11month old won't eat lumpy food

[lupinjess]

My dd is almost 11 months and will not take lumpy food from a spoon. I find this really odd as she is quite happy to eat toast and fruit.

HV says i shouldn't be giving her smooth food any more but this seems to be the only way i can get any variety in her diet.

she won't eat things like carrot sticks and hates potato unless it is mixed with cheese sauce. in fact i seem to mix everything with cheese sauce!

Am i worrying over nothing? or should i stop offering her smooth stuff and hope that she will eat lumps if she's hungry enough?

Have you tried risotto or very small bits of pasta mixed in with a sauce or fish mashed with cheese sauce and spinach? I found these were all good progression foods. And they all seem to love baked beans..... DS went through a cheese phase, he was obsessed with broccoli gratin for a while. By the way he's 18 months and still won't eat carrot sticks (or any fresh fruit except watermelon!)
Just thought the other thing that is good is shepherd's pie but puree the mince for a few seconds in the food processor and it makes it much easier for them to chew to start with. HTH

Thanks, the shepherd's pie sounds like a good idea. i've tried pasta in sauce and she just sucks all the sauce and spits out the pasta. strangely she will pick up mini pasta shells and eat them (only about 4 or 5 per meal). seems like food off a spoon is her real issue but she doesn't get feeding herself yet.

I think this is quite common. I had exactly the same problem with my dd2 from about 9mths. It did get a little better but never brilliant. I continued to give her smooth(ish) purees in order to ensure nutrients and increased the finger food little by little. She is now 17mths and fine with solid/finger food, even feeds herself with a fork however she still doesn't like smooth stuff or eating anything of a spoon. I have given up with alternatives now and she has the same as the rest of the familiy but cut up into small pieces. She has even been eating cherrios of a folk because weetbix it a bit difficult to get on a folk.

I think if you can increase the number of things she can pick up and eat and continue with some smooth or pureed food that might help. I know HVs are keen to get babies on to lumpy food to that they learn to chew, however they will do this with finger food.

I might add that my dd virtually lives on pasta as it is easy to pick up or get on a folk. I wouldn't worry too much about feeding herself, plenty of time to learn.

This age is typically the age when little ones become fussy about what they eat and how they eat. Both my dds did.

why does your HV think it's a problem? If she's eating toast etc she'll be chewing that. I thought it was only an issue if they don't eat anything that needs chewing?

HV says that her speech will be delayed if she doesn't move on. had me in a bit of a panic but feeling a bit better after messages today.

thanks cardy, think i'll keep giving smooth veggies with ever increasing lumps of chicken etc. If i give her something in the way of finger food with each meal she might gradually shift away from the spoon all together.

might also get a little fork and try with that, seems obvious that that would be easier than a spoon but it hadn't even crossed my mind!

Am I dim?

How can not eating from a spoon delay her speech??

I sometimes think HVs test us out to see how gullible we are.

Oh ignore the HV, honestly what tripe.....sounds like your dd is doing great for 11mths to me, if its any help my dd still won't eat any pasta bar fresh, with spinich in it! (yeah! the only spinich she'll eat!) she also resolutely hated baked beans until a month ago, then had a phase of demanding beans for every meal ( I didn't give in) she's 21mths by the way.

HV said that eating lumpy food was vital for the correct development of muscles etc needed for speech. She has always been a bit hyper-critical though (told me DD was lazy because she wasn't holding her own water beaker at 5 months!).

I think i need to be a bit more sensible and just go with the flow (DD's not HV's). Surely as long as she has a good diet and is eating some finger foods she is ok?

DH is much more relaxed about it and says i'm being over sensitive.

I think I have always been a bit uptight when is comes to feeding with both my dd, however neither of them are wasting away and get a balanced diet, so I have tried hard to relax about it. I think it is really easy to become overly concerned about eating/feeding.

Your did will develop the relevant muscles through chewing, finger food what ever.

Another thing I have learnt over the past few years is that little ones go through times when they hardly seem to eat and are very fussy and times when they eat everything in sight. I also think 3/4 meals a day doesn't always work and sometimes little and often seems to work better. I am forever trying to come up with haealthy snacks.

lupinjess, your HV sounds barking. Surely biting and chewing solid chunks of fruit will develop her muscles better than lumpy mush? Am I missing something?

And isn't the average age for using a beaker 8-10 months?

It sounds like you're doing a fab job, don't take any notice of that HV .

HV is daft. how many adults do you know on purees and not speaking? ;) everyone gets there in the end.

bloody hell. DS hates lumpy food full stop (throws it all up) and can't really drink out of a beaker by himself. Glad your HV isn't round my house....

another durr of a hv then.