Why Does My One Year-old Son Doesn't Want to Swallow His Food?

He's not ready for solids yet. Let it go for another few months. My first wasn't ready for solid foods until about 14 months old. He wouldn't eat a single bite of his first birthday cake, not even the frosting. I let him go at his own pace, and by age 2, he was eating anything that we ate.

Just give him time.

Not every kid is ready for solids at the one year mark.
The tongue motion for nursing and bottle feeding are different and eating solids is different again.
The tongue motion for drinking will push solid food out of the mouth.
Don't 'make him' or force him.
Stick with the pureed foods awhile longer then try him on soft gnawing foods - cooked soft carrot sticks, baked French fries, etc.
Our son took to solids on the late side - it's no big deal.
Now at 15 yrs old he wolfs down everything in sight and barely chews.
Watching a teen boy eat is scary!

There's nothing wrong with baby food - puree your own if you want to.

Stick with the purees. It sounds like the same sensory issue our little guy had-- we did purees and yogurt up until about 15 months or so. We kept offering solids every so often but it took his tongue a while to get used to them. Even rice and lentils through a food mill was too much texture.

If he's hitting 1.5 years and still spitting it out, then do talk to the pediatrician about an evaluation.

apparently he's not yet ready for solid food.
if you've 'always' had trouble making him eat, maybe it's time to stop 'making' him. you may have already set yourself up for lifelong food issues for this child.
he's only a year old. let him eat a variety of foods that have a texture he can live with and quit trying to make him eat things that gross him out.
khairete
S.

A lot of kids don't like textures, and my son was one of them. As someone else said below, the tongue motion is not something they all understand at 1 year. Chewing is an entirely different skill/motion/feeling and some kids just don't "get it" as early as other kids. I tend not to worry about things like that because they all do something "early" and other things "late" - walking, talking, teething, potty training, sleeping through the night. Since you can't control his eating, I'd stop making it any kind of battleground. It's more important that he get lots of nutrition and that he develop a taste for different flavors. Keep offering other foods (watching for choking hazards as others have suggested) and make meals a pleasant experience. Show your pleasure in your own foods, and eat with him - comments like "Oh these blueberries are so delicious" will get you farther than trying to force him.

I work with kids with all kinds of sensory issues and a lot of them have trouble with solid foods at much older ages. We just supplement with a comprehensive liquid supplement that meets all their nutritional needs, and then the other foods they eat are a bonus. We do this with preemies through feeding tubes, older kids dealing with malnutrition, and many kids with sensory and swallowing problems (those can be anatomical or connected to things like being on the autism spectrum), and those who are just too particularly or too fussy to sit still for long enough. So we know that essential to be on solid foods from a nutritional standpoint. Of course we want them to get to that point, but the main thing is to keep then growing and getting the necessary brain development and hydration until they grow into it, mature, develop a taste for foods, or get over their aversion to texture.

I think you can wait this out. Other than the convenience of having him eat what you eat, there's no huge rush to have him move to solid foods as long as his nutritional needs are met. You want him to develop the small motor skills such as picking up foods and putting them in his mouth, and eventually be able to use a spoon himself. So encourage him to do those things but continue to help out. He does a spoonful, you do a spoonful.

I saw a photo someplace of parents who use an ice cube tray to display different types of chopped up foods in different colors & tastes & textures. You could try a version of that (hold on to it so he doesn't dump it!) and put baby food or pureed foods in some of the compartments, some yogurt or applesauce, (so it doesn't all come from baby food jars), and then some other cut up or small foods in others. You don't have to do all 12! That's probably overwhelming! But a few pieces of easily chewed or "gummed" foods might be great - cooked carrots, peas, avocado, sweet potato, watermelon, a few berries, small French toast cubes (they are soft), etc. You don't have to go directly to very chewy foods like meat, but cheese cubes and some cheerios and small crackers are okay. Make a game of identifying the shapes - peas are round, cheese cubes are square, spaghetti is a line, etc. Or mention the colors. Do this not to drive home the learning, but to make conversation and show him all the aspects of the food - taste, texture, smell, shape, size, etc. When he's done, take it away. Take him out to eat when you can and let him try things from your plate

I think, barring any major developmental issue, he'll catch on. Meantime, if you turn it into a fight and he becomes stubborn or even fearful, it will take that much longer to get him to try things. If you're patient and as long as he gets nutrients, it should work itself out. Don't be intimidated by people whose kids ate much earlier - I guarantee you, you child is doing something else that their kids are not.

Might be a texture thing.
You can purée anything for him.
Let him eat safe finger foods at his own pace-just no hot dogs or other choking hazards!

Updated

Might be a texture thing.
You can purée anything for him.
Let him eat safe finger foods at his own pace-just no hot dogs or other choking hazards!
You might want to mention it to your ped if it continues.

Some other thoughts: does he have all of his teeth? Is it just easier to eat puréed food?
Is he consuming adequate amounts and a variety of food? Does he choke on other textures? Did he ever choke on something and now it is a fear for him?
Are there other issues such as not liking his teeth being brushed, and is he saying any words? Just want to be sure it is a preference and not a physical reason that he is not accepting other textures.
Make note of anything else that seems to concern you, and also consider talking to your pediatrician if you have continued concerns after trying some of the other suggestions below.
Take care!

Stop giving him pureed foods and move to solids completely.
He'll figure out pretty quickly.

He's old enough to be off of baby foods and textures completely. He'll swallow them once he gets that hang of it, and realizes that you won't be coming in with a backup to fill him up.

Let him feed himself finger foods that are NOT choke hazards and give him time. If you're feeding him baby food stop. It's nasty at best and it has no nutrition. Table food chopped up very very well is better.

If you're unsure about what foods are choke hazards google it.

Gummies, marshmallows, grape pieces, etc...all choke hazards. And many many many more.

I wouldn't swallow meat of any kind until I was quite old. I would chew it and then spit it out. I was afraid of choking (and still am - chew my food REALLY well) although I don't know why. I've never choked or started to choke and have only seen it on tv. For me, it has nothing to do with texture - fear of choking.

The answer is simple. He isn't ready.
Hold off & try again in a month. If he still isn't interested, wait & try again.
Don't stress over this.