12-13 month olds: eating habits

g8orell · July 2010

DD is such a horrible eater. Some day she'll eat everything, other days...nothing but formula (for days!). She always eats cheerios, puffs, vanilla cookies (earth's best), but that's really it. She still prefers pureed baby food over table food, but will occassionally eat diced peaches, macaroni & cheese, hamburger, pancakes, and a handful of other things. She still gets 4 8oz bottles of formula a day. I plan on starting to wean this week to cow's milk (she's been sick the past 2 weeks, so I didn't want to do it then).

Any advice for picky eaters? I'm afraid she's going to move into the 1 year old class next month in daycare, where they feed them more table foods, and she won't eat She's still in the infant room now, so the purees isn't a problem (yet!).

Breezer80 · July 2010

What about offering "squishier" things - I'm thinking stuff like mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie filling squished up, shepards pie ... that kind of stuff that can be gradually offered less and less "squishy" if she enjoys the flavor ...

g8orell · July 2010

I've tried mashed potoes and even baked potatos several times...sometimes she LOVES them, other times she gags on them! It's so crazy...I'll make a dinner she loved a few days ago, and then she won't want anything to do with it the second time around! She's driving me crazy!

Lesley0228 · July 2010

DD is about the same. I joke that she is lazy and prefers things that just slide down her throat, because you know, chewing is so hard. Seriously though, the pedi said that she probably has some texture issues and to just keep exposing her to different foods. She does okay with grain based finger foods, but pieces of fruits and veggies go in her mouth, get swoshed around for a while and then most come back out. Its like she can't swallow them. I usually start out with finger fruits and veggies for practice and follow up with purees to make sure she eats something. So for example, for breakfast I may give her blueberries and strawberry pieces- she may get a couple small pieces down but most are thrown or spit out- then I'll give her plain yogurt with the same berries pureed chunky into it and she'll eat that well. I figure that way she is getting practice, but still getting a decent meal. She really hates veggies though and it worries me that she's not getting proper nutrition. When I asked about this at her 12 mo appt, the pedi said- Its the parents job to expose our children to a variety of foods but we can't force them to eat it. I'm trying to incorporate this new laid back mantra, since I was getting pretty stressed out about her eating.

aniemerg · July 2010

I just keep offering different foods so he gets exposed to all kinds over and over again - I'm still going by the rule that they have to try foods quite a few times before they know if they like it. Some of DS's favorites: spaghetti, mac & cheese (oh so healthy blue-box kind), any kind of fruit, some veggies, grilled cheese... we have a hard time with meats for some reason. He does not like mashed potatoes at all, I have no idea why! We need to work on getting him to eat more balanced meals, but I just try and make sure I get him something from all of the food groups in his meals - protein, veggie, grain/starch, fruit.

g8orell · July 2010

Lesley0228:
DD is about the same. I joke that she is lazy and prefers things that just slide down her throat, because you know, chewing is so hard. Seriously though, the pedi said that she probably has some texture issues and to just keep exposing her to different foods. She does okay with grain based finger foods, but pieces of fruits and veggies go in her mouth, get swoshed around for a while and then most come back out. Its like she can't swallow them. I usually start out with finger fruits and veggies for practice and follow up with purees to make sure she eats something. So for example, for breakfast I may give her blueberries and strawberry pieces- she may get a couple small pieces down but most are thrown or spit out- then I'll give her plain yogurt with the same berries pureed chunky into it and she'll eat that well. I figure that way she is getting practice, but still getting a decent meal. She really hates veggies though and it worries me that she's not getting proper nutrition. When I asked about this at her 12 mo appt, the pedi said- Its the parents job to expose our children to a variety of foods but we can't force them to eat it. I'm trying to incorporate this new laid back mantra, since I was getting pretty stressed out about her eating.

Thanks! This exactly how DD is.. tonight I have her blueberries, strawberries, and grapes and she'd suck on tehm, then spit them all out. After, I gave her blueberry puree, mac & cheese, and some cheerios. I haven't really talked to my pedi yet b/c her appt last week was a sick visit, so she said we would talk all about her food issues at her actual 1 year appt that I hve set up for next week.

Lesley0228 · July 2010

g8orell:

Thanks! This exactly how DD is.. tonight I have her blueberries, strawberries, and grapes and she'd suck on tehm, then spit them all out. After, I gave her blueberry puree, mac & cheese, and some cheerios. I haven't really talked to my pedi yet b/c her appt last week was a sick visit, so she said we would talk all about her food issues at her actual 1 year appt that I hve set up for next week.

Our pedi wasn't worried at all that DD is still mostly on purees. I was worried that DD had some swallowing issues, but she assured me that it just takes more time for some kids to get used to foods. It took DD 3 mo to get used to eating cereals and purees, so I shouldn't be surprised that she is struggling with finger foods. All you can do is keep trying! DD is the same as yours though, where she loves something one day and the next day I give her the same food and she acts like I'm poisoning her! Sometimes its really hard not to get frustrated by it all, but I'm sure she'll pick up on it eventually.

*Caress* · July 2010

I would cut her back to at the most 20 oz of milk. I noticed everytime I give DD more milk she eats a lot less. DD loves any kind of soups, and I also noticed she eats a lot more when I help her feed herself with a spoon.

lighthousenight · July 2010

I set out food kind of like a salad bar. I have lots of bowls of food all cut up ready to eat and then we try a little of everything, she'll usually choose something. I try to offer a protein (grilled chicken, turkey), carbs (a bread, rice, pasta), vegetable, and fruit. Right now, she gets enough dairy from milk, so I don't offer that, otherwise I would probably offer bits of cheese or yogurt. If all else fails I'll offer snack foods like puffs or graham crackers.

Also, I started offering food first before formula so she was really hungry for it. It took about a week, but she asks for food first now before formula.

It's tricky business, GL!

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12-13 month olds: eating habits

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