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17 month old doesn't eat table food



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 25th 05, 02:49 AM
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Default 17 month old doesn't eat table food

Hi,

I had a question for everyone.

My 17 month old DD is developing quite well in most areas, but our last
WBV hs made me upset. Our pediatrician (who I think will no longer be
our Pediatrician after this visit!) proceeded with quite a tirade at
our last visit because DD is still eating jarred baby food.

DD will eat soft foods (like yogurt, ice cream, soup, etc...) that we
feed her but wants no part of table food (and by table food, I mean
small, cut up bits of mean, chicken etc.). I have given her some of
the same meals we eat (but ground up in our food processer) and she
eats them fine. But if we were to put small pieces of hamburger,
chicken or the like in front of her she picks it up but doens't show
desire to place it in her mouth (however, cookies she figures out goes
in her mouth !). If we place the food in her mouth, she might chew a
little but doesn't really show desire to do it. I should add she only
has 3 teeth right now and I really believe that is a main reason she
doesn't react well to table food...doesn't chew yet!

She doesn't get "grossed out" by table food (I know of babies that get
mad or upset with table food's), she just prefers the softer, more
swallowable foods).

The Pediatrician said that she wanted DD on table foods within 3-4 days
and with no baby food. I just don't understand. After all, isn't DD
getting the perfect nutritional balance if I make sure she has plenty
of fruit, vegetables and meats from Gerber jarred foods? Several of my
"Mom friends" say that the doc is overreacting and is pressuring DD to
keep up with the "norm". But as we all know, their is no "norm" for
development in children that is the same!
What does everyone else think?

Thanks!!!
Amanda

  #2  
Old January 25th 05, 03:48 AM
Ericka Kammerer
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wrote:

Hi,

I had a question for everyone.

My 17 month old DD is developing quite well in most areas, but our last
WBV hs made me upset. Our pediatrician (who I think will no longer be
our Pediatrician after this visit!) proceeded with quite a tirade at
our last visit because DD is still eating jarred baby food.

DD will eat soft foods (like yogurt, ice cream, soup, etc...) that we
feed her but wants no part of table food (and by table food, I mean
small, cut up bits of mean, chicken etc.). I have given her some of
the same meals we eat (but ground up in our food processer) and she
eats them fine. But if we were to put small pieces of hamburger,
chicken or the like in front of her she picks it up but doens't show
desire to place it in her mouth (however, cookies she figures out goes
in her mouth !). If we place the food in her mouth, she might chew a
little but doesn't really show desire to do it. I should add she only
has 3 teeth right now and I really believe that is a main reason she
doesn't react well to table food...doesn't chew yet!

She doesn't get "grossed out" by table food (I know of babies that get
mad or upset with table food's), she just prefers the softer, more
swallowable foods).

The Pediatrician said that she wanted DD on table foods within 3-4 days
and with no baby food. I just don't understand. After all, isn't DD
getting the perfect nutritional balance if I make sure she has plenty
of fruit, vegetables and meats from Gerber jarred foods? Several of my
"Mom friends" say that the doc is overreacting and is pressuring DD to
keep up with the "norm". But as we all know, their is no "norm" for
development in children that is the same!
What does everyone else think?


I can see some merit on both sides of the situation.
I think your doctor is overreacting by insisting that she has
to be off jarred foods NOW!! It's not like she's going to
starve to death or get malmourished or anything. Plus, what
business does he have going off on a "tirade" at you?
On the other hand, chewing and eating table foods
is a learned skill, and there is often a window of opportunity
where they're easier to introduce. You may have missed that
window of opportunity, and may now face a more difficult road
to getting her to accept table foods. They certainly don't
need teeth to be able to chew. But there are kids who eat
pureed foods quite late and don't have any issues longer term.
On yet another hand, there could be some sort of
issue making it difficult for her to accept table foods.
I wouldn't leap to that conclusion this early, but it
might be something to keep your eye on.
If I were in your shoes, I probably would be
encouraging table foods. I wouldn't so hard nosed about
it as to go cold turkey or refuse to feed her if she
wouldn't eat table foods, but I also wouldn't be complacent
about continuing to feed her only soft foods. After all,
if she's figured out that cookies are fine to chew, it's
not like she's incapable. When you do things that
encourage kids not to move on to the next level, the
longer the child uses the old behavior after he is
capable of the new behavior, the harder it is to break
the habit. It's not the end of the earth, but it
could be a pain to be pureeing her foods a year from
now--which isn't guaranteed, but isn't impossible
either.
Ultimately, you have to feel your way through
and figure how to encourage her to move forward as
she's capable, in her own time. I guess I believe
that you're fine as long as you're moving forward at
her pace, but you have to be cautious to make sure
that *you're* not inadvertently holding her back.
It's so easy to do that in so many areas of parenting.
You get used to doing things a certain way and it's
easy to miss tiny cues that it's time to start
changing things--especially with a first child.
Before you know it, you're encouraging regressive
behavior all unwittingly, and then it becomes hard
to get out of that. I think we've probably all done
that with one area of behavior or another at some
time.
Or maybe she really isn't ready yet and
will do it in her own time ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

  #3  
Old January 25th 05, 12:56 PM
Welches
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wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I had a question for everyone.

My 17 month old DD is developing quite well in most areas, but our last
WBV hs made me upset. Our paediatrician (who I think will no longer be
our Paediatrician after this visit!) proceeded with quite a tirade at
our last visit because DD is still eating jarred baby food.

DD will eat soft foods (like yoghurt, ice cream, soup, etc...) that we
feed her but wants no part of table food (and by table food, I mean
small, cut up bits of mean, chicken etc.). I have given her some of
the same meals we eat (but ground up in our food processor) and she
eats them fine. But if we were to put small pieces of hamburger,
chicken or the like in front of her she picks it up but doesn't show
desire to place it in her mouth (however, cookies she figures out goes
in her mouth !).

Well I'd prefer a biscuit to a piece of hamburger!!

If we place the food in her mouth, she might chew a
little but doesn't really show desire to do it. I should add she only
has 3 teeth right now and I really believe that is a main reason she
doesn't react well to table food...doesn't chew yet!

No. Don't put it down to that. #1 ate anything-including meat pieces before
she had any teeth at all. I never worked out how she managed some finger
food without teeth.

She doesn't get "grossed out" by table food (I know of babies that get
mad or upset with table food's), she just prefers the softer, more
swallowable foods).

The Paediatrician said that she wanted DD on table foods within 3-4 days
and with no baby food.

I don't see why she shouldn't have some baby food. What if you give her
mashed potato? That's like a baby food, but it could be what you're eating.
3-4 days also seems a bit drastic. It's not like she's going to die even if
she never eats table food!!

I just don't understand. After all, isn't DD
getting the perfect nutritional balance if I make sure she has plenty
of fruit, vegetables and meats from Gerber jarred foods? Several of my
"Mom friends" say that the doc is overreacting and is pressuring DD to
keep up with the "norm". But as we all know, their is no "norm" for
development in children that is the same!
What does everyone else think?

#2 is 15 months. She likes finger food and the baby jars. The 4m+ ones. She
won't eat the older jars-spits them out.
However she's not sufficiently interested in food to eat enough table food
to keep her going. So I do her one pot of mashed up baby food and some
finger food. Like a couple of cooked carrot sticks, a piece of potato and a
piece of chicken. I feed her the baby food and she um.. plays with the
finger food. Some days she'll eat it all. Other days she throws it all on
the floor and, other days she'll eat bits and not much else.

There is some concern among health professionals that there is a "window"
where the child can take more lumpy foods and if you miss it there can have
repercussions. I think then the thought is they can have difficulty learning
to chew-rather than it coming naturally, can lead to other problems like
speech even. Don't know how true it is, but that's the thought.

I'd offer finger food with the baby food. Then she's getting the nutrition
in, but learning finger foods.
Debbie


  #5  
Old January 25th 05, 08:50 PM
Circe
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Ding-bling Google and it's not quoting posts!
Amanda wrote about her 17mo not eating much table food
and her pediatrician's demand that she transition to
table foods in 3-4 days.


My oldest child was quite late to transition to table foods, though
perhaps not quite as late as 17 months. He had quite a strong gag
reflex (not unusual in people who have reactive airways, as he does)
and that slowed him down. (He's now 7.5yo and it's only recently that
he's really started to enjoy truly "chewy" foods, so this particular
characteristic held him back in terms of developing a wider palate for
quite some time.)

I tend to agree with everyone else that there's no need for a mad,
tearing rush to eliminate pureed/mashed foods from her diet. OTOH,
having few teeth is no barrier to chewing (my middle child would
actually have nothing whatsoever to do with baby foods, but adored very
crunchy crackers when she was 7mo and had not a tooth to her name), so
she certainly *can* start eating more foods that require chewing now
unless there's another problem. You don't mention whether she gags a
lot or not in your post--that was certainly a problem for my son, and
because it frightened him, it frightened me, which meant I wasn't in
any hurry to push him.

I brought up my oldest child's difficulty in accepting chewier foods as
he got older in large part because I *do* think there are some
potential long-term repercussions to allowing a toddler to avoid foods
that must be chewed before they're swallowed. It took my son *forever*
compared to his younger sister and brother--who never even *liked* baby
foods--to learn that you can't just put food in your mouth and swallow
it. If a food required more than about 10 chews to make it swallowable,
he'd reject it out of hand. And that led to quite a bit of picky
eating, a lot of catering to his "need" for soft foods on our part, and
an overall less-than-healthy variety in his diet. We've finally
overcome that, but it took until he was about 7yo to get there, and
we've acquired some minor problems with overweight in the meantime (due
in large part, I think, to his tendency to eat too many high-fat, easy
to chew foods) which we now have to work on.

I'm not saying that these things will necessarily happen to your
daughter if you don't make an aggressive move towards chewier foods
within a few days. OTOH, I wouldn't be inordinately complacent about it
and would at least make an effort to offer more chewy foods in each
meal than you presently are.

Good luck and HTH!
--
Be well, Barbara

  #6  
Old January 26th 05, 02:03 AM
Karen Ray-Stewart
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Default

as long as she is eating healthy, I would say to feed her whatever way she
prefers to eat it.
Karen

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I had a question for everyone.

My 17 month old DD is developing quite well in most areas, but our last
WBV hs made me upset. Our pediatrician (who I think will no longer be
our Pediatrician after this visit!) proceeded with quite a tirade at
our last visit because DD is still eating jarred baby food.

DD will eat soft foods (like yogurt, ice cream, soup, etc...) that we
feed her but wants no part of table food (and by table food, I mean
small, cut up bits of mean, chicken etc.). I have given her some of
the same meals we eat (but ground up in our food processer) and she
eats them fine. But if we were to put small pieces of hamburger,
chicken or the like in front of her she picks it up but doens't show
desire to place it in her mouth (however, cookies she figures out goes
in her mouth !). If we place the food in her mouth, she might chew a
little but doesn't really show desire to do it. I should add she only
has 3 teeth right now and I really believe that is a main reason she
doesn't react well to table food...doesn't chew yet!

She doesn't get "grossed out" by table food (I know of babies that get
mad or upset with table food's), she just prefers the softer, more
swallowable foods).

The Pediatrician said that she wanted DD on table foods within 3-4 days
and with no baby food. I just don't understand. After all, isn't DD
getting the perfect nutritional balance if I make sure she has plenty
of fruit, vegetables and meats from Gerber jarred foods? Several of my
"Mom friends" say that the doc is overreacting and is pressuring DD to
keep up with the "norm". But as we all know, their is no "norm" for
development in children that is the same!
What does everyone else think?

Thanks!!!
Amanda



  #7  
Old January 28th 05, 03:26 AM
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Default

Ericka said:

"Or maybe she really isn't ready yet and
will do it in her own time ;-)"

Hi Ericka,

Thanks for your advice. I think that is exactly it with DD. She was
"late" to do a few things, like crawling for instance. She crawls just
fine, she just didn't do it as early as the Pediatrician wanted her to
(no surprise there!).

She's very well adjusted in every way and show's no other
"developmental" signs, so I'm fairly confident that she's progressing
just fine and will "be where she needs to be" in her own time. From
some other Mom's who have emailed me off-list, I see I'm not alone!
Thanks Moms!!

  #8  
Old January 28th 05, 03:28 AM
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Welches said:

"If we place the food in her mouth, she might chew a
little but doesn't really show desire to do it. I should add she only
has 3 teeth right now and I really believe that is a main reason she
doesn't react well to table food...doesn't chew yet!



No. Don't put it down to that. #1 ate anything-including meat pieces
before
she had any teeth at all. I never worked out how she managed some
finger
food without teeth."

Hi..

I should explain. I didn't mean to imply that if kids don't have
teeth, they can't eat! I meant that I couldn't see when the doctor
said to give her "pretty much everything we eat" how she'd even gum
meats and chicken! Not that it's impossible, but it just seemed
foreign to me!

  #9  
Old January 28th 05, 04:21 AM
Ericka Kammerer
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Default

wrote:

I should explain. I didn't mean to imply that if kids don't have
teeth, they can't eat! I meant that I couldn't see when the doctor
said to give her "pretty much everything we eat" how she'd even gum
meats and chicken! Not that it's impossible, but it just seemed
foreign to me!


Believe me, it can seem odd, but they really can
manage an awful lot with their gums! My second's favorite
snack food as a 9 month old was dry bite sized frosted
mini wheats. He only had a couple of teeth up front.
He just gummed the heck out of them. He'd even stuff
a few at a time in there. Never choked once. I'm not
saying that all kids will do that if only their parents
expose them to such foods. I'm just saying that there's
no need to hold back just because there aren't teeth.
They really can eat almost anything, even without teeth.
The only things I would avoid are things you need teeth
to rip off (e.g., corn on the cob, though they often
get a kick out of gumming it) or really hard things
(like raw carrot). Meats, cut up into small pieces
against the grain, are no problem. Some kids will have
an overactive gag reflex or other problems with lumpy
food, but until and unless there are problems, there's
no reason to avoid these foods even if she doesn't have
teeth. I think it's common to feel that's weird with
a first baby. It's only when you get to the second
baby and find they've made off with some food you'd
never have given them and are now happily chowing
down that you realize that they really *can* do that.
Poor first kids--they get too much supervision ;-)

Best wishes,
Ericka

  #10  
Old February 3rd 05, 11:37 AM
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Hi

I read your article about your 17month old DD, I personnally think
these pediatricians go over the top. How many of them will stick to
the rules with their own children. If your 17 month old DD is
developing well and is eating I don't see what difference it makes if
she is not eating table food. At least she is eating! If she only has
three teeth then she isn't going to be able to chew properly yet
anyway. They always say a mother knows their own child stick to your
own instincts and like you said find a new padiatrician who is going to
help you not patronise you.

Good luck.
Louise

 




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