Is This "Normal"? 10 1/2 Months and Getting Picky About Foods?

My son also became picky at this age. (he's 11mos now) I found that he was tired of baby food, but too young for table food. The third stage food is horrible! I started feeding my son table food that was easily mashed and those little toddler puffs. They look like cereal, but dissolve quickly. I started w/ sweet peas and green beans, butter beans etc. Now he's pretty much eating table food. Good luck, hope this helps. M.

I am a mother of 4 (10 1/2, 8, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2)children and yes each one has come to a point of being choosy. They ate very well and then one day (10-18 mos) it began.
I just want to say it is up to you as a family what you choose. But I would say that giving in and allowing her only her favorite thing she is learning to get her way. She will not starve to wait a meal or two, she will probably resist especially since she has learned that she can have what she wants at this point. I just put at least one bite of each thing we were eating on their plate and then they would eventually eat. Now they eat pretty what we put on their plate. They even eat salad.
I hope this helps.

V.
Mom of 4 healthy beautiful children (boy,girl,boy,girl).
Married 12 1/2 years.

hi aimee,
my first child was very picky when we started moving from baby foods to table foods also. he's 11 now, and still picky, but better. just wondering, does your daughter have a high "gag" reflex? my son tended to have an issue with textures of foods, and would gag easily. for a while, his only foods were cheese, crackers, and french fries. we called him "carbohydrate boy"... the good news is, it will pass...but she may never be the child who eats anything you give her. (my second and third kids are!) i was so frustrated with my son, that i actually went to a seminar at northside hospital when he was about one...and they said that you should just provide a well balanced meal...with at least one food that they have seen before , and they will eat what they want, and will not starve...fighting them on it won't change anything, and could turn it into a power struggle. you could say that she needs to taste everything before getting seconds of the food she likes, but sooner or later, she'll try stuff...but until then, as long as you are providing healthy choices, and not letting her graze all day, so that she's not hungry at meal times, she'll eat when she's fed, and know that if she doesn't, she'll be waiting until the next mealtime. good luck! and try not to stress...

Your normal. I also have a 10 1/2 month old and we are going through the same thing. I always go back to what my doctor told me; "She's not going to go hungry." She also gave a good tip to make sure she is hungry when she eats. That means no beloved cheese crackers, in my case gerber stars. Plus, it takes a baby 10 times to get use to the taste of new foods. I've been giving my baby regular cut up food instead of baby food lately and she really seems to enjoy that much more then gerber's stage 3. Don't get frusted, just try new foods until you find something healthy she loves. My oldest daughter is two and she never grew out of her horrible eating habits but she loves grapes, chicken and cheese so that works for me.

Aimee... My daughter did the same thing with my oldest grandson. Fed him anything he wanted as long as he ate-otherwise she felt guilty that he was starving. She'd go as far as making him 3 different breakfasts, etc. until she felt he ate enough. He's now 9 years old and is still very picky. He eats alot of unhealthy foods such as fries and mac and cheese. Never eats meat of any kind. And he is now overweight. I know its hard when people say "They'll eat when they are hungry" but it is also very true. I raised 6 kids myself and stck by that rule. I left out fruits during the day in case they felt hungry. The important thing is to keep it healthy. If you put food in front of them and they don't eat it, they catch on the next time that that's what they are getting so eat it or be hungry. They do give in! lol Good luck!

Stop worrying about the staged foods and give her what you eat, within reason. I wateched my daughter-in-law introduce real food at an age I thought was much too soon (about 8 months) but all 3 children are great eaters, love veggies/fruit, not sweets! and the cheese and crackers can be good - watch the kinds of crackers!!1 Use healthy ones from the start. Enjoy your child and don't worry - she will eat when she is hungry! S.

hi Aimee. I totally understand your frustration with trying to give your daughter a healthy meal even when she is getting so picky! My 16 month old has gone through some picky phases as well, but I saw it as him trying to declare his independence! He went from loving foods like applesauce and yogurt to absolutely refusing them-- mostly because he couldn't feed those foods to himself! At that point we stopped worrying about giving him pureed and mashed foods and he relishes being able to feed himself instead. So his meals include a variety of finger foods-- cheerios, bananas and a scrambled egg in the morning (30 seconds in the microwave-- no big production to make breakfast) and then things like cheese, crackers, toast, chicken, veggies (thank goodness for the frozen peas and carrots or mixed veggies-- already cut up to the perfect toddler size!), and fruit (strawberries and grapes are his favorites) for lunch and dinner or snacks. I know it's not exactly what's coming off of my plate, but there is still variety and it's healthy and balanced, he feels great about feeding himself, and I'm not resorting to cooking multiple full meals to feed my family. Of course the downside to letting him feed himself and the accessibility of finger foods is the number of times I have to sweep up everyday! smile

My son is 10 1/2 months old. He wants to eat what we're eating. If I try to spoon feed him something else, he either sticks his tongue out with his mouth closed, or he spits/blows it all over us. The only way I can get him to eat baby food at all (and very rarely) is if he's interested/distracted by something else and just forgets to spit the food out. :-) Also, when we're eating I try to remind myself that a baby's portion of table food is actually quite small. That way when his tray is still full of food at the end of the meal (oops, gave him too much again), I realize that he got enough for his needs with the small bits he ate. Basically, you're right... this too shall pass.

My son is 19 months, he was born 6 weeks premature and went through the same thing. They told us that he could have "texture" issue but we had no idea that it would cross into his foods so strongly. We tried to move into #3 foods and we had to revert back to #2 and #1 foods because he wouldn't take half of those.
He has just started eating fish sticks and chicken tenders. He likes carrots (can't be cold) and fresh veg. It appears as long as the food was not slimmy, mushy, lumpy or to bumpy he would consider trying it.
It still is a struggle but if he goes 2 days without much food we back it up with one of the Pedisure or Nutrapal drinks. He healthy, not getting sick so something is working.

Yes, "this to shall pass" as long as you stop giving in. There are two things you need to accept about your child. 1. She's smart and realizes her actions cause a reaction in you. She knows that if she doesn't eat those weird new foods you will give her her favorite foods. 2. Children will eat when they are hungry. If she gets hungry enough she will eat. She's just holding out for cheese and crackers. Also realize that children need to see something new many times before they will try it, and then need to try it several times before they will be really comfortable with it. You can compromise by giving her something familiar with something new at times. Don't make a big deal out of the new foods, simply offer them to her. If you are interested there's a great book called "How to Get Your Child to Eat But Not Too Much" that goes deeper into explaining what I have said.

My 10 month old prefers to eat what is on my plate or what I'm eating. Try making a spot on your plate for her food and just pass it over to her after you start eating. Let her self-feed, if my daughter gets too much in her mouth, she just spits it all out and starts over. Steamed carrots, soft fruits, small pieces of meats, they enjoy participating in family time now.

Hi, I'm a mom of 5 boys, half grown and 1 girl. We are a his, hers and ours family. My oldest son by birth at 10 months would not eat peas and then when he got teeth, at 11 months would not eat chicken unless I chewed it first for him. He then at the age of 9yrs told us he did not like beef and actually developed an allergy to beef. He is now 22 and eats beef and peas, so yes in my opionion she is going through a phase. Just go with the flow and as long as she eats good she'll be okay. You sound like a wonderful and concern mom.

totally normal and she may be tired of baby food since shes had real food, theres no rule that says you have to feed you baby baby food at 10.5 months. my daughter was eating Chinese by that age her fav was Mongolian beef. just make sure it what ever you give her is cut in small pieces she can handle. At one point my baby who would eat anything would only eat cherios. toddlers are VERY tempermental little people. feed her what she will eat, what she likes will broaden as she gets older.

Hey Aimee,
My little girl is Nine months (and Im in agreement with you, where did the year go) anyways, I feed her from the table. Everything we eat, she eats. So far so good. I rarely give her baby food, she has her cereal in the morning but during the day, she'll share my lunch with me and my dinner. I haven't run into the picky side yet, but just keep trying.
Good Luck!!

Aimee, I have a daughter who just turned 12 months and she went through the picky eating stage too. It's very normal and she'll stop it soon enough. I know how you feel though about her not getting much to eat, but everyone told me that when she gets hungry enough she'll eat. And that is very true. My daughter would only eat cereal for the longest time when she used to eat a wide variety of foods. My recommendation is if there's only a few things she'll eat to let her have them because it won't last long. My baby is back to eating about anything I'll give her, veggies (Thank God) being her favorite. I hope this has helped you because I know how frustrating it is. Good luck with everything, and God Bless, T.

Hi Aimee,

We have a different breed of children in this generation. I have been hearing a lot of parents stating their children are picky eaters. I think it is great, especially, if the food they have chosen is better for them. If your child desire to eat a lot of junk food, of course that is not good, nor would I suggest to give in. You really didn't mention the type of food your child desires. However, I would not be surprised if it is healthy food. My granddaughter who is 3; nieces and nephews who are less than 10 do not like pork and barely eat red meat; however, they like chicken and fish. They were never told to eat or think that way by their parents, whom eat pork and red meat. I think that is great, considering how meat are being processed these days. LJB

My son has been picky from day one. I can't really complain much because he gets it from me. I would shift from baby food to "real food" and if you think she isn't ready to chew some of the things, you can run it through a food processor to smoosh it up for her. I have to object to the caving in and giving crackers and cheese because you giving that to her is teaching her that even if she does like the food originally given to her, if she refuses to eat it, she will get what she really wants anyway. My other thoughts on this is she will eat when she is hungry enough. You can send her to bed if she hasn't eaten her food, it is not a punishment, she just wasn't hungry. Unfortunately a lot of parenting is a guessing game.

C.