Food Texture Aversion

[madamewaffles]

So let's talk about eating.

My 12.5 month old is honestly a nightmare to feed. He refuses most table foods with the exception of dry, crunchy foods like cereal, toast, crackers, etc. He will also eat pouches pretty good, too, but lately he's been 50/50 on those now. That paired with the exploration of dropping everything on the floor means it's a struggle to get him to eat, period. Every meal I start out offering him something "new," and let him deal with it for 15-20 minutes before giving him what I know he will eat. I've given him every fruit and vegetable, raw, cooked, pasta, rice, thicker purees, everything. His reaction is gagging and crying. His pedi kinda blew me off without really any suggestions to help him be more open.

Has anyone here dealt with this? I know he will probably outgrow it, I don't want him to be missing out on vital nutrients.

[billyhorrible]

I'm paging lawandorder because she has dealt with the exact scenario with her first. And it was not something he grew out of.

[lawandorder]

Hey madamewaffles that is SO much like my oldest son at 1, even down to dropping the food and watching it fall. I highly recommend getting your kiddo in for an occupational therapy evaluation. We did two rounds of OT (12 months) and again at 2.5. He's nearly 6 and still has texture issues and extreme pickiness. At 12 mos he hated getting his hands dirty, so slimy/sticky/wet food was out.

I recommend a lot of sensory play and food play. But mostly, you both should really have the help of an OT that can give you the tools to work through this. Check out MamaOT: www.facebook.com/MamaOTblog/

Also, the Ellyn Satter Institute and her book Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense.

I'm also paging my friend ceci who may have some additional ideas and resources for you while you wait.

[littlelion]

My son is a picky eater. He goes thru phases of liking something or liking it but only in a certain way. It's very annoying. For a while all he wanted was mac n cheese or some other form of pasta. He loves corn from a can or on the cob. But if I put it in a pasta soup...nope, he picks it out. I just keep trying to hide stuff. He likes the crunchy tacos (like taco bell) so I do that once in a while so he eats meat plus I can chop some mushrooms or other veggies in with the meat. He still has low iron (hates the lentils and all things green) so the pedi had us start giving him a vitamin with iron at age 2. Before that she had us do iron drops. 

Not sure how helpful that is. But I wanted to share. Plus I'm also a picky eater esp about texture. Majority of my life I ate nothing soft...no cream cheese, no cheese in general, mayo, dressing, guac, and so on. As an adult I've started to be less grossed out about it. I love guac. But most of the time everything has to be on the side. Do not touch my other food. Or saturate my salad.

[swivelchair5]

My daughter was a late-bloomer with solid foods. At 12.5 months, if she ate 12 cheerios and a couple shreds of cheese, I called that a complete meal. She probably got on board with regular eating somewhere around 14 months. She is 17 months now, and sometimes she eats more food than I do. (And she eats a wider variety of food than her dad, who is a pretty picky eater).

[budders]

Most of that sounds similar to V at that age (the food refusal, dropping, preference for dry and crunchy foods, etc.), except for the gagging and crying. Those behaviors make me think it's worth raising with your ped again, just in case there is a sensory issue going on.

Otherwise, for us, we continued to introduce new foods and just let him eat what he was comfortable with. He finally hit his stride around 18 months and expanded what he'll eat. Even now, he eats a lot of variety, but is picky day to day about when and what he eats (won't eat dinner at all one day, will eat broccoli one day but not the next, etc.). He does not seem to have any real food aversions at this point, and is always willing to try new stuff, especially if it's on someone else's plate.

So it can certainly go either way depending on your kid and where the issues are stemming from.

[Taitai]

I feel like I might have "momnesia" on this one...but I remember DS used to be really picky about textures, dropping his food off his tray, not being willing to try new things, and not wanting to get his hands dirty while eating. I remember how frustrated DH and I were during this time. DH and I will both eat anything and we're not picky eaters at all, so that was hard for us.

DS eventually snapped out of it and is a really good eater now. I can't think of many foods he won't eat. That said, he does go through phases where he does/doesn't want to eat certain things. Right now (DS is 2 yrs 3 months), he's spitting out any chicken we try to feed him, but he loves fish and beef. Sigh. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think it's a good idea to be proactive on this one and get an OT eval, just to see what a professional thinks. It can't hurt. Ideally, this is just a phase that your kid will grow out of, but if it's not, better to address it now before it gets any worse. Good luck!

[sheilathetank]

This may sound strange but have you tried giving him his own spoon/fork. K has a thing about getting her hands dirty while eating and would full on panic sometimes. We introduced self feeding with utensils super early because of this. In the beginning, it took a lot of hovering, putting food on it for her, patience etc. Now at 16 months she is pretty proficient and ask for her fork and spoon at meals. It also helps with fine motor control as an added bonus.

[littlelion]

Jul 10, 2017 7:23:13 GMT -6 sheilathetank said:

This may sound strange but have you tried giving him his own spoon/fork. K has a thing about getting her hands dirty while eating and would full on panic sometimes. We introduced self feeding with utensils super early because of this. In the beginning, it took a lot of hovering, putting food on it for her, patience etc. Now at 16 months she is pretty proficient and ask for her fork and spoon at meals. It also helps with fine motor control as an added bonus.

That is awesome. My kid is 2.5 yo and still prefers to use his hands.   I'm always saying "spoon!", "fork!" during meal times. 

[ugotstarbucked]

What's the teeth situation? My DD goes through spells where she only wants certain foods because her gums hurt. She really started eating well after her molars came in. We also needed to make sure to offer foods before giving milk, or wait awhile after she'd nursed last.

Someone in my BMB is doing food therapy with her son because he doesn't eat well. He has trouble chewing and swallowing solid foods. If you think it may be that kind of issue there are therapy options.

[madamewaffles]

Thank you for your insight, everyone. I put in a portal message to his pedi and she agreed to a referral to OT for an evaluation and he'll be seen on Thursday.

sheilathetank, I had the same idea as you since he will eat yogurt off of a spoon. I tried some puréed soup and a couple other things off a spoon/forks at various times and he treated me like I was trying to poison him. 😒

I appreciate all of the thoughts, tips, and experiences! I'm looking forward to his appointment and will hopefully have an update soon.

[budders]

madamewaffles I'm glad your ped listened to you and helped set up an eval for you. I hope that regardless of the outcome you get some support and guidance!