wont eat meat?

Question

My 8 1/2 month old daughter wont eat meat, she will from a jar but no matter how well I blend it, she wont touch it, she just heaves. Any advice?

Answer 1

Don't worry. She'll eat meat eventually. The jarred stuff is pretty gross so I don't blame her for not eating it. My daughter wouldn't eat meat for a long time either, but she loves all kinds of "chicken" now and loves to eat meat (she's 27 months and started eating meat at about 20 months).

Answer 2

I thought mostly children didn;t like meat as it was chewy, but that doesn't appear to be the main issue for your daughter. The body is designed to know what is or isn't good for it and react accordingly, especially in such a young child, we drown these reflexes with chocolate and crisps as we get older so I would wonder if she has some sort of intollerance or allergy- I would certainly ask your doctor for advice, in the meantime ensure that your daughter has protein in other forms as she is growing fast- lentils, beans and chick peas, cheese, and eggs are all good sources, she is too young to be eating nuts or seeds yet though. So long as she is thriving and growing well it shouldn't be a major problem, children are brought up to be vegan or vegetarian from birth without any ill effects, but do see your doctor.

Answer 3

In the jar it is not pure meat, it's the mixture of many things (read the ingrediences). You should use the very small amount of blended meat at first, make a good mixture with mild taste similar with the jar's and as delicious as you can.

Good luck !!!

Answer 4

My pediatrician didnt want me to introduce meat until 9mths, and in fact I waited a bit later than that to start. Even now that it's been a few mths my daughter is still pretty iffy about it. It's a new taste, new texture, and you really have to just take your time with this sort of thing. They only need a very small portion, and mixed up with her favorite veggies she HOPEFULLY will soon accept it. Give her a little more time and she should come around.

Answer 5

There are alot of reasons she won't eat meat, things that disturb her, say, texture, smell or taste. Her tastes will change over time, so don't force it right now.

There are many things she can eat instead that have the protein she needs. It will just take a little thinking on your part to find substitutes for a while. Good Luck!

Answer 6

Don't worry! My youngest was exactly the same. She wouldn't eat meat for a good three years and even stopped drinking milk!
But she did love fish! and really got into smoked salmon and Tuna (I know the 1st is a little expensive - but it was all she would eat).
She would eat all the things you wouldn't expect a young child to eat - Salads with peppers etc.
But when they start mixing with other kids and see what they are eating they start to try new and different foods, even school dinners help.
She eats meat now, 'cos as she is older and I persuaded her to try it 'once', and if she didn't like it I would promise never to give her it again, thankfully it worked - not with all meat, but most meat.
When they get older they tend to get one fad and eat the same all the time like Pasta with ketchup!(yuk!), I like my kids to eat healthily but sometimes they just want to be rebellious and do come around to your way of thinking eventually.
Try inviting another child (who eats meat) from 'the drop-in' around for lunch and serve them both up eg. Spaghetti bolognese and you could say 'Look!, Amber's trying it and eating it all up let's see if (your child) can eat all your dinner up like Amber' worth a try.
Good luck! :0)

Answer 7

Give her the meat from the jar and try again with the real stuff in a month or two. If you are giving her meat you cook is it pureed? If not does she have enough teeth to chew it?

Answer 8

Don't worry about it. Let her eat what she wants and once a week try to give her something else to test if she is up to it.

The taste sensation of growing childeren changes a couple of times. My son used to like olives when he was one year old. 2 years later he hates them. I think it is important not to force food to childeren since eating disorders are hard to cure. My oldest son (autistic) lives off bread and meat and is never ill.

Most of the time childeren know what is good or bad for them.

Answer 9

Maybe she doesn't like the texture ? Mix it with some veggies or add some water/milk when you feed it to her ? The consistency is a lot smoother from the jar that's probably why she prefers it.

Answer 10

My kids were not meat eaters when they were little and still aren't. Don't push it. There are lots of foods that can be eaten for protein instead. Eating meat is not a necessity.