10 month old not eating finger foods!

Tracy - posted on 08/20/2009

Get him one of those little net things you put food in so he can still chew and taste and even eat the food. They are also excellent to put ice in for teething!

Parul - posted on 08/19/2009

my daughter is now 14 mts.i have faced similar weening issues with her. she was okay with finger foods but mashed and pureed foods never went well with her. after consulting with a medical person i realised that she was filling her up with milk only, so i have reduced her milk intake. infact i learned that a one year old does not require more than 12 oz of milk a day. now she feels hungry and i try variety of fruits, vegetables and cereals with her.

Brie - posted on 08/19/2009

heres a cunning plan i did with my daughter - make your own baby food and instead of Pureeing it - GRATE it before you cook (carrots, cauliflower, brocolli, etc) MINCE your meat and then boil it.

make a bulk lot and put it in ice cube trays - including the water the food was cooked in as this has alot of nutrients in it (then when frozen put in individual freezer bags) then you can mix up a quick easy meal (1 cube of this, 1 cube of that, another cube of something else...)

i found that the grated foods made the transition to chunky foods alot easier, as they could be mixed with a pureed food that was her favorite, which helped to encourage her to eat, accept the new texture and start to chew properly. i also eat something (or even some of her food) so that she can watch me chew and swallow, babys learn by watching - how you do things and also how you react to things.

i must admit i have never fed my child commercial baby food - i had to eat some at my baby shower and it tasted revolting.

I agree with the lentils - i also feed them to my daughter (mashed up a bit and usually mixed with something like pumpkin as it makes them less gluggy) lightly mashed peas are good to as they are a little bit sweeter than the lentils so may appeal more to a fussy eater.



My daughter now has things like chopped up fresh spinach mixed in her food, - to introduce her to different textures. today she had soy linseed toast with vegemite and Avacado on it! (i was eating it for breakfast and she wanted some - so much so i had to go and make myself another piece!)

I've found if i'm eating something, she wants to try it (don't do the pretend eat thing - it has to be genuine!) so you could try that as well.



Good luck!

Darcie - posted on 08/17/2009

Thanks guys you've been a tremendous help!!! I'll try cutting up some foods he likes and mixing them the the puree.

Amanda - posted on 08/17/2009

Don't stress out! He might just not be ready yet; all children learn at their own pace with EVERYTHING not just eating. Just start with extremely small pieces and eventually make them a little bigger in time. He'll catch on when he's ready.

Jennifer - posted on 08/17/2009

My daughter is almost 15 months and still doesn't eat much in the way of finger foods. She is finally starting to eat some bread and Gerber puffs (the ones that look like cheetos). She puts it in her mouth, gums it a little and most of it ends back out on her face. At her 1 yr check up the pediatrician wasn't worried and said she'd eventually outgrow it. One thing we've started doing is offering her much thicker oatmeal cereal so she gets used to having thicker things in her mouth. Just keep trying and know that eventually he'll get the hang of it.

Eirini - posted on 08/17/2009

I started my son on lentils..i didnt mash them up and he ate them just fine..once he gets used to the idea of chunky food he will be ok...but since he is not yet used to them he will gag for a while...try chunky mashed sweet potatoes and slightly mashed chunks of bananas in banana puree ..even though my son is eating table foods and chunkier food now every now and then when he eats pieces of foods he is not used to he will still gag...for example..last night i gave him pieces of banana and peaches and he gaged a couple of times untill he got used to the texture of the food that he is eating...and a couple of times I had to throw him upside down and pat his back because he was choking but I learned to start small and build up...solid food are like a milestone just like crawling a walking it has to be learned and it will take time but be persistent..and he will get it just fine..and if he does choke try not to panic i did that a couple of times and it doesnt make it easier..good luck!

Candice - posted on 08/17/2009

as for chunky foods (stage 3 foods with chunks)...my daughter hated them but eats finger foods fine now. so no, you don't have to eat chunky foods to learn to eat finger foods. she wasn't fond of any finger foods really until about 12 mos. i tried. only thing she ate in that group really was those baby rice cracker things. try bananas. nice and soft but require some chewing motion.

Lyndsay - posted on 08/17/2009

Chewing is a natural reflex but its one that has to be practiced. They are born with the ability but you have to start them off with smaller, softer foods and progressively work your way up to bigger chunks.

Jan - posted on 08/17/2009

You are not alone!! My son is just over 9 months and I am trying finger foods with him everyday- not in a pushy way by any means though! His twin sister has been on finger foods for about 3 weeks now, and I am hoping that my son will get the hang of it. But...there have been many MANY times that he gags and chokes and throws up. Poor kid. But like Kelly mentioned, they need to get used to the different texture. He is slowly starting to get the hang of it...I have done cheerios and soft fruits with him. I would offer something that your daughter enjoyed as a puree and see how that goes. I'm not a fan of the stage 3 foods. We are going from stage 2 to table foods. Even my daughter didn't like the stage 3 foods and she seems to gobble up whatever! Good luck. It's a stage...she'll eventually learn and it isn't something to get stressed over.

Kelly - posted on 08/17/2009

Yes, my daughter who is going to be 10 months old in a few days, does the exact same thing. We just keep giving her the food, she needs to realize yes it's a different texture and solid but needs to go down. We're having this issue with the 3rd foods lasagna. We have also tried the gerber puffs but haven't had luck having those go down..she doesn't like how they start to dissolve and stick to her mouth since she is always pushing them out.

Stevie - posted on 08/17/2009

what kind of finger foods are you given him i would soften them up some or cut them into smaller peices i didnt have anything like your except that sometimes he will gagish or choke kinda nothing he couldnt figure out on his own does he not try to take them you might take him to the doctor and have them check out his throte it could be a little to small yet or something but if you give him cheerios i cut them in half and sometimes qarters lol but you can alway let them set in water or formula for a few min so its still hard but mushy at the same time and if all else false take him to the doc for a throte check good luck