PLEASE HELP! 10 month has no interest in finger foods or foods with ANY texture

[LauraLB]

I'm a bit frustrated as I have been trying and trying the past almost 2 months to introduce more lumpy solids and finger foods into my babies diet.  She has zero interest in them. All the finger foods get thrown off the side and I try to spoon feed her purees with texture but she will take one spoonful, promptly gag, and not have any interest in any more. I have read that adding wheat germ or graham crumbs to purees a bit at a time would help. Should I maybe take her to the doctor? Is her gag reflex still too strong? She was having pooping problems. Being constipated and such at the start.  She still is having problems with that. My doctor says it's totally normal but i' m worried

[creations]

Hi there

What sorts of finger food are you trying?
Are you sitting her down at the dinner table with you and the family for meals?  Most things LOs learn from copying so it can be really helpful to sit together, eat together, and eat the same things. Let her see you have the same and that you are enjoying it. Talk to her about what the food is, what it is called, which part you eat which part (if any) you don't eat (such as melon skin), maybe make some "mmm" noses when you eat a piece and comment on how tasty it is, and let her explore the food without any pressure to eat any.

I've come across LO's who do not like textured or lumpy purées, they will eat purée or solid food but don't like the combined textures. Maybe just go for the "real" food in big chunks or wedges rather than trying to gradually add lumps to smooth foods?  Even LOs who eat lots of solids can have preferences to the textures of food, mine ate *lots* of food but refused puree, soup or most sloppy things, refused mash (still will not eat mashed potato now and he is 7yo, he eats it at school because he feels the pressure from peers and teachers but not at home because he hates it) and didn't like anything with a gritty texture such as minced meat, cous cous, rice, the flower heads off broccoli (would eat the smooth stem). Maybe if you list the things you have tried and think about the textures you may be able to work out what is more successful and what is less so.

So long as she is taking milk and if she is trying some solids here and there, even if only a little, and continuing to gain weight then things are likely fine. She may just be a bit slower on the solids uptake but it will come.

In terms of poo - it does change when they start solids. It can look like very hard work when a LO poos as they use their entire body to push and can look extremely red in the face, but this is normal.  If it looks like a strain but the poos are "normal" (soft enough) and regular then everything is okay. If there is constipation though (hard poos, possible watery diarrhoea seeping around hard poos) or causing crying/pain or infrequent then I'd see a doc. You might need some meds for a short while to get things moving again.

[LauraLB]

I've tried bananas, strawberries cut real small, cereal puffs, and arrowroot and rice crackers. I usually try and sit her down with the rest of us, but sometimes her EASY doesn't always match up when we eat. I even offer her stuff off my plate but it usually gets thrown off the side.

She never usually strains, but she'll have small soft poops every time I change her. The doctor tells me this is normal.

Last night she sat with us for supper and she had a few tiny bites of finger foods but not much.

I'm just a tad worried because she used to eat a lot every time I sat her down but the past couple of days she hasn't had much of an appetite.  Last night she ate hardly anything at supper (even stuff she loves) and I was sure she was going to wake up and want to be fed in the night but she didn't.  I just want to make sure she's getting enough nutrition. 

I breast feed her in the morning, after her first nap, and at bed time. At supper she sits with us to eat solids. I'm trying to slowly ween her off being breast fed as I have to go back to work in two months and she wouldn't take a bottle no matter what.  (My first daughter was the same but I didn't seem to have any problems with her).

I'm hoping this is just a phase for now ,( teething maybe?) And I was trying to get her onto more solid foods for when she went to the sitters on 2 months. Like I said, she used to eat so good the purees until a day or two ago.

She's usually a very happy baby with the exception of the past few days. I put her in the high chair to eat and she instantly starts fussing.  I've even tried setting her on my lap to eat and that's been mildly successful. 

[creations]

Perhaps you are trying to give her things which are too small?  Los p=like big chunks they can grab intheir fist, the pincer grasp takes longer to master and can be a huge frustration if LO wants to get food into their mouth but can't pick it up or direct it properly, and once in the mouth a small piece is harder to control and manipulate with the tongue - bug chunks are easy to keep hold of a suck or gum at and if a larger piece comes off they can thrust it out with their tongue if they are not happy with it.

Are those things you listed the only things you have offered in terms of finger foods?
I would give a much wider variety, mostly based on what you eat yourself.  As I don't know what you eat it's hard to recommend particular foods but for example: some sort of carbs such as pasta, noodles, bread (toast fingers, pitta, naan, chapati) or pancakes, crumpets; proteins such as fingers of cheese, a chunk of fish, chunk of meat, lentil patties, falafel; veggies such as wedges or fingers of steamed veg or baked in the oven; cooked fruits such as wedges of baked apple or pear.

To be honest I started eating more often when my DS was learning to eat so that he could see I was having the same thing at the same time. I didn't always want it but I just ate a small portion.  I often stored an extra portion of veg in the fridge for a snack or meal the next day for him too.

There is quite a difference between a 10 month old and a 1yo in terms of foods so things could change quite a lot before you go back to work.

Teething can have a big impact on appetite, you could try giving pain meds 20 min before a meal and see if it helps.  My DS liked very hard foods such as bread sticks during teething as it offered some relief on the gums to bite hard things.  It's quite common for LOs to not be so hungry for a few days and then to eat more, try not to be too worried about inconsistent appetite at this point.

Are you offering water alongside the food so she can have a drink too?

[LauraLB]

Yes I am offering water and she drinks a fair amount of it. I will try more varieties of finger foods.  We had lunch a while ago and I sat her down. We had muffins and soup. She didn't eat much of her own food but I fed her some soup off of my spoon and she ate a bit of it. I will keep trying.