8 month-old will only eat purees

marleyc

DD2 is 8.5 months old and she absolutely refuses to eat anything other than purees, and even then, it has to be something that is completely smooth in texture. She even refuses apple sauce, mashed banana, mashed avocado, and cottage cheese because they're too lumpy for her.  We've tried giving her finger foods, puffs, and yogurt melts but she's not interested at all, which I find interesting given that she puts everything else in her mouth.

At first, she had a gagging issue (she would gag so hard she would puke whenever anything other than a puree entered her mouth).  That problem has improved.  She still gags a little, but she won't throw up.  The bigger issue that I'm having is that she just won't even try anything that is even slightly lumpy.  She'll take a super tiny bite if we spoon feed her and then refuse to open her mouth again. I'm starting to get frustrated because I feel like she eats the same things all the time (mainly jars of pureed veggies and fruits).

We didn't go through this with DD1 -- she took to finger foods right away and wasn't on purees for long at all.  Anyone else going through this?  I'm guessing it will just take time, but I really don't want to set her up to have food issues when she's older. 

PaMommy02

Your LO just isn't ready yet, that's ok don't rush it! Baby food is good for now. My LO is almost 8 months and he only gets baby food and puffs, he just started doing well with puffs. I don't plan on givingtable food until way closer to him being 1.

They are only little once...why rush them to eat big kid food.

jw87

My baby is 6 months old and just barely will eat purees. 

marleyc

I'm not so concerned that she won't eat finger foods.  I get that she may not be ready for that yet, but at almost 9 months, I feel like she should be ready for spoon-fed foods that have a little more texture (e.g., apple sauce, mashed banana, mashed avocado, etc.).  Maybe I'm wrong about that, though. 

henrytviii

I agree with everyone that she probably just needs more time but I'd talk to your Pedi about it at your 9 month appointment.  If it continues to closer to a year it could lead to food/texture aversions that might need occupational therapy.  Not suggesting that's the case at all, jus that it worth trying to address now.  Could you just put some textured foods on her tray at a non-meal time when she's not too hungry and let her play around a bit but not worry if she actually eats them, that might help her get used to it and then be open to the thicker purees.