Hi all! My just about 11 month old is such a picky eater. I have been introducing table foods to him for the past month but it is not going so well. He also is super picky with the baby food. On some days I have a hard time getting him to eat at all. He is not filling up on liquids... He has 3- 6oz bottles a day of formula and water/juice in between these bottles. He is also not underweight, he is a healthy 22lbs. I suppose I should not be worrying because he is healthy,but it is just so frustrating that he is not eating properly. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Leah
A huge" Thank You" to the ladies that responded to my worries. My son is now eating much better these days. I am not stressing out so much on the days when he doesn't. I tried many of your suggestions out. Mainly, I do need to just chill out and remind myself that he's a big ,healthy baby and yeah he will eat when he's hungry. Thanks again. What an incredible support system this is!!! L.
Leah,
My son never really the taste of jar food. He did not like mushy foods, so I cooked him vegetables and pasta and grains, but only seasoned them lightly and cut them into small pieces and he ate them fine. I have also read that children need to be introduced to new food approximately 15 to 20 times.
Leah,
I am SO lucky--I have a 5 year old who eats everything (literally EVERYTHING, except Big Red Gum!). He loves to try new things and prefers odd foods over chicken nuggets, hambiurgers, etc. I always just prepared & made him whatever we ate. I didn't stress and he ended up being a very healthy eater. Just go with the flow. Always offer new things but don't make a big deal out of it (some people make it an issue before the food is on the table!). The age old advice is tru: They will eat when they are hungry!
Hi Leah!
This was always something that got me both nervous and scared. It is my opinion that 11 months old isn't a problem yet, and I can only tell you what I did. Two of mine were fairly stubborn. When the foods they always wanted were fruits, I would eliminate them from their diet altogether. When they saw that the veggies and cheerios and cheese shreds are what they had, they actually ended up skipping a couple meals, but they were fine because they kept on drinking. If they only ate one of those groups, I eliminated that one and kept the other two. With one of them, I actually had to take it down to the one food group they simply weren't eating to begin with, and I served that one for a couple days. When I would get doubtful I was doing the right thing, I kept reminding myself that I am their mother and I know what's better for them than they do at 11 months old. The fact that you have formula in there is great! If he's 22 pounds, I'm thinking this modification to his diet for even a week won't hurt him.
It's great you're aware of this right now!
C.
Don't worry as long as he is gaining weight and is acting normally. The transition to table foods can take longer for some kids. Some children are very sensitive to the different textures and consistencies. I had one child who spent a couple of months just sort of putting food in his mouth, rolling it around and then spitting it out without swallowing. He really seemed to just not like the way the table food felt in his mouth. My other son would probably have taken my arm off if I didn't shovel the food at him. He ate everything.
Just keep offering a variety of foods, and be a little creative. Remember that in other parts of the world, babies enjoy fish and seaweed. LOL Americans tend to feed babies bland, mushy foods. My family were immigrants, so I grew up eating a Mediterranean diet and enjoyed lots of fish and veggies from a very early age. When I gave my toddlers things like eggplant and poached fish, my mother-in-law almost went insane, but my kids happened to like it. Also, you might try making your own baby food rather than commercially processed food. They really tend to be so blah. Just whirl some yummy, healthy food in your blender or food processor, and see how your little one likes it. I did that a lot, and my picky eater much preferred the fresher food, though I did use jarred baby food, as well.
Hi Leah
My daughter is 11 months old, but quite the opposite. She will eat anything, although it didn't start out that way. She wasn't a fan of the texture of the mush. I started giving bite sized pieces of whatever we eat and she loved chewing and now eats literally any kind of food we give her. As long as he is still getting formula he will be fine. Sometimes it just takes some kids a little longer to decide they like to eat different foods. As long as you keep offering it, he will eventually eat it!
My son is 20 months and only 23 lbs. He eats when he wants, usually 2 big meals a day, he won't eat back to back meals like lunch then dinner. I haven't worried about it. They say it take 4 times/tries til a child will actually be willing to eat a new food, especially a very new flavor or texture. My some will not eat any type of noodle. There were weekes where he ate a ton then times where he really ate almost nothing. I am blessed with an even tempered, loving, great sleeper, so I supposed there has to be one thing every mother has to struggle with and ours is food. Keep trying and be patient, in two weeks it will probably change.
Keep introducing foods, first the ones he did not like or has not tried. Then give him foods he likes. My son would eat something one day and reject it the next or reject it one day and gobble it up the next day. Our pediatrician told us that early eating is more about learning to eat than the actual nutrition from baby foods. Sometimes we would mix green beans with applesauce to sweeten it up and he would eat that - sometimes.
When he gets older, it helps if they see you eating the same thing. We also encourage our son to try things. Sometimes he likes it, sometimes not. Either way, we praise him for trying it.
Some might also recommend that you water down the juice or do not give juice before a meal. Sometimes juice fills up their little tummies.
Good luck. Be patient and do not worry, it sounds like he is healthy!
As long as he's on formula, he's getting the nutrition he needs, all the vitamins and minerals. Give him full bottles of formula if he'll take them at each meal. Offer finger foods, pieces of bread, pieces of veggies and fruits. Try canned veggies because they're softer. Drain the can, warm some and lightly season. I found lightly seasoning with salt/salt substitute, pepper and butter helped my triplets eat more. You can do a combo of spoon and finger feeding. Let him feed himself and spoon feed the rest. You can try mini ravioli as well. Just rinse and cut in quarters. Cheerios poured on his tray for breakfast. Instant potatoes can be a quick thing too. I had them eat first, then offer the bottle/cup afterward. We did Cheerios for breakfast, fruits for lunch and veggies for dinner. There's plenty of iron in formula so there's no rush on meets, except to introduce them to learn how to chew it. Burger pieces, hot dog pieces, lunch meat pieces, can all be good to offer to practice chewing. For snacks in between, I bought the veggie wheels and veggie puffs by Gerber. They tasted great! They dissolve quick in the mouth and are made from vegetables. Kids are picky so just offer what you can. When he gets a little older, start offering half a vitamin to supplement anything may be missing from his table food.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
When my son was 11 months old I fed him tofu!! He loved it!!! I would cube it into bite size pieces and serve it to him cold. He would dip it into ketchup. I would also make scrambled eggs in the microwave. Sometimes I'd put cheese on them. Again, he dipped them in ketchup!
My kids didn't eat much in the way of solid food prior to turning 1...I wouldn't worry about it too much. At this point formula/breast milk is still the primary nutrition source anyway. You can offer your son anything you are eating that is soft--don't make special food for him. "Spiced" food might be just the ticket to get him to eat if you've been just offering bland foods up to now.
I didn't use formula with my kids at all, but I think that 18 oz a bit on the low side for a 22 lb kid? Shouldn't he be getting about 30 oz? If so, I'd cut the juice/water and replace it with formula. They don't add much in the way of nutritional value.
