Small Toddler and problem with chunky food

[AehrTimin]

My 14 mth. baby is really small. She was 17.8 lbs. at her 1 yr. check up and I don't feel she's gaining any weight. She's still wearing lots of 9 mths clothes as well as 12 mth. dresses and shirts (no 12 mth. pants as they are too loose). Her development is as per her age. One more thing, she doesn't like to eat chunky food. She will chew and spits them out. I was giving her more of pureed food, but now has decided that I'll give her only chunky food. But that makes her eat even less. Her doctor told me to give her more calorie food, but she tends to get full sooner as it's heavy for her. Should I be giving her chunky food and stop the pureed food and hoping that she will eat chunky food one day? Should I be concern about her size?

[babygirlie]

This was and is my baby (though she has delays,allergies and sensory issues). TBH she's 20months old now and I still give her purees. She chokes easily and I'd rather her not suffer from lack of nutrition :(  I also give her formula with rice and haven't given her water in a long time.  She is now 22 pounds. She was 19 or so at 1. She JUST put those two pounds on this last month or two when I quit giving water and went back to spendy formula. I am working at adding more fat to her diet.. maybe sneak a pat of butter into her puree as I think she just doesn't eat enough. :/

She wears 9m-12m pants and as big as 2T tops.. but tops are easier.. they can be baggy and I can roll up the sleeves mostly. She still can't fit into her 18m jeans.. for some reason all jeans fall off her butt. They look ridiculous and she can't walk in them lol

Edited by babygirlie - 12/22/10 at 3:52am

[crunchy_mommy]

My 22mo DS *just* finally outgrew all his 12mo pants. :)

He spits out chunky stuff too but he's gotten much MUCH better since 14mos. At that age he spit out nearly everything except bananas & crackers... now he will eat just about everything but still spits out lentils if they aren't soft enough, apple peals, the membranes from oranges, etc. He is still doesn't each much quantity-wise though.

Are you still nursing? That's one thing that gave me a lot of consolation -- still does -- I know nutritionally he's not suffering in any way!! I do encourage him to eat more food but that's because I get tired of nursing him 500000 times a day, not because I feel like he needs it. I don't worry too much about his size (though it nags at me a bit & I keep an eye on it) because he's been staying in the same general area on the WHO charts. Sometimes he drops a bit or goes up a bit but overall he seems to keep to the same general percentiles & he is not behind developmentally at all. If your DD is dropping far off the charts (the WHO ones, not the CDC ones!!) then I might worry a bit. Though I really can't tell you whether to go back to purees, we never did purees. Are your 'chunky' foods regular table food, or are you talking about semi-pureed/chunky foods? From the research I did, babies tend to do well with solid (table) food or thin purees but many have trouble when the food is in an in-between stage because they aren't sure whether to slurp it or chew it. 

But anyway, it seems my DS is just outgrowing the 'spit everything out' thing on his own, and I'm sure him having more teeth helps too... so maybe your DD will do the same :)

[AehrTimin]

Thanks for your info. It makes me feel better. Well, my DD is not nursing anymore. She's on organic whole milk. She used to take 24 oz./day, but I cut out the morening milk, so she can eat better breakfast. I think it works. She tends to eat more breakfast now.

About the eating chunky food, I often giving her soft cooked rice and mix with pureed veg. or chicken. That she seems to do fine. So, now I'm giving her chunky bread, banana, potato, riped pears etc. Actually, I give her anything she can pick up herself bec. she likes to eat herself. Sometimes she eats a few bites, and most of the time, she just chews and spits them out. Lots of people tell me that she will eventually grow out of it. I just hope it's not too long.