When should DD be able to handle chunks?

[~Sarah~]

DD will be 10 months old on Friday, and has never had a single chunk of food because she's done so horribly with tiny little pieces, even. She was always very sensitive to the thickness of food, gagging if it was too thick, even still now. I started introducing texture with just pureed broccoli, that only has those tiny tiny little balls , and she gagged. Later I tried a little of the organic baby pasta (like couscous) mixed in with pureed veggies, and she gagged. The only textured thing she eats is the slightly whole-grain baby oatmeal, and I have to start with really small spoons on that. A chunk would undoubtedly gag her, too, so I haven't even tried one.

Is it getting to the point where I should be thinking about there being something wrong?

[CookAMH]

My DS is like this too, to some extent. He's 9.5 mo and I've just started to make his purees thicker. He still kinda starts to gag, you know where he holds his mouth open, lifts his arms and doesn't quite know what to do with the feeling of food on his tongue. I do the motion of opening and closing my mouth which he likes to imitate for play, so that helps him recover. And he wants more food, so we keep it up and sometimes he's fine. So he can't go too thick yet.

If I offer him a piece of food, he looks at it funny, goes to touch it, draws back, tries again, like what the heck is this. But he grabs at our food if it's in reach. He has occasionally let me put a small soft piece of sweet potato in his mouth and he gums it and seems to like it. I've given him larger pieces of things that he can pick up and lick or taste, which he has done (pineapple, pear).

So anyway, I'm curious too. He likes the flavor of the food I give him and he's very interested to taste whatever we're eating and likes some of it. He also likes to drink from a cup with me holding it.

ETA: I should add, I'm really not too concerned. I know not all babies take to food at the same time and he's nourished by breastmilk. I do think he's hungry though and seems to readily eat an hour after nursing. Even so, I know he'll learn and is learning right now.

[~Sarah~]

That exactly what my DD does, with the gagging. She loves big hunks of things, like teething biscuits and huge apple slices, things that are waaay too big to stick in her mouth whole, she loves chewing on them and tasting them. But like when a chunk comes off of the biscuit---she immediately stops, opens her mouth wide, and if it doesn't fall out she starts gagging. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that this is normal for her age, and that it will resolve itself sometime soon.

I should also mention that she only has 3 teeth, all on the bottom, so I don't blame her for not even trying to chew. But then I hear everyone talk about how their babies gum the food and she just doesn't try that. Of course she acts like she wants to tear up our food, but doesn't know how to bite, so she just licks and mouths it. Of course, she gets as much BM as she wants, so it's not a nutritional worry, just a developmental one.

Are there other foods that anyone's had better success with starting on chunks? Little carrot pieces are out, never tried banana chunks though.

[teachma]

My 9 year old son was a baby who did not like chunks, also. Any texture mixed into purees would cause him to gag and shiver! He wasn't much for food, except cheerios, raisins and graham crackers, until he was about 2 years old. He was milk, milk, milk until then, and although he gradually incorporated a few foods in the toddler years, he clearly preferred to drink his calories until almost age 5.

My 10 month old baby, tonight, ate: 1/3 slice of pizza, cut in small pieces, steamed broccoli (spears) and some diced, roasted chicken.

This goes to show that they're all different! At your daughter's age, I wouldn't be too concerned.

[BlueWolf]

Originally Posted by ~Sarah~

That exactly what my DD does, with the gagging. She loves big hunks of things, like teething biscuits and huge apple slices, things that are waaay too big to stick in her mouth whole, she loves chewing on them and tasting them. But like when a chunk comes off of the biscuit---she immediately stops, opens her mouth wide, and if it doesn't fall out she starts gagging. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that this is normal for her age, and that it will resolve itself sometime soon.

I should also mention that she only has 3 teeth, all on the bottom, so I don't blame her for not even trying to chew. But then I hear everyone talk about how their babies gum the food and she just doesn't try that. Of course she acts like she wants to tear up our food, but doesn't know how to bite, so she just licks and mouths it. Of course, she gets as much BM as she wants, so it's not a nutritional worry, just a developmental one.

Are there other foods that anyone's had better success with starting on chunks? Little carrot pieces are out, never tried banana chunks though.

This is exactly what my daughter does. She loves to touch, sample, pick up, play with all types of food. She doesn't actually like to swallow it though. She gags. But from what I've read gagging is normal if not important. It helps exercise the swallowing muscles so they learn how to not choke. Gagging = good. Choking = bad.

I do have the exact opposite of the OP though. She hates purees and mushy things. It has to be a big chunk of food that she can pick up. She absolutely hates being spoon feed. She wants to do it herself.

[JMJ]

You could try letting her control her own bite sizes by giving her large pieces of food and letting her handle it. This often helps kids learn how to handle chunks since they're the ones in control. I would start with things like bananas, yam fries, avocados or something else that would dissolve or mash easily.

Otherwise, there really is no harm in keeping her on purees for as long as it is what works best. She's getting good nutrition whether it comes in bigger or smaller pieces.