Our son will be 2 next month and he still only eats jarred baby food for his main entree.?

Question

He eats lots of different crackers, breads and cookies, dried fruits (not fresh). He eats a great variety of jarred foods, but won't eat our version of sweet potatoes, only the jarred kind.
It's very difficult when we go to birthdays and restaurants and we have to bring his own food. I'm also sad that he's not doing what most kids his age are doing when it comes to food. The doctor just says, "keep introducing foods". We do, but he still will only eat the jarred foods.
I've been told by some to get rid of the jarred food and let him go hungry until he eats our food, but that seems really harsh.
The doctor assures us that he won't go to college on jarred food, but I really can't figure out how or when he will make the transition.

Thanks for so many quick replies. Everyone was really nice except for one person who sounded very judgmental and said I need to be the parent. I am the parent and my son has developed beautifully in every other area. We are not "lazy" people!
I think it's easy to tell someone to step up and be a parent, yet more difficult to sympathize with a struggle someone might be going through. That's why I came here to ask the question...not to be judged.

I forgot to mention that our son has had no developmental delays. He loves the crunch of crackers, cookies, and dehydrated fruits. He'll eat string cheese and sometimes take a bite of what we are eating but will never want more. He doesn't like mushy, spongy food, like pasta and he won't even try it after he's touched it.

Sorry, but I forgot a couple other important details! He feeds himself and holds the spoon on his own! He's really good at it! He eats out of a plate or a bowl and really enjoys that. We do frequently offer him our food but he is either not interested or turned off very easily. Interestingly, he eats a wide variety of the jarred foods.

Answer 1

I went through the same thing with my son. At 16 months, when he was still eating jarred food, I tried stopping cold-turkey. He flat-out refused to eat, and I started giving him jarred food again after 3 days of not eating, just drinking milk. I felt like a terrible mom. When he reached 19 months, he was the same as your son- crackers, bread, jarred baby food, nothing else. But I felt like he was a little more mature, so we tried going cold-turkey again. At first, he was REALLY angry. He yelled, he screamed, he howled. So I told him, "This is what Mommy made for lunch. You don't have to eat it, but you don't get anything else." Then I tore his grilled cheese sandwich into little pieces for him, thinking it might be less intimidating. He picked one up, gingerly tasted it, and ate the WHOLE sandwich. We gradually tried other solid foods, and he began to eat a variety of things. I find he is more likely to try things that are in small pieces. Once he tries something and knows he likes it, he'll take bites, and I don't have to cut things up so small. He still won't eat everything (what toddler will?), but he eats enough.

My recommendation would be to try stopping jarred food and see what you son does. If he's not ready, he'll let you know. If he is ready, it still may take a few temper tantrums, but eventually he'll try regular food if he's hungry enough. I know what you mean about having to bring food everywhere you go. I promise it gets better- and it will make you that much more appreciative the first time you walk out the door without a jar!! Good luck- I hope he starts gobbling up table food soon!

Answer 2

I have never personally experienced this. I can however assure you that while this IS abnormal, he is not malnutritioned. Therefore a major concerns are inconvenience, cost, and taking charge.
You have 2 obvious choices
1) Continue to let your son control the situation
2) Take control of the situation by what you described as being harsh.
It sounds like this is your first child & I understand you want to be kind and fair. Don't let this be the beginning of your child making decisions that are adult decisions. You decide when this is enough based on age appropriation. In a few months, he will be old enough for you to potty train. You won't let him decide when to do that too will you? What about bedtime, and where to sleep. Six months ago, I would've said be patient, don't overreact. But now, it's time to take control. It sounds like your son is only doing what he's allowed to get away with. STOP this cycle while he's young. Doing what's best for your family, your son, and your lives is not being harsh. It's smart. It's healthy. Someone has to take control, and that would be the adults here.
Maybe you should spice up your home cooked meals, so he can't resist. Be creative, but don't do baby foods any more. If he's old enough to tell you what he wants, that's officially too old to have baby food!
I do believe you need to take away the jar food ASAP. If it doesn't exist, he doesn't see it - he can't have it. Out of sight, out of mind. Come on, you can outsmart the 2 year-old for now. Now, in a few years that might change.
Good luck on this one.
Parenting is a challenge. Enjoy and don't ever be afraid to do the right thing.

Answer 3

Interesting... does he seem to like the textures of other foods? Try cutting down the amount of jarred food at servings. If you give him jarred foods for lunch and dinner as a main dish, use it as a side dish instead, giving him about half as much as you usually would. Introduce the foods you are having for dinner as the main course. It will take a while to do this and get him used to it. Continue to lessen the amount of jarred food every day until you have eliminated it completely. It is not the fact that "grownup" foods are healthier, but he should be eating solid stuff by now. Sometimes they just get into a routine... he should have been off the baby food at around 15-18 months. He could also have a sensory issue with his mouth.

Answer 4

Your son is playing you for a sap. It's not that "he still only eats jarred baby food", it's you only feed him jarred baby food. The problem started the first time you gave him regular food. He turned it away so you went back to the ol' standby. You kind of skipped the weaning process. You need to step up and be a parent. Take ALL the baby food away. I know this sounds harsh but I'm talking from experience. My son never got weaned from sipper cups and he only drank grape juice. We wound up having to have silver caps put on his two front teeth because the acid in the juice (which was concentrated by the sipper attachment) rotted his teeth. Luckily it was his baby teeth. He's fine now but our lazy parenting was the cause of the problem.

Answer 5

I agree with what the others are saying, as long as you give in, he will demand it. He needs to get off the jar food and be introduced to new textures and tastes and other nutrients. Get him off the dried fruits and introduce fresh as well. Try cutting up meats and other foods into very, very small pieces.
Is he self feeding or are you feeding it to him? Please remember, if you withhold the jar food but make something else available, he won't starve himself. Toddlers that age are unable to make that kind of choice, they will always eat when hungry!!!

Answer 6

I truly think the best thing to do is to just not buy any more jarred foods. When you run out, tell him (and even show him) there is no more. Trust me, he won't go hungry for very long, and you are NOT being a bad or abusive parent. Just don't give in. Every time you give in, it only strenghthens his resolve for the next time you try to break him of this (or any other) habit.

My daughter is very strong-willed and we've had to do this with other things and it does work.

Answer 7

Listen to what you've already been told. Ditch the jarred food and give your son table food. He may not eat the first, or second time, but eventually he will eat. He won't starve himself. It's not harsh, it's tough love and sometimes, that's what a parent needs to do in an effort to help their children grow, both mentally and physically.

Answer 8

I don't know how to help you, but here's a suggestion, start grinding up the real foods into a pudding mixture (sorta like the jar foods) so he can get used to the taste of real foods, and if he likes those certain foods, he will very soon change to the real thing. I'm thinking that he doesn't like the "chewing part" and the texture of real food yet (it's too hard or he just doesn't like the taste yet). Try that... I used to feed my son a bottle of milk w/ baby food in it & cereal because he didn't want to switch out of milk.. Eventually, we started giving him just the food, and he went for it...

Answer 9

The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Offer regular food and gradually decrease the amount of jarred food you offer. He won't go cold turkey, you won't starve him and he will figure it out. This is a power struggle and your 2 year old is controlling you. If you don't buy the food and continue offering it, he can't eat it. This is a problem that you have created.

Answer 10

ok, here is my suggestion (and letting him go hungry is NOT one of them!!). Get a baby food processer. Mabbee he likes the consistancy more than the taste, but blend up foods you eat at the dinner table. Say speggetti and meatballs. Grind it up, and feed it to him, and he gets used to the flavor of real foods- it has way more taste then his jar ones. You can do this with anything- chicken and rice, meatloaf and potatoes. Any soft fruit. Broccli-peas-greenbeans. He will graduate to the solid foods before you know it.