Mealtime is a nightmare

midgetothemax

So my DD refuses to eat any purees-anything from a spoon. She shoves away the spoon and is only interested in small amounts of self fed finger food. Honestly I feel terrible. 3x a day we go through this routine. The only way I get food into her from a spoon is by giving her a spoon and sneaking my spoonful in. She is extremely strong willed. I have resorted to dumping food on her tray (creating a huge mess) or trying to get maybe 10 dips of food on my finger into her mouth. It has been like this from 6 months.

I am lucky to get 5 sips of water in at a meal and a few sips here and there from a cup. She refuses sippy cups and just wants to breastfeed on demand.  The doctor says she is fine. She weighs 23.2 lbs and is so tall they can't even put her on a growth chart. She wears size 18 month sleepers.  So realistically I know she must be getting enough, but it is really frustrating that this kid won't eat a meal.

It is taking all of my energy to do this battle 3x  a day. I have tried taking a few days off from meals, only rice cereal mixing food with her cereal. I am about to give up soon. Any suggestions?

 

 

psychgirl33

Have you considered BLW?  Just going straight to table food?  One of the other March Moms was planning on doing purees and had to go to BLW for this exact reason.

cvick612

We went straight to table food. Claire hates purees and loves to eat with her hands. She is so independent its easier to feed her that way than to fight her with it.

MariJ1008

DS was doing really well with purees for awhile and all of sudden (about two weeks) he will only eat about 5 spoonfuls and that is a fight. He slaps the spoon away. I have been giving him more table food so he can feed himself and it's working out great. I've given him shredded cheese, small pieces of chicken, turkey, pasta, scrambled eggs, cheerios. I try to give him little bits of what we are eating.

But he is also refusing to take sippy cup and barely drinks water, that has been a struggle. 

midgetothemax

Thank you for the advice and support.  It has honestly been a battle of the wills.  I am just going to stop the purees and just give her finger food!

slyrose123

YUUP same here!! I could have written this myself. We are starting to just do table foods because he wants to feed himself. I have mixed a LITTLE sour cream in with his puree and he will eat it that way lol. But that still is just a few spoons full.

midgetothemax

slyrose123:

YUUP same here!! I could have written this myself. We are starting to just do table foods because he wants to feed himself. I have mixed a LITTLE sour cream in with his puree and he will eat it that way lol. But that still is just a few spoons full.

My DD loves sour cream. I'm happy to know I am not the only one struggling.

 

slyrose123

midgetothemax:

slyrose123:

YUUP same here!! I could have written this myself. We are starting to just do table foods because he wants to feed himself. I have mixed a LITTLE sour cream in with his puree and he will eat it that way lol. But that still is just a few spoons full.

My DD loves sour cream. I'm happy to know I am not the only one struggling.

 

Lol YES! Mine does too. Put a little on anything and they will eat it ha! He would eat it plain if he had it his way lol 

kaleb87

psychgirl33:

Have you considered BLW?nbsp; Just going straight to table food?nbsp; One of the other March Moms was planning on doing purees and had to go to BLW for this exact reason.

BLW? Don't know what that is??

My DD started out good on pureed but acts like she is bored with them. I introduced shredded turkey and thinly sliced green beans, and it didn't go so well. Moms that are feeding table food, what are you feeding? I feel so unprepared for this next step. I have no idea what to give her. I saw the post about hard boiled eggs, pasta, and cherios. All those are great suggestions! Uuuggghh, so not ready...

Divallyn

BLW is baby led weaning .... Is basically giving your baby modified version of table food from the get go. You can google it for more info.

 

I think it's natural at this age for babies to want to feed themselves. My kid will not take anything in pur?e form. Loves feeding himself what were eating. It is messy but hey, it gets them feed. I am also having skippy cup resistance but I hope that will resolve itself in time.

 

kaleb87

Divallyn:

BLW is baby led weaning .... Is basically giving your baby modified version of table food from the get go. You can google it for more info.nbsp;I think it's natural at this age for babies to want to feed themselves. My kid will not take anything in pure form. Loves feeding himself what were eating. It is messy but hey, it gets them feed. I am also having skippy cup resistance but I hope that will resolve itself in time.nbsp;

Thank you!

joyfullyfound

That sounds totally normal to me. They're at the age where they're asserting their independence, and it's very common for babies around this age to prefer to feed themselves. DD only eats from a spoon now if it's something she really, really loves. Otherwise she eats whatever we're eating with her fingers. It's messy, but she eats a lot and is happy. It's totally possible to have a nutritious, well rounded meals through only finger foods. DD loved eggs, toast, eggs ON toast, grilled cheese, tuna melts, bagels with cream cheese, all fruit, all veggies when they're roasted or steamed or grated, all meat..... the list goes on. I just cut it up into smaller pieces. I just DH and my meals so that they'll be something DD with enjoy too. It's actually a lot easier than when I had to puree everything. 

Wanting more control over their eating, and more texture in their food, is a normal part of development. I've found that DD really enjoys when she's offered a variety of finger foods at one time (eg. this morning's breakfast was banana, home made granola bar, and kiwi, and cut up and placed on her high chair for her to choose between).  

joyfullyfound

Oh, and google, "Baby finger foods" - there's some great ideas out there! 

AND DD doesn't like sippy cups either, but will drink out of a normal cup. I just hold it for her, but she does fine.  

acaudill75

Have you tried the pouches??? I use those for DD1 because they are easy and she just sucks them right down as a quick snack. They have spoons you can screw on, and I tried that with DD2, and she just cried because I wasn't feeding her fast enough, and would slap the spoon away. Then, one day, out of frustration, I stuck the pouch in her mouth in stead of the spoon, and she just sucked away at it. Now, she holds the pouch herself. I have to be careful when it is full, because she has squirted it all over the place before, but usually it goes straight in her mouth, and she doesn't let go until she's done. Still try finger foods. I limit what she eats that isn't pureed because she has no teeth yet, but anything she can mash or will melt quickly, I will let her self feed. So much easier for me anyway. If you are worried about organic or anything like that, they make plenty. They are expensive after a while, but who knows, maybe someone will go on shark tank and make a reusable pouch. Just give me a finder's fee on the idea!

acaudill75

Also, glad to hear someone else's little girl is a biggun! 24 lbs and 30 inches long before she turned nine months!!!

midgetothemax

acaudill75:

Also, glad to hear someone else's little girl is a biggun! 24 lbs and 30 inches long before she turned nine months!!!

Yep! That's my DD. She is seriously as tall and big as most 18 month olds. Every time someone asks me how old she is and  I tell them she is 9 months, it's the same reply "she's really big". I always reply "I'm so happy she is such a healthy girl!"  I think her size is one of the reasons I was able to lose all of my pregnancy weight plus 20lbs. It's a constant workout carrying her around! 

Also to the PP, I do use the pouches too! She will suck all the food out if I give it to her.