As an occupational therapist that specializes in feeding, I often get asked how to transition a baby or toddler from baby food to table foods. These questions usually come from parents who are struggling through the process with a baby (under 12 months old) or from parents that now have toddlers who won’t eat table foods or solids.
This post will be your complete guide to transitioning to solids and table foods, no matter which situation you find yourself in.
Lastly, to be clear, when I say “table food” I mean any food that is not a food specifically pureed for babies. Baby led weaning (BLW) often skips the step of baby food so this guide is for parents that have followed the traditional route of giving baby food first.
Of course, if your child is struggling with BLW these strategies can still be helpful!
In this post you’ll learn:
Why Eating Table Foods is Challenging
When Do Babies Start Eating Table Food?
Step #1: Making Sure Baby is Ready for Table Foods
Step #3: Introducing Table Foods to Your Baby
Step #4: Transitioning Baby to Table Foods
Step #5: Getting Your Baby or Toddler to Only Eat Table Food
Why Transitioning from Baby Food to Table Food Can Be Challenging for Parents and Baby…
As a mom, each time I had to transition my boys onto table foods, I was frustrated and overwhelmed even though I’m a feeding therapist that had helped many families through it before. It’s different when you’re the mom living it day in and day out.
Experiencing that as a mom showed me how challenging it can be. The little baby food routine you had starts to shift, as they are also beginning to wean from breast or bottle and learn to drink from some type of cup (ideally a straw cup).
As parents, we worry, “Are they eating enough?”
With jarred food, you can know exactly how much they’ve eaten, but it gets a little blurry when half of the diced up food you give them is on the floor.
It’s tempting to stop serving table foods and to focus on baby food because you know how much they’re eating – but there’s a problem with that as you’ll learn shortly.
This process does require some patience because your baby is learning a new skill, something I had to remind myself of quite often.
My best advice as a mom and OT is to take heart and know it’s all part of the process. Remember that until 1 year of age, their milk source (breast milk or formula) is their main source of nutrition.
This is why people say, “food before one is just for fun.”
We want to teach our babies how to eat table and finger foods so they have the skill, but not get stuck on how much they are actually eating.
Keep in mind that some babies and toddlers won’t eat finger or table foods for various underlying causes such as:
- sensory processing
- oral motor delays
- some underlying medical diagnosis like reflux, food allergies, etc.
To explore the signs of these underlying causes head to Why Won’t My Baby Eat?
This is an exciting time, and it’s absolutely adorable when your chubby little baby is gnawing on a breadstick or getting puffs stuck on their face!
Now that you’re in the right frame of mind, let’s dive into the details of when and how to introduce table foods to your baby!
When Do Babies Start Eating Table Food?
Generally speaking, a good time to start introducing table foods for most babies is around 8-9 months. However, it may be later for your child, especially if they were a preemie. You will know they aren’t quite ready if they refuse, gag, or cough a lot when you try.
That’s okay, don’t be discouraged, this just means you will need to take it slower and consistently offer safe foods they won’t choke on.
If you’re nervous about how to handle gagging or your baby is gagging a lot on foods, check out Everything You Need to Know About Baby Gagging.
For other babies, they may start eating table foods even earlier, sometimes at 7 months. As a feeding therapist, I can’t recommend starting table foods for baby too much earlier, but of course, it is your choice if you feel they are ready. It is likely that they will be mostly swallowing (not chewing) most of the food though.
One critical word of caution is to NOT wait too long to start transitioning to table foods. Babies will instinctively chew from 7-8 months to around 11 months old, which means the transition will come easier.
Waiting past 10 months, unless your child has developmental delays, a diagnosis, swallowing difficulties, or was born prematurely, can make transitioning to table foods even harder when they’re a toddler. See the chart above as a quick reference.
Step #1: Make Sure Baby is Ready for Table Foods
Some signs your baby is ready for this transition are:
- Looking at or grabbing your food
- Making a chewing motion with their mouth when they watch you eat
- Picking up small objects
- Are 8-9 months old. See 9 Month Old Baby Food + Table Food Ideas.
- Brings hands to mouth
- Can sit safely with or without support
Remember, you want to start this by 10 months even if you aren’t seeing some of these signs, as long as they don’t have any of the reasons listed in the previous section to delay the start of table foods.
A week or two before you begin to introduce solids, start to thicken their baby food. Thicker foods require more movement of the tongue and muscles in the mouth, which helps lay a good foundation for moving a solid piece of food around in their mouth.
If you’re making your own baby food (get the DIY here), then add less water or liquid when pureeing. Use stage 2 baby food if you’re buying premade baby food.
Beware that some stage 3 type foods are great because they are thicker, but many of the jarred varieties have whole pieces of food mixed in with the puree, don’t go there – yet. That is putting the cart before the horse.
For now, it’s crucial to stick with smooth purees, gradually increasing their thickness, as your baby tolerates it. NO CHUNKS.
The mixed in chunks can cause gagging and a negative experience. It’s actually harder for babies to eat than table foods. Babies that eat chunks in their baby food well are just swallowing it all without chewing.
I’d also recommend increasing the thickness of store bought baby food by adding cereal (this is one of my favorites) or freshly pureed foods into jarred baby foods.
Step #2: Demonstrating
Once you start thickening their baby food, it would also be great to start eating at the same time you feed your baby, if you aren’t already. Your baby will watch what you do and learn a lot from it.
When you see that you have their attention, begin to dramatically chew for them, even with your mouth open. Show them how you put a small piece of food into your mouth using your hand.
It may take finding the right moment to get their attention, but this will help pique their interest in table foods, as well as teach them what they should do when you hold that piece of food up to them for the first time.
The Best First Table Food for Babies
Before we move on, you need to know what table food to offer your baby. A great place to start, and the best choice for a lot of babies’ first table food is a meltable puff.
I’ve used Gerber puffs many times, but there are so many brands, just test whatever type of puff you buy by letting it sit in your mouth and seeing how quickly it dissolves.
The dissolving factor is important because if your baby doesn’t chew the puff, it will dissolve in their saliva.
Puffs are perfect because they are hard and crunchy initially, which helps babies realize there is something in their mouth. That crunchy texture also helps them find it and maneuver it around in their mouth.
It may seem to make sense to start with a soft table food like eggs or banana. Not bad logic, but because those foods are so soft, babies have a hard time feeling exactly where it is in their mouth.
For some babies, this means they will refuse table foods and for others, it means they aren’t chewing and just swallowing.
The wonderful thing about puffs is that they dissolve in saliva in just a few seconds. So, if your baby doesn’t chew while they are learning to eat and they swallow, they aren’t going to choke on it. That is peace of mind.
Puffs are also great because they can be broken into really small pieces for those first attempts, if needed. And, babies can pick them up easily! Read more in when can babies eat cheerios and puffs? (Cheerios are much later, they don’t dissolve)
Step #3: Introducing Table Foods to Your Baby
The very first time you give your baby an actual table food, you’ll want to try and pick a time with little distractions so that you can give them your full attention.
Make sure they are seated in their high chair because this keeps them in a safe position and will help prevent choking. Read about how to make sure your baby is seated safely for eating.
Place the table food on their tray and allow them to touch and explore it for a few minutes. Some babies will pick it up and put it right into their mouth, depending on their age. While that is certainly ideal, your baby may need some more help.
If they aren’t putting the table food into their mouth, demonstrate picking it up and putting it into your mouth. Then, pick up a piece and put it into their mouth, right where their molars will be. Or, if they’re holding the food, gently guide their hand towards their mouth for them as you smile reassuringly.
If they munch up and down and swallow, you can offer more bites.
However, on the first attempt, some babies cough or gag. Other babies will spit it out. Be encouraging, peaceful (they will sense your stress, fake it if you have to), and know when to call it quits. Often, it may take a few meals over a few days before babies get the hang of it.
If your baby turns their head or pushes your arm away when you try to put the food in their mouth, then respect that and don’t force it. They may need some more exploration with the food first.
Step #4: Transitioning Baby to Table Foods
Continue to offer puffs for a few days to a week at every meal alongside their pureed food, until you can see them munching up and down with their jaw most of the time.
Ideally, they should be feeding themselves the puffs, too, but don’t let that be a deal breaker on moving forward. You can help them put the puffs in their mouth as long as they’re willingly opening their mouth.
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.
Find baby feeding schedules for 8, 9, and 10 month olds here and 11-14 months here.
Once your baby is enjoying puffs, you’ll want to try small pieces of other foods that dissolve really quickly. Some examples are: Town House Crackers (not Ritz, this texture actually requires more chewing), Graham Crackers, Teething Wafers, Baby Cheese Puffs, rice husks, and other stage 1 table foods you find in the baby aisle at the grocery store.
Trader Joe’s Social crackers are another option if you live by one.
Encourage your baby to feed themselves these finger foods, but certainly give help as needed. If they are eating these types of food well, it is time to move onto some softer foods that require a little more chewing, which we will address here in a minute.
If you aren’t sure if finger food is safe, do a taste test yourself. How quickly does it dissolve compared to a puff? How much do you need to chew it?
How do you know your child is eating foods well and ready to move on? 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.
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.
Step #5: Getting Your Baby or Toddler to Only Eat Table Food
As your child eats a variety of crunchy but melt-able foods well, then you can start with soft foods like bananas, avocado, noodles, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, muffins, deli meat, cheese, breads, and overly cooked veggies in a cube shape.
You can also try these cubed “jellies” or little frittatas, that are perfect for this stage too. It may take a few days or weeks before you’re ready to move onto these soft 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.
When your baby is eating several cracker like foods and several soft foods, you can pull back from giving as much baby food and perhaps skip the baby food at some meals.
As they eat more and more of the table foods, you’ll serve less and less baby food, skipping it more and more until you no longer need it.
If you feel they haven’t eaten enough of the actual table food then give them some of the baby food. Keep in mind that babies need to eat actually very little and a tablespoon or two of finger foods may be plenty for them.
If you’re nervous about how much your baby should be eating, check out toddler portion sizes, the info is great for babies too!
And if it feels like you’re lacking inspiration for what to serve, see my Mega List of Table Foods.
Important Tips for Transitioning Baby to Table Foods Easily
- Once you begin introducing table foods, offer one table food at each meal. Then, slowly increase the variety of foods they are eating as they are managing more foods.
- Continue to steadily increase the thickness of baby foods as you progress with table foods. If you aren’t making your own baby foods, try pureeing what you are eating for dinner or mix this into the jarred baby food. This will help get your child used to more textures and tastes. I love using a magic bullet for this!
- Carefully monitor all new foods. Some coughing and an occasional gag is normal. If you are seeing this frequently, the texture you are giving them may be too difficult for them. Wait a week or so before introducing it again and then proceed slowly. Discuss persistent gagging and choking with your doctor.
The Big Picture: Introducing Table Foods to Baby Cheat Sheet
Let’s sum up everything we’ve talked about in transitioning your baby from purees to finger foods and solid foods with a list that you can use as a quick guide.
- Give baby puffs as their very first table food.
- Give other food that have a crunch but melt easily, like cheese curls and graham crackers.
- Give crunchy/meltable foods layered with another texture like spread, dip, etc.
- 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)
Important Tips for Transitioning Baby to Table Foods Easily
- Once you begin introducing table foods, offer one table food at each meal. Then, slowly increase the variety of foods they are eating as they are managing more foods.
- Continue to steadily increase the thickness of baby foods as you progress with table foods. If you aren’t making your own baby foods, try pureeing what you are eating for dinner or mix this into the jarred baby food. This will help get your child used to more textures and tastes. I love using a magic bullet for this!
- 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.
- Carefully monitor all new foods. Some coughing and an occasional gag is normal. If you are seeing this frequently, the texture you are giving them may be too difficult for them. Wait a week or so before introducing it again and then proceed slowly. Discuss persistent gagging and choking with your doctor.
- 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.
Help, My Baby or Toddler Won’t Eat Table Food!
Some children have a hard time moving onto table foods. Often these babies were pros at baby food, but turn their noses up and refuse many or all table foods.
It’s not uncommon for parents to even experience situations where their 10, 11-month, and even 1-year-olds and toddlers won’t eat solids.
As we discussed in the first section of this article, in this case, it’s critical to consider that there’s an underlying difficulty affecting your child’s ability and willingness to eat.
To figure out what you can do to start helping your baby, I highly recommend our free table food workshop. You’ll learn how to make some powerful but easy changes to what and how you feed them.
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.
Free Printable: Learn How to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet!!
Want to have all these steps in your hands so you can reference them in a heartbeat? We’ve got you covered you’ll find all the steps for transitioning your baby or toddler to table foods in this handy free printable:
Click here to get the free Learn How to Eat Table Foods Cheat Sheet
More on Transitioning Baby to Table Foods from Your Kid’s Table
The Ultimate List of Baby/Toddler Meal Ideas
The Best High Calorie Foods for Babies
Getting Picky Eaters to Eat New Foods
A Weekly Meal Plan of Table Foods For Your Baby or Toddler: So You Can Save Your Sanity
Alisha Grogan is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Your Kid’s Table. She has over 19 years experience with expertise in sensory processing and feeding development in babies, toddlers, and children. Alisha also has 3 boys of her own at home. Learn more about her here.
Hi Alisha,
I have a bit of a dilemma..My baby is about to turn 10 months..We did purees from 6 months and are now stuck..The problem is at about 8.5 months she started rejecting being spoon fed but when i put tiny bits of food in front of her she only picks up what she is familiar with and won’t try everything. I can only get her to eats peas, puffs and cube pieces of toast….everything else she either plays with or doesn’t touch at all.
She luckily started enjoying sucking the food pouches which was how i got food into her outside of milk when she rejected the spoon.
With rejecting the spoon i am unable to give her thicker purees per your steps.
I don’t know what else to do to get her to try table foods
Hi Rexie. I can see we are going through a somewhat similar problem. Your post gave me an idea – I need to try the pouches. I was wondering if your daughter is able to eat out of them without being able to drink from a straw cup or can she already do it? And if not, how did she figure it out how to get the food out of the pouch/how did you teach her to do it? Thanks!
Hi Dorota. Yes she is able to eat out of them without any straw cup knowledge. She’s only used a bottle and the sippy cup (the spout type). The first few times i gave them to her i would squeeze the content to the top of the pouch so she could taste it and then she would suck on it to get more (pretty much same motion as if she was sucking on her bottle)..As she got more used to it, i stopped squeezing it all the way to the top and she slowly got the hang of sucking the whole pouch.
She doesn’t always hold it herself though…Most times i hold it for her if not she plays with it, wants to suck the bottom of the package which makes the food squeeze out everywhere before putting it in her mouth..If you can take the mess, then wont be a big deal leaving her to it.
Rexie, thank you so much for your response! We’ve tried the pouch this morning and my son was able to eat with my help. That is a big thing because he wasn’t eating any solids except for the very few pieces (close to zero) of chopped up food I’ve been offering. We’ll see how it goes. Thank you for posting here and giving me an idea about how to get at least some solids in… No spoon feeding for either of our kids – hope we can get over it somehow. Good luck!
Glad I could help!! Hope it keeps going well..
I’m going to try backtracking and starting from puffs again as i realised she really hasn’t figured out the up and down chewing motion per the post and just plays with it till it melts.
Good luck with your son!!
You could try using these pouches that you fill the food in yourself (http://amzn.to/2zlCZRk aff). I’d also try to look at what she is eating and see what you can do to change it… add some peanut butter to here toast, try different types of bread? Make the changes small at first. If she likes puffs theres a good chance she’ll like some of the other first table foods they sell in the store that are crunchy. Lastly, if you’re still concerned check out: yourkidstable.com/feeding-therapy
Hope that helps!
Hello Alisha,
There are so many issues that I don’t even know where to start. I will really appreciate your help.
My 9 month old and I have been trying to follow your meal plans for 7-8 and 9 month olds. What we are at now is:
– a refusal of any pureed food (store bought or home made) and getting close to the refusal of any spoon feeding. Fruit with cereal or yogurts went in smoothly up until 2 days ago and even they are not taken easily now.
– Around month 7-8 we started with rice crisps (which he liked, bit off a piece and chewed) and puffs (didn’t like that much), tried soft crackers, corn puffs, yogurt bites which he chews relatively well. Now he needs to have pieces of rice crisps instead of biting them off, still the puffs are only tolerated.
– I started giving him pieces of food on the tray: he seemed to like and chew on ground meat and pasta (I gave him this very same food pureed at that very meal but he didn’t want it), toast, eggs and strawberries which he did not.
– the amounts that he consumes are insignificant so he basically drinks milk. I’ve also tried cottage cheese but he didn’t like it.
Do you know what is happening and what should I do from now on? He liked pureed foods at first but as the time went by, he wanted it less and less. I am concerned that instead of moving forward we are going backward, back to milk (which he is also very temperamental about – even though I do try to keep a schedule – never at the same time, different amounts, drinking all at once or splitting it, not wanting to drink inside the house but wanting to outside 2 min. later, not wanting to drink before bedtime but wanting to 5 min later once left in the crib, waking up twice at night to drink 5-7oz or 4-5 times over the last 2 nights only to drink 2-4 oz. And of course, he doesn’t want to drink milk first thing in the morning.). I feel helpless.
I appreciate your advice.
Hi Doroto, I’m assuming you’ve followed the steps in this post, a lot of babies that are struggling with eating often really need to work on those crunchy meltable foods that I talked about in the post. It sounds like he either has some difficulty with oral motor or sensory, you can click on those links for a lot more info. But, if possible I’d look into feeding therapy. (click that last link for more info!)
Thank you so much for your response. Yes, we have been following those steps. I still give him the crunchy meltable foods – rice cakes, baby mum-mums, yogurt bites and he seemed to be doing well with them. Now it looks harder, I guess, due to his heavy congestion lasting for the last couple of weeks. Can this have something to do with what is happening? But why would he refuse even spoon feeding (more or less thick foods)? I will look into feeding therapy too.
Constipation can definitely play a role, but I think there’s several layers to this!
Hello. My son turns 10 months this week. At about 8.5 months I started casually putting soft things I was eating onto his tray, but he had no interest. Once I found this I started your steps, and it was magic. He began eating puffs and mum mums reliably (though we had our share of gagging and coughing starting out), and we recently moved onto small soft cubed food. He will now eat a few bites of scrambled eggs, cheese cubes sometimes, rice, and oatmeal but that is it! I will introduce a new food that I am eating (like mashed up black beans, broccoli, mashed blueberries) and he will look at it, play with it, but will NOT put it in his mouth. I hold it up to him to see if its an issue picking it up, and he turns his head away and gets mad. Why does he already have an aversion to things he has never seen or tried? I am worried he is already becoming a picky eater, and as a result I am prolonging baby food too long (our pedi warned of “texture aversion” developing). Could this be a regression due to teething by any chance? Would love input! Thank you!
My son is turning 12 months very soon. Im so afraid to give him table food because i dont want him to choke. He can eat gerber little bits with minimal issues (read: the occasional short cough fit) ive mashed him avocados and overripe bananas, and i hold teething crackers up to him to bite off. He sometimes coughs with puffs and yogurt melts. Am i on the right track? What do i need to do more of? Im so lost on this….
I am thrilled to have found your blog!!! My 9 month old spits all of her food out. She enjoys only certain flavors of the pureed food and knows when I try to sneak new flavors or thicken it up. With puffs, she can get them in her mouth but immediately spits it out after a few sucks. Help!!! 🙁
Hey Shayna! I know its so frustrating! I’d start using that toothbrush (did you read both parts of this post series?), that can make a huge difference? Also, did you try following the steps of showing them and placing them on their back gums while you demonstrate? That’s really powerful too, but takes some practice for sure.
Let me know what you think!
My baby just turned 12 months and we recently started offering table foods on a more consistent basis as we are trying to wean him off baby food, however we are noticing that he does not swallow the foods. He has interest in the food; he will pick up and feed himself. He even looks like he’s trying to chew, however he never swallows, the food always gets pushed out with his tongue. Do you think he needs more time to learn how to swallow table foods or is there an underlying issue?
It does sounds like he’s having some difficulty, but that doesn’t mean he won’t work it out! I’d try meals 3 times a day and focus on the types of foods I suggested here, not soft foods, those are harder to eat. If you follow the steps and don’t see improvement I’d consider getting that free eval (also in the post) from early intervention, it will give you great peace of mind!
My baby is 9 months old today. We have been trying table foods for the last 2 weeks since he has shown more interest in wanting to be independent, grabs the spoon and puts it to his mouth, grabs food, etc. I went with puffs first and he does GREAT with those;however, he can’t pick them up so he just opens his mouth to ask for another. When I give him bigger items like a teething wafer he grabs it and puts it to his mouth (it dissolves from his saliva so he mashes it between his fists). Ive also tried banana or some soft veggies..when I give him these he chews, but gets the food stuck under his tongue and then yells and makes it fall out of his mouth. I’m not sure what to do to help with pincer grasp or how to make him swallow.? If he gets the food to the back of his throat he makes a face and will force himself to vomit (I’m guessing because it’s not chewed enough in his mind to swallow?) I’m pretty frustrated because his daycare 4 to 5 days a week doesn’t have time and just puts on the paper that he refused.. so our work is spotty at best.
Thank you in advance,
Courtney
Hey Courtney,
There’s a couple of things I’d suggest… First it’s okay to feed him and put it on his gums for now, break the teething wafers up to if you need to. If you do soft textures, make sure they go on his gums, but I’d wait a couple of weeks and focus on graham crackers, town house crackers, cheese puffs, etc. Also, sounds strange, but if you haven’t already started using a tooth brush I’d start. Brush the sides and top of his tongue when you do, this will help him understand where the food is better in his mouth. Give that a try and let me know how it goes. If you don’t see progress in a month I’d consider getting a free evaluation through your county.
Hello, my 18 month old eats a variety of foods she likes as long as they are in the cheese, bread, snack categories. There are very few real foods she does eat. Mini quiches are a huge hit but this makes up an incredibly small variety of foods. I still give her baby food so that I can make sure she gets vegetables because 99 percent of the time as soon as something hits her tongue she pulls it back out and on the floor it goes. Doesn’t matter if it’s cut into bite sizes or she is able to have a piece of something. On a good day she will eat macaroni and cheese or even a lunch meat pita bread sandwich but most of the time any fruits, vegetables, or meats are a no go. Since she is capable and does eat very few actual foods, it seems like a matter of stubborn pickiness, not the transition itself. But the problem is we haven’t been able to bridge the transition to table foods. Any suggestions?
I totally agree, I think this is falling more into the picky eating category, and you’re in the right place. First I want you to check out my eating basics, start to follow these steps… you may already be doing some of them. I really, in particular want you to focus on spacing out meals, getting a schedule with no snacking or grazing is really important! Also, I think it would be helpful to narrow down what is going on, check out this post for 5 underlying reasons kids don’t eat. Lastly, I have a workshop that is totally free, but in it I teach you the 3 core steps that every kid needs to turn around picky eating. Take a look at that stuff (no rush) and let me know if you have any questions!
Hi. I have a 13 month old that just won’t eat anything solid. We’ve tried but haven’t been consistent. She’ll gag or spit the food out. She even threw up once when trying a teething biscuit. She’ll turn her head and not open her mouth. The only way we can sneak some solid food is on a spoon but then she’ll not want to take another bite. If we put the food on her high chair table, she’ll pick it up and drop it on the floor. What do you suggest?
Hi Diana! I’ve actually seen this a lot, it happens more than most realize. I’d start with brushing her teeth three times a day. Get the sides of her tongue and inside her cheeks. Then, I’d focus on still putting food on her tray and having her play for a few minutes. Try using the big carrot like I talk about in the post too, maybe even outside of a mealtime. Lastly, I’d look into free early intervention, that could be a very big help!Let me know if you have more questions!!
What should I brush her teeth with? I’ve been using a wash cloth during bath time but sometimes she refuses. She already has 3 molars and is almost 14 months old. Thanks!
Get an infant toothbrush, this will really help desensitize her mouth. Allow her to chew on it if she likes too! If she doesn’t like it, try to keep it positive and take it slow. I know this seems strange but it can make all the difference in her starting to accept foods.
Thank you!
My baby is 9 months old. He was a preemie. He refuses to eat anything besides baby food. He does fine with thicker baby food. If I get a puff anywhere near his mouth he swats my hand away. I tried the baby food with tiny bits (before I found your post) & he gagged. He gags on any food we stick in his mouth that isn’t baby food. He won’t put it in his mouth himself or if he put it to his lips he makes a grossed out face & drops it. I have no clue what the problem is-texture, taste, ??? He’s not super fond of the fruit baby food I usually mix it with rice cereal to get him to eat it.
I have 2 older girls that had no problem transitioning so I’m at a loss here!
This is actually fairly common for preemies. Does he have early intervention services? I’d really look into that, you can find a whole post here on it. But, I’d also start brushing his teeth, sides of tongue, and top of tongue several times a day. Sounds strange but it can help break down his gag reflex, a lot actually.
My baby is 1y and 1 month and he is barely eating anything that is not purred and every time put a biscuit in front of him he just lays with it and throws it away without even trying to put it in his mouth its very depressing especially that i have out him in the day care and i can see all his friends in the same class eating everything an finger eating biscuits and small sandwiches i admit i was over protective and didnt even try to do this transition before he was 1. hes my first baby and i didnt have any experience. what shall i do? 🙁
Don’t beat yourself up Sabine, you can move forward but it will take some time and consistency. I’d start with the puffs like I talk about in the post, try and put them in his mouth if he allows. Also make sure you’re brushing his teeth to help desensitize him. Let him play with food too! Give that a try and follow the steps here and let me know how it goes in a week or two!
This is the best article i have come across so far regarding this issue. my daughter is 14 months and spits out anything other than pureed food. i have tried many times to give mashed food but she doesnt want. now i think i know where to start.
THat’s great Liz! Yes, the key is with the crunchy foods first!
my 7 week early preemie is now 15 months and WILL not eat anything but her thick puree.. i at times add little tiny pastina to the mixture and she will eat it.. but thats all.. today we tried oatmeal, and she was not having it! completely spit it right out.. im getting frustrated.. HELP!
i might add that we have a therapist that comes once a month to help her with feeding, but i dont see a difference ..
Is the therapist giving any helpful strategies? Do they have a lot of feeding experience… feel free to ask them questions and even call them between appointments. Are they using a nuk brush or trying any foods like meltable puffs? This is where I’d want to focus. There is actually a part 2 to this post as well, and the steps between both lay out exactly what I’d do. Have you tried what is suggested here, with the puffs etc.? It may take a lot of repetition.
Hi Alisha, my 15-month old does not appear to be chewing her food. Even fairly large pieces she will just swallow, making a pained face as she does so. This causes me to cut her food up very small so as to avoid her swallowing them whole. She will chew from time to time, but mostly she just swallows. I do feed her some fruit pouches for snacks, but mostly her meals consist of table foods (cut up into beyond bite-size pieces). Is this something I should be concerned about? Is there something I should do to encourage her to chew? Also, she drinks very consistently from her straw and the 360 munchkin cup, but chokes as she’s drinking often. FYI, she is still not walking (sounds crazy, but I’m not sure if this developmentally coincides with her ability to chew properly). One final question: she often wants to eat my foods (like, MY food, from my hands, not the food in my plate) even though it is far too big for her to chew. She will cry and whine until I give it to her, and she is not capable of eating it. If I dont give it to her, she will not even attempt to eat HER OWN food. This has kept me from eating with her, as I dont want her to stop eating her meal to tantrum for my food. Can you offer any advice? Thank you so much in advance and my apologies for the lengthy post!
Hi Lucianna, I’m so glad you asked this question… have you tried any of the foods in this post or the follow up. I would definitely focus on crunchy foods that melt, because the texture will help prompt her to chew. Definitely use this a guide and have some “teaching time” in every meal. I’d also encourage her to chew on teethers, and experiment with vibrating ones, and a vibrating toothbrush. Those could both be very helpful. Try different types of teethers though, ones that vibrate and ones that don’t.
I don’t think you need to be overly concerned and these tips you’re learnign could make all the difference, BUT to be on the safe side I’d highly recommend getting an evaluation from early intervention if you live in the states. It sounds like she might need a little help, especially with the drinking. This is one of the rare instances I’d try a traditional sippy cup and see if she can swallow better without coughing. You can read more about setting up those evaluations here. Let me know if you need anything else!
Hi i have a 9 month old and he is not it to any foods yet eating any foods yet maybe a taste of a snack hear or there but never anything to brag over i sit him down 3times a day for a meal no meal is consumed just a taste what can i do…
Will he eat baby foods? I would put some purees on the tray and try to encourage him just touching the food and playing in it. Make it really fun and try to be engaging with him, give him your full attention when you do this. Also, does he mouth toys? Try dipping toys, utensils, and hands in the pureed foods (you can use yogurt and applesauce too) and helping him gently bring to his mouth. This is a great first step!