1 yr olds still needing pureed foods...

Sarah - posted on 08/20/2010

My son turned 1 on Aug 11. He will eat pureed foods if I offer and he love to feed himself with finger foods. BUT he will not touch the jarred food that is thicker or has chunks in it, then he gags. Each baby has their own preferences. Hopefully with a little more work he will pick it up. It wouldn't hurt to mention it to your doctor.

KAYLAH - posted on 08/20/2010

my son still needs everything pureed,and will only eat fruits...the only solids he will eat are fruit puffs,cherrios,and yogurt melts..we have him in speech therapy and he does have what called oral aversion which means he hates texture anywhere near his face..which is his resoning for gagging on everything...we had to decrease his amount of pediasure to get him to eat actual baby food...

Sarah - posted on 08/19/2010

hello, i think the more u try the more baby will get used to it, so i think baby led weaning is the perfect way to get ur lo interested in different foods, go with the yogurt and pureed fruit and give them the spoon too and soft fruits like plums and peaches would be perfect!! I think perserverance and lots of praise and encouragement are defo the way forward! lots of ppl have this problem and theres alot of help out there, just think providing u promote healthy eating habits they will eat properly and healthily (by properly i mean lumps and stuff eventually when they r ready)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2...
Interesting stuff on here xx xx
Good luck and im sure before u know it they will be demanding crisps and chocs in their lunch box, lol xx xx

Alison - posted on 08/19/2010

Or - or yogurt?? Put some on a spoon and hand him the spoon. Again, no fears of choking, and he may discover he likes feeding himself.

Get Rapely's book if you can. A lot of babies and toddlers with eating probs get 'better' once they are in charge of feeding themselves, though of course if he has a real medical prob he'll need a doctor, like you said.

Really, really hope it's nothing serious!

Alison - posted on 08/19/2010

No, ours never choked. But the gag reflex on a 6 month old is very near the front of the mouth....whereas on an older child it's nearer the back of the mouth. So an older child is actually more likely to choke than a baby.

Why not take a bite out of a plum and hand it to him? There's no way to choke on this - he may just suck, or may nibble at the edges.

He will need to learn to bite, chew, and swallow - especially as all these things help with speech. I feel for you - I know I worry about my kids for various things and sometimes you just feel so helpless!!!

Always here if you need a chat.

Itsa - posted on 08/19/2010

What about choking? Did your babies choke and couldn't clear their airways ever? What did you do?

I'm not asking because I'm nervous, although having to use the heimlich maneuver twice to clear my sons airways was scary... I am still trying to feed him food with a thicker texture but he's gagging on that as well and with such violent force that it all comes back up...

Maybe when we move across to the US we'll have to see a doctor. He may also have Coeliac disease but there isn't time to get a diagnosis before we leave the UK.

It's also been hard, having to move from one country to another, getting used to the new flavours here so we may have taken a step back... and then we'll be going to Canada before heading to the States so it's just all a huge thing for him too...

Dunno, sort of at a loss now!

Alison - posted on 08/19/2010

We skipped puees altogether and gave our twins 'real' food from 6 months. They're just one now and eat everything we eat, and feed themselves.

Solids is a learning process. Gagging is usually part of it. Ours gagged some at the beginning, and occasionally still do, but it's just a way of getting food from the back of the mouth to the front!

I recommend Gill Rapely's book Baby Led Weaning. Good luck.

Alisha - posted on 08/19/2010

My daughter is one and still eats mostly jarred baby food. She is def chewing, but will gag on foods with a lot of texture. I've been letting her explore with self feeding by giving her the finger foods puffs which are great since they dissolve so quickly. She also likes spaghetti noodles. The others gave good comments to have your doc check his gag reflex and also try and cut back a tad on the liquids to see if that helps. Good luck!

Beth - posted on 08/18/2010

A consult with a pediatric speech therapist might be a good idea, as they would do a "swallow study" to evaluate the different components of your son's eating (texture of the food, activity of the swallowing muscles, gag reflex). Talk to your son's doctor about the referral.

Samantha - posted on 08/18/2010

I would honestly talk to his doctor. To me, it sounds like he has an over active gag reflex and may need a therapist who specializes in pediatric feeding issues. One of my friends has a two year old who had a similar issue. It took lots of time, energy, and an unbelievable amount of patience, but he now eats anything he can get his hands on! Talk to his doctor and keeps us updated! Good luck!

Itsa - posted on 08/18/2010

So... no one else having this problem?

Itsa - posted on 08/13/2010

See, he's not having more than 500 mls of milk, he has maybe 10 oz of water throught the day and he eats the pureed foods just fine, has as much as he wants of it. He never finishes a 9 oz bottle, has about 4 oz in the am, 3-4 oz later then maybe 7 before bed.

Even this morning, his cereal and fruit was as watery as formula and he gaged so hard he was sick all over the floor. He'd only had 1.5 oz of formula 20 mins before that. I put the cereal and fruit in the fridge and offered it to him again after his first nap and he ate it just fine. I also gave him a small bit of beef casserole pureed to probably just between stage 1 and 2, so the main amount was pretty smooth but the meat and veg was a bit more chunky. Still, gagged. I'm not bothered that I have to puree his food for him, I just want to know if there is anyone else on here who's going through or has gone through this!

Thanks though.

MARIE - posted on 08/13/2010

My son doesn't have this problem but for what i understand is that your son gets lots of fluid as you said he drinks a lot of milk and water, so that might be an issue becos he's stomach is full and doesn't have enough room for food.....what i would suggest is even if milk is good for your baby, try to reduce the amount of fluid you're given to him and give him some food instead and see how its works..... when i introduced solid food to my son, he wouldn't eat well because he loved to drink his milk the most so i reduced the amount of fluid... that helped to give him enough room for his solid....as the health nurse said try to give him a variety of finger food, it's might work.....Good luck. I hope it works for you.