11 Month Old Spitting Food Out

She'll eat when she's hungry. My doctor said that no baby who is offered food will starve. She should still be getting her main nutrition from formula/breastmilk at this age.

it's a phase! no worries, sounds like lots of fabulous variety already, no need to stress about more foods. I just love that you are making stuff yourself and that you give her such healthy stuff; kudos to you. I did that with my kids too. She's experimenting with textures, she won't starve, just ignore it because otherwise it becomes a power struggle or an attention getter and you want food to be a fabulous experience.

Have you tried spaghetti? Also, mac n cheese, fish sticks, roast. My son went through the same thing. Right now the only vegetable he eats is green beans, like your daughter. He doesn't even like mashed potatotes anymore!! Try not to pay attention to her when she spits out the food. leave the room for a minute or two, and see if she starts to eat the food when your not watching her. I did this technique with my son, and it worked with some of the food he was only spitting out when I was in the room. Also, you have to be patient when doing this, at first it took my son almost 45 minutes to start eating the food he was spitting out.

They are good manipulators, so try not to start the food bargaining. She may be putting on a show for you to see your reaction.

Hope this helps!

L.

Hi there,
I am glad that you are checking this out. I am a parent educator, an occupational therapist and mom. One thing that you can look for is whether or not there are patterns in what your daughter spits out. Is it related to texture temperature, etc? Some kids who appear to be picky eaters actually have sensory issues in their mouths. In other words just like some people can't wear wool or lace because it is too irritating, foods can be that irritating to some kids. If it is a persistant problem, you might ask your pediatrician for an assessment by a pediatric occupational therapist or speech and language pathologist who specialize in sensory dysfunction and feeding. Best of luck!
Blessings to you and your family,
K.

Maybe it's too much, too soon? And yes- probably texture issues, too. My oldest ate nothing but table food from about 9 months on. My middle, I swear, would still eat baby food if we let her- and she's 14 years old!! Huge texture issues still. Stick with litle things she can pick up and let her feed herself. Same thing over and over for her is probably great. My youngest ate turkey gobble sticks and canned peas every morning for breakfast from 12 months until she was three. It was gross and disgusting to me but she LOVED it! I would think at one if you can get her to eat pastas,bananas, cheese cubes, bits of torn up deli meat then you are doing great. I think you might be just too enthusiastic about her eating- it will take a bit for her taste buds to catch up! I remember my husband was so excited when our oldest started eating solids that he drove through McDonalds (I know) and bought him french fries. Well, he loved them! (duh!) So my husband bought him more later that day. And then the third time he fed him french fries that SAME day- guess what?!- he threw up. It is fun and exciting when they try new stuff- but it has to be at their pace. Good luck. Sounds like you are on the right track but maybe just pushing too many new tastes and textures. Kids really do love repetition with their food. (or at least most of them from what I've seen!)

A lot of great responses here. I'm sure it is very normal as every child is different. All you can do is keep offering. It may be that she still wants very simple one ingredient foods.

I'll just add a couple more ideas of what my 11 month old likes so you can try a few more things. I get thinly sliced, nitrate free ham at the deli and dice it super tiny. Eats all of it! Sliced mozzarella too. Loves natural cheetos and HEB brand circle shaped entertainer crackers (both non hydrogenated). Loves toast with butter cut up into very small pieces. Whole real butter is good for them, just as whole milk and yogurt is better for them at this age. Tastes yummy too. He also loves any sliced fresh fruits (banana, apple, pear, mango are probably his favorite right now), and even black beans from a can. I do offer him table food with all of that at dinner, but those are the things that make up the bulk of his diet right now. He still gets most of his veggies through occasional baby food or trying our dinner (broccoli, asparagus, etc.)

Good luck!

My 1 year old does the same thing. She will take a few chews and then spit out the part that she doesn't want. For instance, she will eat the chicken nuggets, but she will savor off all the bread and then spit out the chicken.

I read online that's its normal. One, they are getting used to new flavors. Also, they are testing your limits to see how far they can go with the attention they are getting from it. Don't sweat it though, she will swallow when she is hungry. Mine will. I just keep serving the same foods I normally do, whatever I cook for the family, and sometimes she spits it out and sometimes she swallows.

Also my doc gave me a paper that talked about eating and babies and it said that missing a meal or two is OK. If she does, then her appetite will return and she will start to swallow. If just says not to get frustrated with the baby and just take the food away. You also have to let her know that that behavior is not acceptable. She is still learning.

I would say just keep doing what you are doing. Kids are tough sometimes and it can take repeated effort (like 15x) to help them learn to eat what you are giving them. We are also a healthy eating family and I have always made my own baby food too. (I have 3 kids ages, 3,2,7mo)
Kids won't starve themselves, they'll eat what you feed them when they get hungry.
And to be completely honest and blunt you will have to (for a period of time) let go of the frustration of wasting food. It'll only add more stress to you and its not going to get any better soon. But definitly teach them consistantly about not wasting food or throwing it on the floor. It will eventually sink in.

At 1 year old, my son was a picky eater and was diagnosed with failure to thrive(poor weight gain). We went to a nutritionist and she told us to add powdered milk, mayonaise, peanut butter, etc. to his food, although he wouldn't eat any of it because of the texture. At the time, I just tried offering him a good variety of foods to see which ones he liked. I made lots of simple food without sauces, such as bite-sized pieces of scrambled eggs, canned mixed veggies, etc. We also kept him on whole milk longer than normal.
Today he is 7 and still won't eat foods with much sauce or mushy textures. We always ask him to taste a bite of what we are eating, and I ask him if he likes it "today" so that he knows tastes can change. I do cook him a different version of what we're having. He will eat steak but no type of ground beef, baked potatoes not mashed, wheat bread not white, cheese quesadilla instead of pizza, plain noodles instead of lasagna. I just make sure he's getting balanced meals but I don't pressure him too much because it is probably related to autism(aspergers).