Hi all,

Okay, I have another question about my 8mo ds. He really doesn't like anything that is not completely pureed. Except he'll eat Gerber Puffs, and I think that's only because they virtually melt in his mouth... But for example, I mashed up a banana with a fork the other day, and he gagged and threw up! Then today I tried giving him rice cereal (which he normally doesn't like, but I thought I'd try it), and I mixed it a little bit thick, and he did the same thing as with the bananas! And he'll eat bananas if they're from a jar (completely smooth), and he ocassionally eats rice cereal if it's completely smooth (a couple bites anyway), but this time he was having none of that. So my question is at about what age to infants start to eat thicker, chunkier foods?

Whiskers :confused:

P.S. He has eaten creamed corn (baby food from a jar), and other things with similar textures without any problems.... But nothing as thick as the bananas I tried giving him.

My son was about 7 months when I started introducing new textures. I mashed a banana too, thinking he would like it and he ended up gagging and spitting it out. He didn't like new textures, which is probably what your baby is experiencing right now. They get used to a certain texture in their mouth and when something new is introduced, they tend to reject it at first. What I started doing is mixing the pureed baby food into infant cereal and each time, I made it a little bit thicker by adding more cereal. He eventually took to the thicker textures over the month and by 9 months, he was eating table foods. He's 10 months old now and is starting to eat everything.

My pediatrician told me to start with thicker textures/table food at 9 months, but I did it much earlier because my nephew had the same issue you are having with your little one. He just completely disliked anything too thick. I actually started with just giving my daughter small tastes of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving (when she was 7 months old) just to introduce her to something different. When she did ok with this, I moved to stage three foods. It definitely takes time for them to get use to it - just keep trying and he will adjust. One thing you may try is one of the mesh fruit holders they sell everywhere - I put a piece of banana in it and she was able to chew/suck on it and get use to the taste and texture at her own pace.

Gotta love those puffs - my little one is a "puffs junkie"!

Hang in there - he'll definitely get slowly get use to all these foods. :)

It could just be right now he don't like fresh bananas right now.It could be taste,texture who knows.Don't let it upset you just keep trying different things till you find what he likes.Have you tried the gerber 3rd foods?My kids and now my Gs had those by time they were 8 mos.But by 10 mos were on whatever we ate I just mashed,and cut into TINY pieces.

Thanks for the replies! I will try to introduce the stage 3 foods--I didn't think there was so much a difference in texture with these, as it was just different foods that baby can handle in the later months that they can't handle earlier. But I will definitely look into this!
I actually (for a few months now) have been mixing cereal into his fruit and veggies to make it thicker, and he will eat it that way so maybe it is just the taste he doesn't like. I worry a little though because he is SO reluctant to try anything new--I gave him a TINY piece of carrot the other day (cooked very soft), and he did the same thing--gagged, and spit it out. I guess I will just continue trying to offer him different things and he will come around when he's ready. It's a little tough to give him table foods because he's got a milk allergy, and SO many things that my dh and I eat have some form of either dairy or milk proteins in them.... But I will definitely begin offering more to him at least, of stuff that he can have.

Whiskers :)

Whiskers-

I don't have any advice, but I wanted to let you know that my DD is 8 months and does the exact same thing with anything not pureed. She will literally gag until she throws up if I give her any bits of table food. I just wanted you to know you are not alone.

mjbrandon, thank you so much for your reply! It really does make a world of difference to know that someone is in the same boat with you! I know I shouldn't worry so much, and that all kids do things at different times, and he'll eat different things when he's ready, but I keep reading things about kids who are like 9 months old, and eating such a wide variety of foods and textures, and ds isn't at all! He likes what he likes I guess....

Whiskers :)

mine started out eating thick cereal with baby applesauce at 4 months.... i never gave them anything straight from the jar because to me it always seemed too thin for them to eat! they've never had problems with any textured foods.... except instant mashed potatoes.... they both hated instant mashed potatoes!

i want to caution you about the 3's foods though..... if your little one is having trouble with chunks of foods, be careful about the 3's foods you give him. the spaghetti, lasagna, turkey rice.... things like that..... all have actual chunks of food in them. things like blueberry buckle, hawaiian delight (my personal favorite), fruit medley, and the plain fruits and veggies like sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, etc.... are all thicker, but don't have chunks.

:)

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to update you on our little situation: This seems to be a really hit-or-miss thing! The other day dh was feeding ds a sweet corn casserole (which he's had MANY times--from a jar), and he did the same thing! He gagged and acted like he was choking and he hadn't even tried to swallow it... I tried to give it to him later in the day and he ate it like a pro. I have no idea what gives here.... Maybe dh was trying to give him too much on the spoon at once?

Whiskers

is it possible he's taking a breath and inhaling something as he's trying to take a bite? even if he's just inhaling his own slobber or a tiny little bit of whatever is on the spoon, if it goes down the wrong pipe, he could be gagging himself that way. i remember a baby i had in one of my daycare classes used to do that.... :)