advice on weaning...

[msb700]

hello ladies!!

i need some help in the food category with my little one...hes been on solids for the past 5.5 months and hes been doing great and eats a variety of veggies, fruit and protien....but i have a problem...he doesnt like food unless its completely pureed...if it has any lumps or texture to it, he refuses to eat and forces himself to throw up

we are travelling in a months time and i am really worried about how diff it would be to feed him when we''re out...i can always order soups and all that which he''ll be fine with, but is there a strategy or a way to get him used to eating solids with more texture in them??? ive tried combining his lunch that has a bit of texture with his pureed veggies so that it still is soft and moist, but nope..he detects the texture in the food and refuses to take another bite

((

 

[D2B]

MSB700, how old is your little one ? and how long are you going away for?

D2B

 

[msb700]

Hi D2B...my son is almost 1 year old (he turns 1 on the 10th of Apr) and ill be gone for 1 week...

even leaving aside the travel, i want to introduce him to some textured food...a friend of mine said her daughter wouldn''t eat anything with texture till about 1.5 years....

 

[LitigatorChick]

I was freaked out about this too. The books will scare you (he will eat purees forever!!!). Whatever. He will be fine. I just noticed the other day that my little guy eats mainly our food, and I can''t remember when that happened. I think if you relax about it, offer some more texture along with the puree, he will be fine. What about some little finger foods, like cut up bananas, or cheerios, or mum-mum crackers? That might get him used to different things, but be interesting.

As to what to eat while you are out, I would take along my own food. You can buy individual packs of cereal, which are really good too. For example, buy an avocado at the store, cut it up at the restaurant, a little mash, and you are good to go, right? Or yogurt is easy and portable.

 

[msb700]

Date: 3/27/2008 8:52:13 AM
Author: LitigatorChick
I was freaked out about this too. The books will scare you (he will eat purees forever!!!). Whatever. He will be fine. I just noticed the other day that my little guy eats mainly our food, and I can''t remember when that happened. I think if you relax about it, offer some more texture along with the puree, he will be fine. What about some little finger foods, like cut up bananas, or cheerios, or mum-mum crackers? That might get him used to different things, but be interesting.

As to what to eat while you are out, I would take along my own food. You can buy individual packs of cereal, which are really good too. For example, buy an avocado at the store, cut it up at the restaurant, a little mash, and you are good to go, right? Or yogurt is easy and portable.

LC: Thanks for the suggestions...i was planning on taking some cereal packets and yogurts as well (he looooooves yogurt...)..plus the good thing is, we booked a serviced apartment with a fully functional kitchen..so ill just cook some of his fave foods and use those as well on our outings..

question re: Cheerios...i hear a lot that it can be given as finger food, but the thought of me giving him cheerios just freaks me out!! i think it is SO easy for them to choke on it since its so tiny...am i just imagining this as a choking hazard???

...i also tried to give him finger biscuits and stuff like that..he munches on them, but as they melt and then break off, he sort of makes these gagging noises which freaks me out (i keep thinking hes chocking)..im sure hes just surprised as hes not used to this ''sensation'', but im such a scary cat!!

 

[LitigatorChick]

Cheerios pretty much melt in their mouth. I think they are too small to choke on, and they have the "hole"!

Maybe he is a bit anxious and scared because you get a bit anxious when he is munching on crackers and hear him coughing. I know it is scary, but maybe if you try to keep it very cool, he will not be as freaked out.

If you have a kitchen in your hotel, you will be set!!! So many things you can mash up. Do you have a little hand blender you can take along?

 

[msb700]

yeah..maybe it just shows on my face how worried i am (imagine me staring intently at him while he eats to make sure he is okay! ha ha ha).....

yeah, ill be taking a hand blender with me, so i should be okay..i was just hoping that i can have him eat a different variety of foods as well when we''re out..then again, maybe its best to stick to wat he knows best (rather than him having an allergy or something due to something new when we''re travelling!!)

(i gave him a tiny tiny piece of scrambeled eggs the other day and he got a massive reaction to it

his face became all puffy with red blotches and his eyes puffed up and turned all red

...it was the scariest thing i have ever had to go thru!!! luckily he didnt need any shots and was only given anti-hestamine medication....sigh...so now im worried that he mite have a reaction to anything ''cooked'' with eggs too..such as pasta or cake

and his bday is just a few weeks away and i wanted him to have some cake

)

 

[Girlrocks]

My twins who are 8 now also had allergic reaction to scrambled egg the first time, they were about 11 months old also. But now that is one of their favorite foods. Weird! Strawberries were the same way, and they eat those daily now.

My 3rd child who will be 4 in June also has a texture thing. She couldn''t even eat Cheerios until she was well over 1 yr old, she would gag on everything and anything! Just keep with the pureed baby food, it gives them all of the nutrients that they need, and personally I think it''s easier to travel with, just throw a couple of jars in your bag and go. To this day though, she is still a "puker"...she gets a cold, she pukes...she gets a hair in her mouth, she pukes...she gets car sick easily, that''s just something we have to deal with her. She does have severe food allergies also. My pediatrician told us some kids just have a stronger gag reflex than others, and they will eventually grow out of it as their nervous system keeps developing.

 

[D2B]

Hi
At that age I would take along bananas, avacados, ripe peaches etc and mash them up, you can mix in a bit of water or milk if it is not smooth enough. Yoghurt is fantastic as well. Soups (tomato, puree vegetables etc) are a great thing to order. Hmmmm, what else, mashed potatoes when you are out, and if you have a kitchen in the apartment, then I would ensure a good meal your little one likes as you would make at home. I am sure for one week all will be fine. In the meantime, I would try to introduce slightly lumpier versions of foods currently eaten - good luck.

D2B

 

[somethingshiny]

My little guy did the same thing. I tried just fork mashing vegetables and adding them to the puree but they way he hollared, you''d think he was being maimed! What worked for us was frozen veggies. It was like the gateway food. He loved to hold the frozen veggies and he was teething, so he would start rubbing them on his gums. Eventually, he started eating them. He''s still a very picky eater at 2 yrs old (but DH is too so I may just have to deal with it), but gave up the pureed food within 2-3 weeks of the frozen veggie initiation.

Good luck to you!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

One of my cousins did this, too. I had no idea it was so common. She''s a totally normal eater now (at age 5). I guess maybe it''s a stage or just a matter of liking not having to work to get the food down.