I think we ruined our kids

Our kids are STILL eating baby food only, and I have no idea how to get them to eat normal food. ardon: There must have been a class or something that I missed- because I keep reading on here how most everyone else's kids have been finger feeding since 10 months or so! They often swat the spoon away during meals- but I have always taken that as "I don't like that" or "I'm done" since they will happily eat something they like (fruit or sweet potato.) And pretty much anything other than cheerios, puffs, and bananas they refuse to eat. I've tried all sorts of different veggies, if I'm lucky, they'll eat a few bites of toast. I've offered peeled apple wedges- and they seem to like to gnaw on those (though J just nibbles off small pieces and spits them out) and then I just read we shouldn't be giving them apple wedges yet due to a choking hazard. :FIFblush: To make things a little more difficult, we have dairy issues, so I haven't been able to give them cheese and such. It's costing a fortune to keep feeding them baby foods- so I really want them to eat normal foods! What on earth can I do to get them to eat it? Have I missed the window where I should've introduced finger foods or something? I swear first children really need to come with manuals!

 

Marissa,

I'm no expert... but we had luck giving our girls very soft vegetable bits as their first table foods. Take a baked potato and cut it into tiny pieces and then offer those from your fingers. Canned pears and peaches work too.

Good luck!

 

Okay, you so haven't missed the window! Some babies just take longer than others....I think I posted about this some time ago, because my two aren't the greatest with table foods either.

In terms of baby food costing a fortune, I posted this a few days ago:

http://www.twinstuff.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=69134

Try something like this, and use a blender if you don't have a Magic Bullet....very healthy, and much tastier than those little jars.

Okay meantime, to encourage your munchkins, I would try something like Pirate's Booty or Cheddar Airs. Put ONE on their tray, and see if they pick it up and eat it. Pirate's Booty tastes great, so they may go for that. I actually do the same thing with cheerios, etc. -- if I offer only one, they concentrate on picking it up and getting it to the mouth, instead of just playing with a pile of them. Meal times take forever, but it works better in the long run (for my two, anyway).

What about canned peas and carrots, which are really soft? Again, try putting only one on the tray, or just put one pea in their mouths. They're so soft that they likely won't gag on it....

The Gerber Graduates line has something new called Yogurt Melts, which are little fruit-flavored merengue-looking things. Not exactly healthy food, but great for teaching them how to eat, I think.

What about mandarin oranges? You can drain the syrup and even rinse them quickly, if you're worried about the sugar. I put half of one into their mouths directly, and they're soft enough that they go down easily.

The way I look at it, it's two different things you're trying to accomplish here. The first is self-feeding, which I'm not hugely concerned with -- yeah, yeah, independence and all that, but my older one took *forever* with it, and she's now a normal 4-year-old who eats just fine, so it will come eventually.

The other is being able to easily chew and swallow pieces of foods, and that just comes with practice (and molars!). So if you have to, just work on one of these things at a time....

 

Hi there,

I think it's probably a texture issue, if they've only ever had baby food. I too would try pureeing softly cooked veggies as a start. Puree it quite a bit at first, but it will still have more texture than baby food, which has NONE. If they resist that, I would blend have puree and half baby food, and try that. I always made my own baby food, and I think that's the reason mine didn't have issues with feeding - they were used to textures.

Also, it's really not that hard to make your own, and much cheaper than baby food! To make it easy, just microwave frozen veggies and then put them in the food processor.... I'm assuming they must eat some stage 3's that do have chunks? Might also try just adding some of the baby food to whatever you're making...we called it baby food "gravy" and would mix that in with whatever we were feeding them, if they were resistant.

Hope this helps and don't worry, they will be fine!

 

I would try getting a food grinder they are about $10 or so at BRU or probably anywhere for that matter...the boys started solids at 10 months but their food was grinded for a week or two because they were used to the baby food texture. Their first real food was hamburger helper the noodles are soft and it is very easy to grind. My good friend's daughter would not eat meat or solid food until about a year so it is not unusual...GL!

 

Try canned veggies like the PP's said, beans are good too. Also try soup with the broth drained, pasta noodles, tofu chunks (try the fruit flavored), dry cereal, crackers, small pieces of fruit, blueberries, grapes cut in half, stuff like that.

 

I think PPs have given good advice -- I just wanted to chime in and say that not all kids are eating table foods by 1 year. On another site that I frequent , a lot of moms were saying their kids didn't really eat table foods until 15 months or later. That was also true for Sarah. Before that, she would eat smooth things (yogurt, Cream of Wheat, applesauce), a few crunchy things (Cheerios or crackers), and baby food, and that was about it. She really took off around 15 months. And the first thing she really ate enthusiastically was fruit. Don't panic.

 

Oh thanks gals- this is a LOT of great advice! I need to print this page out!

Another question though- what's the difference between a food grinder and a blender/magic bullet type appliance?

And I've tried a lot of the things you've mentioned- the canned veggies, small pieces of fruit, and still no luck. Is this one of those things I just need to keep offering a dozen times before they take it? When do you know it's just a "I'm not ready yet" issue and a "I really don't like that" issue? And should I offer the same thing daily or every couple days or even every few weeks?

Is it bad to spoon feed them these items or should I be making them finger feed it? Every now and then I can get them to eat something that I directly feed them, but there's no way they'll pick it up and put it in their mouth. (though they DO know how, they do it w/ cheerios every day!)

Thanks for all your help! :bow2: I really needed a class on this... :blush:

 

Ours were not on table food at 1. I think they finally gave up baby food on their own at about 15/16 months. I would often puree the food we were eating and gave that to them.

 

I had this grinder http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2585711 it was very easy and fast to use and I could just wash it quickly aand sit it in the drainboard for the next meal. It also made a portion size big enough for one of the boys. At that age, I just put the grinded food right ontop of their highchair with no plate (they would always dump it) and they would feed theirselves like they did with cheerios, you may have to give it to them a few times before they try it.

 

You've already got some great advice from these ladies, I just wanted to chime in and say you didn't do anything wrong!! My two weren't off babyfood until 17 months! I just went after their pace. I would offer table foods to them but they just weren't ready for them. They wouldn't open their mouths or spit it out, but when they were ready, they let me know. They now only eat table foods and are smart little toddlers. I just don't want you to worry about it. :hug99: I know I worried alot and didn't listen to others {like my ped.} when they said that they'd eat regular food soon.

 

Another thing I've always had good luck with when introducing new foods.

I serve myself a bowl of what ever and just sit on the sofa and eat it. Usually my two are over immediatly wanting some. If not I make a bit of a show of how much I'm enjoying what I'm eating.

I never gave them boughten baby food. I used my blender to make our own--as soon as possible I started making purees from things the grown ups were eating, so they got used to the tastes the family eats. Why not start blending the things you want them to be eating and just don't offer baby food at all?

 

MsBQ02 -- I am right there with you!!!! Still no table foods. My pedi is referring us to a speech therapist just to get things checked out and hopefully help me figure out what I need to be doing to help them. It's like they don't know how to chew!!

I, too, missed the class on table foods.