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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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