10 Month Old Is a Picky Eater

He's still really young. Some kids don't warm up to solids until long after their first birthday. Keep nursing or giving formula. At this point, he's not going to be able to get enough calories from solids alone. Just keep offering a variety of healthy foods and let him choose.

Hi K.,
He seems to be craving carbs. Two things that are easy at this age to start taking a look at the digestive health (yes, lots of kids are struggling with digestive and it starts even earlier than 10 months).

First, change his crackers, bread, buscuits to only gluten free ones. Don't be a wus and give in, it will only get worse. Mom needs to be in control of the food. Baby food should be all organic. Do not touch the meat in baby food. If you want meat, cook it and puree it yourself or give him the tiny pieces. This is a tough one, but if you can get him off the formula onto a almond milk and cod liver oil mixture (8 oz almond milk, 1 tbls cod liver oil), it would be amazing, if not, when you transition from formula to milk, go to Almond or Rice, not cows milk.

Why I suggest this is that gluten breaks down to sugar (unless you are feeding him Ezekial bread or bread made from the whole husks - which I guarentee is not what he wants). The sugar feeds yeast - which is a biproduct of a unhealthy digestive organ. This can be changed - rapidly at this age - much harder later. Also, organic is the best way (although not perfect) to get rid of Genetically altered foods which have been studied to cause inflammation in the gut (which creates more areas for yeast to grow). Lastly, 70% of the world is intolerant to milk. Intolerance again creates inflammation. Yeast, by the way, has the side effect of gas and digestive pain, which is why kids don't really want to eat anything but the quick fix it food - aren't they already SO SMART!!!

Secondly, by adding proibotics (1-2 capsules emptied in his bottle/cup) you will help restore the balence in the gut. If you have a physician that will work with you (Even though they try to deny most of these things), you could get Nystatin, which is a prescription anti-fungal to reduce the yeast followed by good proibotics for some time.

Thirdly, you could have him chew a little Zyme Prime enzyme (or crush it on top of his food. Tastes like candy and will give him the needed enzymes to digest and not cause gas - which is why he has altered his thoughts on food.

Nothing is better than seeing a child heartily eat. Forget the fact it feeds the brain, causes the nervous system to develop properly, etc - it is just a JOY as a mom to see them eating and enjoying. I remember the day both mine were enjoying and completing their foods (they were 7 and 2 by this time). It was so wonderful and I never realized how sad it made me to argue with them over eating.

Best of luck, hope you will try it and get the results everyone who sticks to it gets, J.

P.S., I meant to offer foods that are appropriately fit the meal, for example, you wouldn't offer fish sticks for breakfast.

Offer finger foods like soft cut up meatballs/chicken nuggets, sweet potato cubes/fries, mac and cheese, quartered grapes, soft steamed broccoli with cheese, etc. When you introduce a new food, give it to him everyday at every meal along with items he WILL eat for about a week. Many babies and toddlers take multiple exposures to new foods before accepting them. Don't put any pressure on him to eat it. Let him get used to it's presence, then play with it, feel it's texture, smell it, whatever it takes for him to accept it. Eventually, he will taste it. Show no anxiety about it and give him tons of praise for tasting it when it happens. It also helps if you and big sister are eating the food alongside him, too. Act as if it's the most delicious food in the world. He might even try to take some off your plate. I did this with my little one because, he too, started eating out nothing but crackers and cereal, and now he loves to eat anything and everything, even broccoli, with or without cheese.

My son at around 10 months started to refuse baby food as well. At the time he had a 7yr old sister and I do believe that she is the reason why he only wanted table food. If food looked like it came from a jar, he wouldn't eat it except for the desserts. You too have an older child and this is probably his way of saying he wants to do what she does. I've seen this with my friends whom have 2 kids as well. The baby moves to table food sooner. Try giving him cooked cut up carrots and such and see how he does. What I did for my son was cut up meat and put it in the blender with some veggies and the juice and chop it all up good. He loved that and it I could make enough for dinner and lunch the next day too.

Good luck!
S.