Spitting Out Food...

This is normal. Kids this age are either exploring texture or they stuff too much in their mouth to swallow. If she's stuffing too much in, try giving her a smaller spoon. Try not to react too much or it can become attention-seeking behavior.

It is really funny you ask this, we just went thru this with my almost 11 month old. I was doing exactly what you are doing. I just kept offering him the finger foods and let him feed himself - even though he would spit most of it out! Just like you, I would follow with offering him pureed baby food to make sure he wasn't still hungry. Well, low and behold this weekend something clicked and he is an eating machine!!! He wants nothing to do with the pureed food. I think they just need to get use to the texture and the hang of chewing and swallowing. I would continue doing what you are doing, it sounds like it is completely normal.

Hang in there with it. Our daughter (soon to be 10 months old) does the same thing.... especially with new foods. Your child is still learning to chew and eat. Try following up the food with a sippy cup of water or formula to help her "wach it down." That is what we did. Also, your child may not be ready for the texture of food that you are giving... maybe stick to what works for now or puree the food a bit., smaller bites. Good luck!!!

Hi J.,

You could be dealing with any one or more of several things, but my advice is to be patient. She is getting used to the feeling of this "foreign" substance in her mouth. It sounds as if she just hasn't developed enough to do the swallowing part of solid food. Keep offering it to her and eventually she will get the hang of it. My second daughter had this same issue with pureed food at first. The more we offered it, the more occasion she had to adjust her comfort level. She loves eating solids at this point.

My son was reluctant to eat solid foods and he went through a phase where he chewed things and spit them out and then one day he swallowed his food. I think he just had to explore it and get comfortable w/it. It helped when he ate while we were eating so he could watch us and sometimes when he was at a playdate w/a buddy who was a "good eater" I would ask the mom to feed their kid so my son could see them eat. I think you're doing exactly the right thing

When the baby is ready she/he will eat. My first child did not have any teeth until he was 16 months old. Every time we tried the tongue would push the food back out. He would choke and gag with things of unusual texture such as chicken, potato and yogurt. Does your child have teeth? I was told by a few doctors that until the babies body pushes out teeth it is not ready to chew. Don't resort to climbing down the food chain in order to get your daughter to eat anything. What can happen if you choose the sweet, fat and salty foods first you can condition her to prefer those foods most. Stick to steamed cubes of veges first. Then the protein such as tofu diced up or turkey meatballs diced up. My kids all preferred to eat red meat and pork dead last. They ate fish first. I would bake a small portion of cod and break it up on their tray. Don't give up. Try avocados too. Ripe ones in cubes is usually a hit. I sometimes would make a kind of mild guac and serve it with a chip they could dip in. Great source of vitamins and protein. I also read serve fruit dead last because of its sugar content. You want to help your child develop taste buds for all vegetables. They are typically not sweet but they need exposure to them. I had great luck with spinach souffle in the frozen section. Good luck!

My DD did this all time time. I'm pretty sure she liked the tastes because after spitting it out she'd go for more! We never went the babyfood route with her. Now she's 18 months, and the spitting is usually reserved for foods she doesn't like, but i think it's just one of the things that they do and you can't do much other than accept taht this, too, will pass.