picky 1 yr old...food tips please!

[nbert921]

My 13 month old DD is super picky! It's so frustrating because i really try to give her healthy foods. Dh and i eat pretty healthy to begin with so that is what she is exposed to. She will eat dairy (yogurt, cheese, milk, cottage cheese, etc) and every kind of fruit we give her she just LOVES. Our issue is with meats and especially veggies! She just puts them in and spits them out. I'm just running out of ideas to give her. If it were up to her, she'd live on fruit, grilled cheese, and pasta!

[DottieHarley]

How many teeth does she have mama? DD is 17 mos, not picky, but still has issues with many veg because she doesn't have the back molars to really grind them up.
Do you have an inkling of taste issue vs texture issue? Could it be, that she is used to cold or room temp food, so a warm chunk of ground beef/zucchini/whatever is weird to her?
If she'll eat cheese, maybe try some firm tofu cut into cubes?

[mistylynn313]

DD was/is a texture picky person. When she first started solids, around 10 months, she was doing the same thing with meat. We just let it go and concentrated on other high protein foods like avacado, beans, cheeses, etc. When I asked her pedi he said that it would be like us going to a country where they eat chocolate covered grasshoppers and us . The kid just isn't used to the food/texture and just need time and exposure.

[creative*genius]

My DS is 14 mos and will eat almost anything. But interestingly, he still doesn't quite know what to do if he actually has to bite something. He tries to just shove the whole thing in his mouth and then ends up spitting it out. For a while I thought he didn't like green beans or broccoli because he would spit them out and shutter. But I recently realized the thing about him not really knowing how to bite (surprise, surprise if we've been giving him small chunks). So, I tried cutting the green beans up into smaller pieces - like a little bigger than peas. And he gobbled them up. I haven't tried broccoli yet. Wondering if it could be something like that? ... DS will also shutter if it's something new or unexpected - like a certain texture or flavor. But most of the time he will pick it up again and then will eat it. ... DD didn't care for meat. She's 4 now and still doesn't like certain meats. But I think that's ok. She eats beans, yogurt, milk and cheeses, so she gets enough protein. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much. Sounds like she's eating pretty well, and her tastes will change. You can start giving her a multi-vitamin if you think she needs it.

[nbert921]

She has 4 teeth on top and two on bottom. SHe never seems to have trouble chewing but i have thought abotu this with some of the veggies. i'm just surprised she's nto even into sweet potatoes or carrots. She did (willingly!) eat a few pieces of steak last night which was a huge deal for dh and me! So maybe it's something she'll grow into.

does anyone have any suggestions on foods their kiddos like? I do feel like i'm runnig out of ideas.

[EmilytheStrange]

My daughter has gone through tons of phases. Times when she never ate green beans, times when she rejected all carrots.

I just kept them in the rotation and now she's back to eating most everything. Not a huge fan of zucchini and cucumber, but maybe someday

I am careful to always rotate. She doesn't really get an opportunity to show preference. Although she loves strawberries over everything else. I try to have a wide assortment of meat over the span of a week or two. Steak, hamburger meat, chicken, ham (definitely recommend - its so easy to eat), salmon, tuna, pork, turkey, etc. Those are all regular servings at our table. Grilled salmon is hugely popular with her as well - just falls apart in your mouth.

But that's the general suggestion. Just keep offering and offer it in different ways. Frozen, steamed, naked, covered in cheese, chopped, diced, sliced, grated (grated carrots is popular with DD).... One day, she spits out the snap pea. The next day she eats it. Definitely I give her things like snap peas while I'm cooking if she's begging. She'll eat almost anything at that point (still rejects cucumbers then though )

The first normal carrot she accepted was from frozen mixed veggies. Now she accepts them all.

So you just keep offering.