11 Month Old Refusing Solids

Pickiness is very normal for toddlers and young children. You are at least ahead of where I was when my DD was 11 months old (she's now nearly 7 years old). She only ate baby food (and ONLY the jarred stuff) until she was 18 months old. She refused all solids including Cherrios and I had to fight the doctor to do something about it because from his perspective she was getting a balanced diet. However, when I took her to the OT (see my story below) the OT had concerns about jaw muscle development. Your case is a little different because it sounds like teething may be affecting your DS. Regardless, I wanted to share my story (in the form of a response I gave to someone else about 2 years ago) in hopes that it might help your struggle. Good luck

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My daughter wouldn't eat solid foods at all and at 18 months old I had a feeding evaluation done on her by an occupational therapist. She entered a feeding group for a couple of months, which sounds similar to the feeding class you took your son to. My daughter went into a room with other toddlers and was exposed to different foods, schedules, and sensory items to encourage eating. During that time, parents met with a nutritionist or child psychologist or another OT to help us manage our issues. It worked! What I learned includes the following (things I wished I had known when I had my first child that would've provided a better foundation for healthy eating habits):

- Experts say you can introduce a food to a child as many as 17 times before they will eat it. In OT we practiced this introduction in steps...touch the food, kiss the food, lick the food, bite the food (teeth marks were only required), eat (swallow) the food. We only encouraged one step at a time and celebrated each little accomplishment. For example, if I was introducing green beans for the first time, I would encourage her to just pick it up and if she did that, I would praise her and do nothing more with the green beans.

- Set a schedule. It's recommended that you have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. These should be scheduled and consistent each day. You set a timer and give the child that amount of time to eat. I think a 2yo can sit at the table for 10-15 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the food and there is no other food until the next scheduled time. Even it your child refuses to eat, the expectation is to sit at the table for the designated amount of time. My daughter used to scream and throw food on the floor she didn't want to eat affecting the entire family's meal time. The OT had us move her high chair away from the table, but she was still expected to sit in the chair until she acted appropriately or until the timer went off. My daughter did not like being by herself and learned quickly what the meal time expectations were.

- Be patient. If you get frustrated, bribe, etc., your child has more power than you and will learn to use it. Your child knows and is entering the age to test his boundries and power. Don't stress.

- Check out a book called, "How to Get Your Child to Eat But Not Too Much" by Ellen Satyr. The book was originally recommended by my lactation consultant when I first started identifying the feeding issues with my daughter and was later recommended by my OT.

Every time my DD starts teething, she will stop eating solids for 2-5 days. Sometimes, the only thing she will eat (besides nursing) is a chunk of banana in a mesh feeder, and frozen. I will say though, that my DD is 11 months too. Her two top teeth have recently come in (so far they are only nubs) and she has her 2 bottoms as well... she eats just about anything I will give her. You would be surprised what they can gum!!! I have recently even been giving her things like goldfish crackers and larger chunks of cheese. (I started her on tiny chunks before she had any teeth at all!)

Hi Stacy,

My daughter, now 8, did not show interest in solid foods for a good year and two months. We tried introducing different tasted and textures, but her interest waned at times. I called my sis-in-law in a panic and she told me, "She'll eat solids when she's ready. You've never seen a grown child eating baby food, right?" Soon after I calmed down about the whole thing, my daughter just sort of naturally started finding solid food more interesting. If your son is happy, healthy an does not appear hungry, I'd say he's probably just fine. If, however, you have continued concerns, I'd make an appointment with your ped. just for peace of mind.

Good luck with your little guy. He's lucky to have such a great mom like you, concerned about his well being.

Take care and have a great weekend,
L.

My guess is his gums hurt because he's teething and the prior eating habits will return. I like Red's suggestion of frozen bananas; also, my kids got through teething on frozen peas -- the cold chunks feel good on sore gums!

He's OK, they all do this from time to time. He gets most of his nutrition from the formula anyway, keep giving it to him as long as he goes on these "hunger strikes" so he does not miss out. If he is interested in finger foods, I would ramp that up. Be sure to be careful of allergies and feed him only one new food for a week before adding another one. Just cut up something that you are eating, for example, chicken breast, into cheerios sized pieces. You can also try any fruit, cooked-till-soft veggie, or since he is teething, you might even cut up pieces of peach, banana, etc and freeze it so he gets a little soothing on his gums. My daughter loved pasta - some of the shapes are very small so no cutting needed. Have fun and good luck.