13 Month Old - Lumpy Food Issue

Will he eat table food or does he gag on that as well? I wouldn't bother with Stage 3 food-waste of money. If he will eat table food, I would start giving him the basics, like cut up fruits and soft veggies, cheese, cherrios, yogurt, bread, etc.

Now, if he will NOT eat table food, he may have a sensitivity to certain textures. Worst case scenario he may have a sensory disorder. My son would do the same thing when he was that age. I could not get ANY table food in him besides yogurt. Anything with lumps he would gag on. He ate baby food until he was over 2 years old!! Turns out he indeed had a texture sensitivity and was literally not able to tolerate food textures in his mouth.

If your son continues to gag on food or if he refuses to eat anything but smooth-textured foods, I would definately bring it up at his next doctors visit. Your doc may send him for a "swallow study" to see of there are any physical abnormalities that are preventing him from swallowing.

My son worked with a speech therapist for about year on his sensory issues and his speech. He is now 3 and able to eat other foods, but I am still having a hard time getting him to eat fruits, veggies, and meat.

Good luck with everything. Keep offering him food and see how he reacts. Keep us all posted!

We never did baby food so I may not be too much help. Braeden loves his food but loves it more if he gets to pick it up himself. I would try some finger foods and see if giving him a little control helps the chocking issue. Sometimes we give them bites they don' t know how to deal with or they are unprepared for how much/texture/etc. We noticed after we gave him finger foods that interest in solids went through the roof and now he loves meal time.

We could never move to stage 3 either. My son didn't like his lumpy food mixed in with soft pureed food, so we just stayed with stage two and kept table food separate like small pieces of soft chicken, small noodles, rice etc. Some kids don't like the two mixed. You'll be fine. Just introduce soft chicken, soft veggies, etc.

edited to add: Kids often throw up if they gag. My nephew did it all the time when he ate something lumpy. It was gross.

skip it, just let him munch on table foods, just give a complete variety of things, like cooked broccoli and bits of meat and cheese.. maybe he's just ready for big-people stuff you know?

hi~
There are some good suggestions below. First I need to say that my comments are bias since I work with children with feeding issues. Next please know that you are NOT alone. In my experience and training, I would say that it is normal to gag when a child moves to a new texture (e.g. stage 2 to 3) HOWEVER it is not normal to vomit every time.

Since according to your post he is 13 months and will not eat anything other than stage 2 foods, I would definitely see your doctor about it now (e.g. don’t wait a year hoping it will get better). I have seen kids who are 4 and 7 who only eat pureed foods. At that age it is MUCH harder and takes MUCH longer to work through the feeding issues.

There are several thoughts. I noticed you live near Richmond. The children hospital has a "Feeding Team" (doctor, speech therapist, occupational therapist, feeding psychologist, dietician/nutritionist). http://www.childrenshosp-richmond.org/CMS/index.php/servi... You may want to consider making an appointment (getting a referral from your doctor). The team will be able to tell you if your child needs any further testing (e.g. swallow study, upper GI, etc), offer suggestions, recommend therapy or just home program ideas.

If a this is not an option then I’d encourage you to talk to your pediatrician. See if he feels a swallow study/upper GI would assist with ruling out any diagnoses. I would also ask for a referral to a speech therapist or occupational therapist for feeding therapy (either discipline can work on feeding but it depends on the area you live in - sometimes speech works on feeding, sometimes occupational therapy works on feeding).

The therapist should be able to give you suggestions to assist you with transitioning past stage 2 foods. Some initial ideas are:
1) Make sure you do NOT force feed him
2) Try your best not to feel overwhelmed/stressed during meal time (he will feed off your stress (i know easier said than done - I'm sure this is VERY stressful for you)
3) place a food that you are eating (that is safe for him) on his tray (without ANY expectation that he will eat it).
4) let him play in food and get messy – this allows him to learn the properties of food (smell, feeling, sight)

I hope that helps! Good luck!

OMG I went through the same thing and was worred sick. I know sounds silly but for the longest time any time I gave my son something thicker than stage 2 he would gag and throw it up. I would see other children his age eating cheerios and goldfish and I could not even give mine lumpy textured food. Of course I seeked the opinions of everyone and the Dr - which I have learned most of the time I should trust my gut. The dr had mentioned if things did not improve I may want to have him checked for any problems - well I knew there was not really a physical problem or at least I thought so I just kinda waited and around 13 - 14 months he got better about eating thicker foods but boy was I a nervous nillie at first and actually still cut his good into small chunks at 19 months. I would suggest to stay away from the stage 3 foods they are unnecessarily lumpy or at least they were for my lil man. Try some banannas but smoosh they up really well, I also used my food chopper and would chop potato and soft stuff like that. I was just so ready for him to eat regular food and knew he should be at 12 months but just remember every child is different and one day all of a sudden your son will decide to start eating thicker textured food and it will surprise you - best of luck.

time for real food. stage 3 is just a way to get you to spend more money.
feed him off of your plate. gagging is normal. he must get used to textures.
try coating some steamed apple slices in crushed cheerios for two reasons: so they're not so slippery (you can do this with most chunks of fruits) and to get used to textures.

I would recommend seeing a speech language pathologist who also deals with feeding issues. Get an evaluation. Your ped may not be concerned or see the connection, but this may be an indicator of speech issues. My speech person is great (in Md) but doesn't take ins. Her name is Barbara Taylor of Help Me Speak in Marriottsville. If that is not convenient for you, she may be able to recommend someone who is. Follow your gut, if you are worried follow up on it. Don't just rely on your ped, they don't know everything! Good luck!

I would not worry about it - but bring it up to your dr at the next visit. My nephew did this for a long time - he was just slower getting used to the texture thing and does fine now at 4. My sister was encouraged to just take it slow.

smart kid. stage 3 is just gross. start giving him real food that's soft.......smoothies, yogurt, pudding, mashed potatoes, oatmeal.
i agree with the advice to run it by your pediatrician. more than likely it's just an aversion to certain textures, but since he's actually throwing up it may be something physical. for your own peace of mind it's certainly worth following up on.
khairete
S.

My oldest son did the same thing. He was on stage 2 for a long time along with stuff like yogurt and applesauce. and then went straight to table food. I think he was close to 18 months before he could eat Cherrios without gagging. At 4 he still has some texture issues. If he chews his food too long he can't swallow it or if it has a "weird" texture he won't eat it. For example, he can only eat a banana if it is the exact ripeness (not too hard and not too soft). I did gradually make his baby cereal thicker and thicker (very gradually) until he seemed to be better able to tolerate it. There could be something wrong but you are the best judge. If it just a texture thing he will eventually eat what other kids are eating. Just remember all kids are different. My second son was eating strictly table food by 12 months and my oldest was still eating some baby food at 20 months or so. Again if you really think there is a problem fight to get him seen. I do know that speech therapists do deal with issues like this.

we skipped stage 3 and went right to table food. my one child still is very sensitive to texture (she is 6 and we started table foods really late) my younger one doesn't care and started table foods at 8 months, at that point he refused baby food, and I can't blame him, the stage 3 foods are pretty gross looking.

This is normal.. my duaghter did this.. she is 4 now and eats pretty well.. she still has food textures that she doesnt like... she doesnt like baked beans and other "lumpy" food.. I dont think she ever at stage 3 foods.

she did fine on small bits of table food.

It takes time for babies to get used to textured foods just be patient..