13-Month-old Still Prefers Baby Food

Hi, you are doing GREAT...Your baby just turned 1 for goodness sake. There are LOTS of breasfed babies out there, and sometimes thats all they have, and they poop just fine! hahahaha!!! My son just turned 2 and he WILL NOT eat any fruits or veggies (except corn and applesauce)...so guess what, I still buy some carrots and peaches or whatever in baby food just so he gets at least a couple a week!!! He is more of a meat/potato kid. He is a big boy for 2 - 40 lbs.! I keep trying and trying, (and bribing)!!! His staples are breads, pastas, yogurt, cheese...and pretty much anything in those families (i.e. pancakes, mac & cheese, pizza, crackers, toast), etc., etc.
Again, just keep trying (and see if a bribe will work from time to time), and if you need to "supplement", then you do what you have to do!!! Totally normal!!!

The best of luck to you and your family!

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Yes, there's something wrong. His digestive system can't develope properly with soft baby food...He needs solids for his bowels and other organs to function properly. How about crispy oven baked chicken and fish stix? they can be dipped in a little melted cheese (like eating a grilled cheese). You can hide many veggies on lightly toasted bruscetta with tiny chopped veggies and melted cheese. Sometimes we have to sneak that good stuff in with what they think is bad. Bread sticks wrapped in a slice of ham with a softer precooked asparagus inside. Room temperature celery stalks stuffed with pimento cheese or cream cheese. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

He does not need teeth...our kids all got table food with or with out teeth. My current 1 yr old eats steak and pork chops and all sorts of things with no teeth to chew them...Cut small

I agree with Sarah. Couple other things though. If your pediatrician says it is fine and your gut says it isn't - get another opinion. My ped has been saying that my 2.5 year old is "fine" with his eating for the last 1.5 years. But he was diagnosed with poor lateral muscles at 1 year (always gagged because he could't move the food around properly and it got stuck in the gag reflex area) and was recently diagnosed by a specialist as having "food aversion/oral defensiveness". He has no other issues at all. A great book for problem or even just picky eaters is called "Food Chaining". Good Luck.

its just expensiev! i would ground up cooked carrots and mixed up other stuff in it. that baby food seems to always have carrots as a first ingrediant!

As long as your pediatrician says it's fine, don't worry about it. A good friend of mine has the same issue with her 18 month-old (who was a preemie) and he eats a pretty good variety of the solid foods you mentioned - grilled cheese, bananas, also pancakes, but she also supplements him with baby food fruits & veggies to be sure he gets his nutrients. Don't force the other foods, he'll eat them when he's ready. :)

I know the consensus is that it's fine, but just to be on the safe side I'd see a nutritionist to rule out a feeding disorder or sensory issues (since the texture seems to be a problem). Our son would gag when I gave him stage 3 foods, but everyone said not to worry. At 3 years old he was diagnosed with tongue tie. Not that that's the case with your son, but everyone said he'd grow out of it and it turned out there was a reason we had problems. Good luck!

At 18 mos, we still don't have lots of teeth but our daughter somehow has figured out how to gum her food regardless of what it is. We cut up meats smaller so it is a little easier for you. When she decides she won't eat the new foods, I use the puried baby vegetables and mix it with the protein on the spoon. Since she still likes those vegetables, she eats whatever is with it. That's worked for us for several months. Good luck.

I had made all my daughters baby food & you can start with making some thicker pasta soups & implement more textures slowly in a broth--you can find these little dot pastas--but be extremely careful to not spill the box---you will be finding dot pasta everywhere & boil with chicken/beef broth & very tiny veggies--he should warm up to textures a little easier this way, then move up to orzo & finally finger pastas & he should be good. You can puree the veggies to start & then just go bigger slowly--the pastas are the textures he would be woking on. This should help--good luck!

I haven't read the responses but I wouldn't sweat it. I have a 2-1/2 year old and I sometimes give her sweet potatoes baby food b/c that's the only way she'll eat her veggies! If you have concerns about your son's nutritional intake, just talk about it with your pediatrician - and keep offering him different foods. Eventually, something will trigger and he'll start eating!

I don't see any reason not to allow hm to have the baby food as long as you continue to offer him the other stuff as well. At least he will continue to get a good balance of nutritional foods. My daughter is 9 months and sometimes she doesn't want the regular stuff. I thne give her baby foods that I still have to make sure she gets the nutrition. If you continue to offer, I am sure the he will eventually start to eat other things as well.

My baby is more than 20 months old and still eats baby food most everyday. She eats some adult foods like chicken,fish and meatballs too. She is still teeting!!! I know some days the teeth really bother her and she just wants soft stuff and I'm sure it's easier for her to eat too. I'm just gonna give it to her as long as she'll eat it because it is nutrious along with the adult foods she does eat and what's the harm? Her doc is o.k. with it as long as that's not all she eats. I still try to give her new things but I'm not gonna force her to eat them, but I still put them offer them. If someone dropped me in a different country and expected me to eat the local food straight away I would probably wanna just wanna stick to what I know for awhile too:)

Dear E.

Although every Mom looks for the day they don't have to buy baby foood, I feel there is no stead fast rule that they must stop eating baby food. If your baby loves it, let him have it. He will be your gauge and let you know he is finished with that stage. There are guidelines for raising babies but it is just that guidelines.

All the best. S. K.

Hi E.!
I read your post and I think you have nothing to be concerned about! I always give the one year age as the age to start trying more of the real foods. Being he is only 13 months and already eating all that you mentioned - he is doing great!
Little by little I would start to try one thing at a time - maybe pasta noodles cut up and down the road - pieces of chicken cut up real small.
I think he is doing fine at that age and I dont think yo uhave anything to worry about. Keeping giving him the exposure you are and he will pick it up. You are doing great!

He is also getting to an age when anything that he doesn't already know, he will resist. My little sweetie ate everything in sight before she turned around 13-14 months old and now she is very picky. I have read it is a developmental stage and that you should just keep trying. Put down some new item many times over knowing they won't eat it but try anyway. It can take up to 18 attempts before they eat that item, then give them other things they will like. The typical favorites are: chicken nuggets, pizza, pasta with sauce, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, some fruit - eg raspberries, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, bananas, bread, oatmeal. There are a Dr. ___ fish nuggets at whole foods that taste like chicken/potato. good luck

Give him the "table" food first....then, if you don't feel he has eaten enough (and you'd be surprised how little enough actually is! about 1/2 cup is sufficient) then supplement with the baby food that you feed to him. Do you allow him to feed himself??? If he is offered bits he can pick up and put in his mouth himself and NOT given the smooth baby foods to self feed, he should prefer to feed himself.

Most importantly, DON"T WORRY....by the time he is ready for school he will be feeding himself and that will happen sooner than you want!
it may be the taste or the texture ......but baby foods are VERY bland, so don't discount the actual flavor differences. I would suggest you try putting the family favorites through the blender (you can add water,broth or milk to get a more creamy texture) This will allow you to see which is the issue. Then if it is just the texture, start grinding the food less and less and in a few weeks your baby should welcome the finely chopped choices.

You ate doing wonderful. Just keep on shwing him the regular food. Baby food goes upto 18 months. I would have loved if it was for me. My kid just screamed as soon as the baby food comes, though still we have trouble with regular food.

He will be soon eating out of your plate..(aka like what you have than what he got)