My 1 year old wants nothing to do with solid food. He'll eat crackers all day long, but gags at even the sight of any sort of finger foods. I've tried every form of Gerber Graduate, cereals and string cheese. I chop up solids into tiny peices and mix it in with his baby food. He does alright most of the time, but will occasionally gag and throw everything up. He even gags at the sight of pebbles when we go to the play ground.
Is there anything else I can do to help him transition?
I remember when I was younger I could not swallow pills. My mother had to chop them up so I could take them. I had a fear of choking. Maybe your son has a fear of choking because of the way the food feels in his mouth. What ever the case he will let you know when he's ready. Another suggestion is over exagerate how yummy the food is. As you take a bite your son will want to copy you. This may take a little more time. Hope this helps
If he does fine with regular baby food, I would just keep him on that for a while longer. Slowly introduce other things along with the jar food. Every baby is different and he will take to eating finger food when he's ready.
You didn't say if your son is closer to age one or to age two, but try not stress over it. He may just be sensitive to the different textures or he may be having teething issues. Have you tried mashing his food- bananas, cooked carrots, ravioli, oatmeal, etc? My daughter is now 2 1/2, but she really didn't get into solids until about six months ago. I nursed some of my children for almost a year and then started them on very soft, liquidy foods for the next six months after that. The main thing is offering a variety of foods and liquids for the nutritional values, but try mashing the food less and less each time. Give him a few more months- he may just like the easier to swallow foods right now and will get into the more chewy foods when he is closer to age two and a little more mature.
S.,
Have you put your food through a blender to make it mashed. My mom would preraid stakes/chicken and mix it with mash food or baby food.... good luck.
You might have your child checked for a hyper sensory disorder. Most OTs can do the testing. He may be hyper sensitive to the texture of the food, and I wouldn't be TERRIBLY concerned as long as he'll eat nutritious baby food.
You might also look up some recipes online for 'crackers' made out of the food you want him to eat. (i.e. thin carrot 'cookies' )
Hum, well, there's nothing wrong with waiting a bit more. Just make sure he eats a well balanced diet. I would try... jello, but make sure that is small. But not too much. Other than that, just stay with the baby food, it's not doing any harm. Tell your doc, he may want to put him on some supplaments if he thinks he's not getting enough vitamins or something.
GOOD LUCK
