No chewing for me!

[PaulsMom]

Hi,

My LO turned 1 year at the beginning of the month and so far is still eating purees despite being offered finger foods pretty much at each meal from 9 months onwards.  The one exception to this is bread.  DS will consistently eat bread or cereal type foods (eg. Gerber puffs, baby mum mums, cheerios, baby cookies, toast) and has done so since around 6.5 months.  I've tried to give him a variety of fruits (ripe peaches, pears, plums, cherries (cut into small bits), melon, strawberries, raspberries, etc), french toast, bits of chicken, baked sweet potato, steamed veg (carrots, zucchini).  On the rare occasion he has eaten watermelon (if the rind is still on), strawberries, cheese and french toast. 

Unfortunately, he's getting his molars so literally it's like we are back at square one with the soft finger foods.  All he does now is mash and squish the food before dumping it over the side of his highchair. I usually eat a piece of what ever I've given him and say "mmmm, I love....."  I show him that I'm chewing the food by exaggerating the chewing.  He looks at me like I'm crazy and continues to play with this food but not actually eat any of it.  If I'm lucky, he will taste the food, then make a face (confirming that I'm crazy) and being mashing it.  If I'm really lucky (on the rare occasion), he will take a bite and if it is too big for him he will spit it out rather than chew it. 

In terms of his routine, he has just been weaned off the breast and is drinking 4-6 oz of cows milk in a sippy 4 times per day.  He's eating 3 meals plus 3 snacks.  He's getting his milk at breakfast, both daytime snacks and before bed.  At least one day time snack will have only finger foods in addition to the milk.  Overall, he eats his purees just fine but he's not really transitioning well to eating big people food.

I need to teach this LO how to chew but I'm not sure how else to do this.  Any suggestions?

TIA!

[KathrynK]

I think one problem could be that he's not that hungry- he appears to be having too many snacks & milk feeds so he's just grazing all day long.
At this age most lo's have dropped the daytime milk feeds and replaced them with one or maybe two snacks instead. Too much milk means he's not hungry enough for food.

My ds Alex is almost 1 and his routine looks like this:

7am-ish milk 6oz
8am breakfast- 1 weetabix with cows milk
11.30am lunch- eg sandwiches, fruit, cold meat cuts, omelette, cheese on toast etc
2.30pm snack- eg piece of cheese, 2 rice cakes, fruit etc
5pm dinner- a "meal" with meat, veg and pasta, potatoes, rice, etc followed by yoghurt
7pm bottle 8oz and bed

I would start by cutting back on his milk and snacks and see if that helps
hth

[PaulsMom]

Hi Kathryn,

thanks for the tips.  I guess I was trying to ensure that he was getting enough milk throughout the day and that his milk feeds were not occurring when he was eating iron rich foods as the calcium inhibits the absorption of iron.  Also, I was trying to keep his sippy milk feeds at the same time has he would have been breastfed as he was just weaned (last milk feed was last Friday).  I guess this part can be modified.  Actually he sometimes refuses the before bedtime milk if he's too tired so perhaps he's doing this on his own.

I was thinking that I should cut back on the purees and offer more of the finger foods.  I've done this with one snack but perhaps I should do this with another meal.  The other twist to this is that he is just going to start day care so they will begin to feed him a snack in the morning and afternoon as well as his lunch.  Their menu consists of finger foods so I've asked them to try to feed from their menu first and then offer what I will bring in.  Hopefully he will get the hang of it when seeing other kids eating.

[KathrynK]

I think that will definitely help. Sophie has always been a good eater, and going to nursery is definitely a factor in that, and Alex has been going since he was 8mo and again eats really well.
I dropped Alex's remaining daytime bottle when he was about 10mo- really I shlud have dropped it sooner, he didn't really drink it at all at nursery, there was far too much going on for him to watch, he didn't want to sit still and drink! You might find this happens with your lo too.
keep us posted x

[~Alexa~]

I have the same problem!! Kath, what do you give Alex for dinner? You said meat+veggies, but how do you cook it? With some creamy Sauce or dry? I think that may be something creamier and less dry would help??? Even if it's not suitable for finger food?

[KathrynK]

For example:
Chicken, mashed potato, broccoli & peas
I make gravy (watered down nicely) and mash it into the gravy with some of the broccoli chopped up smallish, some of the chicken shredded quite small and some of the peas. Then I feed him that with a spoon, while also giving him chunks of chicken, broccoli and peas to feed himself. I have a baby plate which has sections, so I put the mash & stuff in one section and the finger bits in another section. (I hold on to the plate firmly as he is a flinger)

For example:
Salmon, pasta, broccoli
I make a cheese sauce, and mix it all together. I break the salmon up smallish and the broccoli into tiny florets (the trick is to cook it for longer than normal so it's quite soft), if I am using eg Fusilli pasta, I cut each twirl into 3 bits with scissors (don't laugh, it's easier than trying to use a knife) so it's a realistic size for him to chew. I also give him little chunks of salmon, pasta & broccoli without the sauce to feed himself, as before.

For example:
salmon, couscous, roasted vegetables (peppers, courgettes)
I make the couscous so it's not too dry, the roasted veg are nice and soft and mushy (drizzle in olive oil then bung in oven for 30 mins) so I mash that all together with some of the salmon, then I spoon that in whilst also giving him some bits of salmon to feed himself.

He will happily eat from the spoon but I like him to feed himself some bits too. He will feed himself a whole meal if I give him a "toddler" dinner such as sausage, potato waffles and sweetcorn/ peas.

He is definitely better at a younger age with finger food/ lumpier food than Sophie was, but I think that's largely due to him watching her and copying, and also me starting him earlier as I was braver and more chilled about it, due to him being my second, and I didn't want to have to keep cooking 2 different dinners for them.

hope this helps guys, let me know!
xxx

[~Alexa~]

Oh Kath! Those are great ideas! I think I was doing it the wrong way.  I only offer Patrick the chunks of chicken without any sauce, so may be it is too dry and he doesn't like it that way! Thanks for the tips.  Do you have any recommendations on a toddler food cookbook? I would really appreciate it b/c I don't know any good recipes! 
Thanks so much!!

[KathrynK]

I have always used good old Annabel Karmel

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Annabel-Karmels-Complete-Toddler-Planner/dp/0091924855/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251824937&sr=1-1

the recipes are divided into sections for stage 1 weaning, stage 2 weaning, 9-12 months and toddlers. But tbh you could use a recipe from any section, and then mash it more or less than she says depending on how Patrick copes with lumps etc. And make sure you pick some bits out to give as finger food at the same time

Also when I am cooking for dh & me I try to choose recipes that I can use for the kids as well, I hate cooking so would rather do it only once if possible 
I have been on a diet/ health kick since the start of the year so am cooking lots of lean meat/ fish/ pasta/ veg/ rice/ couscous etc and most of that kind of thing is suitable for the kids as no "rubbish" added. We try to make sure we all eat together for dinner at a weekend (we always eat after the kids are in bed in the week as the kids have all their meals at nursery and dh is late from work) so I am always on the hunt for recipes suitable for all of us. That salmon & couscous one is from the Youngs website
http://www.youngsseafood.co.uk/web/recipe_results.asp?rsid=3
it's so easy, I always have frozen salmon in.

hope this helps xxxx

[PaulsMom]

Kathryn,

thanks so much for the tips!  I've been using some "baby recipes" from Annabel Karmel's website but I guess I should move on to the next stage.... 

Paul's eating some of the day care's food which I'm happy about but he pretty cautious about new things at home.  Last night I gave him a few kidney beans to try.  He bit into one but mashed and threw the rest of them off his tray.  I also gave him a spoonful of Sheppard's pie.  The texture definitely threw him off but he didn't spit it out.  So perhaps things are moving (very) slowly in the right direction.   

[KathrynK]

If you know there are recipes he will eat, you could start by making them a bit more textured than usual. That way he can get used to the feel but still have a taste he is used to, kwim?

I can't say I blame him, about the kidney beans- yuck! 

Also re the Shepherd's pie- I think mince is a funny texture for babies to get used to; with Sophie I had to put it in a blender to chop it up really finely for ages, I think she was about 18mo before she'd eat it "properly".

That's good he's eating ok at daycare- Sophie will try new things there that she'd never eat at home, like spicy bean hotpot and curries (all very mild)
Alex will eat pretty much anything (although he's allergic to tomatoes which is a complete PITA)- this week alone he's eaten a hair band, a hair clip, a bead from a toy necklace,........  I am getting good at fishing things out of there.....  How do you get 3yo's to stop leaving stuff on the floor when you are not looking....? 

[PaulsMom]

Thank goodness I don't have 2 to watch.

I've been making large batches of stuff up in the blender so getting more texture is a bit hit or miss.  I'll have to start modifying things a bit so that I know he's getting more texture.  I guess I was originally thinking that he would just start eating finger foods that are soft since he started with dry cereal with no problems.

Oh, I know, kidney beans.  Really, what was I thinking?!?  My friend has fed these to her baby and he loves them so I though what the heck.  Normally I wouldn't eat them either!  But they do say to not let your own taste preferences influence what you feed your baby.

I will have to try little tiny bits of meat in a sauce or in pureed sweet potatoes.  He actually ate meat at the daycare but really snubs it at home.  Oh well, I'll keep on trying and maybe I'll find the magic combination that inspires him to eat.