Finger Food Question

[Anonymous]

So it seems Marisa will only eat “dry” finger foods. She does REALLY
well with Puffs, Cheerios, graham crackers, arrowroot cookies, etc.
She’ll also eat wheat bread (toasted or not) and chicken nuggets,
although she’ll only take a few pieces of that whereas the crackers,
etc she’d eat a ton of.

But she won’t even touch anything soft of wet – no pasta, cooked
veggies, fruits, etc. I’ve tried soft cooked pasta in different shapes,
steamed carrots, steamed green beans, fruit cubes, etc – she gets
freaked out and upset and won’t touch it and won’t let me give it to
her either. Any ideas? Just keep putting some on her plate and see if
she’ll eventually try?

Her meals are still mostly purees but she’s starting to want to self
feed more and more so I’m trying to stay ahead of the game and find
healthy finger foods for her. She does like these veggie chips from
whole foods but they are too hard for her to chew still – with her
first two teeth still only halfway through.

[Anonymous]

I’d just keep offering, but don’t make a big deal of it. Eventually she’ll come around.

[Anonymous]

My girls were the same way, especially Ellie. Just keep offering and be as casual and non-reactive as you possibly can be when she refuses. She’ll probably surprise you one day! Also, my girls refused to be fork fed for a long time, but eventually they became more receptive to it. When they were about a year old I started giving them a little child’s fork and while they tried to use their little fork I’d sneak a few bites into them with another fork. And then as they got a little older they would take pride in being able to do it themselves and they’d self -feed the fruits and veggies with the fork. Neither of them liked to pick them up as babies. Must be pretty common. I thought it was just my girls.

I kept giving purees for this reason, too. I wanted their diet to consist of lots of fruits and veggies, but they wouldn’t pick them up and eat them until they were much older. I didn’t want them to eat nothing but crackers, cheerios, bread, etc. That’s what happens with lots of toddlers. They get hooked on simple carbohydrate type foods which are fine as part of their diet, but should not be all they eat. At least if they keep eating purees they will stay accustomed to the taste of fruits and veggies.

Do you have one of those mesh baby safe feeders? Both my girls loved them at this age (Myles not yet), and that also keeps them accustomed to the taste of fruits and veggies. My girls loved grapes and cantaloupe in them.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys – will just keep trying – it’s almost comical how excited
she gets for the crackers, puffs, etc and how frustrated with the
other.

[Anonymous]

Karen – Brian was the same way before – ate dry finger food, would not touch wet finger food, then one day, he saw his dad was eating instant noodles, he wanted to try some, and he picked up some wet noodles, it was the day that he overcome his fear on wet finger food. You just need to keep trying, she will take it someday.

[Anonymous]

I used to always serve a new item with foods Hailey liked to eat, if she took to it great, if not I would give it a few tries and then re-introduce again after a few months. Generally, the second go around is successful.

Just last week her babysitter asked me if Hailey had ever had fresh blueberries before because she ate a ton of them at lunch, well I had given them to her a few months ago and she wouldn’t touch them! It’s pretty much like that with every food it seems.

We also have a lot of luck with giving her things from our plate.

[Anonymous]

Karen, have you tried roasted vegetables? I make up finger size pieces of sweet potato, parsnip, potato and carrot and coat them in olive oil and then bake them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Tyler loves them, they will feel dry on the outside so maybe Marisa will try them. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

That’s a good idea Amber… I’ve never given Marisa olive oil – is that a food I need to test like other foods?

Thanks Stacey – we need to get better about giving her things from our
plate – it’s just hard because we’re still limited in her food options
(trialing dairy/Enfamil right now) and because we dont’ have time for
too many family meals. But we’re making a point to try.

Thanks also Sharon!

[Anonymous]

We never really tested olive oil. Elecare and Neocate have a few different oils in them so they probably have already been exposed to some oils. You could add half a teaspoon to one of her purees if you wanted to test. Tyler ate a small bag of fries from McDonalds yesterday (we dont have dairy & wheat in ours here), it is so great for him to eat what everyone else is having. It usually is hard to share family foods unless it is something plain. I still make up separate meals for Tyler otherwise we would be having the same few vegetables every night.

[Anonymous]

Karen, Ryann is doing the same thing, except she won’t touch anything that is pureed or wet and kind of slimey feeling like boiled carrotts. I am worried about her becoming a carb freak because she basically survives on puffs and crackers. She did take a bit of chicken at the restaurant tonight though. I thought about going to feeding therapy again because of this, but I think I will just offer the same things every day so she can get used to them, play with it, and maybe one day eat it. I noticed she will try to take a bite if she see’s her sisters eating it and saying “yummy”. I guess it in inevitable for dd, she is reacting like many past kiddos with reflux with the texture sensitivity. I teach preK, and ever year I get a kiddo who still has the texture issue and is labeled “a finicky eater” by others.

I think if we don’t freak out about it, they will eventually eat their veggies and fruits when they get older and past this horrible time. Ohh… but at times it is so hard to keep composure and not worry! Good luck, glad she is eating a variety of foods now!

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Amber – I’ll try that today or tomorrow.

Sarah – interesting to know. Will just keep trying!

[hellbennt]

you could try coating slimy fruit pieces, etc. in crushed cherrios/puffs/crackers, etc – like a breaded coating

jonah didn’t have texture problems (I don’t think that’s what it was) but he just couldn’t get a grip on the fruit slices at one point

so I read about that tip somewhere (probably here!) and it worked…

[Anonymous]

Hey Laura – I have tried that and will keep trying – but in the past it
just hasn’t coated well and still feels really slimy!

[Anonymous]

We don’t have much luck with slimy textures here either and coating doesn’t change anything for him. The dr told me just to keep trying. Its bad b/c they don’t realize what they are missing out on when they don’t eat the yummy slimy stuff!

[Anonymous]

Hey Amber – when you roast the veggies how long are they good for? And are they still OK when reheated in microwave next day?

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