meal! He was seen once by a Pediatric GI doctor who didn’t help at all. He has been diagnosed with ADHD & mild Autism. He is extremely bright – taught himself to read at age 3, is great at Math, knows all the countries of the world & many other things. But offer him a bite or piece of regular food & he refuses. He does like to chew on things – except food!
Do you have any suggestions? We have tried SO many things!
Hi Sue! Thanks for reaching out! We know how stressful eating issues can be. Due to his age, we definitely recommend consulting with your pediatrician if possible, since they can refer you to a feeding therapist for some hands-on help. Since he’s still stuck on purées, he may need help with chewing/swallowing. In the meantime, practice with some sensory and oral motor exercises by using sensory bins, food play, and allowing him to touch/feel/play with his food. Try using a toothbrush to brush the insides of his mouth before mealtimes. Other oral motor exercises include making silly faces, blowing bubbles, sipping from straws, and licking lollipops/popsicles. These exercises will help strengthen his oral muscles, which are what he uses to chew/swallow his food. Include him in the meal planning/shopping/cooking process- being more involved can help make them feel comfortable enough to try new foods. Here is a blog post with more picky eating tips for older kids. Lastly, since he has ADHD and autism, sensory sensitivities may be at play here. Getting to the root of the sensory issue can help with the picky eating. We have a free workshop that can help with sensory issues- save your seat here!
Best,
Kalyn
What do you do when the baby easily chews goldfish, animal crackers, Nutri grain bats, and other crackers, but refuses all other foods except pouches of baby food? She is even refusing things she used to love, such as bananas. She gags if there is a tiny piece of fruit in yogurt. She is 16 months.
Hi Elaine! Thanks for reaching out! Since she is comfortable chewing crackers and other snacks, it sounds like it could be a sensory thing. And in regards to the yogurt with fruit in it, she may not know how to chew/swallow something that has multiple different textures. Try separating the two and starting with one at a time- for example, offer her yogurt and then separately, offer her small pieces of fruit. Once she has established chewing/swallowing multiple different textures, then you can start combining the two (i.e. fruit mixed with yogurt). Allow her to touch/feel/play with her food and practice feeding herself. You may even try some oral motor exercises that can help strengthen her oral muscles and desensitize her gag reflex- use a toothbrush to brush inside her mouth, make silly faces, suck on straws, etc. We do have a free table foods workshop that goes more in depth about all of this information. Save your seat here!
Best,
Kalyn
How do you move forward from small cubed pieces to larger pieces and then being able to bite off pieces of things? We are stuck on a little larger than pea size pieces.
Hi Brittany! Thanks for reaching out! That would all depend on your child’s age and success with chewing/swallowing that current level of food size/shape/texture. If your child is still stuck on pea-sized pieces, keep practicing until you and your child feel comfortable enough to offer other food sizes/shapes/textures. We have more information inside our free table food workshop, which you can find http://yourkidstable.com/tablefood-workshop!
Best,
Kalyn
Hello and thank you for your helpful guidance and advice. When can I introduce meat other than ground meat, such as fish, beef shreds, chicken? Thank you!
Thank you so much for this advice. I am on my 3rd baby, but my first 2 were SO easy and had no difficulties. But this time I’m working with my preemie baby who was born at 29 weeks and initially needed a gtube. He completely mastered the bottle by 5 months but nothing has been truly easy for him. So this article was so great as it went into so much detail. Right now we are dealing with some gagging issues with the puffs but he does really well with the teething wafers as he can’t just swallow it like he does with the puffs. This article really helped give me some perspective and made me more comfortable with where he is right now at 1 year old, corrected age 9 months.
Hi Debby!
Thank you so much for reaching out and sharing this with us! It sounds like your son has come a long way and is making such great progress! I’m so glad our blog post gave you more insight and comfort. If you’re interested in more tips, you may also benefit from our free table food workshop, where we cover issues such as gagging. Click here to save your seat!
Best,
Kalyn
Thanks so much for this helpful article! I love your website. How long should I be giving my baby food that is no larger than pea size? He is 10 months old and seems to do well with pea sized pieces but I am worried about choking. Also, when serving crackers, should I also be breaking these up the size of a pea?
Thanks so much!
Anna
Help, my great grandson wants me or whoever is feeding him to give it too him.I’ve tried putting scramble eggs on tray, he will touch them but will not put any food in his mouth. He just wants you to do it.
Hey Jan,
Thanks for reaching out! HERE is an article with lots of great suggestions to get him to start feeding himself. I hope it helps! Reach out with any questions 🙂
Best,
Andrea
PLEASE HELP! My son will be a year old May 14th. He is not eating even puffs yet & that is a regular offering trying to get him started with chewing. I’m not sure if the fact that he had severe tongue-tie at birth could be a contributor? It was corrected at 2-3 months old. He has no real interest in table food whatsoever and will not even attempt a sippy cup. However, if his dad sits down with any ice cream or sweets, he is more than willing to eat (just a tiny bite or so is offered by dad and it’s not every day 😅). I am concerned at this point as so many people have made the comment ‘my kids were eating just about everything at 9 months old’. His pediatrician said not to worry, that some babies don’t grasp chewing until the one year mark. But I’m reading all these articles and comments and seems to be more leaning towards he’s delayed than it being normal. Not sure if any of this matters, he’s my first and I’m 30 😅, but I was induced at 42 weeks, labor for 4 days, his head was in the canal for an extended period and he was born with a cone shaped head, later diagnosed with brachycephaly and in a band, physical therapy for torticollis and we are just now out of a 2-4 appointments a week schedule since December. Any advice would be more than appreciated!
Hey Amanda,
We understand how hard this transition to table food can be. The first step I’d work on would be playing/touching with the food with no expectations of eating it. I’d model for him placing the puffs in your mouth as well. Touching is the first step to eating and can be really helpful. We do also have a free workshop that helps walk you through helpful hints and strategies for transitioning to table foods. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
My one year old will not eat any solid foods whatsoever. He was eating baby purées and cereal from about 4 months to maybe 7months then stopped when teething started. We’ve started OT but the therapist seems stumped. We let him play with food, chew teething rings, play with spoons with food on them, but we aren’t seeing any progress at all and it’s worrisome. Is there something else we should be doing or is it just one of those things that we have to wait on?
Hey Laurel,
Teething can be a huge factor in a child eating. However with them being a year old, you do want to make sure you are doing everything to help them along. We have a free workshop that will walk you through some strategies and things to be looking for to help you along. You can save your seat here
Best,
Desiree
Hi! I, like many of these parents, need help! My daughter is just about 1 year old, has no teeth yet and does not want any table food! She will only eat baby food 3 times a day (she loves veggies and fruits) and her formula milk. But if I give her anything with texture she frowns up and either knocks it off her tray, out of my hand or gives it to her dog to eat. I’ve even tried to purée fresh fruit like bananas and she gags like it’s the nastiest thing she’s ever tasted in the world yet the baby food bananas she gobbles up (definitely a texture issue) I’ve let her play with food before but she just doesn’t seem interested in chewing the food. We feed her at meal times when we eat so she can observe and she always looks interested and grabs for our plates but when we offer her table food she then looks repulsed at it. Could some of this be because she doesn’t have teeth yet? What foods are ok to give her at 1, even though she is still toothless? Thank you!!
Hey Melissa,
So glad you reached out! No need to worry about her not having any teeth, babies jaws are strong enough to chew foods and no teeth are required for them to make the transition to table foods. I’d start off with offering the meltable foods, as these are the easiest to chew/swallow and the first step after pureed foods. These are things such as puffs. We do have a free workshop that walks you through these things and others that you can start to work on to make the transition to table foods. You can save your seat here
Best,
Desiree
My 18 month old can eat snacks like crackers and veggie sticks and Cheetos. He let’s the sitter feed him baby food but he just recently stopped letting my and my wife feed him. When we try to feed him he automatically takes his hand amd pushes the food away without even trying. He was a good eater until recently. Any suggestions. We are trying different meals with no luck. My wife did get him to eat about 10 pieces of macaroni by hand but that was a one stop deal. Any suggestions.
Hey Lee,
Thanks for reaching out! I’d think about a couple things! 1. is if he is feeling any kind of pressure to eat, this can be huge, so trying to let go of the pressure even stating things like “Just take a bite” can be pressure. 2. try modeling eating and letting him try to feed himself/touch and engage with the foods. Touching is the first step to eating, so this can be helpful as well. If you haven’t yet seen our free workshop, it is helpful in how to remove all pressure and work towards increasing eating. You can save your seat here
Best,
Desiree
Hi! I also need help! My daughter is 14 months old and won’t eat most protein. She eats some table food at least 1-2 times a day, and at dinner I still give her homemade baby food after table food. She was very good with the purées i made for her that had meat puréed into them but screams if I give her pieces of meat. She is able to chew, she eats spaghetti, rice, steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, toast with cream cheese, banana, arrowroot cookies. We’ve tried pieces of chicken, tuna that’s in water in a tin, eggs (we’ve tried scrambled many times since 7/8 months and refuses) she will chew on the scrambled eggs and move it around in her mouth then spit it out. I manage to get her to eat eggs sometimes as egg bread. I’m not quite sure if it’s the taste or texture that she doesn’t like. I also find with table food she’ll too much in her mouth, chew and then spit out… I’m not sure what to do…I’m concerned that I’ve let her eat baby food for too long especially that she’s now at the age of I put something in front of her she doesn’t want she’s not really curious she just screams. Please help!
Hi! I also need help! My daughter is 14 months old and won’t eat most protein. She eats some table food at least 1-2 times a day, and at dinner I still give her homemade baby food after table food. She was very good with the purées i made for her that had meat puréed into them but screams if I give her pieces of meat. She is able to chew, she eats spaghetti, rice, steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, cucumber sticks, toast with cream cheese, banana, arrowroot cookies. We’ve tried pieces of chicken, tuna that’s in water in a tin, eggs (we’ve tried scrambled many times since 7/8 months and refuses) she will chew on the scrambled eggs and move it around in her mouth then spit it out. I manage to get her to eat eggs sometimes as egg bread. I’m not quite sure if it’s the taste or texture that she doesn’t like. I also find with table food she’ll too much in her mouth, chew and then spit out… I’m not sure what to do…I’m concerned that I’ve let her eat baby food for too long especially that she’s now at the age of I put something in front of her she doesn’t want she’s not really curious she just screams. Please help!
Hey Alexandra,
We understand how hard this can be. I’d try to offer the protein in small pieces to see how she does, but trying to just have in on her tray so that she can engage with it, touch and play with it. The first step to them eating is touching, so I’d work on that side of things first. As for putting a lot of food in her mouth, you can check out this article
Best,
Desiree
Hello! My almost 23month old has been only breastfed as he refused to eat or drink anything else. He recently just started opening his mouth for me to put pureed food in but he doesn’t swallow. He keeps storing the food and then spits it out. I’ve tried demonstrating how to swallow and chew severally but he just stores the food and starts drooling because he doesn’t want to swallow. How else can I teach him or encourage him to swallow?
Hi there!
It sounds like he might have what we call “low registration” of his oral sensory input. Have you read our article on food Pocketing? It may give you some insight in how to help with swallowing.
Best,
Laura
Your Kid’s Table OT
For the dry sensory bins, how do you make sure they won’t put dried rice, pasta, etc, in their mouths and choke on them?
Hey Bethany,
For any items you are worried about this, I’d make sure to have close supervision on them. You can use smaller items as well that are unable to choke on. Also, using bins that are edible can be helpful!
Best,
Desiree
Our son is nearly 14 months (was 2 months premature) now and the doctor got after us at his 12 month checkup for not being on more table food yet. He will eat a good variety, especially if its finger food, but just not at meal times. Can offer him just about anything and he’ll eat at least one bite, often more, so long as he’s not settled for a meal. He only wants his puffs then the pureed baby foods, even if he’s had what were offering before and liked it. How can we teach him those snacks are also meal foods?
Hey Lindsay,
Thanks for reaching out! I’d try to look at your scheduling of meals/snacks as sometimes even a couple pices of food before a meal can hinder their appetite. You can check out feeding schedules HERE
Best,
Desiree
I can feed him any snack while he’s standing in his playpen. Pineapple is one of his favorite things, but at the table for a meal he refuses it because it’s not baby food. I can feed as much baby food as I want and he’ll eat it, but if we do a no baby food meal he’ll refuse everything. But I can strip off the bib and put him in the playpen and he’ll gobble it up. How can I change this place association?
Hey Lindsay,
I’d look at his seating to make sure it’s a good fit for him and we have an article that will help look at that, you can find it HERE Also, I’d try to offer those foods at the table with no pressure for him to eat. See if you can get him to engage in the foods with play/touching and removing all pressure. This can be super helpful!
Best,
Desiree
Thanks! We’re trying no pressure meals, but it can get mighty frustrating when he won’t touch anything that he gobbled up the day before in the playpen. We’ll look at his seat too, he is growing mighty quickly and it may be getting too small now.
Hey Lindsay,
Yes, it can get frustrating at that age, but taking away that pressure he will get the hang of it!! Glad you are looking into seating as well 🙂
Best,
Desiree
Hi! I have a 10month old and she used eat EVERYTHING ok. Whether spoon feeding or eats alone for snack. Then she suddenly became finicky. She now became choosy with her food. And when i spoon feed her she wouldn’t take it either. Everytimw she sees me with a spoon about to feed her she just moves her head left or right. What do i do?
Hey Jen,
Sorry you are having trouble with feeding. I’d try to provide your daughter with a spoon in play and during meals to see if she will engage with any of the food. As well as providing opportunity for her to touch and play in the pureed foods! We do have a free workshop full of great information for helping them to eat. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi! My baby boy he is going to turn 1 year old in two weeks. I am really concern not sure about if he is doing ok but when he needs to eat he is fine grabbing a small pear without me pealing it and he can eat it ok. Also the puff snacks, toast bread, bagels with cream cheese but I can’t give him pasta, or a flour tortilla with cheese because he is like what is this !? And he won’t eat it. Is it something I can do to help him to eat all variety of table food !? He now walks and try’s to talk. Make animals sounds when reading a book.
I am really stressing out and concern not sure if he is ok with eating a mix of thickness purée food and a little bit of table food.
Hey Linda,
So glad you reached out! Sounds like he is doing some good chewing and manipulating of some table foods which is great. I’d try to see if he will touch some of the other foods such as pasta in a play environment (as touching is the first step in eating) to get him comfortable with this type of texture. Playing and touching can help move him forward with the eating. If you’re not signed up we are currently having our free picky eating video series where you will learn some great steps to help kids with eating! You can save your spot HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi there,
My daughter is 10 months old. We started BLW when she was 6 months. Took her couple of months to get the hang of it and figure out how to swallow. She did it and things were going great until teething started 😔 she’s got two teeth on the bottom and one at the top that’s cut through. For the past month and half she’s been eating very little table food. She knows how to put the food in her mouth and chew and it seems like the foods she used to love (broccoli) she now hates. She eats a few bites and then doesn’t want to eat anymore.
I’m trying not to stress but it’s easier said than done. Not sure what to do or if I’m overreacting. I offer her food about an hour or so after she’s had formula. Sometimes I put the food to her mouth and she’ll take it ( sometimes) but that isn’t a habit I want to get into or continue.
Any advice would be so appreciated. Thanks so much:)
Hey Sabrina,
We know how hard and stressful this time can be! Teething can cause kids to decrease their eating, etc. I’d make sure she is comfortable on her gums and give her something cold prior to eating to see if that helps. Also, making sure that she has plenty of opportunity to play with all the foods can be extremely helpful as well! You can provide these opportunities outside of mealtimes!
Best,
Desiree
Hi, I have a 7 month old. He used to eat baby food fine then all of a sudden he doesn’t want to eat it anymore. I do see him reaching for the foods we eat. What can I do to help him eating again?
Hey Clara,
So glad you reached out! I’d make sure to continue offering the baby food with allowing them to touch/interact with it. I’d also start offering some other meltable foods to see how he does with those in his mouth. We have a free workshop that will take you through all of this in more detail, I think you’ll learn a lot! You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
My baby is 10 months old and she just isn’t chewing. She acts like she’s chewing. Moves food to the side of her mouth with her tongue, munches up and down then swallows her food whole. She will only eat about 20 pieces of food then she’s over it because I think it’s hurting her throat to swallow stuff whole. We started with puffs and bambas but she crunches those with her front teeth then sucks on them until they dissolve 🤦♀️. Do you have any tips on how to get her to actually chew! She also picked up drinking from a straw and 360 cup right away at 6 months. Thanks for any advice
Hey Kelly,
I get how hard this can be! So glad you little one is drinking from a straw cup, that is great! As for chewing, I’d work on her biting down on some chewy toys/teethers. This can help get the motion down and build up strength. We do have a lot of other tips for chewing in this Article Here
Hope that helps!
Best,
Desiree
My thirteen month old was eating table food fine- scrambled eggs, pasta, rice, lunch meat, etc, then about two weeks ago he won’t eat any adult foods that he used to! He makes faces and spits them out, then refuses. He’ll eat baby food and “snacks” (puffs, baby biscuits, yogurt drops, etc) but none of the adult food he used to eat. He does have about 5 molars coming in, could he be stressed about chewing or something? Or possibly just wanted the comfort of pureed food?
Hey Bethany,
Thanks for reaching out. Teething can have a lot to do with it, especially with molars it can be sore and they do not want to chew. I’d make sure to keep offering the foods he was eating with some of the more “comfort” foods, during the teething phase and see how he does after. You can also try to provide some cold teethers prior to eating as this can help with pain.
Best,
Desiree
Hey! So my daughter is 19 months old. My husband is a stay at home dad, and for meals he finds it easier to just feed her pureed baby food. She eats it like a champ, and gets lots of fruit and veggies. But when I get home, I try and feed her what I’m eating or at least ginger foods, but she’s incredibly picky! Is it ok she’s still getting 75% baby food still? I know she’s not hungry… I just wasn’t sure if it was preventing her from wanting to try new foods. Thanks!
Hey Andrea,
So glad you are reaching out! Sounds like you are doing a great job at trying to offer her what is on your plate to give her some variety. At this stage I would be trying to move past purees and get her eating some table foods. There could be a number of reasons that she is showing you that she is “picky”. I’d watch our free workshop as it will give you tips on what foods to try first from purees and what to do if they are not accepting of them and moving forward. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi there I am a first time mom and just got done reading both parts of this article. I am one of those nervous freaks that is too scared to try finger foods. When I started my 6 month old on baby foods, she would gag (normal) but wouldn’t want to continue. So I stopped forcing her because I didn’t want to create a negative association. I gave it another month and tried again. She got more interested but has never eaten a lot of baby food at all. She would eat a few bites and be done. I think she ate half a jar once or twice. I’m feeding her stage 2 baby food and she handles it fine if she eats it. Now that she is almost 9 months old she is refusing baby food. She turns her face away when I offer and grabs the spoon to chew on it. She is imitating us more when we eat and is grabbing for our food.
I know she wants to eat finger foods. She probably would have benefited from baby led weaning but I’m too much of a chicken.
If I gave her a puff, there’s no way she would choke on it right? I’m absolutely terrified but I don’t want to fail her. And if she were to choke on a puff or a cracker, if I hit her on the back a few times, will it dislodge? I’m sorry I sound crazy. I just don’t have help and I want to move on from the baby food and let her enjoy eating.
Everyone keeps telling me to let her have cheerios but I’m too scared. 🤦♀️
Hey Ashley,
We understand how scary this can be for parents! You are doing a great job at reading cues from your daughter. I wouldn’t start with cheerio’s as these to have a coating on them so that they do not dissolve easily (designed to not get soggy in milk) but starting with a puff is exactly where I would go. You can even break it in half to make it smaller for you to feel more secure! I’d also try it out for yourself so you can see how quickly they dissolve 🙂 We do have a free workshop that talks about this and transitioning to foods and what comes next. It might be good to help ease your mind and get you on the right track! You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi Alisha! I am sooo happy to have found your blog, as it’s helping me transition my 9 month old to finger foods slowly. It also confirmed that I was doing some steps right (like thickening purees with baby cereal). We are now on step 2 – crackers, teething wafers etc.
I have two questions for you:
1. Do I give her the whole cracker/mum-mum/cheese puff and let her chew off little pieces, or do I cut it up into bite-size pieces? I already gave her a whole thing once and she was doing great, but not sure if I missed something and I should’ve cut it up.
2. How big/small should pieces be? 1 cm, 1.5 cm, 0.5 cm? Approximately of course!
Thank you in advance!
Hey Amna,
So happy that you are finding this article helpful and are slowly making the transition. If your child did great with holding the cracker then I’d continue with that. It’s great for them to learn to bite and move the food around. Keep up the great work!
Best,
Desiree
My now 18 month old still refuses to eat any kind of table food. Me and my husband have tried everything we know to try and he will not eat it. All he wants is baby oatmeal and milk. He had his 18 month checkup yesterday and his doctor made it very clear that he should be eating table food by now but I’m not sure what else I can do to get him to eat. Does anyone know any tips on how I might can get him to start eating table food?
Hey Jennifer,
We understand how hard this transition can be. I’d start to be trying to see if you can get your son to play with the foods outside of mealtimes to see if he will engage with the foods (this is the first step in eating). We do have a free workshop that helps walk you through this as well you can save your seat HERE.
Best,
Desiree
Hi,
My son just turned 10 months. He is doing great with the crackers, teething crackers, and puffs. We have him banana and he is going good. Introduced him to a blueberry and Mandarin orange (both cut in quarters) and he was gagging and threw up. Am I doing something wrong? Do I just keep offering? Thanks!!!
Hey Cassandra,
I’d try more foods that are soft and easy to chew without much effort like banana ie: muffins, avocado, cooked potatoes, etc. The blueberries can be harder to locate and chew in the mouth due to shape and texture. We do have a free workshop that can help walk you through this transition. You can save your seat HERE
Best,
Desiree
Hi
I have a 15 month old who likes crunchy snacks and pureed baby food. When given table food like chicken, cooked veggies, fruit or noodles she makes faces when touching them. She will sort them off on the tray or throw pieces on the floor. If I try to put a piece in with her baby food she spits out or if she does eventually swallow it, she will stick her finger in her mouth to try to gag it up.
We are also battling introducing a sippy cup so we are behind in the eating department.
Hey Megan,
We understand how hard this can be! I’d walk through the steps in the article for what foods to introduce next to work your way up to harder foods to eat. I’d leave the chunks separate from the baby food, as this can be hard for a baby to distinguish to be able to chew. We recommend straw cups for kids. If they are having trouble learning how to drink from a straw you can learn about it HERE
Best,
Desiree
I am so sad I did not find your blog earlier! I feel like I have very much failed at teaching my 11.5 month son to eat. I’m currently overwhelmed with the transitions I’m attempting: weaning from breastfeeding and trying to get him to eat table foods. He is still eating just baby food. He gags and shudders with a lot of different textures and then when he is hungry I think he is too impatient to bother with having to feed himself and chew. The times he has been interested in table foods is when he can eat off of my plate, he ate some veggies, cheese, and pizza crust the other night after eating all of his baby food. The last couple of weeks I’ve been attempting to give him bits of my food if he is acting interested, and today I made a point of sitting him on my lap during lunch with the hope he would also eat table foods, and he did for a while eating noodles, ground hamburger and cooked veggies, eating off my fork and even feeding himself with his hands (something he has refused to do) but soon he was throwing food on the floor and thrashing around if I tried to bring something to his mouth. After he calmed down I brought out some baby food and he got all excited and allowed me to feed him that with no problems. If I put anything on his tray that isn’t in a baby food container he’ll throw it on the floor and go on strike until I give in and give him baby food. He has mastered puffs, but still chokes and gags on more difficult to dissolve things like chips and crackers. I haven’t tried it recently, but he has thrown up mashed bananas multiple times after gagging on them. The last three times I’ve made him scrambled eggs, which was probably 2 weeks ago, he’s gagged to the point of throwing up as well. I have kept putting off giving him table foods because I thought he just needed more time for his very sensitive gag reflex to be desensitized, but now I’m even more worried since he is almost 1 that I’ve messed up his self-feeding and ability to eat table foods.
After reading your blog, I am going to work on thickening his baby foods with cereals and trying to give him some table foods at each meal. Is there anything else you would suggest I do?
Sorry for the long post, I appreciate all that you do to help others. Thank you!!
Hey Jessica,
First off, you have NOT failed! I know how hard this transition can be! I’d recommend continuing to offer foods that he can touch and play in (you can even do this outside of mealtimes) as getting them touching the foods is the first step in eating! We do also have a free workshop that discusses other activities to do in transitioning from purees to table foods. You can save your seat here
Best,
Desiree
Oh wow, this is my exact struggle to this day and my daughter is turning 1 in a week! How is it going now and how were you able to make the transition?
Thanks so much for this. Its really very informative. I am very late to this. My son who is now 3 years old eats only pureed food. He used to eat table food but very rarely. Last time he ate was about 7 months ago. I continued on purees. I didn’t offer sufficient amount of table foods during whole time. Now he refuses to take any food except his pureed food into mouth. Tried forcefully but he removes everything. Not sure what to do. Developmentally no issues. He’s growing well and speaks a lot.
Any suggestions?
We totally get it, this transition can be hard, but it is good you are looking into ways to help! I’d suggest trying some play with food outside of mealtimes for your son to get used to touching new foods, as this is the first step to eating. We have a free workshop that would be great to provide you with some more tips and tricks that can be helpful for you!
Save your seat here: yourkidstable.com/free
I’m so sad and I feel like I have completely failed at teaching my son how to eat. I found your blog when we started solids around 5-6 months and we just cannot get off of baby foods. We cannot move past dry crunchy foods. He is one now and won’t even it typical baby favorites (bananas, avacado, etc). I don’t see any red flags sensory wise, although I am not an expert, and I asked for a feeding eval at his most recent checkup. His pediatrician recommended only serving table foods and stopping purees cold turkey And giving that until 15 months of age before an eval. I know from reading just about every one of your posts that’s not in my son’s best interest. I don’t know what to do between now and September when we could get an evaluation. I don’t know what I’m expecting to come from this given that I have read and implemented so many of your feeding precepts already. But it feels like nobody cares that my son only wants baby food except me. If you have any insight I may not have already seen here (or on feeding bytes or CanDo Kiddo) it would be much appreciated. Should I just keep offering a variety of table foods and “supplementing” with Purees until his pediatrician will refer us to therapy? I am so lost and feel so alone.
YOU HAVE NOT FAILED!!! You are looking for resources and figuring all of this out! I am so glad that you found our blog and have been following along, that is GREAT 🙂
I am glad that your son is accepting of the crunchy “meltable” foods as this is a great start. Even though you do not see any sensory red flags, it still may be helpful for you to complete sensory bins and play with a variety of foods so that he can touch and experience these foods before eating them (No pressure environment).
You’re right, we do not believe in the wait and see approach. If you are in the US, you may want to look into Early Intervention Services. They vary from state to state but do address feeding. This referral comes from the parents directly, you can just request an evaluation. We do have a post with more information here: yourkidstable.com/help-for-infants-and-toddlers-early/
Also, keeping that communication open with your pediatrician that you are not comfortable waiting may be helpful as well!
Keep us posted and let me know if we can help in any other way!
Hi Alisha! This is such a great blog. My 12.5 mo is doing great transitioning to solid foods so far – she eats small pea sized bites of soft veggies, avocado, banana, grated cheese and shredded or small diced meat. When will she be ready to bite off something and get the right size amount in her mouth to chew and swallow – I’m wondering specifically about breads and crackers. When you say t introduce crackers (graham or Town House) do you mean breaking them up into small pea-sized amounts? If so, how do you spread things on them? Thank you!
I spread first a thin layer and then cut it, a lot will turn into crumbs, but the pieces about a pea size and a little bigger I put on the tray. I’ll also help them pick it up if they need it!
Thanks Alisha! I’ve been spreading hummus on bread and cutting it up a lot.
Just curious for the future, at what point will I know she’s able to pick up a larger piece and take a bite off of it?
I usually test a strip of toast or bread and help them the first few times with close monitoring. I don’t try this until I can see they’re chewing well though.
Hi Alisha!
Looking for help for my 1 year old. She did so well with purée food and eating in her high chair, even ate probiotic oatmeal every day! Around 10-11 months starting getting fussier and fussier in her high chair and all out refused the spoon coming at her despite my best attempts and even letting her hold the spoon. She was started on Gerber Puffs around 8-9months and did well…we slowly started working different things into rotation, but sometimes she will eat 1 bite of table food, sometimes she will eat 10! One day she will eat something, the next she won’t. We usually have about 5-10 minutes in the high chair before she starts slamming her tray and swiping things off in an all out tantrum! What do I do?! I’m also nervous about weaning weaning formula because there are some days I feel she eats nothing at all!
This is tough for sure, you might want to look into early intervention, just to make sure nothing else is going on, but one thing I’d check in on is your schedule. Do you think she’s hungry? If she’s having milk right before she might not be.
I’d also check out this post on why babies don’t eat, does anything resonate with you? You’ll find some tips on how to handle the different causes there:)
Hi and thank you (thank you thank you) for all the useful information
My son is 19 months old and is currently “transitioning” from purees. However, on occasion, when he is eating his pureed lunch (which consists of vegetables and meat), if it is not completely pureed and he finds a piece of food like carrot etc in it he starts gagging. So I have to be very careful with pureeing the food. How will he ever be able to eat a dish that contains different consistencies (like the chicken noodle soup you mention, or even yogurt with fruit pieces etc.)?
Looking forward to your insight
Yes, stage 3 foods that have pieces in them are actually more difficult because they have to sort through the little pieces. He needs to learn to eat other foods before he’s managing the pieces well, if that makes sense!
Thank you Alisha!
Hi! My son has just turned 11 months old, his is typically developing and loves to play in his food. He used to eat all kinds of baby food but since transitioning him to table food he has become very picky. He will only eat soft breads like pancakes, french toast or waffles. He will eat any fruit, PBJ sandwiches, and some potatoes. Im having a difficult time getting him to eat any vegetable or any meat. I am feeding him table food for Breakfast and lunch and stage 3 baby food for dinner. I feel like he is beginning his life with poor eating habits! Do you have any suggestions on how to transition him to a wider variety of foods like meats?
This is actually more common than you think, although frustrating. I have this recipe on eating veggies and this one on eating meats that I think will be really helpful!
Thanks so much for the info! It’s very clear and practical amongst a sea of information on the internet about babies and feeding. I’m just wondering, when you say to cut soft foods into small cubes, about what size is this? A cube small enough for them to put into their mouth all at once, or big enough that they can’t put it all in their mouth and have to take bites out of it? It’s probably obvious but I’ve been a little confused. I have an 8 month old who skipped the baby food stage completely. He’ll take pureed food really well every now and then but much prefers the texture. Thank you in advance!
You want the cube to be cut small enough to fit into their mouth at one time. This will also help lower the risk that the would choke on the food too.
Thank you for your post. My son is 9.5 months old. Since one month or so he eats very well. A couple of weeks ago I started to give him some table food and he manages it very well (although he has still no teeths!). I gave him bread, lentils burgers, little meatballs, polenta sticks, some steamed vegetables. He still struggle with fruits, so I put tiny pieces of fruits directly in his mouths.
My question is the following. Usually we give him pureed food at lunch and table food at dinner; at breakfast sometimes purees sometimes bread. When I am at work, he is with his grandmother, and she gives him only pureed food (I don’t feel comfortable with her giving my son table food, as he’s beginning with it). I wonder if he could feel confused, as sometimes food is pureed and spoon fed, sometimes there are pieces… I’d like to get rid of pureed food by 12 months.
I also struggle to give him proteins, carbs, vegetable each meal. For example, at dinner, how could I give him meat or fish? He’s still improving his pincer grasp and I don’t feel comfortable to give him meat without teeth. Any suggestion?
Is it bad to help him feeding himself? I mean, putting tiny pieces of food in his mouth if he isn’t able to grasp them.
Thank you in advance
It’s absolutely fine to help him feed himself, and at his age, I don’t think he’ll be confused. You could include purees with meat, but don’t have to yet. You want to be working towards meals that include all three food groups. Keep in mind, babies don’t need teeth to eat, of course not a steak, but tender pot roast – once he’s chewing a variety of foods is totally appropriate! You’re on track! Good job!!
Thank you very much for your kind reply. I have the impression that he prefers pureed food, because it’s easier to eat. In the last few days he has refused to eat breakfast, as I have only offered him finger food. I was wondering if he was already full or still sick (he was sick last week), but today, after having offered him soft homemade oat cakes with no success, I have offered him cream cereal for breakfast and he has eaten it without any objection. The transition won’t be as easy as I tought.
Hi and thank you for this helpful information. My son is 11 months old. He is interested in eating from 6 months, and I startedbwith BLW as with my daughter even but I’ve offered him babyfood occasionally. But even though he loves to put things in his mouth (food, papper, toys) and he chew on veggies, baby biscuits and ect., he never swallow. He takes a bite, chews and spits. If something goes to his throat most of the times he gags. He eats breastmilk mainly. Unfortunately in my country we don’t have food evaluation and such. I took him to speech therapist but he hasn’t found the problem yet. We decided to reduce the times that I breastfeed him in order to keep him a bit hungry but it didn’t work so next thing was to start all over with stage 1 babyfood but he doesn’t want to try it. He spits all types of puree. I’m trying to understand whether is something sensory or gagging problem but can’t figure it out. I would be grateful if you share your thoughts.
Hi Vanya, it’s hard to say exactly what’s going on, but something sounds like it is… my guess would be sensory. Did you see in this article about using a toothbrush, I’d definitely start with that. Swallowing is a skill in an of it self. I like to offer a drink before they spit out- if that makes sense!
Did you see the free printable in this post, I think it will be helpful.
Hi, I started with the toothbrush a while ago, and now I’m trying to offer water. But meanwhile we have a breakthrough: one day after he has refhsed his babyfood again I started to eat my lunch (fish soup) in front of him and he ate a couple of veggies with the liquid. That’s how I discovered that he likes to have pieces in liquid in his food. So I started from that. And now he’s better with swallowing. He eats tablefood and is getting better and better in chewing and swallowing hard pieces (a few days ago ate a little apple). Still doesn’t like puree and mashed textures though. Your blog was really helpfull for me. And I would like to thank you again. Best regards!
That’s so great Vanya! I’m glad you are starting to see improvements!
Hi,I am a first time mom of 18 month old boy.He achieves his all milestone a little late.He started walking at when he was 15 month old.The main issue is that he never never put any thing in his mouth himself even his teether or toys..He never hold his feeder or sippy cup.He does not eat himself any thing.He is a good eater and eat everything but by my hand.I try everyday to put puffs,fruits ,crackers in his tray but he only play with them,crush them with his fingers and then throw everything. What do you think?Is it some medical issue?.My mom says that he will learn eventually but i am worried.Any advise would be appriciated.
Some kids will do this and it could be for a sensory reason or that they simply haven’t made the connection. As you read in the post I’d strongly encourage you to get some teethers in his mouth. I also have a post on teaching to self-feed, I’d check that out too. Pay close attention to getting him to play in a puree and bringing it to his mouth! It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a feeding eval done though, too. See the link in the post for that:)
Hi Alisha – I have a 15 month old who still eats pureed food. She will eat a bit or two of the table food or the puffs that melts in the mouth and then throw everything away. I tried giving her toast with Peanut butter and banana circles today . Please advise how i can move my baby to eat normal food.
Hi
Thanks so much for your blog. I have a 10 1/2 month old girl with a super strong gag reflex. We are now onto beginning stages of finger foods. She will only eat happy baby yogis broken in half or puffs. She won’t let me spoon feed her anymore and I don’t think she’s getting enough to eat. I try different food at each meal. I let her play with the food. I am positive and encouraging. She still has 24 oz of formula daily. Any advice or just keep trying?
Thanks again,
Katie
Absolutely, keep trying! Follow the steps in this article and I’d consider looking into feeding therapy- especially early intervention, you’ll see the links above. Right now her main source of nutrition is formula so you’ve got some wiggle room until she turns 12 months:)
Hi Alisha,
Thanks so much for putting together this website! We are trying to advance my 20 month old daughter to table foods. She has had reflux from birth and did not start having any solids until after her first birthday. When we tried to advance her to finger foods, we noticed she was just swallowing everything we gave her (sometimes she choked and threw up and we saw the pieces of food were the same size that we gave her). Then she just started keeping everything in her mouth in her cheek and wouldn’t swallow. Now we have her back on purees again. I saw your post on how to advance babies to table foods and since a week ago have been offering her puffs with her purees. She picks them up herself and puts them in her mouth. However, I don’t think she is chewing them. She moves it around in her mouth and just waits for it to melt and then swallows. It has been a week and she has not gagged or choked on them but she doesn’t seem to be chewing them either. So based on this, should I try to advance her to step 2 or wait longer?
Thanks so much for your help!
Hi Gia,
I’m just getting to this, so you may have already advanced- which may be fine. If it were me though I’d try to put those crunchy meltable foods on her teeth for her for some bites and be dramatically demonstrating. Some kids will work around not chewing but it may make it difficult for them to explore other textures:)
Hi Alisha – first off, thanks so much for the information on transitioning to table food – this has been the most informative blog I have read so far.
Our son is 8 1/2 months old, and has been on the stage 2 and 3 Gerber food for some time. He has recently shown a lot of interest in our plates and has been eating puffs like they’re going out of style 😉
We are very interested in helping him make a safe transition to table foods, as he is very eager to feed himself, but we have a few questions.
With each of the pureed foods we introduced, we were instructed to keep a few days to a week before introducing the next pureed substance to screen for food allergies. We’ve been blessed, and not found any issues thus far, however we were a little unsure if the same process holds true for table food (waiting between each new food), as table foods tend to have more ingredients, and obviously he hasn’t been introduced to EVERY food in the pureed form.
Any light you could shed on this would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
Thank you for your kind words! I’d say to go with your comfort zone, I’m sure some doctors recommend the wait and see for three days. And, since you’ve followed it so closely, it might be good to continue, especially the first time you introduce gluten, dairy, etc.
Hi Alisha, Thanks so much for the time you take responding to us all here. I was starting to feel very alone on this issue! My daughter is nearly 14 months and still on baby food. Between 8 – 11 months she was very ill with numerous bouts of brochiolitis and pneumonia. In dealing with all of that, we totally missed the transition. We initially tried with some puffs, then teething biscuits, but after her gagging I got too frightened and we went back to puree. Last night I cut up a tiny amount of tomato and gave it to her on a spoon, she gagged then vomited. She didnt seem to chew it at all! I have now found your precious advice and we will try to follow. I was just wondering if, given her age, there are any further steps we should follow or modify? Will it now be more difficult for her? She is able to eat the baby food with lumps but always coughs when using a sippy cup. Also, we live in Switzerland and so I was wondering how to choose suitable equivalent puffs/ teethers as we dont get Gerbers or any of the others here. Thanks so much. I wish pediatricians would give more info on this!
Hi Alisha,
I stumbled across your blog a couple weeks ago and am so glad I did. Thank you for sharing all the wonderful information. My little guy is 10 months old. He’s been eating baby food since about 6.5 months and we started him on puffs and yogurt melts around 8 months. He loves his puffs and yogurt melts and has no problems eating those. Over the last month we’ve been giving him some other table food – noodles, cheerios, eggs, ground turkey – and he’s struggling with it. We give him small pieces and he is able to chew everything up, but then he tends to hold the food in his mouth, and when he finally swallows (if he does at all) there’s usually coughing and gagging. I’m guessing we just need to keep at it, offering small pieces at each meal and not putting too much pressure on him to eat what he’s not ready for. When he’s ready, it will just happen. I just worry he’s progressing with it too slowly. If you have any other tips, please let me know!
Hi Sarah, he may very well work this out, but you definitely want to keep your eye on it. I’d focus on expanding more crunchy foods too, try the graham crackers, town house crackers, teething wafers (link in the post), etc. Give him some of these crunchy foods at each meal. When you do give soft foods focus on the cube shaped first and see if it improves then move onto the irregular shapes! Let me know how it goes
Hi there! I have a 15 month old who is a really really bad eater! (No exaggeration, he really is) He’s been like this since birth. Lack of interest in nursing (used to nurse for a couple minutes and done) or bottle (Getting 2-3 oz done is considered success). We thought it will get better once solids come in by 6 mos; didn’t change a thing. Every spoon of baby food that goes in takes work (distract with toy, singing, iPad). We introduced table food (puffs etc.) a little bit here and there, but he showed zero interest. At 11mo, our ped said we need to take his transition to table food seriously and put us on an exercise of – 1)Stop pureeing food completely, 2) Let him self-feed only. He went 4 full days with zero food (but 12 oz whole milk per day) and then started learning the whole chewing, swallowing thing slowly after that. So, there definitely was progress out of this exercise, but we couldn’t have continued with the zero food situation longer than a week and i got back to giving him pureed food. This time, i started making it chunkier (mixed texture) and he seemed to take it no different than that smooth puree. Currently, at 15 mos, our eating routing is – first, i let him eat his table food by himself and then i feed him the textured puree after he is done. My problem is – he is eating little to none of the table food i offer (i consistently offer it still hoping one day he will change) and thus i end up feeding him the puree. There are 2 things in the table food category he likes – Eggs (eats the full egg) and small berries (5-15 depending on hunger). I am worried how can i continue with such a small variety (not to mention the little quantity). I really cant wait to be done with pureeing/mashing. Please help!
Oh and we have already started our early intervention thing, it takes some time and we are in the process.
So glad you’re in EI, that’s perfect! Will he let you put food on his gums? Will he eat any of the crunchy, but meltable foods I talk about in the post? If you haven’t tried those I would. I’d also use that demonstration as silly as it sounds. And, another thing that sounds strange, but can be really powerful is I’d brush his teeth a couple of times a day, maybe even before a meal. When you do this make sure you get his tongue and inside of cheeks really well. This will improve awareness in his mouth and can have a big impact on chewing!
Thanks a ton for responding. To answer your questions –
When it comes to table food, he wont let anyone control that except him. So, no, he wont let anyone put in his mouth.
We’ve tried crunchy stuff and he likes them. Problem is – he is done after eating 1 or 2 sticks or half a cracker. How do i encourage him to eat a bit more so that i can count that as a snack or meal somewhat.
Demonstration – We do a little bit, but we dont get a chance to do it for every meal. May be something worth considering..
Brushing his teeth – Something we have never tried and I am definitely going to do this next per your recommendation!
Could you spread something very thin on the cracker? Maybe a little bit of cream cheese or hummus. As he tolerates that you could put a little more on. Also, make sure you have all the food ready at one time and then just put a few pieces of each food (around 3-4 total) in front of him and sit down to eat the same thing at the same time. It can be a little hard to get into this routine, but it will be worth it!
Thanks for all the information. I am having some issues with my 12mo old and table foods. She will not touch proteins or pasta (chicken, beef, pork, hummus, cheese, beans, cottage cheese, and any pasta-even baby star noodles). She does well with yogurt, but I don’t want that to be her only source of protein. She does well with crunchy textures, but seems to struggle with the slimy/soft textures. She will rarely even try bread. She just won’t even try meat/pasta/bean foods. She will play with them a little (which is progress) and then push them away and refuse to try them. Do I just keep offering these types of foods and hope she warms up to them? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Amy, yes keep offering, follow these suggestions. But I’d also check out this article on sensory processing, follow the tips for using a toothbrush. A lot of babes that are having a hard time moving to other textures are sensitive to them. After reading that let me know if you have more questions!
Hi! My 12mo was eating most puréed baby foods that we spoon-fed her, but once we introduced appropriate table foods about three weeks ago, she will no longer let us feed her. This would be great, BUT she barely eats any table food herself — 1, 2 or 3 tiny bits per meal. I’ve tried some things over and over again and others just once. She likes cheese, but I obviously can’t let her eat only that. She was a preemie and is now *almost* up to the 5th percentile for height and weight, so I worry a lot about her nutrition and growth.
I totally get it Robyn, do you think she doesn’t know how to eat the table foods yet or does it seem like she doesn’t want to eat them? If it is the former, did you see part 1 of this post, too? It might be really helpful for her to practice learning how to eat these foods like I talk about there.
Shes choosing not to try things. She’s a champ with the puffs, and she likes bits of bread, too. I guess I’m just frustrated with seeing the pieces of sweet potato and blueberries and mashed-up beans HIT THE FLOOR when she inevitably rejects them. Perhaps it’ll just take more time?
Yes, keep giving her those things, but I want you to try and focus on the crunchy foods. Think about toast, and if she does that then spread a little hummus or avocado on it. Or try some homemade sweet potato or carrot chips for example. You can use this strategy to work towards new foods.
Alisha, please help me… My son is 13 months old and because of my fear of him choking and mostly my lack of know how, he is still on baby food. Don’t get me wrong, he has tried quite a few different table foods, just in very small amounts. He does well chewing and feeding himself but I only give him one or two pieces at a time because whatever I put on his table, no matter how much, he quickly picks up every single piece and in his mouth it goes. So I feel like I can’t just make him a plate and give it to him. I desperately need to figure out what to do because at meal times he has gotten to the point now where he refuses baby food and wants table foods, which is great, I just don’t know how to go about it so in turn… I feel like he ends up eating next to nothing. How can I make him a plate and get him to pace himself with it? Any foods/meals in paticular you can recommend? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Hey Kimberly, it actually sounds like he’s doing great and what you’re describing is actually quite common. I’d suggest just having a main plate and giving him 1-2 pieces at a time as you sit and eat with him. I know its exhausting but it kind of comes with the territory at this age.
I’m totally okay with that! It is just great to hear that I’m not totally failing at this, lol. Thank you for the much needed reassurance!!
Hi,
I am so happy I found this site.
I have a 18 month old boy. He recently went through some bad teething and a sore throat. That’s when he stopped eating the baby food I was making for him. He was a great eater up to that point. In a week he lost almost 4 pounds and we finally got him to drink some Pediasure so he bounced back, but still refusing solid food, totally refusing being fed with a spoon. He starts crying if you insist. We put him at the table with us, he will show interest in some of our food, but not grabbing it to take it to his mouth, you have to offer it. He’s not taking any bites, just licking it. I don’t think he knows how to bite or chew. he’s happy to sit at the table with us, enjoys watching us eat, but still afraid to try. At this point he only drinks pediasure and licks some food. I know I made a mistake of not exposing him to diverse food, but I was happy he ate healthy and organic.
What to do to encourage him more?
Thank you.
Hi Violeta, he’s probably at an age that he’s really done with pureed, that happens for sure. Of course he still needs to eat some purees(yogurt, applesauce, etc.) Put some of that on his tray, a small amount and enourage him just to touch it, when he does try to get him to take his fingers to his mouth so he can lick it. This is to help him make the connection. Give a spoon and demonstrate this too! I’d also give him large foods like the whole carrot- did you see part 1? You’ll want to focus on him mouthing big foods like that that he can’t bite off. This will decrease his gag reflex, give him exposure to textures, and begin to facilitate chewing. Put those out on his tray and demonstrate too- this may take a couple of times. I’d also recommend brushing teeth, twice a day, getting all over his gums and mouth- a vibrating toothbrush could provide extra input. Lastly, and I don’t say this to freak you out, but if you’re in the states I’d really look at early intervention. That little bit of extra help could make all the difference. If you have any questions let me know!
My daughter is a great eater. She hasn’t struggled with anything so far. But I am struggling with how to make the transition from bottles and boobs to solid food meals. She is just over a year old. I’m fairly certain we were too slow moving away from jar foods. Actually, that’s still primarily what she eats. But, I’m still breastfeeding her first thing in the morning and last thing at night. We’re currently transitioning her two bottles during the day from breastmilk + formula to breastmilk + cow’s milk to just cow’s milk. I have come to the conclusion that either I am not wording my questions properly to find the right answers or I’m putting way more thought into this than anyone else ever has! I am stressing about how to transition from the two bottles (at 11am and 4pm) to mealtimes. And then there’s taking away the two breastfeedings. And how to make all that work with my work schedule. I think I could take away the first breastfeeding of the day pretty easily. But we do not have a nighttime routine other than breastfeeding. She has always fallen asleep during feedings. She is unwakable. So. I’m panicking! 🙂
I totally hear you, really. First, I want you to click on the articles tab in the menu bar because I have a series of schedules for babies and toddlers at different ages that I think will be helpful. I would take away the night time feeding last, and follow these steps to have her eating more foods and rely less on the baby food. You’ll want to wean her from that soon. After looking at the schedules, let me know if you need more help.
My 9 month old refuses to open his mouth to any purees. We have started on BLW in the last 3 weeks. He is eager to bring food to his mouth but does not swallow. Every time he sees a spoon in our hands he starts to cry. However, he is fine with bringing a spoon to his own mouth. What can be wrong? He exclusively receives breastmilk in a bottle. He is very hungry therefore requested more breastmilk because he does not swallow any food. I am worried he won’t be ready to eat by the time he starts daycare (1 yrs old).
Hi Mary, did he have any negative experiences with baby food early on? Is he actually chewing the food and just not swallowing? Have you started tooth brushing? At this point I wouldn’t worry too much about baby food. I would follow all the steps listed in both these posts as well. Also, try putting some baby food right on his tray and see if he’ll bring to his mouth. I don’t want to freak you out, but I think it is best to be proactive- if you are in the states I would look into an early intervention appointment. They come right to your home and it is free. See the article index in the menu bar for more info. Let me know the responses and I’ll give you some directions.
My grandson has just turned 1. He has 4 front teeth. He has been breast fed 100% until just a month or so ago. His mom did not feed any baby food or grind any table food she just started with the puffs, when he could grab and put in his mouth she cuts up table food into chunks. Seems like it would just go right thru with no nutritional benefit. What do you think?
Not at all, if he is eating a variety of foods than that is perfect!
My grandson has just turned 1. He has 4 front teeth. He has been breast fed 100% until just a month or so ago. His mom did not feed any baby food or grind any table food she just started with the puffs, when he could grab and put in his mouth she cuts up table food into chunks. Seems like it would just go right thru with no nutritional benefit. What do you think?
Hi,
Thanks for your blog. I try feeding my 11+ mo chapati and bread. He loves soupy mashed food because it is easier to swallow, with no need for him to chew. He doesnt even eat a banana or any fruit for that matter, if not given as milkshake. Though he does take the bite of the bread or any solid like cracker and french fries that are offered, he cant seem to swallow it. I usually find it accumulated in his upper palate of the mouth. He then gags and vomits it all out if offered water.
Any leads of how to help him swallow/ chew and swallow would help.
Thanks
Hi Ana, I would really follow the steps that are outlined in both part one and part two. You will have to take it slow. He doesn’t know how to chew, and he needs to learn. The older he gets the more difficult that will become. Demonstrate with him and focus on crunchy foods that melt. I’m available for consultations, see the menu bar. Or, consider getting a feeding evaluation, it will be tremendously helpful. Use a tooth brush two times a day, get the sides and top of his tongue. Also, brush the insides of cheeks. Let me know if I can be of more help.
I have wrote to you before and things still haven’t changed my 9 month old just can’t progress to stage 2 baby food and finger food a bit will go in his mouth and he will not chew so he swallows and then is sick. The health visitor just says keep trying it’s not that easy when he gaggs and throws up off stage 2 and sick off finger foods. He’s also going off his bottles now too all he will have and enjoy is purée.hes had reflux since being born and are saying he may have a tounge tie.please help x
What does sensory defensiveness mean?
Being sensitive or defensive towards sensory input. For example, different textures, loud sounds, movement, etc. See the tab in the menu bar called sensory basics for more.
Hi Alisha. Thank you for the wonderful post. My daughter is 17 months and is still mainly on Gerber stage II baby food. I have tried numerous times to give her Stage III and she literally gag and sometimes vomit. She can eat rice, spaghetti, cheerios, Gerber fruit bars, pancakes, french toast, bread, cookies, banana, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs and pears. We took her to a Pediatric GI recently because she was vomiting after her meals. I would give her 2 jars of baby food and she would eat them with no problem and with no signs of feeling sick. Then from one second to another, all the baby food would just come up entirely the way it went down. Looked like I poured it all over her. It was happening at school too and the teachers were concerned because it was so random. The GI scheduled an upper GI test as well as allergy testing to make sure she isnt allergic to milk, soy, wheat, gluten and nuts. Her blood test came back fine and her upper GI test was normal and the doctor didnt see any reflux but said it doesn’t mean she doesn’t have it. The GI thought it was possible that she may have reflux so she prescribed her zantac. I have been giving it to her twice a day. We also switched her milk based toddler formula to soy (she didn’t do well with cows milk and had diarrhea and vomited). I forgot to mention that she would sometimes vomit after her milk too. The soy seemed to help for a few days but then she vomited at home after a meal. So we have been feeding her smaller portions more frequently which seems to help. But now to the real issue, i really want her to be 100% on solids already. Most kids in her class are eating spoonfuls of rice with fish and other solids and she is still on puree. Her teacher asked that I blend the dinner that I make into a thicker puree and send it to school to see how she would do with it since she eats great at school. We tried that yesterday and the teacher said she gagged twice and didnt want it. So the teacher asked me to make white rice and then puree some meat separately. I did that last night and sent it to school with her this morning. Don’t know how that will go, but I think better. I gave her a bowl of rice yesterday along with a bowl of steamed broccoli and ground turkey and she only wanted the rice. When she managed to get rice on her spoon, she ate the rice well. I did read that I should introduce a new solid at every meal first. I am going to do that. Any other words of advice?
Yes, I would keep presenting table foods at every meal. Demonstrate how to chew, also give her chances to get messy and explore her food. Keep meals very positive. There is no pressure, but I’m available for consults- see the menu bar, which I think would be really helpful. Please let me know how things are going, if things don’t start to turn around.
Hello, I have a 10.5 month old who we’ve had difficulty feeding since birth. First it was tongue tie which got worst after it was corrected twice. She started refusing breastfeeding at 2 months, gradually weaned until only the morning feed at 6 months until now. She refused all bottles too and so now we are using a syringe getting 10 to 12 oz of pumped milk into her. She has never had more than 15 oz and she is still growing on her curve! Some freaky metabolism. We’ve been evaluated at feeding clinic and has been diagnosed with low appetite nothing else. We now get fat laden solids into her by spoon 3/4 a day on a schedule. It is hit or miss. She will self feed esp. Cheese for a few bites but the rest is spoon fed. This is so exhausting and I’m just wondering have you seen babies like this? I would love to have her on a cup but 4 month trying to no avail. The feeding clinic is not concerned because she is on her curve and have said she will be low appetite and behind in feeding skills until she gets motivated to eat. We have followed all the usual suggestions but she just doesn’t care about food. She never has hunger signals. Any thoughts.
I’m writing this here because she is getting near toddlerhood and the portion sizes are just not going to work. She gives us no indication when she is full. We just stop when she refuses.
Hi Alisha,
Thanks so much for your blog! I was wondering if you could provide some feedback regarding my 13 month old son.
Starting solids was really difficult and it took over a month for him to begin to eat any puréed food. Transitioning to table food has also been very difficult. Like many others who have commented, he does really well with dry snack foods like puffs, Cheerios, bread, cheese puffs and yogurt bites. Any other food that I present to him, he immediately throws on the floor. There has been a rare occasion where he has tried to put a new food in his mouth, but he promptly spits it out. I have been offering at least one non-preferred table food at every meal (like soft veggies and fruit, meat, beans, cheese or scrambled eggs) and he has consistently rejected them for over a month. In addition, he refuses to drink from a sippy cup, but has recently started putting it in his mouth. He drinks about 15-20 oz of milk from a bottle each day. He eats yogurt and purees fruit well from a spoon and will take a couple bites of pureed veggies before swatting the spoon away.
I do my best to eat with him, remain calm when he throws food everywhere and cheer him on when he puts something new in his mouth.
He has been playing more with food at meals when he previously wouldn’t touch anything “messy.” Do you think this would warrant an evaluation or should I just keep working with him at home? Any suggestions would be helpful!
Melissa, what you are doing sounds great and I would continue that, it may take more time. I would look into getting an eval because it can never hurt and at a minimum it will ease your mind. Also, it can take some time to have that set up and in another month or two the situation could still be the same. In the meantime I would really focus on that messy play and expanding on the crunchy foods, give him as many options of those as possible.
Babies gag for different reasons and since you just started this may totally be in the range of normal behavior. Gagging can indicate that they don’t like the feel, this usually happens as soon as it touches their mouth, if it is after a while it may be because they didn’t chew it well enough. I would follow the steps I layed out in both of these articles and focus more on the meltable crunchies. Keep trying, but in small amounts- unless you think it is because he isn’t chewing well. In that case I would give it a break for a week or two and then re-present it.
My 9 month old has been eating jarred baby food with chunks for a little over a month now. With some i still need to mash slightly. He has also been eating mum mums for a few months now with no issues. Sits in his chair and eats on his own. His pedatrician just gave the go ahead for eating food off the table. I tried cooked carrots and he just spat out. I then tried bananas and he gaged and spat out. I wont try unless someone is with me as im terrified of him choking. I dont know how to transition him without my fears getting in the way.
Is he gaging because its a new texture and im just paranoid?
How many times do i try a food with him spitting it out and gaging until i give up and try something new?
Any help would be great!
Steph
Hi Alisha,
I have a 10 month old boy who is reluctant to place anything in his mouth. I have noticed since he first started picking up toys that he just does not place things in his mouth very much at all. His older brother was always mouthing toys and I have noticed that Ben likes to hold them, look at them and bang them on the floor or other objects but he rarely places them in his mouth. This seems to have translated to the table and eating. He will eat any pureed baby food and is so handsy that I have always had to give him his own spoon just to keep him from grabbing the spoon while I am trying to feed him. He never puts the spoon in his mouth but just looks at it and bangs it on his tray and drops it on the floor. We started giving him Gerber puffs on his tray about 6 weeks ago. He will pick them up, look at them, bang his hand on the tray and drop them on the floor. He loves to eat them and will hold his mouth open like a little bird when he sees them – basically asking for a bite – but he never puts them in his mouth himself. Even if I leave him alone or ignore him, he will get frustrated and cry and when I look at him he will hold his mouth open but will not self feed. He does this with all other table food we have introduced. He eats cooked carrots, peas, grean beans, scramble eggs, bread, pasta that I mash with a fork and feed on a fork or spoon. The only thing he ever gags on is canned fruit and bananas. No matter how small I cut them, he will roll them around in his mouth without really chewing and then try to swallow and gag and recently he has started to cry and spit them out. But while he has trouble with fruits, he has progressed with other foods. I have recently gotten a small food processor and will put whatever we are eating for dinner in it – for example I recently put a couple tablespoons of cheeseburger macaroni and some green beans in it and rough chopped it and then spoon fed it – he loved it! Just last night I mashed some spaghetti with hamburger cooked in the sauce with a fork and he actually cried if I took too long to shovel the bites in his mouth – again he loved it! But he has literally, never put a bite of food in his mouth himself. I have held food out to him and he can take it with his pincer grasp but then will just play with it all while holding his mouth open and crying for a bite from me. It is clearly not an issue with touching the food with his hands or having the food in his mouth but there is some disconnect with getting the food from his hand to his mouth. I am not sure how to help him with this. I have tried putting his hand to his mouth after he picks up a piece of food and feeding it to him off his own hand but he tends to pull away and the food drops half the time, and even though it has gone in a couple of times it doesn’t seem to have made any impact on his behavior. Any other suggestions?
You are very intuitive to have noticed that he doesn’t put the toys to his mouth. That is a huge sign to me that he hasn’t made the connection. I would work on this with him outside of meals with all kinds of teethers and toys. Show him how and gently guide his hand to his mouth. If he gets close at all then give him big cheers and praise, this will be motivating for him. When he eats his purees let him get some on his hands and try to quickly get it to his mouth, I know messy, but he needs to make this connection. Don’t force, but keep trying and again give praise for anything he does that is in the right direction.
At dinner tonight and before even reading your reply, I did this a little bit with his yogurt. He loves lime chobani yogurt and was really enjoying it from the spoon and trying to grab the container. So finally, I thought – why not? And I let him get it all over his fingers. It took a couple of tries to get his fingers in his mouth because he always fights when you grab his hands – I think he thinks you are going to take whatever he has away. But after getting his fingers into his mouth two or three times and him really responding and sucking on his fingers, he actually put his finger in his yogurt and then directly into his mouth one time for himself! I did praise him and smile and do a little mommy cheer and he was really grinning and having fun. I left it at that and just let him play with the rest of it because he had eaten almost the whole container and I wanted to let him just explore and see if he would put his hand in his mouth again but even though it was only the one time, I was really encouraged. I like the idea too of using toys to try to teach him the hand to mouth connection because I do not want to create any stress around eating. He is an excellent eater and we will just continue to feed him from a spoon or fork until he gets it on his own. I did want to ask, from reading other posts I thought perhaps his issue with canned fruits and bananas is the mouth feel issue – I think I read elsewhere on your site that babies can sometimes have issues really feeling the food in the mouth. Would you recommend doing anything about this right now or just continuing with all the foods he is doing well with and waiting a little longer for fruits?
That is great progress, keep building on that. I would keep doing fruits, the more exposure and play he has with it the more comfortable he will be. I would also set up some baby safe textures for him to play in outside of meals like edible playdough or edible finger paints, bubbles, shaving cream in the bath tub, etc.
My 19th month baby girl is mostly still on mashed. Although she will eat , rice bread, pasta some friut and veggies, corn puffs, cheese biscuits, etc but not enough to make a proper meal. So I give her chunks as a first course and then a bowl of mash as the main meal as a second course. She is also learning two languages and is starting to say two word sentences so I know she doesn’t have a speech problem. But I’m worried the transition from mash to chunks as a proper meal isnt going as fast as it should. Should I continue this and increase the chunks gradually.? Please advices and tips would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, I think you are doing what makes sense and I would try to encourage more chunks. Demonstrate for her with your mouth open so she can see how you are chewing and also try some crunchy foods like I talk about here and in part 2. Give lots of praise for anything she does well!
It’s a little 1 in the morning here, and he has officially drank his 3rd cup of milk (had to give it to him, he woke up crying), plus the 1 and 1/2 cup of joghurt.
Uh, and he basically doesn’t want to eat any fruit, he used to eat strawberries, but I think he’s bored with them now, and nothing else. the other non-mushy fruit like apples and pears served raw he cannot manage to chew. He can eat mashed banana mixed with liberal amounts of applesauce, but only if I spoon-feed him
Hi Alisha, help me! I have an 18 month old son who’s been experiencing difficulties in eating. I think he has some sensory issues, or doesn’t know how to co-ordinate chewing. We don’t have OT’s here, and the closest that I have found to a therapist was a logopaedician/defectologist, who disregarded my concerns and told me that if my son can chew potato chips, he can chew anything, and the reason he will not touch bananas or anything mushy is because he maybe doesn’t like them. I also had him evaluated by a psychologist and, guess what, his mental and motor development equals that of a 22 month old. I’ve followed your tips to the word, thickening the purees, and always serving some table food first. He had developed so nicely that we had reached 50:50. But only certain type of table food, for instance, pastinas with some diced zuchinni or shredded broccoli, and cheeses sprinkled on, and deli meat. Nothing runny or mushy! I think I made a wrong step somewhere. About two weeks ago he started refusing being spoon-fed, and he wouldn’t touch the bowl, just finger food. He also didn’t wanna go anywhere near the high-chair! So I started putting him on my lap, after he was done with finger food, and supplement with kinda of baby food (thick veggie and meat and cheese puree with small sized pasta mixed in, maybe one tbsp), and he was vomiting it. I noticed that everything was un-chewed. So we let him be for a few days, to see whether he’ll actually feed himself a full meal when he goes hungry. It’s been a week now, and, I swear that he’s lost weight. He doesn’t eat enough and then asks for milk. Today, for instance, when we got up at 8:30 he had opened the fridge (I don’t lock it anymore because sometimes he opens it and points at food that he wants) and, by the time I finished brushing my teeth, he had drank a 250 ml container of cow milk, a type that comes with a straw, which he hadn’t drank the night before. So we did a late breakfast at 10, lasted 1 and a half hour, during which he ate a 1 ounce chicken sausage, licked the cream cheese off a half a waffle, would touch the cheese sticks, and then I had to make him a green smoothie and spoon-feed it to him. Didn;t want any snack at noon. Lunch was at 3:30 since we had a doctor’s appointment, and he ate 1/3 of a maybe one ounce home made meatball, one slice of cheese, a very thin one, wouldn’t eat the rice and veggie patties or bread and half a cup of jogurt. 6:20 we had dinner as a family, he drank only the jogurt (its a thinner type, U can drink it from a cup), and nibbled on a cheese and spinach pitta (similar to pieroghi). We gave another try at dinner at 8:20 and I made the mistake of serving the fish finger and brownrice with peas together with a cup of milk. He drank the milk first, than ate perhaps 8 peas and a dozen grains of brown rice. Bit the fish finger only once.
What should I do? Should I go back to supplementing with baby food. He will not chew it. Should I go back to thick purees?
I don’t know what to do? In the meanwhile, he’s switched to an almost liquid diet.
It sounds like you guys were on a good path and I am glad the strategies helped. I would focus on some of those crunchy foods and try to build off of what he is eating by making small changes. Keep foods small, flat, and as crunchy or crisp as possible. You can try to give him some purees still, but I wouldn’t focus on it too much because he is probably done with it. I would keep those textures smooth and really try to demonstrate how to chew with your mouth wide open. Keep things positive as well and try to get him back to sitting on his own.
I’m so sorry you don’t have a lot of resources there. I do offer private, individualized consults, including an email option. You can find more info in the menu bar.
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Hi Alisha, i am the same person who posted a question on July 14th 2014 @10:41am. My son who is now 17months changed his eating habit not sure if its to a better or worse one. He started swallowing his food but without chewing. For example if you put a spoonful in his mouth he will try to push the whole amount down his throat. I am worried that this is life threatening habit. What i have been doing i have been giving him small amount that i know cant choke him. Do you have some tricks i can apply to help him learn to chew? The strange thing is if i give him grapes (cut in half) he will chew and swallow. If i give him chop ribs he will pull the meat out, chew and swallow without chewing. However when it comes to food no matter how thick he doesn,t chew them
It really sounds like there is some underlying issues going on here that need additional interventions. Unfortunately, I don’t really have any quick tricks other than you demonstrating with a wide open mouth. It does sound like he needs to learn to chew. If he never went through a stage when he mouthed on toys, encourage that now. Other than that, the strategies would need to be determined on an individual basis. I offer consultations, see the menu bar, or my previous response for some ideas to get specific individualized help. I wouldn’t give him any mixed textures, that is a much harder skill- either a smooth texture or the pieces individual- no lumps. I hope that helps!
Thank you for your reply. I also wanted to add that few yesterday I gave him rotini pasta and he did manage to chew it but today when I gave him porridge with tiny carrot pieces he threw up. The carrot pieces were not chewed. I am so stressed and would like to change this (I understand it may not happen soon) how can I set up a consultation with you?
I would only give him even textures. He probably doesn’t know how to sort out different textures. Even though it will take some time to overcome this totally, after we talk you will have the tools you need to be heading in the right direction and avoid gagging/throwing up. You can find more information about the consults in the menu bar under Consultations and/or email me at yourkidstable@gmail.com
I have emailed you and would love to set up something soon. Thank you again!
I have a 20 month old and he eats Cheerios, bread, hummus, yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, chips, pasta, french fries, popcorn, roasted corn but he eats very very little of it and only sometimes. Could he have chewing/ swallowing issues or sensory issues? Please help because it breaks my heart to see him eat so little.
It is certainly possible. If you are in the states you can get a free in home evaluation. Click on the Article Index in the menu bar and then look for Help for Infants and Toddlers for more information. I’m also available for private consultations. Let me know if you need any help!
What to do with the veggie/meat issues? I’ve read some of those posts on picky eating, but I can’t get my 11 month old to eat most veggies so I give him that in purees still to make sure he gets those nutrients. He might stick in his mouth and then spit it out or he’ll just throw it on the floor to begin with. I’m scared to leave the purees because I want him to at least get veggies in some form.
Hi Jen, these foods are often the most difficult for kids to eat for a variety of reasons. I actually wrote three posts on this very topic, which you can find in the article index in the menu bar. I would follow the steps in there and in the mean time it is okay to keep up with the baby food but I would make it really thick and even try making some homemade.
Hello, I have gotten so much useful information on your blog! Thank you!
We just had my daugter’s 9 month check up– her doctor made me worried that we are behind on table foods and that my daughter may have aversion to food. She picks up the puffs and cut up veggies but does not place them in her mouth. Also she does not hold her bottle instead she either pats it or places both of her hands behind her head like she has done since newborn. Along with sippy cups will hold them but will not place in her mouth to drink.
Should I be worried or do you have any suggestions besides helping her move her hand to her mouth while eating and positioning her hands on her bottle and holding them there?
Any tips or suggestions are welcomed! Thanks
I don’t think you need to be worried, all of this could be totally normal. However, I think it is good to be aware. You will want to watch these things and work them, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Sometimes babies just need some extra time to figure things out. If things don’t seem like they have improved at all in a month and you live in the states I would look into a free evaluation that is offered through your state. See my article index for the article: Help for Infants and Toddlers. As for the bottle, sometimes a bottle holder helps, here is a link to show you what I’m talking about. There are a lot of them. They are often helpful but it isn’t a 100% guarantee that it will work though.
http://www.amazon.com/Ba-Baby-Bottle-Holder-Blue/dp/B006LKX0Y6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406380966&sr=8-1&keywords=bottle+holder
Hi Alisha,
I have a 15 months old son who will eat cereals and blended fruits just fine. When it comes to food (eg mashed potatoes, peas, blended cooked spinach) he will not swallow. He keeps the food in his month for as long as he want and eventually spit it out. We even tried to puree his food but he does the same thing (he won’t swallow). This has been very frustrating to us because it takes us over two hours to feed him 6ounces of food. Is there a trick we can try to use to help him like food or appreciate food? We try different kind of foods every meal but none seems to be his favorite. Your help will be highly appreciated
I would try making the pureed food very thin and maybe mixing with the blended fruits. I would also consider an evaluation just to rule out any possible issues with swallowing- a lot more goes into it than you may think. My other thought it that this may be sensory based. If you are in the states you would qualify for a free evaluation in your home. See my article, Help for Infants and Toddlers in the article index or let me know if you need more help. I would definitely avoid letting meals go much past 30 minutes. Try some bites of the difficult food and then switch to what he eats well. Also, have a drink handy to help him wash it down.
I’m so thankful to have found your site! My daughter is 13.5 months old and I’m having trouble (like ooober frustrating, like makes me want to cry with her) transitioning her to table food. Just to be clear, she can and will eat quite a lot of things…namely CARBS. The child has absolutely no problem eating/chewing/etc anything like breads, Nutri Grain, puffs, the crunchies that look like cheezy poofs, cheezy poofs, Pretzels/tortilla chips (yes, I know they are no good, but I wanted to push the envelope on this carb thing to see what she could do!). These things do NOT have to be broken/cut smaller. She will start with the whole thing and eat off it. She will also eat bananas, cheese (shredded or chunks), all stage 2 baby foods, yogurt. Until a couple of weeks ago, when I tried to give her new things, she would gag and barf all over the table. Now she just spits it out.
OK, here’s where it gets really good…my dad (an amazing baby whisperer type with 5 kids of his own) observed this and said he thought it was pure will driving the behavior. That I should let her get good and hungry and then she would eat. Well, he was right, sort of. She has eaten almost nothing for 3 days now. When she does get good and hungry, she will eat sweet potatoes and apple pieces (cooked). I offer these and some combo of peas, green beans, carrots, cantaloupe at EVERY MEAL, only giving her a bowl of oatmeal mixed w baby food at bedtime, and a 6oz milk bottle when she first wakes and goes to bed. Through this I know she can successfully chew and swallow the sw potatoes and apples. No gagging at all. The only other success is at snack yesterday, I gave all the kids fruit cocktail. She ate the grapes, cherries, peaches, and pears (I left out the pineapple) with only a little choking on a hard pear piece. She wants what everyone else has, but can’t handle it. And she mostly just wants the carb things.
Her will is strong, but so is mine. I want to help her through this, but the right way! HELP!!
Hi Alessly, this is an interesting situation. First I have to say that I would never under any circumstances say don’t feed your child. There are so many complex underlying issues that could be making it difficult for your child (see my post on 5 reasons kids don’t eat in the sidebar). See my Eating Basics in the menu bar for more on this. However, you really aren’t starving her as you giving her milk and food at the beginning and end of the day. Also, I never want to tell a parent to go against their instincts. If you give her the carb things just moderate how much and try to get her interacting with the other food at least. I would also focus on some sensory bins, there is a link in the post above. With this small amount of information it does sound like there is some sensory stuff going on here. I would use this post as a guide and try to implement as much as you can. I don’t want to overwhelm you, but there are so many articles here that will be in much more detail than this comment see the Article Index in the menu bar and start poking around. Please let me know if you need more help!
Actually, I meant see the post Turning My Picky Eater Around, if you hit home now it is the most recent post or you can find it in the article index!
Thank you for this post! My son is 13 months and he was starting to eat more table food, but now he won’t try anything! He eats graham crackers, Cheerios, and sometimes bananas. I know it’s not an issue with chewing since I know he can do it. It doesn’t seem to be an issue with texture because he won’t even put it in his mouth and try. Any other suggestions?
Hi Kellie, first just because it doesn’t go to his mouth doesn’t mean it isn’t texture. Sometimes they are so unsure of the texture they don’t even like to look at or touch it- that may not be what is going on here but I wouldn’t rule it out just yet. I would focus on what he is eating and make small changes, try other types of crackers and dry cereals to start. Also, cut bananas into different shapes and present these preferred foods with other foods that he is refusing. Around this age taste buds really start to develop as well, which is why he may have become more selective. If it persists let me know.
Hi I’m in the UK but stumbled upon this site whilst trying to find a solution to my 22 month old girls eating issues. She eats stage 3 jars no problems (doesn’t even seem to chew it, just straight down the hatch). She’ll eat some finger foods, crisps, fries, biscuits, crumpets, chocolate, bananas, and will eat from our forks at meal times (mashed potatoes, carrots, chicken etc). As a 12 month old she would eat fingers of cheese spread sandwiches, small pieces of tomato etc by herself but this has stopped flat. Screams bloody murder if you try to offer her table foods as her meal. Really struggling to get her off jars and back to table foods. Tried making my own foods with baby pasta and tomato sauce, again screamed the place down. Help?? She was tongue tied but this was snipped at 7 weeks. As I say she happily eat snacky foods such as chips, crisps, fries etc and jars but not table foods at meal times. Thanks for listening.
I would slowly mix in some of those homemade varieties to start or at a minimum add some seasonings or olive oil in small amounts to the food she prefers. I have a feeling she may not be chewing food well. Really try to demonstrate this for her and have her imitate sticking her tongue out and making silly noises with it. It may be weak or not have good coordination. Also, build on what she is eating well, make small changes by buying different brands and flavors of food.
Seperate question…..he drinks water from a straw cup pretty well. At his 3 pm snack I’ve been offering his formula in a sippy cup. It’s a soft spot one. Is this ok? Should it be a different type of cup or also a straw cup? Transission is challenging and I feel like I’m drowning lol. It’s supposed to be fun but I’m overthinking things and don’t have a lot of places to look for advice. Thanks again!
It is okay, I understand. Forgive my late responses- I was on vacation and have back logged! Anyways, at his age the sippy cup is fine, by one year I’d like to see him without it- ideally. Don’t make yourself crazy though. Still give him opportunities to drink through the straw though. The soft spout is fine but the next time you buy one go for a smaller hard shaped variety.
Can you help me. My son is 9.5 months old. I have been slowly giving him chunkier purée. He can totally eat puffs and Cheerios and baby mum mum cookies with little to no issue.
We have tried some finger foods such as well cooked pasta, super moist baby mestballs.
My issue is he cries at a lot if meals:(. Even with purée he has been known to cry. I notice with the more sokid foods he will try to self feed a few pieces and the rest I offer in a spoon and he eventually cries and is looking for purée. He loves purée as he can continually shovel it in.
He holds food in his cheeks and then can’t figure out how to et it iut. It’s hard and frustrating. I feel like I’m offering the same things continually and have zero creativity as I’m afraid he won’t eat something or be upset thru the entire meal. He had a formula bottle after his breakfast and lunch. Another one at 3 with a snack. And then bedtime. Snack is usually some sort of cracker or puff etc with some fruit lately raspberries he likes and will feed himself.
It is okay to keep focusing on puree at his age. It is more important to keep it positive. Slowly introduce and back off when you see his attitude starting to change. It sounds like he “may” have some underlying issues going on. I would consider a free early intervention evaluation, just to make sure. Demonstrate with a wide open mouth on how to chew and use your finger to quickly sweep his cheeks out when he pockets the food. Give LOTS of positive reinforcement whenever he does something good no matter how small.
I have a 23 month old son that I can not get to eat table food. He still gets most of his nutrition from stage 2 baby food. He will eat stage 3 sometimes but gags throughout it. I’m not sure if there is an issue or if he’s just being a stubborn 2 year old. He will eat strawberries, bananas, cheese, yogurt, crackers, chips, cake, cookies, puffs, yogurt bites, occasionally diced lunch meat, diced apples…but will gag & make himself throw up when thick foods are presented to him, such as mashed potatoes, eggs, etc…I’m confused because he will stick a while strawberry in his mouth and chew it fine, same with crackers he’ll stick 2 in his mouth at once and chews them with no problem or gagging. I’m so frustrated and feel like a bad mom that my son won’t eat
I know it is so frustrating. As I talk about in this post it is really hard for some kids to transition to mixed foods, which is what stage 3 is. For the time being I would avoid it and work more on his chewing skills. Keep mealtimes positive and relaxed. See my article index and eating basics in the menu bar for a ton of ideas on this. Also, in the article index look for the article “help for infants and toddlers: early intervention”, assuming you are in the states. I would highly recommend a feeding eval, he may have some underlying issues. If you don’t want to go that route, please don’t hesitate to contact me for an individual consult (also in the menu bar). Of course, let me know if you have any other questions!
Thanks so much for replying. I mentioned my concerns at my sons last well check at 18 months. His pediatrician seems to think things are ok since he can in fact chew really well. That’s what confuses me so much about this whole thing, he does do really well chewing up his foods. I’ve noticed lately he’s becoming very curious about the foods that we’re eating for dinner. We eat at the table for meal time. I make him a plate of what we are eating and get him to sit with it for awhile. I don’t force him to eat, but I leave the option of eating what we’re eating open. First few weeks he would throw his plate in the floor, but lately he’ll just politely push it back. I’m trying to make it a positive experience and I feel like we are making progress, slowly. I believe the curiosity is a step forward. I’m going to give a little more time and if there’s no improvement I may contact you for a consult. Thanks so much
Interest in eating is awesome! Keep trying. I’m glad you discussed your concerns with your pediatrician, if they persist bring it up again and be persistent. Many pediatricians don’t have much experience with feeding and only can base what they see on how they are growing. In the mean time focus on those foods that I talk about in these posts, they will be the easiest for him to eat. You are doing a great job!
my little boy is 7 months old and got no teeth but chews really well the public health nurse told me to start him on table food ( things i eat ) i give him yogurt(minigos) cheerios, toast, eggs, banana , corn twists ,baby puffs, mum mums but i don’t know what else to feed him meal wise like for dinner and supper can you give me some ideas im a first time mom 🙂
Oh I have a whole post on that, see the side bar under popular posts or the article index in the menu bar at the top. It is called Mega list of baby and toddler foods.
Think of cooked potatoes, noodles, soft pizza, tortilla shell, fish, etc., just to name a few. Let me know if you need more help!
Hey! I am just looking for some advice. My 11.5 month old seems to be making transitions without me and I’m not sure how to proceed. She was never a picky eater…loved every puree I gave her and is really good with textures from a spoon. Recently she has largely refused all food from a spoon – even things she always loved. I have found that if I let her play with something, sometimes she’ll open her mouth for a spoonful, but it’s very inconsistent. And it seems she’s not in to textures if she has to feed herself. She’ll eat cheetos and cheese and peas, but nothing squishy. Even things I know she likes (like avocado or blueberries). It’s making me very paranoid that she’s not getting the nutrition she needs but I don’t want to make meal times a negative experience! I don’t know how to move from here..
Jessica
By the way, as clarification..
A) By “play with something” I meant toys, not food
B) I make my baby food, so she’s been getting herbs and complex combos since she was a wee one…
C) I don’t feed her Cheetos (haha)! I meant Cheerios 🙂
Jessica
Hi Jessica! Sorry, for just responding as I just saw this. As you’ve read I’d be trying to move away from baby food. It sounds like she wants to be done anyways. I would also avoid toys at the table, I know it works not, but trust me it can turn into a monster. Try to build off of what she is eating well and slowly build a bridge to new foods. In the article index see in the menu bar see: Picky Eating Tips- Expand on What They are Eating, and Exploring New Foods. If this problem has persisted I would also consider an eval, see the article Help for Babies and Toddlers. I hope that helps and let me know if you need anything else!
Thank you, this is very helpful. I have an almost 1 year old, and she used to eat puree like a champ. She’d eat 3 jars at each meal. Now that I have been trying to move to table food, I’m finding it very hard. She tries to put everything in her mouth at once and often I still see the food in her mouth minutes after she puts it in. So, now I sit there and dole out a piece at a time and wait for her to swallow. I don’t think she really chews either, so it’s very disconcerting. I have come to dread mealtimes, it takes forever now! And I’m terrified of her choking since I think she tends to swallow whole and she tends to cough as she’s eating. Is this normal? I’m wracking my brain for foods for her to make a meal of that are very easy to swallow so my go to’s are yogurt, oatmeal, soft ravioli pieces, scrambled eggs, etc.
I would say there are some red flags here and that your instincts are right. She probably isn’t chewing and anything more than an occasional cough is unusual. I’m glad she is motivated to eat, but refer back to these posts and follow steps to show her how to chew. Put food on her gums where she should be chewing. I would also recommend getting a feeding eval- don’t worry that isn’t as scary as it sounds. I’m also available for consults- no pressure- if you want to come up with a specific plan for her. If you are in the states see the article index and look for the post: Early Intervention. This will tell you how to get a free in home eval. If you need any help with this let me know!
Hi, Alisha. I just came across your blog when searching for information on this topic. We are trying to transition our 12-month-old little girl to table food, and we’re having a few issues:
1. She will eat pretty much any cubed table food we give her, as long as we put it in her mouth. She has a great pincher grasp and will play with the food all day, but she will not bring the food to her mouth by herself. She even fusses if we put her hand to her mouth.
2. I did some reading and found that a good table food portion size is 1 tbsp per food group at a meal. She will only eat about 1/3 to 1/2 of that before she starts screaming and doesn’t want anymore. Should I follow up with baby food to be sure she’s eating enough?
3. She’s now on all cow’s milk, and we’re giving it to her after she’s finished each meal. She was drinking around 32 oz. of formula per day before we transitioned her to cow’s milk. The recommended daily intake of cow’s milk is only around 16-20 oz., and she wants far more milk than she’s getting, especially at nighttime. Should we give her more? She’ll drink small amounts of water but is not very fond of it.
Your blog is extremely informative, and any advice you could give is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
Hi Sarah, I would definitely recommend cutting back on her milk wherever you can. You wouldn’t believe how much that can fill their little tummies. It is most likely that she just needs to learn to eat more at meals. Give her lots of praise when she eats something and try to change up the environment if you can. Have someone else feed her, move her high chair. This will help her get out of her habit of throwing a fit. I would temporarily give the baby food, but really be trying to move away from it- don’t use it as a crutch. See the most recent post: Toddler portion sizes. It really is important to trust them in their appetite. This will also teach her that she needs to eat when the food is there.
I have been reading your blog since last night and the first thing i went to this morning when my son went down for his nap. It is so amazing and you give such great advice! We have been having such a difficult time with drinking and eating. My son just turned 1 and has never been a great drinker, from a bottle. He can do it, he just will drink 1 or 2 oz at a time and then stop and push it away and we keep have to encouraging him to drink. Now that he is 1, a whole new problem with sippy cups, or actually the same problem. I wouldnt be so concerned, if he was eating more, but that seems to have also slowed down. The worst is breakfast. When he wakes up, I give him some time and then offer a 4 oz bottle, he will take maybe 2 oz with encouragement and will not touch any food…today however he wanted nothing to do with drinking out of a bottle or sippy, but did eat some cheerios in milk, that I fed to him. I am so lost about what to do. He will eat a few bites of things during the day and definitely does better if I feed him, but by no means is he eating “meals” and only consuming maybe 4-5 oz of any liquid independently. Therefore I feel like I need to rely on feeding him a bottle before nap and bed to compensate. I feel like picky eating is “normal” but not drinking too?? I am stumped….
Thank you so much- I’m so glad your kid’s table has been helpful! It sounds like there may be some underlying difficulties- I can’t be sure of course, but maybe muscle weakness or he could be tongue tied? I always try to give parents at least one tangible thing they can do, but in this case that is really challenging without more info. Are you in the states? He would qualify for a free feeding eval, and I am available for consults as well- no pressure though. Email me if you have more questions.
Check out this post, if you haven’t already:http://www.yourkidstable.com/2013/01/5-reasons-kids-refuse-to-eat.html
Hi! Thanks so much for getting back to me. He seems to have the muscle strength and the doc has never mentioned anything abt being tongue tied. We are supposed to have an eval with EI in a couple weeks. Originally I had called EI, because it was more of a motor skill concern, he is unable to sit up from laying down on his own and not crawling. I understand all kids progress differently in that area, so I wanted to wait until he was 1 to see if there were any changes. He seems to be reaching for things better while in a sitting position, however if I put him on his belly, he usually just screams until I pick him up. I really try to work with him, but he gets very upset with any tummy time activities. He is very good with his hands, can stack rings and cups and get a snack out of the little munchkin cup, but the gross motor skill is where he refuses to try. He can also stand and hold onto something every well if I put him in that position, however he will not pull up to get in that position.
Well that is just a little piece of where we are right now with the gross motor skills.
Sorry to get off base. To give you a little more info on the eating/drinking. This morning, abt 20 min after he got up, I gave him a 4 oz bottle (1/2 milk, 1/2 formula) in his high chair, (need to recline the chair to drink). he drank 1 oz and was done. would not drink anymore even with encouragement. He ate a few bites of cheerios in milk and a couple bites of banana that I fed to him on a spoon. (better than normal)
after that he turned his head and started to get upset.
after being up for a couple hrs, I offered him 3 more oz of milk in a bottle. He drank 1 oz laying on a pillow. (He has never drank a bottle sitting up).
tried all different kinds of sippy, straw, regular cup etc…but nothing seems to work so far. even the bottle.
I was going to try rice milk today to see if it is a taste thing? He can also hold up a sippy cup with handles, he just doesnt want to drink from it.
I would love to discuss more with you about a consult.
Thank you again.
on as side note, on a whim, today I gave my son rice milk, which he actually drank 3oz out of a sippy cup! and also ate some cottage cheese and fruit when he got up from his nap. Do you think it is the taste of the milk that could be the issue? Are there any major reason why I should not give rice milk as long as I make sure he is getting enough calcium/vit D from other sources? this was much more of a success than with formula or milk or mixed… but not sure I should give up on the cows milk so easily??
Right I wouldn’t give up on cow’s milk so easily- there is so much fat in there is great for brain development, but the rice milk is an option.
Glad you are getting an eval- I think it will be helpful for you. You should get lots of info, plus strategies to get things going in the right direction. If you would like a consult, I’d love to talk in more detail. There is a tab in the menu bar at the top or you can email me at yourkidstable@gmail.com Either way, let me know how it all goes!
Thank you! I just sent you and email now.
I’m having a difficult time feeding my 13 month with the transition to table foods and I was thankful to read your blog today. Over the past week, my LO has slowly made progress in eating new foods such as bananas and string cheese. Interestingly enough, he does not like to eat cubed pieces of food. Instead, I give him half of a banana or 1/3 of string cheese that he can hold in his hand and gnaw on. He’ll also take bites of apple slices and then spit it out. But since he is selective with his table foods, I’m still feeding him baby jar food too. Today, I tried offering him several different table foods for lunch: steamed diced veggies, shredded chicken, cooked chicken slices, and cucumber sticks – all which ended up on the floor. 🙁 I know the transition will take time but at times I feel horrible for feeding my LO so many processed snacks (Mum Mums, cheerios, baby crackers, graham crackers, goldfish).
I here you, it sounds like you are on the right track. If he is chewing well then keep trying different foods- give him just one or two pieces so it all doesn’t go to waste. Also, really try to demonstrate eating this food and making happy faces. Leave your mouth open so that he can see how you chew it- gross, I know, but it is really helpful for a lot of kids. If you are in the states, see this post, I would get an eval just to be on the safe side. I’m also available if you want to talk more in depth. http://www.yourkidstable.com/2013/09/help-for-infants-and-toddlers-early.html
Hi Alisha
I am happy to report that we have had some progress. I eliminated his puree/mashed up food at dinner, and gave him some boiled egg. He ate only the whites, while dipping in ketchup and some in chocolate sauce. I have been consistently presenting that option for dinner for a week now. Most days are okay. One or two days he didnt want any food. He eats a couple pieces himself, then i have to help.
Do you have any idea about portion size for a 19 month old. I know this varies ofcourse – each child is wonderfully unique. But any general guidelines? Is one boiled egg enough for a meal?
And he seems to like hummus. How many spoons (teaspoons) ought to be a good portion size. He doesnt want any after just two or three bites some days
Thank you so much.
That’s great! Generally speaking kids need 1 tablespoon of a protein, a carb, and a fruit or veggie at each meal for every year of their age. So a 2 year old would need 2 tbsp of each, I would give your son 1 and 1/2, assuming there is 4-5 meals a day (that includes snacks). One egg is more than enough protein, hummus is also a protein. Does that make sense?
Hi Alisha,
Thank you so much for your response. I will read up on the articles and links you mentioned.
I tried Coco Pops with him and they were a bit of a success. He ate a couple and then chewed and spat out some (same thing that he does with other foods).
He also eat at his high chair (and yes, we have the iPad on).
I keep offering the pieces of food, even as I feed him Puree in case he decides to eat.
He will eat anything sweet, but again – things like custard, melted ice-cream etc.
Let me read the links and see if I can work things here with my son, and will get back to you. Thank you again Alisha, for all your advice and help!
That is good- yes keep giving him food and having him try foods even if he spits them out is progress. It is ok to use the iPad for now, but ultimately I would try to move away from that. Make sure you check out my post from last night too….http://www.yourkidstable.com/2013/09/help-for-infants-and-toddlers-early.html
Keep me posted!
Thanks so much for all of this information.
I am having the most difficult time feeding my 20 month old son. He eats two or three pieces of cut up diced food (on the good days), otherwise i still have to puree his food. And then if the puree food is to lumpy, he will gag and throw up.
I tried to introduced table food when he turned a year old, and we had so many weeks where he would just gag and throw up. It was traumatic! And i backed off, went back to puree foods.
For the last few weeks he’s also rejecting the puree foods (he had a notorious ear infection, but hes okay now). He also lost some weight as a result of the loss of appetite from his meds while recovering from the ear infection.
As i mentioned earlier, he will eat maybe three of four diced up small pieced of carrots of potato. But its rare. He enjoys grapes and coco puffs – but thats really it. I am loosing my mind. Your advice would be valuable!
Also – most table food will be chewed and spat right out. No swallowing
Hi rp- are you in the states? I have a lot of helpful info on here, but I would recommend getting him a feeding eval. Your state is required to offer a free early intervention program for such issues. I can help you more with that. I am also available for consults- see the top menu bar.
It sounds like there are some underlying issues going on, which I see very commonly- so you are not alone! Take it slow and try to give him scrunchy foods that melt right away. He has to get use to textures and chewing slowly. Keep things as positive as possible. Please let me know if I can help anymore!
Oh, there is also an article index in the top menu as well. See the title picky eater and check out 5 Reasons Why Kids Don’t Eat. That will help you to get started.
Hi Alisha,
This is very helpful. My 10.5 month old mostly wants to feed himself but his pincer isn’t very good yet so he struggles – especially with food that is slippery or small (the right size for him to eat). Then he gets frustrated and won’t eat at all. Once in a while though, he only wants to be fed and more often doesn’t want to eat what he usually likes. Any advice would be great. Thanks!
Yes, this is very typical. Put some down on his tray for him to try and feed himself, but you can feed him too so that he doesn’t get frustrated. Try to focus on some drier food for him to pick up on his own. You can also hold up the piece of food for him to grab one at a time, which will really help with his pincer grasp. Keep trying he will get there! Let me know how it goes!
So glad to have found this blog! I have an 11 month old that we started on Gerber puffs and then on to some other table foods, including squishy ones… But she seems to have back-tracked and now gags regularly when eating. I think we moved too quickly into other textures. I will try some of your suggestions and see if we can get back on track. Thank you! Candice
Candice- keep me posted! There is a lot of information so take your time and let me know if I can be of any other help!
Thanks for the ideas in this blog. I have a 13 month old that will eat yogurt and any puff, cracker, creal bar, cookie (etc.) that you put in front of her but basically refuses any other type of table food. She will eat stage 3 foods with pasta in them but will not touch it stand-alone. We’ve recently started her on dipping her little cookies/biscuits in her yogurt so hoping she would be more inclined to explore more additional foods herself, but it is a slow going process.
I have noticed that she is inclined to play with the food more if she thinks we are not watching her at all….is that typical?
Yes, it is typical! Try to eat together as a family and not to make her the center of the meal, sometimes that adds pressure and that may be why she does some things while your not looking. Make sure you look at “picky eater tip: expand on what your kid is eating”. There is a new tab in the top menu that says “article index”… you can find everything there! Good luck and let me know how it is going!
Alisha, thanks for your response! Looking back at my question, I was probably less than clear. 🙂
Things he will eat:
– nearly any puree that we feed him
– purees with a bit of soft texture, such as quick-cooking oatmeal
– yogurt from a bowl with a spoon (though his aim could use some work!)
– cheerios, pretzels
– bread, plain or with a thin smear of peanut butter
He will occasionally eat cut up adult food, such as diced meatballs or apples, but this is relatively rare. He often refuses to put pieces of things into his mouth, and if he allows us to put something into his mouth, it often comes back out. We have tried all kinds of different foods served this way with little success.
He does not have molars yet. Is this relevant?
No, the molars wouldn’t have anything to do with it, that is a common misconception. He is able to chew most foods with his gums. To get him to eat more table foods, build off of what he is already eating. Try other flavors of cheerios, other brands of pretzels. Try other toppings on bread like hummus or cream cheese. Does that make sense?
Yes, thank you very much!
We had a huge breakthrough this weekend — he ate a whole meal by himself! White beans, diced roasted squash, and a whole wheat apple mini muffin. I don’t know whether it will last, but it’s certainly very encouraging!
I am so thankful to have found this blog. My 14 month old son is great when it comes to pureed foods — he’ll eat nearly anything as long as it’s all or mostly pureed. We continue to offer him pieces of food, usually at the beginning of each meal, but so far he has shown very little interest (except cheerios!). Do you have any advice for guiding him towards self-feeding?
Thank you, Karin. Since, he is still on purees try giving him a small bowl while you are feeding him with his own food. Then, dip his hand into the puree and take it to his mouth. This may seem a little foreign to him, so keep trying if he is a little reluctant. Even though this isn’t a finger food it will help him get the idea that he can take food to him mouth himself. Once he gets the hang of that, then start to take his hand to the cheerios. Also, try modeling it for him. I hope that helps! Let me know how it goes!
Great to read your suggestions! My son is 10 1/2 m o and isn’t fussy when eating but likes me to place the food in his mouth! Will feed himself with rice snacks & biscuits but picks up everything else & throws it on the ground. Very frustrating!! Maybe I just need to keep trying (over 12 times) and at every meal like you suggested.
Great tips though 🙂
Megan
Yes, Megan, keep trying! Buy different brands/flavors or similar products to the rice snacks and biscuits to try and build on what he is already eating. This will help him start to branch out a little more. Sometimes, babes go through that phase of throwing everything on the floor. Keep trying to give him a few pieces of foods he likes and tell him “no” when he throws. He will get the hang of it!
Thank you for this blog! I just found you the other day and you have some great posts! I was especially excited to see the Part 2 of this post today and am looking forward to trying some of your tips with my son. He is 17 months and does good with certain table foods. Mainly ones that have a dry texture, but when it comes to cold or squishy textures he won’t touch them and will even refuse if we try to feed him them. We also have some other feeding issues, but I won’t write a novel. It’s been frustrating, but I am thankful to have found your blog and the advice and the peace of mind it offers!
Thank you so much! I see the avoidance of squishy textures all the time. Another tip, break it down, and give those things mixed in with other foods. For instance, warm up pasta salad and put small pieces of cheese in it… that is if he eats noodles. But, the idea is to mix it in with things he likes, slowly!
Great idea! He not into the noodles yet, but he likes the little star shaped pasta mixed with mixed veggie stage 3 baby food, as long as I feed it to him. Maybe I can try this idea with that. Thank you!