12 month old still on puréed food

[R184]

My 12 month old has little interest in food unless it’s blended and fed to her. She is my second and my first wasn’t like this at all.
For example, we had a roast dinner yesterday, I put it on a plate for her and she’ll push it around and throw it on the floor. Once we’ve finished eating we will blend up what’s left of hers and spoon feed it to her and she’ll eat it. This goes for 90% of meals. Breakfast is porridge which I feed her anyway and lunch is usually not a lot for her as she will not(!!) eat a sandwich, she either goes without (she isn’t bothered) or il give her a pouch/leftover puréed food.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to increase her interest? She is still breastfed and feeds approximately 4 ish times a day and nothing during the night.
Thanks

[InDubiousBattle]

How does she react to lumper (but still not ordinary solid)food, so mushed up with a fork rather than blended? What about things like banana that are naturally soft? When does she bf? Three (ish? )times a day could be quite a lot of milk so I might be tempted to cut some feeds out/down.

[OllietheOwl]

My son was quite fearful of lumps at first too. He used to absolutely love the Ella’s pouches with smooth fruit purée. I started making his food more lumpy but adding a bit of the fruit purée on top. For example I’d mash some potatoes and veg and put a dollop of the purée on top (the taste must have been a bit strange but he didn’t seem to mind!). He was used to the taste of the purée and eventually got used to the lumps underneath it. Every 4th spoon or whatever I’d feed him a spoonful of just the mash/veg. He eventually just got used to normal food and now he eats everything!

[OllietheOwl]

Also - whether this meets the Mumsnet mafia standard or not!! When my son showed no interest in self feeding normal food ie fruit or veg, I started giving him a treat to self feed instead - Ella’s are really good for baby crisps/biscuits that they can learn to hold and chew. I would put a few crisps down on his tray after he’d finished his lunch. At first he was quite nervous about eating them but he eventually started holding and putting them to his mouth. The added incentive of it being a crisp rather than a carrot meant he was more inclined to try it.
As he got more confident with holding food I would add healthier options alongside the crisps - bananas, bit of toast etc.
My eldest DD was the type of eater who would shove all food in from 6 months old so like you, I struggled when my second was a nervous eater. Just stick to the things she likes and feels confident with then gradually phase in new foods.

[R184]

Ok, so she will happily eat biscuits/crisps/melty puffs/crackers etc but anything that’s not a biscuit etc she will not touch. I use a hand blender/a fork to make a thick ish consistency. She is fed is fed to sleep so can’t cut those feeds down! (How else do you babies to go to sleep?! 😂) how do I move on from mashing food to just normal food?

[AuntyJack]

If you don't mind a bit of mess (maybe put a shower curtain down under the high chair) could you squirt a couple of different colour purees into little piles on the tray of the high chair and encourage her to play at swirling them around? If a bit goes in her mouth so much the better. You can give her some foods she can hold to swish around with, like a carrot stick or finger of toast etc and some might end up in her mouth. If it is play time she might feel less pressure and have a nibble or two, and when it comes time to eat it out well be less scary and/or unfamiliar

[CoffeeDay]

DD had a sensitive gag reflex and was eating purees well into 14-16 months old. Then something suddenly clicked and she switched to normal food and never looked back. Wouldn't worry about it at all.

I read somewhere that going from smooth puree to lumpy/mashed food to solid food is actually not very effective. Lots of babies hate the hidden lumps in stuff like guacamole or chunky fruit yoghurt because those come as a "surprise" in the mouth and can also trigger the gag reflex for some.

The advice was to feed either puree or BLW style finger food. With finger food they're going to play with it a lot in the beginning but that's good for getting to know the different colours, textures and shapes. The can also eat and chew at their own pace so it's a different experience to getting a spoonful of mashed food in their mouth and then having to deal with the lumps.

I went with small pieces of toast (peanut butter, cream cheese, butter, jam), bananas, baked beans, shredded ham, cooked apple (softer), frozen yoghurt drops or tiny pieces of chocolate. Most of these dissolve quickly in her mouth but she gets the experience of picking them up as solids and eating them.

[3WildOnes]

I would just slowly mash the food a little less each day. The WHO don’t recommend moving on to ‘family foods’ until 12 months so she isn’t really very behind what they recommend.

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

I think just offering spoon fed and finger fed at every mealtime will help.

Bowl of porridge with two spoons, load them both and you have one and her the other. Strips of toast on the plate for her to pick up if she wants.

Repeat at lunch - small portion of soft scrambled egg with fingers of toast, or cucumber sticks on the tray too. Two spoons.

Etc.

[OllietheOwl]

What about bread toast OP? That was one of the first things my son was happy to try eating. I stuck to that for ages before attempting new foods. As long as they’re getting their fruit, veg, protein etc from the purées, it doesn’t really matter at this age if they won’t self feed their main meals.

[Aria999]

Is she interested in what you are eating? DD (12mo) is skeptical of lumps and new things but will normally demand a bit of what she sees on our plates.

(DS at this age couldn't care less so it doesn't always work)

Also I find giving her only one or two bits works, too much and she plays the dropping it on the floor game.