9 month old struggling with meat

[nicnic01]

hi my DD is 9 months and is doing fairly well with food. She can be fussy and doesnt eat much but I can cope with this. However she really puts up a fight when I try and give her anything with chicken in and to a slightly lesser extent, beef/steak. She is fine with fish and doesnt flinch when she gets the occasional jars with meat in if we are in a hurry (the meat seems to be very very well blended in the stage 2 jars), but she really doesnt seem to like the texture of chicken in particular in home food. She grimaces and dramatically spits it out if she gets any slight lump (she is fine with lumpy food otherwise). Not a huge problem as she is generally getting a balanced diet but any suggestion would be appreciated as chicken is usually a big favourite in our house so it would be great if she followed trend.
thanks

[paranoidmother]

How do you cook the chicken? Would it be worth either poaching some so it is very moist or slow cooking it? Both would make it very moist.

Perhaps poaching it in some vegetable stock or you could roast it in the slow cooker (same with any meat), don't add any water and it makes it fall off the bones. Very nice with a few herbs to give it taste.

Would she hold some in her hand rather than you blending it up?

Sorry if none of this helps. My DD now 4 use to like meat and now prefers not to eat it. Sometimes it's just not what they want for a while.

[Shells]

Yes, I would just leave it and not even try and give it to her for a while. She's very young and forcing the issue may backfire. Its not like her nutrition will suffer when she's having so many other sources of protein.

[CantSleepWontSleep]

My dd is 3.5 and still won't eat meat most of the time. We either give her the rest of the meal and miss off the meat, or give her the full meal and she leaves the meat if she doesn't want it. It's really not a problem.

[Mamulik]

my DD2 is 9 months and she loves chicken, but I dont mix it up with other veg, just cook little bits and give it to her, so she can actually see what she eats.

[Horton]

Are you giving her chicken breast? Personally, I think thighs or drumsticks are a lot easier to eat for small children - they're not so dry.

[Qally]

My 8 month old loves chewing chunks of meat - they soothe his gums, I think - and sucking, but rarely swallows a lot. Maybe try using meat as a fingerfood to ensure your dd can be confident about learning what it is she's eating?

[WhereTheWildThingsWere]

I think some of it is personal taste, even at this early age.

Both of mine were weaned identically, ds (4 now) would eat meat from an early age, even big chunks to chew on. Dd (16mo) seems to hate it in any form, from a fine puree to bigger pieces, she does however love fish.

I will just keep trying her and not making a fuss, maybe one day she will eat it maybe she never will.

[Qally]

Yeah, I always hated cow's milk as a baby, refused it and would gag - and still can't abide any fruit squash, they make me feel sick, which was tricky as a small child in the 70s! It was all we were ever given - asking for plain water was regarded as bizarre behaviour, but Mum says I refused to touch the stuff from very early days. So perhaps she just won't be a chicken fan.

[Sprogstersmum]

My 9mnth old also won't touch chicken or potato. And yes we've tried both foods in every form you can think of - she won't even eat chips - and trust me only desperation would have led me to offer a 9 month old chips from the chip shop. She'll eat pretty much anything else though - eats off a spoon or feeds herself lumps of stuff - no probs with fish, beef, sweet pots - I'm baffled by it too!

[Mumofagun]

I am a meat eater and Ds just seemed to decide from when I weaned him that he was a self appointed vegetarian!! He's 8 1/2 now, and while I serve some form of meat at most meals, he prefers vegetables and salads!!! Oh what a joy! As long as there is some other form of protein in DC's diet apart from the milk don't worry, it's personal taste. My DS on the other hand doesn't like eggs, cheese, fish or beans, but he does eat meat, just isn't overly enthusiastic about it, can take it or leave it now. Wouldn't worry at this stage with the milk intake they're having. Don't fret!

[babyOcho]

DD is 16 months and not a big fan of meat. We offer it, but if she doesnt eat it then she doesn't eat it. I think that it's the texture of meat that she doesnt enjoy.

She does like eggs and loves lentils, so not that bothered. More meat for us!!

[MrsBadger]

mince it

don't blend

mince

so homemade burgers, chicken nuggets etc as finger food, or shpeherds' pie, cottage pie, bolognese etc with a spoon

The meat jars are minging IME

(NB there is absolutely nothing wrong with chip shop chips as finger food for babies - they are potato and oil and nothing else. Much better than processed slop with mystery thickeners IMO.)