My one year old, mother's, please help!?

Question

Okay, where do I begin? My daughter is 1 and is still eating out of stage 2 jar foods. If any type of food that is "chunky" not "smooth" touches her tongue she starts to gag. At first the doctor just said to give her time to adjust but now the doctor's are saying to keep trying to give her finger foods. She WILL NOT take them. If anyone has had this problem please let me know of any suggestions I can do or anyone's opinion will help. Also I have started her on milk and she is very constipated and once again the doctor said to give her prune juice, if there are any comments on this I would appreciate it.

Answer 1

First just relax.She will come around. Feed her Prunes (they have it in stage 2 foods) and just keep introducing her to stage three foods eventually it will happen.If you are stressed about something she will pick up on it.As long as she is eating you are fine.

Answer 2

My daughter did the same thing at 1. Any new food or chunky food made her gag. I just gave her time to work it out in her own way, and also I would eat things like pears cut small, crackers and such and would make a fuss about how yummy it was. Eventually she started wanting what I had and I would let her have a little. When I put my daughter on milk we didn't have the constipation problem. But you could try any kind of fruit juice that she will drink. It's best to keep it as natural as possible.

Answer 3

Many people keep their children on milk past the age of 1 so what 's the big hurry to rush a baby into adult food? I have heard many a report that this is how allergies start, introducing adult food too soon to small children.
I wouldnt be in a hurry because their little stomaches are very very sensitive. Eating pureed food/ smooth food is not bad at all. You will know you have a happy healthy baby who's digestive system is working when they have regular bowel movements with no problem, they sleep well, they dont spit or throw up.
Meat products and bread products often constipate or don't sit well with young stomachs. You might want to avoid these things for awhile, they are not that necessary yet anyway. Heck I hardly eat them and I am healthy as a horse!

Answer 4

My daughter (who is now 2 1/2) did the exact same thing. She ate stage 2 baby food until she was about 20 months old. She would gag on everything. I was very worried. I tried to give her table food and she would gag and throw up. The doctor said she had a Strong gag reflex and would out grow it. She did and she eats anything and everything now with no problem. Don't worry that you still give baby food. My daughter was always very healthy and chubby. With the milk situation this sometimes happens my daughter too because she likes her milk. Just make sure to give her a lot of water and fruits. I hope this helps you. Good luck. P.S. My daughter is now big and healthy and strong and your will be too!!!!!

Answer 5

I had 5 children and also cared for infants in my home child care.First,if you ever have another baby,begin with REAL food sooner. I seldom used baby food,but mashed or ground up the table food that the rest of the family was eating. However, as for your little girl I think she has a mind of her own. Maybe she'll run a company someday or be President of the USA. For now however, I wouldn't worry that she will starve. Put food on her high chair tray or adult applesauce in a bowl.Don't worry about about the mess!!! Mash up carrots or canned pears or banana. Pretend you aren't watching her.After about 20 minutes take it all away. Don't mention the food,just talk and sing to her ,take her out of the high chair and play. Then,don't offer her anything else to eat until 3 or 4 hours later.Don't make a big thing out of it and don't act as if she is doing YOU a favor if she eats. Believe me, she won't let herself starve. Mash up some mac.and cheese once she is no longer constipated. Just be casual and happy about mealtime whether she eats or not. Don't give in and give her baby food,or your smart little girl will continue with the gagging. I'll bet in about 3 days you'll be surprised at how well she is doing. Cheerios are fun,too,for kids this age. She will eat when she is really hungry. Just remember to only offer her food that YOU want her to eat. Good luck and keep smiling.

Answer 6

She probably doesn't chew much, I guess that's why she maybe gagging. My son hated the "chunky" baby foods too - I tasted them and they ARE terrible tasting - except for the apple mango kiwi!

I started my son with cereals like Cheerios (just keep an eye on her if she isn't chewing), kid's crackers, oatmeal that is not too chunky, and mushy rice (with a little salt for taste) and pureed and boiled mixed vegetables and lentils. I made enough for a week (since I work and can't make something everyday) - put them in daily containers once I figured out what consistency he would eat.

With the fruits - I would just blend up some fruits like banana, apples and make it just a tad thicker than the stage 2 baby food. I gradually made it thicker and thicker (like every 2 weeks). This way they are used to the taste and then start chewing.

I also started my son with vitamins (they have those dropper kind that taste good) around that time to make sure that he was getting enough nutrition since his diet was limited to specific pureed foods.

With the milk, she may even be a bit lactose intolerant - I'm not sure what to do about that but maybe if you can find out if you can give her soy milk, or yogurt to see if that helps?

For the constipation, she may need more fiber so more veggies may help. I'm not sure of gripe water - but that helps with colic. My mom used it on me at times I was excessively cranky (until I was old enough to tell her why) - or at least that is what she told me.

Answer 7

Boy I feel you there! My daughter is nearly one and she has had a lot of problems with baby food... unlike my son, he took right to finger foods!

My daughter gagged on stage 3 foods and any table foods no matter how cut up or mashed they were. I found that Beechnut makes a stage 2 food called First Advantage. It is almost a whipped/thicker texture... but not lumpy. I tried her on that and she did well and enjoyed it. So I gave her those mostly and just kept trying to get lumpier textures into her diet. I also had her start snacking on Gerber Fruit and Veggie Puffs. She didn't take to them at first but once she got use to them she got to where she could crunch right through them (with no teeth). Now she is eating a lot of table foods and the gerber graduate foods!

So just keep trying, take a step back if need be but keep trying to introduce the lumpier textures. She will eventually get it!

As for constipated on milk... All I can suggest is lots of water, lots of fiber and prune juice. My daughter has to have Miralax but she has an immature digestive system, so its not just milk related.

Have her eat as much fiber foods as you can and get her to drink lots of water. If all else fails try some fiber powders that adults can get (try to find the right dose for her weight/age) and see if that helps.

Good luck!!

Answer 8

This may sound cruel, but give her some higher stage baby food and if she doesnt eat it, let her go hungry. I have had to do this to my 2 year old with anything healthy. He wouldnt eat fruit, veggies, wheat bread, nothing. But when he had to go breakfast and lunch with nothing but water, he ate everything I gave him for dinner, green beans and all. Since your child is only one, I would serve the smooth food and some of the chunky food together. Maybe mix them together or give her a bite of the smooth, then a bite of the chunky, then slowly give her only the chunky. Once she realizes that you wont cater to her wishes, she will give in and eat what you give her. The gagging will go away, my son did that with foods he didnt want also. But never force feed, this leads to eating disorders. Hope this helps some. Good luck.

Answer 9

Don't Worry!!! I am a mother of 4 and kids do the darndest things when it comes to food when they are little. One of my kids refused to eat anything but Cream of Wheat for a couple weeks. He turned out just fine and healthy. They also go through stages where they hardly eat anything, or they are hungry all the time. One of my kids refused to eat anything with meat, at about one year old - gagged and couln't stand the taste. They definatly have their own tastes and there's not much a parent can do to force the child to like what you think they should like. As long as your child is growing fine and is not unhealthy or very underweight, don't worry about it!!!! Just trust that their litttle bodies know what they need and when. If only adults didn't lose their natural instincts to eating like kids, we all might be a little healthier. Remember, all children develop at different speeds. Just because some chart says kids should be eating certain foods at certain times, doesn't make it right for your child. Give her time, some day she will surprise you. when the time comes, start with foods with grainy texture and work up from there. Just keep trying, give her little samples. When she is ready she will eat it. Try soy milk instead of cows milk. Or just keep with formula for a couple extra months. Maybe her system needs more time to develop.

Answer 10

I would upgrade from stage 2 and go ahead and give her the foods your doctor recommends. She will fight it, but as long as she's getting plenty of fluids she should be fine.
She may not eat for a day, but frankly, a day won't hurt. Eventually she will get hungry enough that she will eat the foods that you are giving her without much fuss. Just remember to not make a big deal out of it, your little one is fighting you on this, and it sounds as if she is determined to win Mom unless you stick to your guns.
As far as constipation, try apple juice first. It does work, to a degree...I can't imagine myself drinking prune juice, so if I won't eat it, I wouldn't give it to my kid. If the apple juice doesn't work, then you can try the prune.

Good Luck to you...if your daughter is this stubborn this young, it sounds as if you are going to have a lot of fun years ahead of you!

Answer 11

Been there. First off, this will correct itself soon enough. Do not worry. Prune juice is harsh, thin it with apple juice or water. 1/2 strength.
Keep feeding her cereal, add formula for more vitamins. Milk is good too, just not too much until the constipation slows down.She must cry from the cramping, awww.
Try different finger foods, mushy things like peaches, banana, yogurt with fruit init. Kinda of in between foods. Beleive me, it will get better, I know, it's scary. It all stressed me so much that I made her stressed, so please relax.As long as she is growing and loved, she will be just fine.