what do i do when my 9 month old gags/throws up on new chunky food like chicken dinners?

Genevieve - posted on 11/26/2009

I would give it a little longer. your child will let you know when they are ready. Once my daughter was ready fro actual bites, she let me know by taking food off of my plate and eating it. Now I can barley get her to eat any type of mashed up food, she wants table food.

Courtney - posted on 11/25/2009

he's just not ready. if he's swallowing and then throwing up then it's not the texture- his belly just isn't ready. my 11 month old eats lots of things but he has some trouble with the stage 3 foods that have meat. he does fine with veggies and fruit so I'm holding off on the meat a while longer. Every now and then I give it a try but I don't force it. A few bites will do.

Kathleen - posted on 11/24/2009

None of my 5 children would eat stage 3 foods...they are nasty....try table food if he is ready for solid food...just make really small bites and go easy on the spices....

Danielle - posted on 11/24/2009

My fourth child would not eat stage 3 baby food (w/chunks). I had to start feeding her small bites of table food. Maybe he just doesn't like chicken. It could be the texture, the taste, or just being a picky eater. I have a couple of those myself. Don't worry. Just give it some time and try different things.

Lilibeth - posted on 11/24/2009

My son is 8 mos. and pretty much eats everything,aside from seafoods. I started feeding him gerber at the age of 2mos. For some reason, he also don't like the stage 3 chicken dinners, he'd rather eat rice and chicken. ( I'm asian so I eat a lot of rice! hehe!) You can try to smash the chicken with your fingers to kinda flatten before u give it to him so he don't choke or something. I always make this, chicken & potatoes boiled with broth, then I smashed them together...he loves it coz it's not too dry for him..yummo!

Diane - posted on 11/24/2009

My son did not tolerate Stage 3 foods...he vomitted all the time. I continued to give him stage 2 sweet potatoe and turkey or chicken and he loved it. If he was very hungry, he would have 2 stage 2 jars. He did the same thing when I tried giving him regular food so he was eating Stage 2 baby food (2 jars) and one fruit jar until 20 months...then one day he just started picking off my dish and did not vomit. I wouldn't push it...they let you know when they are ready :) My son eats everything now and his diet consists of lots of fruits and veggies...he loves mandarine oranges, bananas, broccoli, peas, carrots, etc. Good luck!

Chelsea - posted on 11/24/2009

i think its probably the texture of the new food, i guess i would probably try again every couple of days till he gets use to it

Rebecca - posted on 11/24/2009

My son did the same thing as well as a little girl i babysat and i tried mashing the little chunks up a bit but them still have some thickness. My son even gagged on the mumum rice cookies when he was that age. Some children are texture eaters. He grew out of it around 11 months i think it was and my kid can eat now! He eats more then me almost lol...he's 2yrs and weighs 27lbs so i'm nto sure where he puts the food lol. If there are chunks of potato in it try mashing them just a bit and see how he does then. If it's the chicken try giving smaller portions or maybe a piece he can't fit in his mouth but he has to bite off,if he has teeth i would do this but only if he had teeth.

Good luck! Don't give up and stand your ground. The little girl i watched was running her household becuase she would be sent to me at 15 months old with jarred stage 1 food still...don't give in but don't let him starve either. You will learn a happy medium in time it will pass:)

Abi - posted on 11/24/2009

my little 1 did this and still does every now and again the only way we got around it was she likes to feed her self so she has a spoon and i have one and feed her like that if she doesnt like it i try it agian abit later but anything she can feed herself she will eat she has a full sundays dinner yorkies, meat, veg and poatoes and shes only 7mnths old

Jillian - posted on 11/24/2009

My eldest daughter was exactly the same way. I think it was because she was use to just swallowing the purees down. The number 3s are still purees so she would try and swallow when she needed to chew a bit first. I solved this by just giving her foods that were either complete chunks that she knew she had to chew or else a complete puree.

Myra - posted on 11/23/2009

I didn't give my daughter chicken that was not pureed until she was about 14 months old. I took things really slow with her when it came to indroducing new foods. You may want to try a 2nd stage Turkey and Sweet Potato (Gerber makes one, so do other brands) if your son likes sweet potatoes. I wouldn't keep trying him on the really solid foods yet; particularly meat. Eventhough he can mash up his food, meat doesn't mash too well. With my daughter, I pretty much skipped the 3rd foods since she gagged on the meats, and likes her veggies individually served. If you really want to give him chicken, you might want to bake some chicken breasts and cut a piece off from yours for him. Make it into very fine pieces that are small. My girl is about 18 months old and has all but 2 teeth, and she still won't eat bigger pieces of meat yet. No need in rushing it...they tend to become pickier if they gag on foods.

Megan N. - posted on 11/23/2009

My son did the same thing...he just didn't like those chunky bottled meals. We started giving him table food and he accepted it. He really liked bbq chicken (cut up really small of course) and really soft carrots with a bit of butter and rice. I only have one child so this is only what worked for us. I hope it helps :)

Jessica - posted on 11/23/2009

No. He's not ready. There's no need for solids at this point, much less ones that make him gag.

Jennifer - posted on 11/23/2009

thank u everyone for your advice..i did try something differant and after gagging once,he must have dealt with the texture differance and liked the taste because hes eating that food well..so ill give him some time away from chicken and try again in a few weeks!!

Jennifer - posted on 11/23/2009

thanks Jean for the advice!!

Jean - posted on 11/23/2009

I'd wait a few weeks and try again. My son did the same at 8 months. The next time I tried him with meat, I ground some baked chicken and mixed it with veggies and gravy and he did really well with it. Babies just reach their milestones at slightly different times than others. Just because your little guy isn't up to handling meat yet isn't a huge deal. Give him time and soon enough, he won't be able to get enough!

Jennifer - posted on 11/23/2009

He probably needs time to get use to the texture. Or maybe he doesn't like the taste. I was always told (and you read) that it takes up to 10 tries before they will accept a new food. As long as he isn't choking I would keep trying. I would try other flavors first and then go back to the chicken later. Maybe try turkey, ham, or beef.

Alexi - posted on 11/23/2009

My daughter reacts the same to stage 2 food. However, she quite happily feeds happily feeds herself broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and yorkshire pudding!!!! I totally believe it is the taste as opposed to the texture. However, the best thing is to try another flavour and see how he is.

Jamie - posted on 11/23/2009

it might just be a sensory issue. maybe he just doesnt like the texture and how it feels in his mouth. My son has sensory issues, and that was one thing he always did, when he wasnt happy with the texture.

Renee - posted on 11/23/2009

a lot of kids don't like chicken! Especially little ones! I remember my oldest three doing the same thing. They all tolerated ham, beef or pork better. My nine month old still can't handle pureed stuff though! Good luck to you!

Amanda - posted on 11/23/2009

okay it could be the chunky texture or perhaps the taste. My daughter only ate a very limited number of the meat flavors. Try another flavor if you still see problems maybe he just isn't ready!

Jen - posted on 11/23/2009

Oh wow! I won't be much help to you, because I haven't had that happen to me yet.

All I can think of is that he's just not used to the texture yet, I suppose. Maybe give him a little more time before you try again?! I'm not sure. Sorry!