9 1/2 Mo Old Wont Eat #3 Foods or Anything with Chunks!

Why dont' you try giving her table food instead of the #3's. My daughter never really liked them either but I started her on table food and it was much easier for her. Wheat you can do is get like some canned peas or green beans or chunk carrots or even fruit cups and let her grab them herself. If she has the chance to do it on her own she might feel a little more independent doing it on her own. For my son I didn't start him on table food or chunky foods until he was 1 because he just wasn't interested. Does she have a lot of teeth already? If not then stick to the soft foods for a while or mix up some of the oatmeal with some of the #2 foods. Let me know if that works for you or if you have tried that already.

D. L.

My daughter had the same problem. So we just skipped the #3. Gerber makes these fruit puffs that my daughter loved. And they got her used to eating solid food. I would try giving her some solid finger foods.

I have a four year old and a two year old who have at their own times been very picky eaters. I had a wonderful dr in MO where we moved from and she told me that all children will have eating problems. My two year old son is going threw a one meal a day phase. And he is a very healthy 31lbs. Your daughter has the next seventeen years to perfect her table manners and eating skills. One thing you may try is small, safe finger foods that she can try out all on her own. I tried cherrios and small pieces of canned green beens with my daughter. Good luck

I AM A MOM OF 4, IF YOU START OFF WITH CHICKEN NUGGETS WITH KETCHUT, AND FRENCH FRIES, PINAPPLES, APPLES, THINGS THAT KIDS WILL LIKE THEY WILL EAT IT. MY CHILDREN HAD PROBLEMS WITH BABY FOOD SO I CHOOSE TO GIVE THEM THE FOOD I ATE. TRUST ME THEY WILL EAT THE FOOD. IF YOUR MAKING THE FOOD YOU WILL FEEL BETTER AS A PARENT WITH WHAT THEY ARE EATING THAT.

GOOD LUCK

Hi Y.,
My advise is to go ahead and start finger foods, let her feed herself. My Daughter did the same your daughter is doing around that age. (she's now 15 months and still a great self-eater!)Although, I made her food, when I started to blend her food with "chunks", she wasn't interested in being fed anymore. I started with whole peas and black beans. (She loves black beans!!) She'll let you know if she's hungry or full for that matter. They all have a way of letting us know what they want. We just have to figure it out. ;-)
Hope this helps and Good Luck!

hi, Im a mom of 3, and my kids never liked that latter stage foods. I found that by 9-10 months, the best way to get them to learn to eat chunk food was to get cans of diced soft carrots, peas, and greenbeans put them on their highchair tray and let them pick them up and eat them themselves. Take them from the can, rinse them off, then let your baby try it on her on..continue to feed her the stage 2 to make sure she gets all her nutrients, but let her try on her on with adult canned veggies...it worked like a charm with mine.

You might want to try some regular food. Peas, carrots, fruits, cook them, but not from the can. She may not like the texture of what is in the jar, and it might taste better to her fresh. also it might just feel weird in her mouth and will need to be something that you might need to force the issue, but hopefully she will get the hang of it and that won't be a problem.

You may know this already but it often takes up to 15 tries to get a child to eat a food. Whether it is because they need to get used to the taste or the texture you just have to be diligent. Some kids are just more head strong than others; but as a mom with 4 kids I'm sure you know that. Good Luck!!

Same thing w/ my 2 yr old. So I stopped buying the todler food and started table food that I made sure was small enough to eat. Also put cereal in his baby food.

Don't worry! She will make the transition in due time! Not all babies fit the 'average' criteria for stages. This is nothing bad... we've introduced our 8.5 month old son to some 3rds recently by doing some creative mixing. The Gerber Stage 3 Oatmeal w/ Applesauce is the first we tried, by adding about 1 tbsp of extra applesauce to it to thin it out... added a little more to make the adjustment easier once he mouthed at it a bit... then slowly added less and less and he's eating 100% stage 3 on that particular flavor. Mixing the 3rds with favorite 2nd stage veggies is how we're introducing the others to him... The 3rd foods are alot thicker on particular meals. Broccoli/Carrots for example, we fork mash the carrots a bit more... and sometimes add a little stage 2 carrots or veggies to the 3rd foods meat mixtures to make it a little easier for him to start off - then slowly add less and less. Have you tried Beech Nut Stage 2 Sweet Corn Casserole? This is alot thicker then ANY stage 2 I've found, and we introduced that to him before introducing ANY 3rd foods... after a week or so w/ that as part of his meals, we decided to move on to some 3rds... there's nothing wrong with her eating 1/2 a jar of 3rd foods mixed w/ some 2nd foods, then a full jar of 2nd foods to go w/ that new treat. Put a little of each on the spoon for her so it's not a shock to her pallet! Just get a little creative, and she'll be on her way to learning new textures. It's a hard step for them. Just like having them take a piece of dry veggiepuffs or fruitpuffs - take a picture of that first taste!!! LOL... Dont worry though - she will learn to love new textures in plenty of time!!!

You're doing a great job! Good Luck!

my son wouldn't eat the # 3 foods either.i just went straight to table foods. have you ever tasted the # 3 foods?.... yuck i dont blame them for not wanted to eat them they are terrible

Hi Y.! I am dealing with the same problem. I have tried everything with #3 foods and she does not want anything to do with them. I purchased a small food processor the other day thinking that she may be bored with baby food. What I am thinking is to take table food and processing to a consistency that she may like and then make it chunkier a little at a time. If you get any great suggestions, if you don't mind, please let me know. I am starting to wonder if she will ever get off baby food! I wish you the best! -J. B.

Have you tried giving her real foods? My daughter wouldn't eat baby food at all. She ate a few #1 things at first, but I gave her tastes of our food as she started eating solids, and she wouldn't eat baby food after that. (especially after she had stew)

my daughter also would not eat #3jar foods and her doctor said the same thing to me.i started to give her table food.i would cut everything into little pieces and she was fine.well good luck K.

Hi there! Your issue sounds familiar to whatI was going through when my son was that age. He hated the #3 foods! I even still have some jars left (and he's 2 now) because he never ate them. I kept him on #2 until I put him on solid foods. I eventually put him on solid foods soon after he turned 1. As long as she's eating, I wouldn't worry about it. I know that the doctors like the #3 foods because of the chunks of food for them to become used to and learn how to eat/swallow. She will learn all of this from watching and understanding from you and her older siblings.

Wow four children then you have 2 full time jobs!

It's probably the texture you child doesn't like. Try mashing up the #3 food and then gradually adding a chunk or two.

Hope this helps.

A.

I have four boys and have worked in daycare. I know from experience how they gag because of texture of foods. It all comes with time if you ask me just try a little bit at a time. I do know that some #3 are less chunky than others such as squash and rice brocolli and cheese some of those pasta medley and other veggie ones the veggies are really hard and tough for them to chew. Just take it slowly and it will come.

Hi Y.,
I feel your pain. it was that way with us too. What we did was slowly put rice cereal into his food to thicken the stage 2 foods and eventually it was thick enough where I switched to stage 3s :) Hope that helps!

Hi. I also have a 9.5 month old daughter. She does not like table foods. I do not give her baby jarred food, I have always prepared my own food for her, but I have been trying to boil fruits and veggies and cut them up rather then purreeing them, but she does not like it. She preffers them purreed. She gags on solid food. There is nothing wrong with this. She is ust not ready. However, she will eat soggy cheerios and the gerber fruit puffs.

Try giving your daughter regular table food, not the chunky baby stuff. My baby HATES chunks mixed in with baby food (like the #3s) that is what she gags on. She preffers it plain.

Dont worry, she will eat table food when she is ready. She will not eat baby food forever!!

I'm sorry for LOL but that is cute how you wrote "she clamps her mouth shut". My son has been eating regular food since he was 3 months old. He hated baby food and quit eating for me. His doctor suggested we keeping trying,(baby food) but after a day of him cry because he was hungry and refused to eat anything but his bottle,I fed him some scambled eggs. Then it came down to him wanting to feed himself. So I gave him litle pieces of fruit and put them on his tray. He eats fine now. Try letting her feed herself. Put some soft pieces of food from your plate on hers and see if she does better. You don't have to go by what the doctors want all the time all children are different and some do thing their own way. One thing I have learned if you have older sibling in the house that play and interact with the younger ones they want to do want they do. Oh and by the way my son is NOT over weight. The doctors fear this and try to scare people into believing this, but it's not true all the time.

My son was the same way. I started with Graham crackers soaked in a little milk. It was sweet but the texture was there for him to get used to. I t sounds like a sensory issue. I would suggest just keep on trying different things a little at a time. Patience and persistence and it will resolve it self.

Neither one of my kids would ever eat a #3 baby food. I tried it once -- it's very starchy tasting. My kids went straight to table food. Be careful what you choose and cut it into small bites to begin with. Let her try eating with her fingers or a fork (it's much easier for them to master than a spoon.) We started with scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, any kind of cooked veggies, (I used frozen because the canned ones are seasoned and they didn't need the salt and if I bought them in the bag, I could cook as much as I needed without a lot of waste), chicken, pot roast, anything kind of soft that didn't require lots of chewing. When we got to hot dogs, I cut them in four pieces the long way, then cut them into little cubes. Always cut grapes so she doesn't choke on them. As she gets older, the pieces can get bigger. Also, in the baby food section, they have the diced meat and veggies that they can pick up with their hands, try those -- they are pretty mushy and easy to use.

Good luck, it gets easier, but you know your child best. If she isn't going to eat #3 foods, try a different plan.