13 Month Old Refusing Solid Food

I am having a similar situation with my 10-month old daughter. She has been eating stage 2 baby food for quite some time, so I decided to try some of the stage 3 food that is a bit chunkier. I gave it to her two different times last week and she would just sort of move it around in her mouth a few times, spit it out and give me a disgusted look. Granted, I realize that this is the first time she's had anything other than pureed foods. It does worry me a bit because she had never refused any food before now...and the stage 3 food doesn't have near as much texture as regular food. I'm going to keep trying other flavors though. Maybe she just didn't like the turkey vegetable flavor that I gave her.

Well, picky is normal and refusing to try new things is normal too. Don't worry, he won't let himself starve. You should really talk to his doctor about the possible milk allergy, it could be part of the root problem. I have digestive problems and when I read below about the broccoli I cringed, not because I don't like it but how it and numerous other foods make my stomach feel if I have dairy too. He may need a special diet. The doctor might have some helpful tips on the food at daycare thing too.

Hi J.,

I also had a hard time getting my son on table food - it was a texture thing also. We just kept trying different foods at each mealtime. We would take baby food to daycare to have as a back up if he didn't eat well. Finally, one day he just refused the baby food and wanted to eat table food and feed himself. It literally felt like it happened overnight. Bread was the first thing he really started to like (either sliced bread or biscuits, pancakes, etc.) Just be patient and continue trying a variety of foods; he'll eventually catch on.

My daughter just turned 17 months old and is just now starting on solid foods. I've been trying since she turned a year old, but she just wouldn't eat any of it. In my opinion it's like anything else, they will do it in their own time. I continued to give my daughter baby food until she would take solid food. I figured that was better then her not getting the nutrients that she needs. Explain to the daycare that ubtil your baby is ready to eat solid food that you want them to keep feeding him baby food. If they refuse then they really don't care about the health of your child. My daughter is in daycare and I asked then to feed her baby food, they said no problem that I just had to supply the baby food. Don't stress about this your son will make the change to solid food when he is ready, not when you and the daycare are ready.

I think babies and toddlers are smart. They know what they like. If you are aware of what foods the baby likes but he is refusing to eat other food I can only give you the best advice I got. A child will not starve. They will eat when they are hungry and they will eat what is in front of them. Do not allow for the cereal and crackers until your child has had at least a couple bites of other foods. They only require a small portion of food anyway. Their stomachs are the size of their fist. They may not enjoy them at first but their pallate is still developing. They can refuse food that you gave them just yesterday that they ate up the day before. Try doing just a couple of foods at a time. For instance give green beans with every meal. He can pick it up on his own. If you put food in front of him and he is truly starved, he will eat. After a couple buits then give him a cracker. Kids only eat what has been introduced snd given to them.

My daughter may only get a couple of florets of broccoli but she knows that if she eats some green and orange veggies then she can have sugar, which by the way is what cereal and crackers are. You may also try rice milk. It is not soy based but made from rice. It has calcium and in my opinion is better than soy. You may have to introduce this slowly but it will help with the gas and be a good source of grain and fiber too. Hope this helps.

I know exactly what you are going through. My son is 4 and still will not eat what "normal" kids eat. It is very aggrivating. I've tried witholding his favorite foods until he will eat something else, and I'll tell you, he'd rather starve.

He ate baby food until age 2 - so PLEASE, try to stop it now. The pediatrician did not seem to concerned and he takes daily vitamins. There is also an ensure type drink for toddlers, although my son hates that too. They said if it continued, to bring him in to a child-psychiatrist for some "texture testing", which seems a little extreme to me. We are still waiting it out and rest assured, he is healthy and on target for his weight.

Just stay patient, your child will come around :)

J.,

My son, too, seemed to be later than some of his peers transitioning to solid foods from baby foods. I worried about it (especially when he was in daycare full-time ... we took him out of daycare at 13 months and I've been staying at home with him full-time since then). His daycare also said he wouldn't eat the solid food they offered him, but they continued to feed him his baby food that we sent in as back ups to the real food they served there. He ate that well, and was at least not hungry during the day.

I stressed out so much about that then (I remember it vividly), but can say that he just finally started eating more and more solid foods (and moving away from baby food) when he was ready. I don't remember exactly how old he was when this happened, but I remember he was older than most kids that I knew were already eating solids well.

But, he's now a happy, healthy two year old ... and even though I stressed about it then, I can't even remember when it stopped being an issue! ;) So, don't worry so much ... babies and toddlers all do things at different times and most will do things when they're ready (not neccessarily when we think they're ready or when we try to get them to do things on our timetable).

Best wishes to you and enjoy your sweet guy! I have a daughter now, too ... she's three months old and the time is just flying by way too fast! I think I'm already less stressed with number two though! ;) Trust me, this will all pass and you'll have a hard time remembering what it was like when he wasn't eating solids! So much for them to learn in so little time! ;)

Best of luck,
H.