Sigh...my daughter wont eat my cooking!?

Question

I aint a bad cook, I am actually quite good (so says my friends, family and hubby). But when i try to give my 8.5 month daughter some home cooked nutritious food she spits it out. She prefers the baby food jars. But then she eats when we go to restaurants, she ate when we went to my Godsons christening, and she seems to eat when her dad cooks for her. Yesterday I cooked and her dad fed it to her and she ate it but i reckon if I had fed her she wouldnt have eaten it... i dunno maybe i am paranoid

I dont want her getting used to processed food which is what I am having to feed her... any tips guidance, i am getting exasperated!

Thanks for all the good advice guys, i'll just ignore the silly comments. I will just use a bit of everyone's advice... mix a bit with baby food, leave her to get a bit more hungry, perservere with the home cooked food, and stop fretting about it!

Answer 1

Oh sweetie, I don't think it has anything to do with your cooking. She just needs a slower transition. You can give her little bits of food that she can pick up with her fingers. Just put it on the highchair tray, or on the table - don't bother with a plate at that age. While she is picking up the little pieces, you can give her what she is eating, but ground up. You can buy inexpensive grinders made for making baby food, or you can use a blender or food processor. Add some water to solid food and grind it. In between the bites she is putting in her mouth, you can get small spoon fulls of the ground food into her mouth. Don't make the bites too big. After she is able to feed herself pretty well, you can dispense with the ground food.

Answer 2

Geez some of these people are so rude, aren't they?? Just keep trying her. The person who said put it in baby food jars may have been joking, but you know, that just might work. Do keep trying to feed her real food instead of the processed stuff...so much better for her. I'm sure your cooking is fine :-). But perhaps you're putting too much salt/seasoning/etc. in? I don't know. Babies' taste buds are way more sensitive than ours, so ask your hubby if there's something he adds or doesn't add to his cooking that's different from what you do. Could be that simple. And above all, KEEP TRYING. I know I said that twice already, but the more you offer it to her, the more likelihood that one of these days she'll surprise you and gobble your home-cooked food right up. :-)

Answer 3

Have you read the ingredients of a jar of baby food? It's not bad. Chicken, for example, contains chicken and water sufficient for processing. I've yet to see any baby food that contains a large amount of fat, cholesterol, sodium or preservatives.

How many teeth does she have? Can she eat small bits of food yet (has she mastered her pincher grasp?)? If so, instead of pureeing/mashing the food, try giving her teeny bites of it on her high chair tray and let her try to feed herself.

I'm sure your cooking is fine (assuming the rest of the family eats it, lol!) but maybe what's fine for them isn't agreeing with her. (For example, maybe you use a lot of salt or herbs or "different" flavors in your food, and she doesn't like it. Maybe it's too spicy for her.)

Answer 4

HI,

I have been looking after my three grandsons, twins of 3 and an 18month old for the past 10 months and it came to my attention that they love bland food. No salt, no sugar, and because they are lazy, they don't like too many lumps and pieces to eat. Try thinking what you would like to eat if you were her, and you had been fed a diet on bland food, would you like it to go from that to say spicy, or salty? Slowly slowly catchy monkey! Don't despair, you'll get there! Good Luck!

Answer 5

I have three children my youngest is a nine month old little girl. She eats when she wants to eat sometimes nothing all day. She will not eat from a spoon and always wants what we have. So my advice is dont worry and go with the flow and offer a different variety of food little and often. Good Luck xx

Answer 6

Just persevere, my daughter would only eat jars of food and only if they were fruit, didn't matter if I made exactly the same thing she would refuse to touch it! So I left her with it and now at the grand old age of 11 months that girl will eat absolutely anything you put in front of her.

As young as she is she will also be practising her skills........... you know the ones, annoy mummy, wrap daddy round her little finger it's just what kids do. They like to think they are in charge and aren't afraid of letting you know it! I have no suggestions for this one though as I'm still trying to figure it out, my little darling can wipe the floor with me with just one of her cheeky little smiles but they are worth the tantrums, crying and screaming (and that's just me lol )
Good luck with your daughters eating habits I'm pretty sure you will figure it out :o)

Answer 7

Everyone's tastes are different. What tastes good to you and your friends may not taste good to the baby. I suggest testing the baby. save some baby food jars and put some of your home cooked food in it then see if she eats it. If she does then she is just playing you if she doesnt eat it she just dont like your food.

Answer 8

Try placing a doll beside you as big as
she is and let her see you give the doll attention with the feeding
maybe she will want to eat also
Who knows why babies are like that
try to pretend you are eating and ignore
her to see what she will do
Anything can be tried once

Answer 9

You just have to persevere with it and she will start eating off you maybe you should be a bit patient with it and she will respond to you if she eats it when her Dad gives it maybe she thinks you're a soft touch even this young they can tell keep trying and she will eat once she works out that she will have to hope this helps

Answer 10

Babies are funny, they do what they wont , when they wont, its not your cooking, my little grandaughter wont eat the fruit in jars, but loves the veges, wont eat homecooked veges or fruit, tried the put in a jar buzz, and that didnt work, so there you go. So dont fret, all will be fine