BellaOnline Forums Family Attachment Parenting No baby food for me

I have a going on 21 month old little boy. I am having issues with his eating. I do give him oatmeal, cereal dry and things like pita and things I eat, but he refuses now to eat any baby food now. He wants to eat and hes hungry but he will scream and I have to force him to eat it. I am out of ideas and its interfereing now with my relationship what do I do?

He should be old enough for soft foods like cooked green beans & carrots, eggs, vienna sausages, most soups, pasta, cheeses--depending on how many teeth he has, just about anything. He's almost 2 and they want to be independent so many things you can put on his high chair tray --the green beans, dry cheerios, hot dogs sliced into discs, etc. and let him feed himself.

You might want to ask your doctor.

Good Luck!

You don't really need baby food. Get a can of carrots (no salt preferred). They have a nice texture and are healthy. Peas work well too.

Ditto what the PPs said about baby food. I would try him on foods with more texture, or that he can self-feed.

Is he still breastfed? If so, he's still getting lots of nutrition, that's a help. I wouldn't try to force the issue, but it may be a good idea to check out any other possible causes, like teeth/mouth problems or reflux/ food allergies.

Toddlers are notoriously picky though, and can go several days where is seems they've barely eaten, then just the opposite. Just keep offering healthy choices and let him eat at will. Dr. Sears has a great tip for making a toddler 'snack tray' by filling an ice cube tray with a variety of age appropriate finger foods (cheese, quartered grapes, cooked veggies, etc. and keeping it avail. through the day.

HTH!

I have a 23 month old (his birthday is on Friday) and he practically lives on yogurt! I still nurse him, although I do not think he is getting much of any food, just comforting, I think. But it is always yogurt, yogurt and more yogurt. I think that is because it is so easy for him to eat. I think you can try some cream of wheat, yogurt, spagetti mashed up, mashed potatoes, things like that. With bread and other hard things, it takes them so long to chew that they only eat a little bit because they soon get tired of chewing.

Yeah, what they said! He's almost 2, plenty old enough to eat table food.

FWIW i have 5 kids and only did babyfood with the first one. The others didnt get any food until they were old enough for table food, mooshed as needed. This was anywhere from 6mos - 15 months or so.

meg

My little one is 19 months and has been on table food since 1 year...He's just ready to EAT!

I never bothered with baby food at all. There are so many things a kid can manage even without teeth by a year or so. Just give him whatever you're eating, minus anything that might be a choking hazard or allergy concern. Start with very small quantities (a serving size for a one year old is 1 tbsp), chop it into small bits or mush it to discourage the tendency to put a large piece all at once into his mouth. Let him have a spoon and start learning to get the hang of it (with no expectation just yet that it won't end up on the floor in short order).

Maybe my little one is just fiercely independent, but she refused to eat baby food when she was around 8 months old, so she has been eating table food since then. I just cut things up really really small, or ran them through the food processor. She picks her food up, one piece at a time with her fingers. (it's really cute actually). As she gets older the pieces have gotten a little bigger. We are just now starting to get her to use the spoon.

It's nice, she's 11 months old today, and we can take her to a restaurant or dinner after Easter Services, and just make her up a plate from whatever we are having.

She loves and has loved from day one, broccoli, and just about every vegetable there is, even beets . We are still staying away from milk, but have started her on small pieces of shredded cheese and yogurt and she seems to be doing fine.

Just start your little one with some choices and see what he likes. One of my favorite things is to give her a variety to choose from and watch her actually choose what she wants. Then she might pick up her sippy cup for a drink. It's amazing at 11 months, she is really this little person with her own desires and able to choose what she wants.

Just have fun with it!

Jackie Lee

Might it not be a better idea to cut the hot dog in quarters lengthwise and then chop the resulting pieces up into manageable baby-bite sized bits instead of leaving them round?