"Splinter" foods

[bloodywhitecat]

I have a 10 month old who is reluctant to wean, he won't entertain a spoon and won't put his hands in puree. We are working with a SaLT to encourage him to try foods and it has been noted that he has very weak jaw muscles so finds things like toast, rice cakes and breadsticks impossible. Over the past two weeks we have had success with vegetable straws and this week we have started to dip them in purees (butternut squash soup and riata so far) with some success. Do you know of anything similar to vegetable straws we could try? The melty style sticks are too melty but he does need something that dissolves easily in the mouth as he hasn't got the jaw strength to chew at the moment.

What about root veg roasted until it is really soft? So he can pick up and feed himself but not too tricky to chew.

Crustless quiche/ frittata cut into cubes
Purees in a pouch
Very thin sticks of cheese/cucumber/carrot (like matchstick size)
Normal bread cut into small soldiers and a dippy egg
Porridge fingers
Thin sliced ham.

Im guessing thatbif you have Salt involvement already at 10 months he has got other additional needs? Otherwise 10 months old is still really really young to be worrying about them not getting enough at weaning, it's still mostly a case of just giving them things to try at that age unless they themselves are trying to wolf down everything in sight.

Steamed carrot sticks? Would he try avocado? You could cut a banana in half and then remove some of the skin so he has a non-mushy handle to hold while he chomps on it.

Have you tried a vibrating teether? I work with children with SEN & eating difficulties and often we use a vibrating teether because the sensory output encourages them to bite down.