My two and a half year old wont eat lumpy food

[Laren08]

Hi,

Im Emily and am a new member to the Club. I would be truly grateful for any tips you can offer me to overcome this problem I have with my 2 and a half year old daughter.

The problem I have is that she refuses to eat lumpy food and consequently, I am still mashing/pureeing food for her at mealtimes to keep up her nutritional intake. I try to encourage her by putting small pasta shapes or rice into sauces for her, but cannot see her physically chewing; I continually try to give her carrot sticks, raisins, apple slices and things that you would normally give to a child moving on to lumpy solids, but she rarely shows an interest in them; I would say she does best with the raisins.

I have to say, I never used to be overly worried as I always had hope that she would move on from this "phase" but I cannot actually see her moving on from this. I have nightmares when I have to feed her out of the home and as she is getting older, I worry that she will still be eating only mashed up food when she goes to nursery.

Apart from this, she generally is not a good eater anyway - she doesnt attempt to feed herself at all and when we feed her, she tries her best to avoid the spoon until we we get the first couple of spoons in her mouth. After that point, it's not so bad!

A few people have said that we should stop mashing her food and if she doesnt eat then, she will eat at the next meal time but Im not sure if this is a such good idea.

Also, Im not sure if her eating habits have anything to do with an illness she had when she was 8 months old - kawasaki disease, if anyone has heard of it?

I would truly be grateful for any advice you may have, Im sorry if I have gone on too much. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in anticipation.

[Alexanders mummy]

Hi i couldnt read without replying,have you tried her with soup? You could make it a bit chunkier to start & see how she goes from there.

Will she eat finger foods like toast,sandwiches,breadsticks?

Does she see you as a family eating 'lumpy' food? I know Alexander eats better if we all eat at the same time,it has meant us eating our dinner earlier but its worth it.

I am sure that someone with better advice will help you more,

Paula xx

BTW welcome to the site!

[noababy]

hi and welcome.

When you say she refuses to eat lumpy does that mean she won't put it in her mouth, or that she gags and throws up form it?
I take it that she feeds herself at this point and that you are not feeding her?

As far as the kawasaki-did she at the time have the swollen lymph glands in her neck and irritation and inflammation in her mouth, lips and throat? If she had those symptoms at the time, this may very well be a learned behaviour from then, as it would have been less painful for her to eat mashed food as opposed to lumpy with those symptoms.

Has she been assesed by a doctor? SHe may need an evaluation to make sure there is not anything still bothering her and maybe to teach her how to eat properly.
18 mths & still gags!

Lots of luck and welcome again!

[Laren08]

Thank you so much for your replies ladies.

Yes when she had the kawasaki, she wasnt eating at all for the first couple of weeks as her mouth was irritated and she had swollen lymph glands in her neck. I have to say I did make a trip to my GP last year when I was getting concerned about Laren's eating problem but I was assured that the kawasaki effects would have subsided by then and that her eating habits were merely part of her development. I was told to persevere and to keep trying as she would change in time. So I didnt think any more of the kawasaki being part of the cause of Laren's eating problems but it is still a niggle at the back of my mind - do you think I should go back to to the Doctor?

Unfortunately, we are still feeding her at this stage and I always eat with her at the same time but it doesnt make her eat any better; she refuses to pick up or touch anything herself, unless it is toast or raisins, and when we attempt to feed her lumpy food she gags on it and spits it out. I guess this is because she isnt used to chewing.

Thanks for your suggestion with the soup, I will try that and see how we go - I will try anything at the mo!

Thanks once again xx

[noababy]

I would definately ask for a referral to a speech and language therapist. I was told that that's who deal with eating problems in the uk (take a look at link I put in my above post)

I don't think it is still bothering her now, but I think the trauma of the whole ordeal may still not have left her. Try giving her a spoon to play with when you do feed her.

Does she actually eat the toast and raisins? Maybe you can make a grilled cheese sandwich?

I would also try having other kids her age around at mealtimes here and there and let her see them eating-sometimes the social thing can spur kids to try and do things their friends are doing.

Also trust your gut and go with your instinct always-no matter what a doctor says-they can be wrong so no harm getting a second opinion.