13 Month Old Won't Eat Meat or Veggies Unless They're Baby Food

I'm not sure if you've tried this, but we found canned veggies the easiest at first. I did look for the low salt ones, since they are pretty high in salt. Frozen and fresh were just really tough, even when cooked well. It was a very long and gradual transition.

Meat was even tougher. The key to it all was to keep trying. Over time it became more and more familiar to my son. We used babyfood meat for a long time. The next step was a sort of mechanical soft diet. Well cooked meat that was ground, but not pureed, with lots of moisture in it. Fine ground beef was the next step. Then very soft meats such as Rotissure chicken in very small pieces. At 3 1/2 meat is still not a huge thing for my son, but we've made lots of progress from baby food.

If things do not progress, a therapy evaluation can help with any sensory issues. Good luck! You are just entering the true challenge of getting your child to eat!

My almost 12 month old gets really picky when he's teething and prefers purees to "real" food to the point of that's all he'll eat (yogurts, sauces, purees). At 13 months some of the other teeth are probably pushing in his gums, they could be really sensitive to pressure.

You could try hiding/covering meat/veggies in sauces he likes, like a white or alfredo sauce. Maybe some ketchup on meat like hamburger. Something to give it other flavors/textures that he does like might encourage him, especially if he likes the taste.

I don't think there's anything wrong with continuing to supplement with puree/baby foods while they're getting used to solid foods. I still give pureed fruits to my son for breakfast. He loves them and while he'll eat cubed fruit, he prefers the smooth textures right now. It's no different than mashing well/pureeing yourself, just easier and more convenient for you - which is a good thing when there's so many other things to worry about/do with a small child.

So just keep trying and eventually he'll take to the "real" stuff.

T. - do you make your own meats and veggies, or are they the store bought baby food? If you make your own, or are willing to try/start doing this, by cooking it first and then putting it in the food processor or blender, you can control how thick it is/whether it has some bigger chuncks in it. I would start by just making it a little thicker each week or so, moving gradually from pure purees to thicker, to more of a pasty consistency to having some chunks, to chunks alone, with maybe some sauce on it. It will probably take a couple months of graduating from one type to another, but you'll get there.

Another thing may be if you are trying to switch form store-bough jarred baby foods to real people table food chuncks, you have to realize the difference in taste and texture, those purees are so bland, and then they add back salt and sugar to make it have some taste after they cook it all out. Real adult food, cut up, usually has much more flavor, even if it isn't spiced or sauced up at all....you said he will eat lots of carbs without a problem - well, they are the blandest/plainest foods we adults have, pretty much....so start with the most blah and boring foods you can get your hands on, when introducing new stuff.

Here is a great website about making your own baby foods and starting finger foods, etc.
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

There are also lots of great books out about this subject - check your local library, if they don't have any in the building, as the librarian to inter-library loan some for you, - this should be a free service - i am a librarian, and we do this all the time, it is great and you can try out books for free, and if you love them, you can always order from Amazon later!

HTH

Jessie

Some kids have a really strong gag reflex. My son did. He was well beyond 13 months before he could safely and easily deal with meats or stringy veges or fruits.

The best advice I can offer you, having been through it, is to be patient, keep offering the veges and meat, cut into very small pieces, and cooked until very tender. But don't push the issue. When his mouth and throat etc is fully ready to accept these types of foods, he will enjoy them, but for now, he is simply physically unable to deal with them. If you push the issue, you may cause avoidance issues to certain types of foods.

For now, keep using the baby foods, purees, etc, and also do the soft, tender-cooked method. I also used canned veges after my son could tolerate the boiled to almost-mush veges, as an in-between step. Just VERY gradually bring up the level of crunchiness and chewy-ness of the foods (like over a period of several months) and if he is anything like my son, he will get to be comfortable with most of the veges first before being able to do most meats.

Another trick to try a little later on is buy deli meats, and shred them. Also try warming them up a little. Stay away from the very stringy foods (celery, even cooked, and roast beef type stuff until he is fairly comfortable with many other veges and meats; those seemed to be the worst ones for my son).

Hang in there- this will likely pass on its own, but you can try the tips above to speed the process. Make sure he is getting his nutrients from the foods he IS eating, and/or ask the doctor for a Rx vitamin. We did that too.)

My daughter is 2 1/2 years old and getting her to eat meat and veggies are still a struggle she has never taken to them. For her it is a texture issue so I just keep offering meat and veggies, on rare occasions she will eat a chicken nugget, a small peace of pork chop or a bit or two of ham but that is maybe once a week.

My daughter's pediatrician told us to keep offering and in the mean time give her other foods high in protein and a multi-vitamin. For us we give nuts, thankfully she is not allergic, and I also mix pediasure's nutrapals drink (various milk type flavors) into her milk to make sure she is getting all the nutrition she needs. We have tried to force the meats and veggies but that has only seemed to push our daughter further into not eating them... so we offer them but are not 'forcing' her eat them because that will cause food issues later.

My brother was the same way and at 24 he still has food issues. My parents made us sit at the table until our plate was clean, at times we were full and could not eat more but would not be allowed to leave if we did not clean our plates (food portion issues later in life), it also made us hate some foods (which we have slowly gotten over a few and eat now).

So keep offering them in time he will eat them but that may not be for a few more years. In the mean time ask your pediatrician what you can do to make sure he is getting all the need nutrients for a toddler to grow.

Some kids have a hard time transitioning into table food. I would serve him his meat/protein items first. If he is hungry he will eat it. Make sure that he doesn't have something physiological preventing him to eat solid foods. My daughter has enlarged tonsils and she was really gaggy when she was that age. If not, just keep offering him a healthy variety of food and he will come around. I would stop buying the baby food and start chopping up your food real small and give him his own plate to self-feed from. See if that helps. He will catch on, be patient.

Sensory Integration Disorder.

Check out Raising a Sensory Smart Child or other such related books.

Can you try a food mill and do them that way? They're a little more solid, but still pretty baby-food-ish. I wonder if you could take it in really slow steps? Oh--and meat is hard. Even my 4 1/2 yo still sometimes has issues with meat; it's a texture thing. For him, I encourage him to cut his meat up really small and mix it in with what we're having. My kids love jambalaya and spaghetti and chicken and rice (I shred the chicken and mix it w/ the rice) and other dishes where meat is cut up and integrated. They just don't like meat plain because it's hard to chew. I guess as long as he's eating baby food, unless your doc says otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it. Most kids get frustrated with being fed at some point in time and want to do it themselves. Just make sure you're not ALWAYS giving in to demands for food he likes--or he won't have to eat those foods he's not so sure about. We have a "You have to try it" rule at our house, and that works fairly well, even for our 15 mo. We put it up to his mouth and encourage him to try it. We leave a couple bites on his plate, and he doesn't have to eat them. My older one understands this rule and will actually eat it, but the baby gets close...and we just keep trying, over and over again!

just keep offering them. it is said that it takes 14 offers before a food is accepted. and the more you can show that you and dad (?) eat them, the more routine they will seem to him.
just keep trying!
good luck!

My kids were never big meat eaters until they were over two. If you give your son other good proteins, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, etc, he will probably be just fine until he has enough teeth and the will to eat meat. As for the veggies, raw ones specifically, I am just now getting my 2.5 year old to eat them, and he has a mouth full of teeth. He likes cooked veggies, so maybe stay with soft foods for him until he has more teeth, if you think about it, meat and raw veggies could be difficult with only 6 teeth. Good luck :)

keep doing what you are doing. Playing with food is part of learning to accept it. If he is able to try new food at his own pace, he is more likely to be an adventerous eater. In the mean time continue offering some pureed foods and some table foods.

My dtr is same way with fruit and veggies. I still grind the food for her but also offer larger pieces. I'm sure she'll catch on. Good luck!

Have you experimented with textures in between "pureed" and "chopped"?

If not, put some cooked veggies in the blender until you have a chunky puree. You may have to experiment a bit, but you can slowly work your way from a smooth puree to just solids.

I was going to say the exact thing Jessie said. Also he might have some sensory issues, if he doesn't improve soon I would talk to your Dr about it and get some therapy for him.

Good Luck! Just remember not to stress about it and it takes many many times for them to get used to a new food...just keep offering chunkier food and he will eventually start eating it.