10 month old not eating solids

[tweedledee*tweedledum]

Hi, I have twins, a boy and a girl. My son eats 3 solids meals a day, but my daughter has no interest in anything other than teething rusks, heinz cereal and occasional she will eat some pureed pumpkin, potato etc. that I have made. I introduced solids to her around 5 and a half months and initially she tried everything I gave her, but now she is not interested at all. She is formula fed and she refuses to feed herself the bottle no matter how much I try to get her to hold the bottle herself. I offer her a spoon and she just plays with it rather than feeding herself. She will pick up food from her plate and put it in her mouth but she usually squishes it up first in her first. With fruit and other solids etc. no matter if it is in finger food form or pureed she tastes it, makes a screwed up face, gags, sometimes vomits but mostly just spits the stuff out. I am concerned now because she is 10 months old and pretty much only eats cereal and has 3 formula bottles a day. She is not underweight or anything, but I am worried that she will have an aversion to eating later on that will be harder to reverse.

[the pero clinic]

Dear Tweedledee*tweedledum,

It is hard to say why it is that your little girl is not progressing with her solids. It may be that she is overly sensitive to different tastes and textures in her mouth; she is having difficulty in learning to chew lumpier foods; or a combination of the two. These are the most common reasons for poor feeding in otherwise healthy bubs.

You would be aware that, at 10 months, your bubs should be enjoying a range of tastes in puree / lumpy / mashed form and be learning to eat soft finger foods as well. It is good that you are trying to address the issue now – you are certainly correct in that the longer it is left, the harder it will be to encourage different foods.

Without knowing the reasons behind her food fussiness, I can make just a couple of suggestions to get you started.

§ Gradually add very small and soft lumps to the purees to increase your little girl’s tolerance for new textures. Avoid the lumpy commercial foods at this point – there are generally too many and different sized lumps.
§ Start to mix different pureed tastes together, such as a small spoonful of fruit puree into her cereal, to expand her accepted tastes. Gradually increase the amount of the new flavour in the mix.
§ Avoid giving her attention for gagging and spitting foods. Some bubs will also respond well to a sharp “no” to stop habitual gagging.

Please see your doctor, CHN or a paediatric feeding specialist if you continue to have difficulties with your little girl’s feeding, and particularly if her weight gain starts to slow or drop.

the pero clinic