Texture issues...

KerryHS

Has anyone's LO had trouble with textures?  My little guy has always been a good eater.  He isn't that big, but boy does he pack it away.  He is 9 months now and eats everything we give him (except bananas).  Anyway, since he has a mouthful of teeth we thought we would move him up to stage 3 foods that have more texture and more protein.  I started by cooking him some chicken in some chicken broth and a little soft pasta.  He hated is.  Choked, gagged and then threw up.  He has rejected everything with a texture.  He eats just about anything as long as it is mush. 

I am not freaking out about this, but wondering if anyone has gone through this or if you have any suggestions.  Thanks in advance.

robynlesley

Maybe he's just not ready yet? My son did start eating stage 3 purees (I only did jarred) at 9 months but it took a while for him to adjust. And it took a while for him to adjust to table foods. He's an OK eater now. Picky but not the worst eater.

I say start slowly and keep introducing the new textures. Just little bits. Eventually he'll figure it out.

stever

I agree with Robyn about taking it slowly. And since your LO has teeth maybe try different kinds of textures rather than just mushy pastas etc. DS like shredded chicken before he liked little bites of chicken.

gimmietimmies

You might have a heart attack at our house. I've never really used much jarred baby food. I try out different textures, working from small to large texture sizes. So say I was feeding S chicken, I'd give her thin bits about the size of my pinky. Pasta I do slightly bigger (fully cooked). I worked her up to slightly bigger pieces as she gained more control of her tongue and gag reflex. My dad freaks at watching her eat.

I was taught by L's OT when he was relearning to eat at age 2 that babies need to learn how to use their tongue the same as learning to use their legs to walk, and it takes practice. He may not have an aversion so much as the feeling is foreign and it will take some learning to manipulate and chew. If he's averse to the texture, be prepared to have the food spit sprayed at you. My 12yo neice still does this with ground beef (yuck!).

ETA: Expect gagging for a while longer. And maybe seperate out his foods, like instead of the stew or stuff mixed together, meat, veg, potatoes, etc, all seperate. That does work better for us because S is only dealing with one texture at a time and isn't getting surprised every bite.

vanverth

M will eat anything as long as it is not mushy.  He refuses to eat fruit because for the most part fruit is mushy.  But he loves and has loved for 5 or 6 months, crunchy things.