I just posted about my soon to be 11 month old not eating solids (turning head, sealing mouth shut, crying with spoon or finger feeding) & trying to help him take a cup of some sort while I am gone to my part-time job. This post is about the solids I am offering him daily. I have a couple of questions that I have got conflicting answers on. First, for an infant this age who has not ate any solids, only occasional tastes, what solids can he be offered? Should I still worry about allergies? My pediatrician said to continue to offer mushy foods 3 days apart for each food. My lactation consultant said to offer table food in small chunks with a variety on his tray. Her thought was that at this age he has "tried" a variety of foods through my breastmilk and if there was an allergy, we would know by now. I like the idea of offering him table food in small chunks so he can play with it and hopefully eventually decide to put some in his mouth. This leads to my second question: if he has never successfully ate any food, what will he do when a bite gets in his mouth? Will he gag, even choke since he never has even taken pureed foods? He has 4 teeth and the only thing he puts in his mouth (food wise) are biting biscuits which he only rubs on his teeth. This makes me think he prefers finger/table food over pureed because he can "control" it more (he is strong willed about most things so this isn't surprising to me). So, my concerns are about allergies at his age & if table food could be a choking hazard since he has never ate food. Thanks!!
P.S. I guess I didn't clarify enough but he has not ate/drank ANYTHING besides breastmilk & water. He hasn't ate baby food although he has been offered daily since 6 1/2 months of age. I'm wanting to try table food because it's been suggested that maybe he doesn't like baby food and he'll try table food. He turns his head, seals his mouth & cries if a spoon of baby food goes anywhere near his face. Some responses sounded like they thought he was eating baby food already & I was just wanting to transition to table food.
I think giving him finger foods is a great idea. That way he is in control. I used to buy the little cans of mixed vegetables and just dump them on the tray and let him pick them up. They are so soft that he won't choke or anything, good luck!
Hi A.,
I have a picky 12mo. old who as well refused a bottle and only drank from one type of cup. Thanks to my 2yr old, we had every cup under the sun to try. But about the foods. I would not try to feed him foods during meal times. Put him in a highchair while you are doing dishes, paying bills or whatever you can do in the kitchen to supervise. Just put a few small things on the trey at a time like peas or cheerios. And don't show or tell him to eat them. Just let him play and you know how kids are, it will end up in his mouth. I will list a few foods below that we use as my 12 mo. old still has only 4 teeth. I think experimenting with different textures and tastes while he's not hungry or being told to eat will help him "discover" food on his own. Hope this helps. Here's a list of our pantry staples.
mini mandarin oranges
canned diced carrots
peas
cheerios
canned green beans
Saltine crackers
torn and shredded deli turkey
I forgot to mention my son has a really severe milk allergy so I don't give him anything that he could have an allergic reaction to so I believe all of the above foods should be good for that. Also, kudos for nursing so long. I only lasted 10 mo. with my 2nd and 7 mo. with my 1st.
Good Luck to you and your cutie!
J.
I don't know if this will help, but several discount stores carry a little teether-type thing with a mesh bag on it that you can put food in. I think the one we have is made by Sassy and is called a "teething feeder." The mesh bag prevents choking on chunks, but still allows the child to learn to chew the food.
My youngest LOVED that thing! We'd put frozen veggies or fruit in it while he was teething, and later, table foods, until he was able to handle them on his own without choking.
If the chunks of table food are small enough to prevent choking (especially if you start with "mushy" table foods like banana or cooked carrots), I don't see why you shouldn't try that. You could still offer just one new food every few days to be sure he's not allergic. And it would allow him to "explore" the food before putting it in his mouth.
He may still gag or spit the food out the first few times, but that's normal--he hasn't learned how to deal with "solid" foods yet. It may take some time for him to get used to the texture and figure out that he needs to chew the food and swallow differently than liquids. But again, if using very small chunks, this shouldn't be a problem.
HTH!
--A.
I had the same problem with my son. He only had 4 teeth at that age as well. He is now 19 months old and we still have a problem with him wanting to eat. I would try everyday to give him solid foods and then would give up and give him baby food. Over time he eats more and more solid foods. He was still eating mostly baby food until he was 14 months. Like everything else---he will do it when he is ready. No one particular thing worked for us. You probably don't have to worry about the choking hazard---if he can't chew it up he will probably spit it out if he is that picky. That is what my son did. Just make sure everything you give him is in very small pieces. Good Luck!
Hi A. - I am a 32 year old first time mom of a 11 month old. I can't believe how fast they grow. Your son should be fine with table food now. I pretty much feed Hayden anything we are eating but I do still give him Gerber stage 3 foods too from time to time. He needs to start learning how to feed himself. It took my son about 3 weeks before he finally figured out how to pick up the food and put it in his mouth. You definitely need to make sure you are with him at all times of course when he is eating. Hayden would gag sometimes (still does from time to time) but it is just gagging from the texture. I haven't let him eat strawberries, any type of fish, nuts, eggs or peanut butter. I am going to talk to my pediatrican about allergy type foods at his one year well visit. Let me know if you have any other questions. I am new at all of this so just trying to figure it out day by day.
