Baby won’t eat solid food. Introducing your baby to solid foods can be fun and photo-worthy, but this milestone can also come with some challenges.
It’s normal for babies to balk the first time (or many times) they try new solid foods, since they’ve only ever had breast milk or formula. Don’t be discouraged if your baby refuses food at first – it can take 10 or more tries sometimes to get your baby to eat a new food.
The key at any age is to offer your baby a wide variety of foods and keep trying. Even if they don’t like the food at first, keep offering it to them – babies learn to love what they’re given. If they don’t like sweet potato, maybe they’ll like squash. Once they get used to squash, try mixing squash with sweet potato to get them used to the new flavor. If they don’t like bananas, try avocado and then go back to bananas for another try.
But if you’re serving your baby different foods and nothing’s working, read on.
If your baby won’t eat solid food
If your baby is about 6 months old and is developmentally ready for solid foods (has good head control, is grasping, can sit up on their own), but doesn’t seem interested in food, they may just not be ready to dive in yet.
Some babies need a little more time to develop curiosity around food. Take it slow – if you try to give your baby one kind of puree and they refuse it, wait a few days and try a different puree. In the meantime, make family meals fun and engaging by talking to your baby about the food you’re preparing and letting them watch you eat.
If your baby is struggling with purees, baby-led weaning could be a good alternative. This method encourages your baby to explore food on their own. Simply offer your child safe foods, like soft scrambled eggs or long spears of very ripe banana, and let them experiment with how the food feels in their hands and mouth.
Keep in mind that whether you start with pureed foods or try baby-led weaning, gagging is perfectly normal while your baby learns to feed themself. The gag reflex helps bring food to the front of the mouth so your baby learns how to chew.
If your baby won’t eat finger foods
If your baby is 9 months or older and they don’t like finger foods and thicker purees, there could be a few reasons. If your baby has primarily been spoon-fed by you up until now, they may need some time to get the hang of feeding themselves finger foods.
Or they may not be ready yet – babies can’t pick up and feed themselves finger foods well until they learn the pincer grasp. This usually happens around 8 to 10 months, but if you’re baby’s a little behind, don’t worry. They may just need some extra time to learn, and some encouragement from you can help.
You can help your baby master their grabbing skills by giving them lots of toys that are easy to grasp, like soft blocks, plastic rings, and board books. Play a little game with them by putting a colorful toy in front of them and encouraging them to grab it.
Some babies also have a sensitive gag reflex that makes them gag on lumpy food. (They may have had difficulty latching on when nursing as infants.) If your baby has trouble eating textured or lumpy food without gagging, sticking to thin purees may feel safe, but this could get in the way of helping your child learn how to chew.
Teach your baby to tolerate lumpy food by adding ingredients with a uniform texture – like wheat germ or cracker crumbs – to pureed food. Start with a small amount and add more as your baby gets used to the texture. You can also try giving them solids that will dissolve easily in their mouth, like baby crackers, to help them get used to new textures.
If your baby doesn’t like the texture of meat, try a different preparation: For example, if your baby won’t eat diced chicken breast, try giving them ground chicken or thinly sliced deli meat instead.
If your baby is sensitive to the texture of finger foods, experiment with introducing different textures in other ways – give your baby feathers, a bumpy ball, or cooked noodles to play with. (Just make sure to supervise in case small items end up in your baby’s mouth.) Teething toys that have bumps may help, too. Getting used to new sensations at playtime might make your baby more open to unfamiliar food textures.
If your child still rejects lumpy or textured solid food at a year old, or if they aren’t able to feed them self finger foods by 12 to 15 months, check in with your child’s doctor. It could indicate that your child has a developmental problem or sensory issue that may be improved with the right help.
Severe difficulty eating a wide range of foods is common among kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or sensory processing disorder (SPD), but picky eating isn’t the only sign of these conditions. Talk to the doctor if you have any concerns.
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