am totally baffled

[twogirlsmommy]

Hi I'm hoping someone here can help.  My DD is 7 and 1/2 months old.  We started food (cereal) at 4 months and have proceeded from there.  At first we were giving her jar food and now that she is handling it pretty well I have taken to just mashing or pureeing fruits and vegetables at home.  The problem is she won't eat them.  I swear they are the same exact thing in the baby food jar and she will not eat them.  She gags and screams and turns the meal into a really horrible time until I give her a jar of a vegetable instead.  I am really upset (near tears) because I don't want this to be a sign that she is going to be a picky eater.  Anyone have any advice?

[Giorgina]

Have you tried storing your food in babyjars?  Do you think the association is that jarred food tastes better?

[deb]

Have you ever tasted the jarred stuff and then the fresh? There is a HUGE difference, especially to new taste buds that don't have much reference point. After fresh, mine weren't fond of jarred - they would eat it, but they weren't happy about it.

Maybe you can try combining some fresh and some jarred and gradually increase the amount of your food till that's all there is to accustom her to it more gradually? Oh, can you mix it with cereal, perhaps? Also, the jarred food is generally pureed even more than most homemade food; give it a lot of extra time when you puree the food at home; mashing might actually not be enough. Add to that the nice artificial flavor of the jarred stuff and you should be home free.

[First Time Mom]

Great idea, Deb, about mixing the two until lo gets used to it and then gradually switch over. I would guess that it's the texture that she is not used to more than the taste difference. How long has she been refusing the homemade stuff and how many different foods has it been that she is refusing? Have you ruled out teething? Is it a case where you offer her homemade, she refuses, you then offer the jar of food, and she accepts it?

[twogirlsmommy]

She has only been rejecting home made for about 2 days....but its odd because she only ever rejected one food and that one she refused to open her mouth for after tasting it so we assumed she didn't like it.  We haven't ruled out teething b/c as I am posting this I am noticing a little bit of a runny nose and really the only time she's been yelling is during eating solids and mostly when I intro the home made food.  Yes she excepts the jar food and actually calms down enough to eat a full jar.  I will try mixing the home made with the jar and see what happens.  My gut told me when we started solid food to go with the home made but its not popular to do her where I live and so I went with jar and now I have created a bigger mess   Thanks for the advice will try and see what happens

[First Time Mom]

Maybe she's starting a cold and her appetite is off? 2 days is not that long for a lo to be fussy for.

Most los should be able to switch between jar and homemade food as not all foods are available in jars. I could understand a lo having a preference of a specific food (ie. homemade pasta vs pasta in a jar) but should take a combination of foods. When you say homemade what is the texture like? Are you offering pureed foods, or regular foods (ie. pasta). What happens when you take fresh foods like fruit, and puree them?

Keep us posted!

[twogirlsmommy]

My dh is going to try mixing the home made pureed carrots with some jarred to see what will happen.  I have introduced all foods as pureed jars and am just starting to introduce fresh things.  She is not found of bananas chunked up but she will eat them she just won't pick them up herself. I agree that there really shouldn't be a refusal she hasn't ever refused anything this is a first for her.  I'm hoping that maybe the progressive mixing in will work but that then means I have to start all over with food intro

[First Time Mom]

So it's the textures she is refusing? She is a good age to introduce the textures too. Some los don't like lumpy texture food but will take whole finger foods so you will have to experiment.

[twogirlsmommy]

Thanks for all the advice! DD is now sick with a cold so I will be holding off on the food fight till she feels better

[deb]

The good news is that if you can avoid most of the food she's used to for a couple days, she might not remember it. Babies are a lot more sensitive to variations in flavor and texture than most people, I think, so it never hurts to have a back-up plan or to be prepared to work them up to something slowly.

Hope she's feeling better ASAP!

[twogirlsmommy]

I know this isn't the correct foram for it but I just have to share.  We have our first TOOTH!  I am so excited for her.  Of course this now explains the stuffiness along with the cold.  I'm a new mommy so I'm just really excited for her

[First Time Mom]

Oh congratulations!! Take lots of pics! I love that gummy one tooth look . It probably explains in part why the fuss over foods.

[twogirlsmommy]

ok we made it thru our first tooth and a cold and am on are way back to normal life.  I have started to steam foods like carrots and squash and just give her the pieces to chew on.  She is having none of it.  However if I give her half a banana she will hold it and eat about half of that and if I cut up grapes she will eat some of those but I feel like its not enough food for her.  She will eat cherios and the dissolvable puffs from gerber no problem.  She also has no problem eating the jarred food.  I don't know if I am being paranoid about eating or if my feelings are justified.  We go see the dr. in about a week and I think we are then supposed to introduce dairy and meat.  I just don't know what to do.

[First Time Mom]

Hey I just noticed that my post didn't go through from earlier today, odd, maybe my computer.

Anyways, how soft or firm did you steam the carrots? Try playing around with that, ie. my dd will not eat steamed veggies that are too soft- she always protested them even as a baby, she will only eat them firm. Keep trying an assortment of veggies and fruits, and always retry the ones that she turns her nose up to as it takes up to 15 tries for a lo to really determine if they like a food or not. Another good little finger food is cooked pasta or small finger sized pieces of toast, maybe even try a hummus dip or some type of healthy dip, on the toast. My dd even liked picking up cooked pieces of beans like navy beans, as a finger food.