1 year old struggling with finger foods

[maggie2]

My ds will soon be one year and I'm concerned because he still has not been able to "master" finger foods.  The only thing he will happily eat is Cheerios.  and even then, if I give him more than 4 at a time he shoves too many in his mouth, gags and then projectile vomits everywhere.  It's getting more ane more difficult to feed him these days as he wiggles and grunts in his chair when I try to spoon feed him.  His weight seems fine, but that may be because he is drinking a ton of formula still - about 30 oz a day. 

Also, he still hasn't been able to master a cup.  I try several times a day (for the past few months) and he still doesn't get it.  He will occassionally take one or two sips though.

He did have reflux, but I thought he out grew it.  He also gags and sputters even with his bottle (at least once every bottle).

Is this normal?  I'll bring it up to his doc at his one year appt. but just thought I would check here as well.  I'm sure some of this is the result of me being overly cautious with the finger foods (I'm a first time mom and am terrified that he will choke).

[Lola]

Also, he still hasn't been able to master a cup.  I try several times a day (for the past few months) and he still doesn't get it.  He will occassionally take one or two sips though.

Have you tried a straw sippy? I used a normal sippy for 3 months with dd and she found it hard to tip it back far enough to get it out of the spout. I subsequently bought a straw sippy and she had it down pat wihtin one day!!
My lo doesn't have reflux so i don't know how to help you in that regard.
is he growing well?
try softer foods ie avocado (she loves that) cheese in little pieces, soft cooked pasta or veggies.
Also, (I'm a first time mom too) and a good rule of thumb is pieces to be no larger than their thumbnail
HTH

[maggie2]

thanks Lola!
I'm going to give the straw sippy a try - I'll go get one today!!!  Marshall also has trouble tilting the cup back, so maybe this is just what he needs!

[Lola]

Maggie-another tip about the straw sippy..
fill the straw with liquid ie suck some up and plug the end with your finger. put the other end in your lo's mouth and let him start to suck (its instinctive right?) then let go..do that a couple of times so that he figures out that when you stick the straw in his mouth, he can suck and have some water!!
Good luck..let me know how you fare!!
Laura

[tylersmommy]

To this day, I can't put too many pieces of food in front of Tyler or he'll shove them all in his mouth...and he's 2.5! Toddlers go through all kinds of food preference phases, so if you keep offering finger foods, he'll get the hang of it. You might consider cutting back on his formula intake too. Around 1 yr of age, a big drop in appetite is normal, and he should start getting most of his nutrition from food, rather than formula. Drinking that much formula will probably curb his solids appetite, which can't be helping.

It's pretty normal for some kiddos not to be big sippy cup drinkers until the bottle is completely gone. Tyler was that way...he'd just take dainty little sips. Once the bottles were totally gone, he went about a week where he still didn't drink much, then he suddenly "got it."