My son just turned one and loves the puree baby food in jars. He will also eat cheerios, puffs, little pieces of crackers but no other chunks. He loves bananas but even refuses to keep a little piece of banana in his mouth. I have recently decided to puree my own vegetables and fruits and now he refuses to eat those as well. He seems like a pretty happy and talkative baby but I am worried because he wont even try things to see if he likes them when they are not out of a jar. I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem and has any advice. I would appreciate any feedback.
It has been said by experts that children have to be exposed to a food almost 17 times before they will begin to enjoy it.
It's a texture thing as well as learning to move the chunks around in his mouth with his tongue, and can take him a while to get used to it.
Just keep exposing him to those foods more and withhold the pureed foods gradually until you no longer offer them. He will get it eventually.
I had the same problem with my son way back when he turned one. Our pediatrician told us to just stop giving him food from the jar. If he is that hungry, he will eat what is put in front of him. Needless to say, after maybe 2 days of him refusing to eat what was in front of him, his belly got the better of him, and he caved! Good luck!
If he gags/chokes/vomits at all when trying to eat chunks of food, you may want to ask your pediatrician about getting a swallowing or feeding evaluation done to make sure he is actually chewing food and not mashing it against the roof of his mouth. My son was the same way with food at that age, and we thought he was chewing fine when he really wasn't.
Most of all, listen to your gut. I felt there was something wrong with how my son was eating, but I let family members and even his pediatrician and ENT convince me that his feeding problems were due to his age or the fact that he had a cleft palate and that things would clear up once his surgery was done. Ultimately, he wasn't chewing his food and because we kept trying to give him food he couldn't eat he now has sensory issues and is afraid to try new things. We had to do speech therapy for nearly 9 months just to get him to the point where he is physically able to chew appropriately for someone his age and we just started occupational therapy this month to work on getting him to eat different foods and textures.
In all likelihood, your son is just being picky/stubborn and things will turn around once he decides he's ready to cooperate...but wouldn't it be nice to know for sure? Best of luck with everything. If you have any questions about feeding evals or anything related to this, please send me a message.
R.
Can you give him more time to adjust to little chunks? Maybe he doesn't feel ready. If he won't eat things that you puree, but will eat pureed foods from a jar, why not try putting things you puree in a clean jar?
Why not try taking the things that are in the jar and put them into a bowl to see if it the jar he is having issue with or the actual food. If it is the food than you can work with from there by placing things on his tray but also feeding him some puree things. If it if it the jar than you can eliminate the jar all together and he will eat when he gets hungry enough. Hope this helps
I wouldn't bother to keep pureeing, in my opinion he needs to learn to self feed. It will teach him very useful developmental skills, to be able to pick up food, move it around and chew is impt. I started early (around 8 or 9 mos), so it was an easier and slower transition, but the response below to withhold puree and give him solid table food will work. Also, they come out of the womb knowing how to suckle, but they have to learn to chew, so make sure you eat with him or around him if it's a diff time; he will watch and learn from you a lot better. He is old enough where he can eat some of the food you eat too, so if he reaches for it, give it up! Hope it goes well.
If you are looking to give him a variety try the gerber graduate puffs and some of there other products. They have a good website that tells you foods to start at different stages, like crawling, and sitting. They also have a meal planner. The graduate puffs will also give him different flavors that will help when he does start eating regular food, my son use to love them and at them until he was about 4. He is a very good eater, and will try almost anything, and he is 6 now. He is still trying to get use to the different textures, and that will all come in time.
No worries...he is only ONE! Just keep offering, he will get it. Lots of babies don't care for the texture issues that come with solid food.
