11 Month Old Refuses to Eat Baby Food

This is very normal. My fifth child is 12 months, and he started refusing the spoon several months ago. I just give him small bits of whatever we're having (cereal, pancakes, fruit, meat, casseroles, etc). He also likes raisins, cheese, crackers, bread, cut up fruit, bananas, pretty much anything. Honestly, I'm surprised your daughter let you spoon feed her this long. Now that I've laid off the baby food for several months, my son will sometimes take yogurt from a spoon. Good luck.

You would be amazed at how strong those little gums are. At this point she can eat pretty much anything that you eat. My daughter gave up baby food at 7 months and wouldn't let us feed her past 10 months. I would just put food on her tray and not on a plate. I would give her whatever we had cut up. So if we had chicken, rice and green beans I would dice the chicken up into small cubes probably a little smaller than the gerber puffs. I did like a lot of the others and I would let her hold a spoon, even though she didn't really know how to use it. I would let her feed herself for a while and then I would start shoveling in a bite here or there when I saw an opening. Talk to her while she eats, tell her to chew it up and remind her to take small bites. Even though she is so little she will pick up on what you are saying. Also, remember to praise her if she trys to use the spoon and maybe help her use it herself. Good luck and remember to have fun it is exciting watching their reactions to new foods and textures!

the things that come to mind are bananas, strawberries, well-cooked pasta... and I used to do scrambled eggs and often would mix pureed veggies into them.

Just let her eat table food and keep an eye on her. Neither of my kids had any teeth before they were 16 months old, but they ate only table food from 9 - 10 months on. They can do a lot with those gums. With my first I let her gnaw on carrots and apple slices trying to get her to work the teeth through, my now 19 month old who is working on her 3rd tooth raids my pantry for any hard crackers or bread all the time so she can gnaw. The only thing to watch out for are things like skins that they need teeth to tear, other than that they can mash all sorts of things with their gums.

Sounds like she wants to be a big girl. I had the same problem. What worked for us is giving our little girl a spoon to hold as well. She wanted to try it herself, but would let us get foods into her mouth while she was trying. Mashed potatos were a fave during this time, b/c it was easy to eat with fingers and spoon, of course green beans, cooked carrots, brocolli, gerber finger foods, cherios, fruits cut in finger sizes- I also got a thing that has a net and a handle and put things like strawberries and bannans in it- it let her hold and gum the food without me having to hold it for her. Oh, if she's teething- we'd giver her a quarter of a frozen waffle to gum on- but until she's a little older, you'll need to sit there with her.

Yes, my now 1 year old son just stopped eating baby food one day- maybe around 9-10 months! He would only eat yogurt and cheese and other finger foods.

Hey R.,
My 11 month old eats what we eat. I haven't bought baby food since she was 4 months old. It's really nice because baby food is so expensive for such a small container. I buy the spagetti o's, or mac n cheese. She eats my home made spagetti, I make her pancakes, or eggs, she eats yogurt, banana's. Pretty much I can't eat without her eating, lol. She does the same thing slapping the spoon or fork away, but I just keep trying and after a few times she eats what is on the spoon. Just keep trying.

Unfortunately, children will eat anything with their hands :)

Prepare yourself for a mess at meal time :)

My children ate everything with their hands. Child sized forks and spoons were put on the table next to their plate, they were "taught" how to use them at every meal (mommy helps them hold the fork/spoon until they pitched a fit to do it themselves). It's really more of an independence thing.

We ate a lot of cheerios and fruit loops in the beginning :)

~A. C

Hi R.! I also have a 1 year old daughter. She has never liked baby food from Day One. She hated the runny pureed stuff and so I waited until she was ready to eat real food around 7 months old. My daughter went straight to table food! She got tired of me feeding her and started to feed herself around 9 months old. She eats whatever we eat for dinner. I just make sure that I cut everything up really small. Babies don't have molars to break down the food, they mainly gum it. She has eaten every food imaginable. Why don't you try to give her whatever the rest of the family is eating?
Good Luck!
A.

Hi R.,
My son also prefers to feed himself finger foods whenever possible. He will still eat foods from a spoon, too, but he really likes to pick things up himself. Here are some things we've tried that he has enjoyed:
sliced avacado, kiwi fruit, cheese, cheerios, small bits of meat(he especially enjoyed the pot roast we made in the crock pot and it was easy for him to eat tiny bites because it was so tender), he REALLY enjoyed some lasagna we gave him a while back, he likes cooked peas and small carrots and corn. Banana slices are supposed to be good, but he's not a big fan of banana. Let's see...I think those are the things he's really enjoyed.
Oh--my son also likes to chomp on apple slices. I'll hold the skin-side of the apple slice in my hand and put the pulp side to his mouth and he'll chomp away. Then, when he gets close to the skin, I'll cut the skin off and let him hold what's left and eat it. He seems to really enjoy that...maybe it makes the teeth feel better. Since your little one is cutting her top teeth now, she might enjoy that once they start popping through. Good luck--and have fun with it!

J.

hi mom,

my 9 m/o is the same way. what i've found is that he really prefers regular people food because it is seasoned. baby food in the jar/container isn't seasoned at all. i finally had to break down and buy a little food processor and start making a lot of his food from whatever we were having for dinner. gerber also has a great cereal (banana flavor) that sometimes I mix with apple sauce and/or fruitier baby foods. good luck :0).

My son who is now almost two did the same thing. He didnt have any teeth until after his first birthday and refused to eat babyfood and about 10 months. I didnt fix him any special meals. I just gave him whatever I was eating in small bite size pieces.

pretty much any steamed veggie, including broccoli stems, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, fruits. I also steam apples. My baby turns 1 today and LOVES bananas and plums, nectarines, etc. Anything she can feed herself she'll try. WHOLE FOODS are best. She even eats ribs. LOL.

we are having the same problems! Oh boy, are we. My guy is 10 months. Suddenly he wont eat unless he can put it in his mouth! I have to admit I have never in my life seen a mess like he can make. I guess we move forward with this... even though I am not sure I am ready for him to be more independant. We are still searching for foods for him to eat. Right now he is doing fine with cereal stars and bananas.

Hey R.!!

My daughters were similar! I fed them soft foods at first...noodles and sauce, bananas, breads, things that were easy to swallow with out a lot of chewing. I was amazed to see them chew even without teeth. Their gums are so tough that it was a great thing to eat for them...1) it felt good on their gums and 2) it was a start to independence. I also gave them a spoon and fork. I went out and bought the disposable plastic style from Target. And they loved it!! They were so happy to eat like we did!! Just a suggestion!! Hope it helps!! Good luck!

M.

She is probably ready to be more independent, I say nix the baby food and let her eat the real thing. here are some 1sts my baby loved. bananas, cheeri o's, those gerber fruit and veggi puffs ( get soft quicker then most cereals) elbow noodles ( with cheese or spaghetti sause or you can even heat up the mixed vegi baby food and cover them with that or any vegi one really) soft pears, toast with jam, peas, soft cooked veggies esp carrots were a favorite, tiny bits of meat they do sell these little cubed turkey and chicken babyfoods but my daughter usually preffered the real thing just make sure there are no tougher pieces in the cut up meat like ligaments or any things like that. My daughter also loved those ravioli bites gereber graduates makes they have some filled with spinach and cheese they were great for a quick dinner and they were pretty low in sodium much lower and healthier then say chef boyarde or store brands, what ever you can home make is better but sometimes thats just not possible, oh yeah don't forget real cheese slices cut up too; if shes not lactose intoerant. I wouldn't worry about the spoon right now, b/c its important for her to develope her pincher grip, when she has this down you'll see when she gets interested in using a spoon but most kids still use their fingers at least part of the time at 2 and 3 (my 3 year old does when she gets frustrated with something she has tried several ties t pick up and can't thats ok they will all learn to use utencils)

My little one does the same thing. I give him anything we eat, and yogurt and other messy things for snacks. Just give her a spoon, show her how to use it, and let her go to town. She'll probably try the spoon a few times and then shove it in her mouth with her hand, but that's nothing a wet rag can't handle. She will eventually learn to use the spoon.

Please be careful with hot dogs and peanut butter, they are at the top of the list of choking hazards. I work in a daycare with infants and we have children about your age with the same amount of teeth. They eat most everything on our menu, just broken up very small. Pancakes, sausage, toast, all kinds of fruit, except pineapple and grapes. all the veggies, pasta is a favorite of all of them, we just cut it up small and they love it. Let her try to feed herself and make a mess, shes a kid, thats what shes supposed to do!!!

Oh yes, this is very familiar. My DD has to feed herself too. I did get her to eat applesauce and yogurt from a spoon - but she had to be holding one herself. By 1 year she was eating soft fruit (pears, bananas, peaches), well cooked veggies, pasta and actually lots of meat (ham, meatballs, etc). Also - puffs, cheerios, graham crackers. Basically let her try most of what we were eating as long as it was cut small and didn't require lots of chewing.

She is trying to learn and the spoon comes a little later she needs to learn more to eat finger food and spoons and forks will come but later it's different for each child. I used to just put a few pieces down as they would pick it up and eat it I never put the entire plate down in front of them at that age, I sat and ate next to them. I gave just what you are giving scrambled eggs little bits at a time, pieces of muffins, fruits cut small like grapes cut into quarters etc.. She's also learn to be independent it's all part of her development sounds ok...she'll come around about the spoon she's just happy to try it all on her own.

Have you tried letting her hold the spoon herself and giving her some peas or w/e on her tray and letting her try to scoop it up?I sometimes feed my baby if I worry about the mess on certain foods but he hate eggs ang grits yesterday with 2 forks at the same time.And he usually either picks the food up or scoops what he can on a spoon when eating.She probobaly does think your trying to give her something she doesn't want,my baby will watch me spoon what I give him in case he doesn't want that anymore.For example,if I am feeding him mac and cheese,corn and chicken he normally likes eating one at a time but I like to mix it up.So I will give him a bite of chicken and then try giving him a bite of mac and cheese,sometimes he wants it othertimes he wants more chicken.Maybe just at the time she isn't wanting what your offering on the spoon.Or a quick way to clear up the issue with a spoon is to get something she likes to eat and is familiar with and get her to try it with the spoon that way she doesn't think you only feed her babyfood with a spoon.

I cooked my own 'baby food' by cooking a bunch of carrots, green beans, broccoli, etc., and using a hand mixer to mix them up and putting them in ice cube trays. That way you can just grab one or two or whatever you wanted. Real food tastes so much better than baby food.

Now having said that, she is 11 months old and sounds like your little one is over ready for regular food. Regular food is still broccoli, green beans, etc., but just more chunky and soft. My youngest would stop eating if you didn't let her feed herself. As others have mentioned, it does make a difference with some kids. My youngest couldn't feed herself that well at that age, but still giving her a fork and us having one and feeding her helped out a lot!