Introducing more textured foods...

[pantrygirl]

I'm not sure is this is the right location for this thread. I apologize in advance if it isn't.

DD is 18 months and continues to nurse regularly. She has 8 teeth and no molars. She has a healthy appetite and is keen on veggies and mashed fruit. She has a little protein in the form of eggs, beans and ground meat in her soft veggies.

I'm not concerned with her weight or appetite but I'm wondering how do I introduce more texture without her pushing it away?

Here is a typical menu that she will eat enthusiastically:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs and a small waffle
2nd Breakfast/Snack: plain yogurt w mashed berries (she used to eat these whole but now pushes them out of her plate after she's squeezed the juice into her yogurt)
Mini nursing session (2-5 minutes)
Lunch: Baked squash with mini pasta
Nap nursing session (nursing for 20-30 minutes)
Afternoon snack: mashed fruit (She'll eat one tiny cube of very soft apple but she much rather prefers to sip through a straw or eat with spoon mashed fruit.)
Nursing session (2-5 minute nip)
Dinner: Whatever we are having but in a softer form. i.e. rice with mashed meat, shredded zucchini, carrot rounds, thin sliced eggplant, soup with small pieces of softened celery, carrots and noodles.
Bedtime nursing

She doesn't like anything fried or 'crunchy'. I am happy about the fried part but I'd like her to eat veggies and fruits that aren't pummeled. I'm fairly certain TG would happily eat anything if it could be sucked up through a straw. Heck, that's how she prefers to have her soup and her yogurt.

Any thoughts or recommendations? She used to be willing to try a piece of raw apple or a tiny grape piece but now she's pushing anything away that isn't softened. She doesn't even like french fries. (I only point this out because I thought most toddlers love fries.) She'll only eat potatoes that are baked and have a meaty interior.

Am I expecting too much in regards to the textures she is able to eat? Is this because she has no molars? Do you have recipes or suggestions for foods or preparations to open her to different types of food textures?

Thanks.

[swisscanmom]

I would just keep offering, I would think she just has an aversion to certain textures. I have a home daycare and all my 18m olds can eat absolutely everything, but they don't necessarily like everything. Apples cut in tiny cubes, raw veggies even. One of them doesn't like the texture of potatoes, another doesn't like meats, they are all different in what the like and dislike, but it is not a matter of ability.

[pantrygirl]

Originally Posted by swisscanmom

I would just keep offering, I would think she just has an aversion to certain textures. ..it is not a matter of ability.

Thanks. That's what I needed to hear. I'll keep offering something at each meal.

[sapphire_chan]

My only concern would be that she used to eat chewier things and now only eats soft things, but if she doesn't seem to be in pain then it's probably not a problem with her current teeth.

[Plarka]

I know this is not an answer to your question, but I wonder if she only likes soft food now cause she's teething again. I've heard of my friends' kids going through phases like that.

Yeah, I'd always continue to offer other things even if she doesn't take it, just keep offering it at least in one meal a day with the other stuff she will eat.

[Latte Mama]

I'd also say it's a texture thing. My DS has been eating "tougher" type foods since he was 9-10 months, he just got his molars in the past month or so. He's done fine with chewing most foods without them up until this point.
Just keep offering.