21 mo won't eat solid bits, only pureed food

[eskimomama]

Hello, I hope this is the right forum to post this!

My DD is a 21 mo toddler, she's eating quite well, but only pureed food. She sometimes have a bit of biscuit if she's hungry or a bit of bread when we go to the bakery, but that's it. She will refuse any other bit she has to chew - fruit, veg, whether cooked or raw, or pasta, or anything at all. My friends' kids have started eating solids (as in "chunky bits") a few months earlier than her, so I don't really know how to make her change her mind.

I think it's kind of my fault as we've had busy months recently (changing jobs/moving overseas etc.) and I didn't have much time to spend on baby menus evolution, and I kept cooking the same kind of texture for her, without realising I should have tried harder...

She uses the spoon herself every now and then but mostly it's me feeding her (unless it's a chocolate-flavoured thing!).
A few times she has asked to sit on my lap to see what I'm eating, and she will give it a try if it's noodles consistency, but no more.

Any suggestions?? I am quite lost!

Every child is different. I'm sure your DD will catch up at some point. Perhaps keep offering different textures as well as the puree?

I find if I ignore my DD while she's eating, when she's eaten the stuff I know she likes, she'll sometimes move on to the other stuff if I don't make a big deal of it.

Good luck! and try not to worry too much. DD keeps handing me the spoon to feed her with, despite being perfectly capable of feeding herself.

Thanks snackalot, hopefully it's just another one of those phases where moms shouldn't worry and compare, and wait until their DC is ready...

I imagine so...easier said than done though :)

Have you tried Purée with more texture? Gradually increase the texture and leave small chunks and eventually they grt used to it but dont give up if its refused or spat out. Its just matter of getting used to it. I would also always do finger food with every meal.

I have tried, usually I just mash the veg that can be mashed (ie carrots, potatoes, etc.) and blend the meat with other things to make it smooth, and serve them separately. Of course she's keener on the blended mixture!
Good idea about finger foods! what would you suggest so she's not treating them like rubbish to discard outside her view? (ie on the floor straight away)

Not much you can do about that but the main thing is that you keep offering it. Have you tried dipping bits of toast in the puree like a edible spoon.

I also would avoid doing a smooth and textures puree and only offer textured so there is no choice. You will find that they won't eat much but they will never starve.

Could you perhaps try doing one meal a day where you don't offer any purees? Just chopped up finger foods? (Toast, fruit, cooled down cooked veg, chips, adult size pasta, pizza, pieces of meat... anything really) Be really casual about it, and see what she does.

Since she will eat solid food sometimes it doesn't seem like she can't eat them (which would be a go to the doctor's issue really) just that she doesn't want to.

In which case there aren't really a lot of options, bar giving her no choice.

Have you tried leaving plates of finger food around when she is playing? She may just play with them at first but she may well put them to her mouth and eat a bit.

I would just try to keep everything relaxed and not worry to much

does she not eat even french fries? crisps? (i know, not great food but pretty irresistible i'd have thought).

agree with leaving stuff around and not stressing too much. she may just be sensitive to texture. i think i'm a bit like that. don't mind chocolate mousse, but a blended soup has to be blended beyond belief for me to enjoy it. i much prefer clear soup with bits, iykwim? just the idea of eating pureed meat, for example, makes me gag.

lol - made me laugh, who'd eat pureed meat anyway! :)
she can eat fries and crisps but obviously I'm not encouraging her in that direction...
I will def try the tray and leave her to investigate, without me around her. Thanks everyone.

I would do at least one meal that you are eating, chop it into finger sized portions, and eat with her. Don't make it a stressy time, just sit and chat whilst you eat. Hopefully, she will just copy you:)

So she is capable of chewing and swallowing solid food? That is much less of a worry than if she can only manage liquid purees.

I would also just give her solid finger foods and let her get in with it without pressure/interference.

aaaah, so she can eat stuff, she just can't be arsed. oh well, i'd go hardcore on her ass and just leave her with cut-up stuff tbh. no more blending.

My DD is coming up to 13 months so a bit younger, but what helped me with getting her on to more solid food was giving her what she loved as a little baby (broccoli and cauliflower cheese, for example) firstly completely pureed in the Magimix, then slowly moving to pulsing it so it was exactly the same taste but with bigger and bigger bits. As we moved to chunky food I made sure to boil the veg like mad to keep it really soft - now she knows the taste and is used to the chunkier texture I can give her veg more like how I eat it (al dente, I suppose the books would call it).

I think if your DD really loves the food she will attempt the bits, so rather than giving her new chunky food, give her what she loves as puree, just slightly chinkier each time.

Finger foods have not worked for us so far - unless it's something she can suck and mush down (like bread, toast & avocado, toast & anything really) she just flings it across the room! I bought all kinds of seats with tables, but I'd need a table the size of the room to stop her doing it...

Now at 13 months she will eat practically anything. If your DD can eat crisps I would not think there can be a problem with dry food or crunchy texture, perhaps it's more a familiarity thing with the puree.

Eat with her too. I eat with DD when I can, and if not (which is most often) I sit with her and eat a little something to encurage her to mimic. I am sure it helps as she loves to copy me in everything else! I agree with Supergreenuk too, dip something chunkier in her puree and encourage her to use toast, for example, as a spoon.

The idea of pureed meat sounds revolting, but we often do pork fillet in mustard sauce with veg, that kind of thing, and stick the lot in the Magimix, it tastes fine!

I know long shot !! Did you get at the root of the problem ?