Carrie (cam&kat's mom) or anyone who has ideas... - I need suggestions!

~Roo'sMama~ wrote: In my thread about Andrew's eating issues, you said you took care of a girl that had the same problems... I was wondering if you could give me some ideas on what I can try feeding Andrew. I am getting so frustrated with this - I was reading "What to Expect the First Year" this morning and it was talking about how by this age they should be completely finished with strained baby food and eating mostly cut up table food and some coarsely mashed foods. So I've been sitting here crying because we're nowhere near that and I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing.

The only thing besides jarred baby food that I've successfully been able to feed him is spaghettio's. He'll eat them if you give him one noodle at a time with a lot of sauce on the spoon. Anything else he gags on and throws up. I'm just at my wit's end.

He doesn't really like finger food either - he just doesn't seem interested in picking stuff up to eat it. The only thing he will consistently feed himself are saltine crackers. He'll eat a few cheerios sometimes but things like diced canned fruit or pasta he just doesn't want.

He does have an appointment with the ped on monday, but I don't know if she'll give me many practical suggestions about what I can actually give him. Maybe she will... I don't know. I'm so worried that unless I keep giving him the jars of fruits and veggies he's not going to be getting enough to eat. But I also feel like if I keep giving him the pureed stuff he's never going to learn to eat real food.

Jamison'smama replied: I had a friend whose son was similar---his turned around overnight it seemed. He would gag on anything and she was frustrated as well. Have you seen those Baby Safe Feeders (I linked it for you) --they may be called something else as well. They just get tiny pieces out and all the juice---It was the way I introduced fruits to Jack before he could swallow bigger chunks--he loved it.

Just a suggestion until you figure something out

Hugs

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Sara, at 9 months Logan was still exclusively on jarred food and formula with the occasional gerber fruit puff. He simply wasn't interested in anything else. You are not a bad mommy. You may have a picky eater. It seemed to me that Logan didn't like the textures of other foods. But once he hit 15 months or so, he took off. He still eats like a bird, but he does eat big people food. Have you considered feeding him around older kids? Little ones love to mimic, he may see big kids eating finger foods and "get it", KWIM? Hope I'm not too off base, but I don't want you to worry, he is still under a year, should still be getting the majority of nutrients and calories from breast milk or formula. Don't take those baby books as the be all-end all. Those are averages, not mandates.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: I'm sorry, Sara! My friend went thru this and she tried giving her son everything. It gets frustrating and expensive I can't imagine. Maddie didn't eat a lot, but that isn't the same as them gagging everytime you try to feed them.

I hope you find a solution soon.

kayla's mama replied: Kayla had the same problem but she didn't throw up. She was 9 months also. We just constintly gave her table foods. I diced it up real small and she finally got the hang of it. Her first chunky food was green beans with rice in baby food. She loved it.
I really have no idea on how to get him to eat table food. I hope he come around soon. Hang in there, he'll get it

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Thanks for the suggestions and reassurance. Its really good to know others have had the same problems.

Brenda ~ I have thought about getting a safety feeder and forgot about them. I think I'll pick one up tomorrow after church and see if he likes that.

Kelly ~ it is SO encouraging to hear that Logan was only eating jarred food at 9 months. I have been so worried that I'm just not trying hard enough and messing him up even more.

Brandi ~ did you spoon feed the table foods you diced up for Kayla, or did she pick it up with her fingers and eat it? There aren't many things that Andrew will tolerate right now for table foods, but when he does start eating them more I'm afraid we'll still have a problem since he's not very interested in feeding himself.

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
Thanks Aimee. It really is frustrating. I'm sure that my lack of sleep last night and pregnancy hormones aren't helping me feel any better about this either.

And yes it is expensive! I hate how much jarred baby food costs. I got a Munchkin baby food grinder thing at k-mart a few days ago and I'm hoping that I can start using it to make food the right consistency for Andrew instead of having to buy everything. I've only tried it once so far and I didn't grind the food up enough to make it smooth so it didn't go over great.

kayla's mama replied:

I spoon fed her. I would give her some green beans and smash'em up real good then I gave her some intanst potatoes. Which she wasn't to crazy about. We started table food at Thanksgiving. We still gave her some jarred food until she got the whole "texture" thing down. It took her a good couple of weeks of being very constient with her.

Picking up food is another story I was thinking that I was going to be spoon feeding this child til she got married. Kayla can't stand to have to hands touched. So that made teaching her very hard. We started with the fruit puffs. I would have it in my hand have her hold my hand and bring it to her mouth. Jason and I would get all excited about. It just clicked with her on night. Funny thing is....she will only do this in her high chair or if we are holding her in the living roon. She found a piece of a snack on the floor and she walked around with it all day. Never ate it!!!!

Lynda836 replied: Have you tried making your own baby food. I find that my food processor doesn't make it as smooth a consistency as the jarred baby food, but it's not as lumpy as when I mash it. You could even try mixing the two together...jarred puree and food processor made. Hope things get easier for you.

kit_kats_mom replied: I didn't read the other posts but have you had your ped check him out?

First, many babies aren't eat real table food until they are 12 mos plus. However, if he seems to have texture sensativity or other issues, it's better to head them off early rather than wait.

Katherine hardly ate any solids at all until well into her second year. A bite here and there of babyfood, pudding or a chicken nugget but never a whole meal. She was all about nursing. She still prefers to get the majority of her calories in liquid form. That was made easier when she FINALLY started drinking milk at about 2 and a half. Now she has two sugar free carnation instant breakfasts per day and usually a peanut butter/chocolate/bananna shake for snack.

My sitters son had painful reflux issues which weren't identified until he was losing a lot of weight. He gagged on foods, vomited them up and refused to eat. Once the Drs realized that he had severe reflux it was too late for him. He'd already associated eating with pain so he refused. They put him on medicine for the reflux and started him with a feeding therapist to help him learn how to eat properly. He's K's age and size and it was scary for me to see that at one point, he had to have a nasal feeding tube put in because he was losing so much weight.

IMO if the pediatrician had diagnosed his reflux earlier, much of this would not be necessary.

Good luck. I know how frusterating feeding issues can be. I actually called our ped two weeks ago to ask if a 3 year old could actually be anorexic. I was really about to lose it since all she'd eaten all day was the peanut butter off of the top of her toast. But then today she turns around and eats a small bowl of cereal, a bowl of pasta with butter, an ear of corn on the cob, a half cup of brown rice and strawberry ice cream.

eta: see I did not read all of the posts and I somehow missed that you have a ped appt. Ask if you can have him evaluated by a nutritionist also. Mine really helped me come up with some good feeding options for Katherine. Calorie dense smooth foods that she would eat. That's where the chocolate/peanut butter/bananna shakes came from.

Nathansmom replied: My best friend's son is 14 months and he is just starting to show an interest in table foods. Her pedi told her as long as he's eating the jarred foods he'll eat table food when he's ready. He had a really strong gag reflex up until about a month ago.

He'll get there...they eventually all do.

3_call_me_mama replied: Sorry- been away all weekend!
What we did withthe littel girl was take it one day/food at a time. She could eat spaghetti oh's cause there was liquid with it, but couldn't do teh gereber stage 3 spaghetti rings. Bread adn crackers were awful for her. She gagged immediately (even at 11 months. ) Basically we made things runny in a sense. Added liquid to things. Smoothies were a big hit soups (veggies and broth cause it made it easier to swallow) VERY tiny pieces liek 1 cheerio at a time, 1 pea at a time etc. Also we gave her sips or water in between so that way we knew the throat was clear (cause she would swallow the water. It was a long slow process and there was nothign "wrong" in teh sense tha tnothign diagnosable.. the Dr just said that her throat was a littel smaller thatn some kids and she had a very strong gag reflex. Also we did mashed banans but added a tad of water or apple juice or even jarred bananas to it so that way it was smoother and gradually decrease teh liquid. Hang in there . And hope the Dr has advice for you!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: We just liquefied the food. Kinda like puppies or kittens hard food... we'd add water.

The kiddos never really went for the second stage baby food... it was either the puree - by 9 months, they'd eat the jars... but not the ones with the chunks. They'd gag.

Instead, we'd cut up banana chunks really small, and sorta half cut them again- still attached, but mushable. They mushed it in their hands before eating it, anyways. They ate quartered grapes, little tiny pieces of chopped veggies... they LOVED spaghetti at that age. Cheerios are great - the hole in the middle prevents them from choking. Little bits of cheese is great. Little pieces of bread - just about melts in their mouths.

FYI - I'm sure you know this - but if a child seems to be choking, but is coughing, keep in mind that if they can expell air by coughing, they can breathe, and probably just need a sip of water to wash it down.

msoulz replied: My first didn't eat anything but jarred baby food and the occasional cheerio until he was over 1 year old. And he was a good eater. He is a perfectly healty 7 year old now. I know whether or not that was best for him is debatable, but in the long run, what difference does a few months make? That's JMHO though - I'm an accountant not a doctor!!

A&A'smommy replied: We went through the SAME EXACT thing with alyssa, we started with ramen noodles and went up to spaggetti, pizza, cheese, raisens we just kept working her up to it.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: Thank you for all the ideas! Sorry I haven't been home much at all since Saturday and haven't had a chance to get online.

It seems like Andrew is slowly getting better about eating. Over the last few days he's eaten both spaghettios and small bites of tater tot hotdish without gagging at all. I am going to slowly try introducing other more textured foods - so thanks for the suggestions on what to give him.

I took him to his appointment on monday and told his ped I was concerned about it but also told her that I thought it was getting a little better, and she said that she wouldn't worry about it yet, and it's ok for him to keep eating jarred food and take it slow with table foods.

I also started giving him regular instant oatmeal instead of baby oatmeal because the baby oatmeal was constipating him, and he's doing pretty good with the texture of it. So hopefully he'll keep doing this good, but I'm going to take it really slow... I feel so bad when he throws up something I'm feeding him.

kayla's mama replied: Glad that he is doing better with eating. I know its frustrating but hang in there