Getting My Son to Eat Table Food

Hey M.,

Okay, first off, know that your little guy is not going to starve! Truly, he isn't. Also, leaving him in a highchair for and hour or so, and force-feeding him-probably not such great ideas if you really want him to learn to enjoy eating. I understand the mama desperation that drove you to do that, but in the future, I'd desist. This is a stage for him that will pass, and if you can keep that in mind, and be mellow about it, you and he will be better off. You don't want this to become a power struggle, right? So, my two cents is this-offer him food consistently throughout the day-little bits of this or that, and if he eats it, great, and if he doesn't, don't put any energy at all into convincing him to eat. Don't let him see you sweat, girl! He will eat, eventually. And as long as he doesn't have any health problems, at this point I think you should just wait him out.

Hang in there-these are the joys of parenthood!!!(heeheehee)

Al

My child would not eat table food either at that age. She did not seem to like textured foods at all. I tried everything and she would not eat it and I was getting really stressed, so I finally decided as long as she was eating something it was fine.

She would only eat oatmeal mixed with banana baby food. That is what she got for three meals for awhile she also liked puffs baby snacks. I then introduced peanut butter to her and she liked that, so I began giving her peanut butter sandwiches and she started eating fresh bananas.

That started being her new thing to eat and she would not eat anything else. She started eating a little when I let her feed herself with a spoon. She is 20 months old now and is just now eating what I cook and is eating meat. Hope this helps. Good Luck and try not to get to stressed as long as he is not loosing weight he should be fine.

Don't push too hard. They are still little and their palates are not quite developed. Each baby is different. I would start with pureed bananas and maybe sweet potatos and go from there. Do that for a week or so then increase it to another thing. I have found it is best to start with fruit and things on the sweet side. You might also want to get those baby puffs for him to snack on to get him used to eating. They are yummy and dissolve easily but they get the feel of eating. As with most stages, patience and consistency will win out. Hang in there, girl!

My son does not like chunky food so I have to give him stage 3 baby food.(he is 22 months old) I give him a chance to try it but, if I have to make the decision of him not eating veggies or eating baby food then he gets the baby food. Good luck.

TAKE AWAY THE BOTTLE - get a sippy cup and start feeding him finger foods - DO NOT force feed - he will eat when he's hungry so don't worry about him starving to death - keep trying different things if he refuses and BE PATIENT because he is only one - but it will ruin his teeth and bite if he stays only on bottle and milk for too much longer - good luck

Hi M.,

This probably is not your situation - but, just so you are aware of it as an unlikely possiblity. My son stopped eating solids at 11 months and is now almost 2 1/2 years old. He still refuses all foods and will only drink from a bottle. He is in feeding therapy and occupational therapy. His eating issues - we are told - developed because he has sensory processing disorder. We are in the process of ruling out GI issues/delayed food allergies as possible causes as well.

It is true that a lot of kids stop eating or eat very little starting around the age of 1 and it is a normal toddler behavior. I could give you the titles of some books about feeding issues if you are interested. If the refusal to eat continues and you want help, you can have your son evaluated by a speech/feeding therapist. There are a lot of perfectly normal kids seen by feeding therapists to help them with various feeding issues. In therapy there is never a forced approach (in my experience) - they try to make food fun to get the child to engage with it through play and then make the decision to eat on his/her own.

Just a thought--my one year old son LOVES to share whatever I'm eating. (He also is happy to eat in the high chair, too, but you never know.) Maybe try sitting near him eating a cracker or toast or something easy and offer him a piece or a bite. I do this with yogurt and pudding, too. And limit the bottle to right before nap or bed.

I started my daughter on table food when she was 11 months old and I was so frustrated when she wouldn't eat it. It seemed like the only thing she would eat was ice cream lol. I just wanted her to eat it so bad because it only made sense that she should love it and that it would taste a lot better than table food. All I can say is be patient. My daughter finally started eating everythig. She is still a little picky but at least she eats!