Ten Month Old Won't Eat Anything but Baby Food

My daughter who is now 13 months was exactly the same way. Just be patient. Feed him whatever he will eat. I was so upset about my daughter I even took her to the doctor several times. There was nothing specific that I did. I just kept trying and all of the sudden one day she ate. One thing you might want to try is giving him really soft finger foods. My daughter was much happier eating once she could pick up her own food and feed herself. Now she is eating everything so don't worry!! Good luck!!!

My son, now 3 1/2 was/is the same. He eats fine now, but he still has the gag reflex if his bites are too big or a "smell" sets him off.

I wouldn't rush him. If puree works for him, then let him eat puree. Eventually, he will show interest in the things you are eating and you can begin to introduce more. He is only 10 months. Nothing wrong with mush for a little while longer.

Hi Corrine,

What's the rush? In many societies, children are virtually 100% nursed until well into the 2nd year of life -- no solids at all, or very minimally. In fact, this was the even the situation in industrialized nations up until about WWII. In the US when a large volume of the 19 - 36 yr old male population was off at war, women as primary providers predominated the nation's workforce for the first time in history. This necessitated giving up lengthy nursing or bottle feeding and began the push for solid feeding as early as 3 or 4 mos of age.

Evolutionarily, we are what we are. The gag reflex remains strong into the early toddler years and probably originated as a protective response to prevent infants and toddlers from eating dangerous plants and insects in a wild environment with more minimal parental supervision that is common in the modern world.

I know that it can be so hard to wait for all these exciting changes to occur in your baby, especially if you're a first time mom. Believe me -- by the time you get to number two it will be "Sh*t. He's walking already?! I was hoping to get another month or two reprieve!" ;-)

Have fun with your son -- in the long run, slow and steady is just as good as, and probably better than, fast and burnt out.

I had the same problem. Around 11 months, he started eating stage 3 without gagging, unless it was really chunky. I slowly made it chunkier and chunkier. At 12 months he started eating SOME finger foods, only foods that would easily breakdown in his mouth like mashed bananas. He spit out everything else that I gave him, but I kept trying. Slowly he is started to eat more finger foods, but still his main meal is baby food, stage 3.

Now at 13 months, the finger foods that he likes are Gerber yogurt melts, fruit, bread, crackers, sometimes shredded cheese. He doesn't really like meat yet, but I keep giving them to him along with veggies. I'm still nursing, so he's getting his nutrients.

At first I was very concerned because my older daughter ate anything & everything by 9 or 10 months and was practically using utensils. But with my son, the pediatrician told me not to worry & to keep trying.

Every kid is different.

Good luck!

Our son, now 4 yrs old., still has a sensitive gag reflex. When he was a baby it wasn't as sensitive as yours sounds, but he would easily choke because of it. Your son may not be ready and it's normal. Just take it slow. Just keep the doctor updated when he goes to his check ups. Our pediatrician mentioned if it continued and got really bad, then he might need occupational therapy to help him learn how to properly eat. It just happens sometimes. Luckily he didn't get any worse. Now, every once in a while it happens. Though our main concern now is that he could choke. That happened a lot when he was a toddler and would end up throwing up his food. As he gets older, just make sure he doesn't choke. Swipe his mouth right away. If he doesn't spit it out right away.

At this age pureed food it just fine! No need to rush the finger or chunkier foods.

Well, I'm no expert so don't take my word for it, but I'm pretty sure it's normal/ok! If he still does this after 12 months then I would talk to your pediatrician about it, but right now he's still young and at least he IS eating healthy (pureed) stuff! ;)

There could be two things going on here: one, your baby is just not use to so many different textures yet and that is causing the gag reflex and refusal to eat these foods. My daughter did this a bit with table food and took longer and slower introduction than I was used to. However, by the time she was 13 months she was doing fine and trying anything. Two: I have a son with Autism and one with Sensory processing disorder. In both situations they have sensory problems which cause them to be picky eaters and not try new foods. They will gag from even looking at, smelling or touching a food that they don't like or don't want to try. My 5 year old has gotten over it as we just continued to make him try new things with positive reinforcement if he did. My 3 year old with Autism still has terrible issues with this though. I made him eat a freeze dried apple slice the other day and he gagged and threw up. You could look up sensory processing disorder or buy the book "the out of sync child" and if your child doesn't meet the symptoms, then I would say that he will get over this soon the more you introduce things. Sensory problems are in connection with nutritional problems and GI problems as well. Hope this helps!

It's ok... just be patient. At this age it's about learning to eat and trying new tastes. Most of the nutrition should still be coming from Breastmilk.. or formula if need be. Try again in a week or so... but if it happens just go back to what he can handle.

My son was the same way! At his twelve month appointment, I mentioned it to the doctor and she shrugged it off saying that it's normal and there's really no rush - to just take it nice and slow. At ten months, as another mother mentioned, the chief nutrician should still be breastmilk or formula. So just keep doing what you're doing. I would try to give my son something chunkier and if he gagged, I'd try again in a week. Eventually, he got the hang of it.

I started my baby on puffs at eight months. She took a little while to adjust to them. I started third foods and cheerios at ten months. My daughter did some slight gagging but it was just her getting familiar with the texture. I kept trying. It has gotten better. She is now eleven months old. My doctor said lots of babies don't like third foods as much. I would just try again later. Good luck!

It's so hard being a mom (and a kid too!) Sounds like your son may just not be ready to eat anything more than he is. Kids are so developmentally different. One friend's son was eating solids at 3 months. One's was still gagging on Puffs and Cheerios at 11 months. My pediatrician had one patient who didn't even start any foods until 14 mos. I read somewhere that a 12 month old should be using a spoon (please, whoever wrote that was off their rocker!)
My son at 10 mos was like yours and wouldn't eat anything beyond a smooth puree for what seemed like forever. Anything with any texture at all (especially those "Stage 3" foods) would make him spit out/up. He'd even revert and only want breastmilk or formula at times. On top of that, he was a particular eater when he did eat anything. He wouldn't eat freshly mashed bananas (still won't) but would eat jarred bananas (still will). He preferred homemade sweet potatoes to jarred. He went on a 3 week food strike once. But I kept offering him a variety of foods (and wasting lots of it too!) and had him sit with us at meals. He eyed our food for a long time, so I'd offer but he wouldn't want to actually eat.
Finally, at 1 year minus a week, he just opened his mouth and wanted to eat everything we were eating. It was like a lightbulb went off in his brain. I can't explain it, but you could see it in his eyes that he wanted to eat real, solid food. Go figure, now he likes to eat steak (but still no bananas nor any fresh fruit for that matter). He loves chunky and thick soups, but as an experiment, I offered him a jar of stage 3 and he still spit it out. I think it didn't taste very good after eating grownup food.
Just keep offering him foods and letting him sit with you while you eat. Most of his nutrition should still be coming from BM or formula anyway. I wouldn't water down Cheerios and Puffs. The point of those foods is to learn to gum/chew solids. I know it's really gross when he gags and spits up, but he'll be ok. Just wait a few more days or a week to try again. Let him play with his food with his hands, and it'll go down his mouth when he's ready. The friend with the 11 mo old broke the Puffs in half for her son. She was always digging something out of his mouth when he had that gagging look. He eventually figured it out.
So, there's hope for you and your son yet! I will hope that you try not to worry about your son's eating habits, but being a mother, I'm sure you still will. I did and still do. Being a mom makes one insane at times. Good luck to you!

Don't worry at all about it! My son was 12 months before he would even touch stage 3 foods, and now still at 14 months, he's still just getting used to chewing and I still give him baby food and offer him bites of some stiff I eat (pasta, scrambled eggs, etc) . He gagged at EVERYTHING, and I still am leery about giving him "real" foods. My pediatrician said if he's still gagging, he's just not ready. It won't last forever, and I'm learning it takes A WHILE to get them used to any kinds of solids! Hang in there!!

take it slowly. like other moms say he may just not be ready. at 10 months my daughter was just starting stage 3 foods (and was on table food only by 13 months). theres not many stage 3 foods that dont have chunks in it... maybe what you can do is get a few stage 3 foods and then mix them with 2s (so theres chunks but not as many) until he gets used to it. with my daughter she gagged on the noodles in the stage 3 foods so i mashed them with the spoon. it takes time so dont be worried. i think it also depends on when you start solids. my daughter was eating rice cereal at 3 1/2 months and fruits/veggies at 5-6 months and i tink meats at 7-8 months. give him a variety of finger foods (wagon wheels, gerber fruit snacks, bitter biscuts, baby toast (zweback?)) if your really worried call his dr.

My son will be one next week - we were are facing the same situation you are - each time we tired to give him #3 stage or cheerios - he wants nothing to do with it.

Thanks for posting this - his one year old checkup is on the 13th and that was our number one question to ask. Now seeing the other responses - we are not so worried.

D.

I wouldn't sweat it at all. Just be patient. If you want to try soft things with a little chunk, you could steam some tiny apple, carrot or sweet potato pieces. 10 months is still really young. My son still loves purees and he's over 2 years old.-www.weelicious.com