How Do I Encourage Solids Foods?

You need to have set meal times: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and maybe one more snack. If she grazes all day pn snacks she won't eat a good meal. Toddlers just don't eat much food. Give her a multivitamin. Offer the basic food groups. Make snacks count. As long as she's gaining weight, she's fine. I wouldn't give her milk at mealtime--- only water. Give her milk (whole, not formula) at snack time.

It sounds pretty normal to me. Lots of babies take a while before they are eating lots of table food. all you can do is offer it to them and as she gets older she will start liking more and more foods. To be honest it sounds like she eats more table food than my daughter did at that age. So it i think things are going good. The only thing I would say to do different is to not offer her snacks all day long. My doc said that they need to understand when to eat. so give her breakfast, then maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours later give a snack, then lunch, after nap another snack again about 2 1/2 to 3 hours later (depending how long she naps) then dinner, and last offer her another snack before bed. Most babies don't eat that much food during one sitting but if you offer her snack in between meals it helps to get more food in. And remember that if she is hungry she will eat and if not she won't. Try not to give her bottles but if she still really wants formula wean her slowly cutting out one bottle at a time.

My 8 month old son is not very interested in solids or purees either. This sound weird...but he will eat solids off of a fork. Maybe becuase that is what we eat with most of the time? Of course we have to be very careful not to poke him! He also had outmeal for the first time today and loved it. Not the baby kind, but real oatmeal. Good luck. I know it can be a struggle. Just remember no kid ever let themselves starve.

I just wanted to recommend something that I tried, since my little guy protested food when he got an ear infection. I made him a yogurt smoothie every morning for breakfast, I would put all sorts of things in there. Like Flax Seed, Fruit, Some Juice, Baby Food, and liquid multi-vitamin. He would gulp that down in a straw cup like it was an ice cream shake. Now that he is feeling better he will eat more food, but I still make him a smoothie since I discovered how much good for him stuff I could add in their without him realizing it.

Good luck, It sounds like this will pass.

~L.

Personally I wouldn't give her a bottle just because she's hungry. Give her food. My pediatrician doesn't like kids to have more than 16 oz of mild a day, and if she's over a year old, I wouldn't give her any more formula at all. It's time she learned how to eat, and not just "toddler" food, if you're eating it, give it to her as well. She will probably be more interested in it if it is something she sees you eat as well. I know my 8 months old son doesn't really care for baby food, but if I give him the crust from my pizza, or open a can of whole green beans, or rice, stuff that we are having for dinner, he is happy to eat that.

My favorite resource for feeding questions has been the book by Ellyn Sater called Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense. I have a 4 year old and a 12 month old. It has wonderful advice, information on what is normal and very insightful guidelines of how to help your child eat. I refer to it often. Good luck.

At 13 months, she should be on whole milk. (Unless she is lactose intolerant and then she should be on Soy or some other substitute)In my opinion, yes you are undermining yourselves. They should start on a sippy cup at 10 months and should be experiencing a new food every week. Many times if you do not give them the choice, they will eat it. Yes it will be a fight, and yes it will tear at your heartstrings, but it is for the best. This is the time that you get to know your childs allergies and such and if they are resistant to trying new things, it can put them in a precarious situation. This is when I found out that my daughter had a skin reaction to tomatoes and tomato based products. She is not allergic to it (she loves ketchup) but at the time where ever it touched her skin it would turn red like a rash. My best advice is take a couple days of giving her new foods and do not supplement if she refuses to eat it. Keep her well hydrated and she will come around. And if she is still on the bottle or a pacifier, please take it away NOW!! The fight will be so much worse if you wait any longer!

It doesn't sound to me like you need to encourage "solid" foods. She's already eating a good variety of food for her age. I don't think letting her finish with formula is detrimental at this point. One thing you could do, though is have her always eat at the table (or high chair - whatever you normally feed actual meals in.) That way, even if it's just a snack, she'll have to go in the kitchen and eat it there. If she's grazing on snacks all day, she's not going to eat a whole lot at actual meal times. But if she actually has to go sit down for food, she may not eat as many snacks as you think she needs because she'll favor playing instead of being interrupted to eat. Then she'll start eating a little better when she does actually go sit down and she'll be more hungry. As far as formula goes, she still needs liquid. Maybe switch over to cow's milk (whole) and see if she starts eating more. Formula has way more calories and sustainable energy than cow's milk. She may be getting her fill from it. Although not unhealthy, it may be preventing her from being interested in more actual food calories. One thing I would encourage, though, is switching from a bottle to a sippy if you haven't already. It is extremely easy to get milk from a bottle and sometimes is a deterrant from food because it's easier to drink than chew and swallow. The sippy will take some getting used to, and won't provide so much liquid nutrition so quickly, therefore, leading to more solid food consumption. Good luck. Hope this helps.

I have had 3 kids and they all ate differnt as infants. My son could never get enough food no matter if it was solid or baby food, by 1st daughter hardly ate at all and now is 8 and still hardly eats at all but she is healthy, and I have a 13 month old to and she eats well but not alot. But you might need to let her get a little hungry so she will eat what ever you serve her, and begin to get a taste for solid food. Or feed her with a group or the rest of the family, eating can be a very social thing and if everyone else is doing it she'll want to too. I would be more worried letting her have a bottle to long you don't want her to become too attached to it. You could also give her formula in sippy cup if your worried about her getting enough nutrition. Or ask your doctor about vitamins or pediasure drinks I give those to my 8 year old to keep her healthy. I just think when it comes down to it they all will have differnt appetites. And they will eat solid food.

I agree with some of the other moms in that you should continue to introduce a new food every few days and continue to give variety and choices. Based on the list of foods you are currently giving her she is getting a lot of very sweet sugary foods (fruits have natural sugar, and cereal bars and yogurt are also full of sugar). She is probably developing a sweet tooth so therefore is resistant to veggies and other foods. Try to take a new food and follow it by a food she does like on the same spoon so she will get both tastes in her mouth and slowly adapt to new flavors and textures. Formula or milk should still be her main source of calories but it can be tricky if she is refusing to eat and just waiting until the end of the meal to get what she really wants (formula) Maybe you can feed her a bottle 30 minutes before solids so her tummy is not empty and then try the foods after. Good luck!