Delays with solids

So the boys will be 1 in less than 2 weeks but we still aren't on people food yet. Infact we are still on a couple jars of level 2 foods a day and the rest of the feeds being bottles and here lately they haven't been wanting to eat anything from a spoon. Needless to say I'm getting frustrated and concerned.

I should mention that we don't have any teeth yet (I didn't get my first until I was 1). Also, I've tried level 3 foods and they choke and gag and throw up with the smallest of things like rice and small cut noodles. Oh and I've tried giving them puffs or peas on their trays for them to try and pick up and eat and they just look at me like I'm crazy and I have tried showing them what to do with them. They just don't seem to grasp it yet.

We didn't start with solids until 6months and we've had feeding issues since the beginning so I don't think this should come as a surprise to me but I'd like to see them on target for their age with foods like they are with all the other milestones.

Anyone else with this problem or have any suggestions??

 

I honestly would keep on trying! I know it must be aggravating. My daughter was the opposite-she was such a pain to feed bay food to! Drove me batty! Whereas table food-she loves! Have you tried the mesh feeders? Frozen bananas? I honestly don't think the lack of teeth would hinder them. I wouldn't necessarily give them big items, or hard items, but the saliva wil help, as well as their gums with mashing food.

Do they pick up other things? Do they have the pincher grasp down? Have you fed them the gerber puffs? I know Annabella won't eat some things, just because. Then, if I put it to her lips and she actually gets a taste of it-she realizes she likes it.

Good luck! They'll get there!

 

With our boys we started slow and they gag on few things still especially rice. Start with pancakes, bread or bagels very small pieces and put it in their mouth see what they do. If they don't like the texture dip it in the yogurt. As for veggies I started them on canned organic veggies like carrots, peas, beans, etc. they are very soft and cut up into small pieces, they should do fine with those. My boys love mashed potatoes, try it I bet you they will gobble it up My boys still gag on cottage cheese and banana go figure. As far as fruits go we still do stage 2 fruit its just easier for us.

Hope this helps a little, hope this helps. And have fun.

Agnes

 

Thanks!

I know if you take a super duper small piece of bread that you've balled up they'll eat it if you put it to their mouth. They'll eat mashed potatoes too from my finger. I haven't tried with a spoon yet or pancakes but I will. I never thought about trying that.

We have tried puffs and other gerber foods similar to that but they don't like them or grasp it. I put them in their mouth and most of it, if not all, comes out because they still push foods out with their tongue rather than gumming it.

They put everything in their mouth except for food...lol.

 

Mine were late eaters too. They went from complete purees to solids overnight though. A few tips:

1) Use a rubber coated spoon (like Gerber makes) as opposed to metal spoons.

2) Try and try again. If they gag, wait a couple days and try again. If they gag again, wait a couple days and try again. We had to do this for a couple months, every couple of days.

 

It is very common for kids without feeding issues to never take stage 3, I would avoid those for now (and probably forever) with your guys. They generally want to trust what is on a spoon is smooth.

Try the puffs by breaking off one tiny piece instead of the whole thing.

Definitely small pieces of toast or pancakes is a good bet.

Resolving feeding difficulties can take a veeeeeerrrrrry long time. Try to keep it very positive for them.

 

LOL it's hard to make it fun when I'm soooo not into the mess it makes. When they grab at the spoon I freak out because whatever is on it ends up on the wall! When they start to not willingly take the food from the spoon (we do use rubber coated ones btw) I make funny faces to make them smile and then I slip in a bite while they're not paying attention..lol.

 

Solids are definitely trying!! One of my LOs is a bit of a gagger too and very sensitive to new textures. So we are not near people food yet but we are getting there slowly. So try and be patient and keep on trying (and believe me I know how frustrating it can be)! As for finger foods, try not to put the items in their mouths for them because that defeats the purpose. I put cheerios, shredded cheese, cut up pieces of watermelon and avocado, etc on their high chair trays and let them figure out what to do with them. I may pick up and eat a piece of it myself to show them what to do. They caught on pretty quickly. One has a better pincher grasp than the other but they are both able to get some of the pieces in their mouths and gum them. Just keep on trying every day and I am sure they will get the hang of it soon!

 

Btw - I sometimes give them another spoon to play with so they don't grab the spoon I'm feeding them with.

 

I did this too - so they could try to feed themselves with their spoon and I fed them with my spoon. My LOs could never do stage 3. Doc said it is the texture of puree with chunks that can throw a lot of babies off...they had some texture issues. But literally around 13 months we went from pureed to finger food, almost over night. They got some teeth at 1 year almost exactly. We started with very ripe avocado chunks, banana (very ripe like bruised), pear, sweet potato, and squash. Very soft. Good luck. Although it sounds like even jarred food is challenging right now, I would just keep trying every few days and at some point it will progress.

 

My boys LOVE Eggo's brand frozen buttermilk pancakes! They have more calories and fat (3g per pancake) than other brands that I've looked at. I nuke two of them for like 45 seconds, then spritz on a little spray butter, and put a small dollop of maple syrup on one pancake and rub the two of them together. Finally I tear them into tiny little pieces and they gobble them up. also have you tried ripe, soft blueberries? They are so sweet and Brandon could eat a 1/2 cup of those by himself! Though our picky eater Colin just does not like blueberries for some reason. And Gerber mac and cheese jars are still a staple food for our boys at 13.5 months. I tried a Chef Boyardee brand micro meal of mac and cheese, which tastes much better IMO, but they didn't go for it.

As for a spoon aversion, sometimes our boys act that way too. It's hit or miss with them. So rather than try and feed them spaghettios from a spoon (which they didn't like anyway) last week I boiled some penne pasta until it was real soft, then cut the pasta in half and mixed a little bit of Ragu sauce and parmesan cheese over it. I then just put it on their booster tray for them to pick up and eat, and they ate every bit of it. The boys and their booster seats were a royal mess, but it was worth it. It will probably be a little bit before your boys are ready for pasta that big, but in the meantime you could try orzo. Though I can't imagine them eating that tiny pasta by hand. Sorry, I'm probably not much help!

 

Everyone's giving you some great advice. My only other suggestion would be that if you feel like you just aren't making any progress, it never hurts to get an OT or SLP evaluation through your local early intervention office - even just having an OT who specializes in feeding therapy evaluate them and give you some fresh ideas would be great - even if they don't qualify for services.

Good luck!

 

You could also try things that are way too big to choke on. My kids were somewhat late to get interested in solids (though not as late as yours), and one of the first things they really grooved on was big apple slices. They'd pick them up and play with them, gum them, get little tiny bites, and gradually get the idea that there are things other than milk that taste good. I also let them play with large pieces of toast, and that was a hit.

And ditto Jori - never hurts to ask for an evaluation!

 

I agree with Jori too! You've gotten some great advice on here...I just wanted to add that my two never took to the stage 3 foods of any variety. I still had to use some baby foods to supplement fruits and veggies until my twosome were 15-16 months old.
I know it is frustrating but I would keep offering and I also gave my two another spoon to play with while I fed them.

 

My kids did great with pasta (like the alphabets or any small pasta) and I would put shredded cheese on their trays that they did well with. Toast, puffs, watermelon, and cheerios were also good and easy for them to learn to feed themselves.

Good luck!!

 

I was the exact same way. Try grilled cheese sandwiches, cut up into tiny pieces. That was one of the first things mine would eat and there's no mess. Mine took forever to accept real food. It seemed like they gagged forever. The first things they ate were tiny pieces of banana, grilled cheese, and kraft mac n cheese.

 

Also, if you try something like toast or pancakes, you might use a baby food that they really like as a spread on the toast. My boys have no food aversions, but sometimes I spread some of their fruit baby food on the pancake like a butter. They think this is the best thing ever!! If you're guys taste something they know and like, they might be more willing to try the actual food.

Laura

 

AimmeT, thanks I'm glad I'm not the only one who has late bloomers in the food department.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I'm going to try them out and see what happens. Although, this may sound really bad but I don't know how to make grilled cheese. :laughing:

 

Okay, tried and true toddler pleasing grilled cheese.
Put a little butter in the skillet and turn it on. Butter one side of both slices of bread. Stick a piece of bread in butter side down when the butter in the skillet melts, slap a piece of cheese on, and slap the other piece of bread on butter side up. Squish it down with a spatula and flip when it's brown. It will cook much quicker on the second side, so be watching. Then eat up the yummy goodness :ibiggrin:.

Laura

 

You've gotten some great advice!!! The only thing I wanted to add was that late teeth don't stop much, except maybe apples LOL My dd didn't get her first tooth until she was 13.5 months old and she ate double what my ds did with a bunch of teeth :lol:
Good luck!