What little kid doesn't like food?

Mine I guess.

Actually, the more research I do, the more I realize that a lot of kids don't really like food, but all of the babies I know in real-life cannot get enough of it.

I'm not at all surprised that solids are turning out to be a challenge.  Neither is DYlan's Occupational Therapist.  It took him a long time to get the bottle down, so this may take some time too.  I'm not sure whether the issue is the texture or the taste, but I kind of think it's just swallowing.

At the very beginning, I followed the rules and gave him the same food for a few days in a row.  After some additional research on allergies, I decided to just give him new foods when the situation presented itself.  It looks like delaying foods does not prevent an allergy.  If I had allergies in my family, I'd be more cautious, but we have none and Dylan has had no reaction so far.

So first I gave purees or mashed fruit: avocado, banana, sweet potato, carrots, butternut squash...  Most were home-made by my sister or myself, some were Plum Organics.  Basically Dylan spit out whatever entered his mouth.  He may have eaten a tablespoon of the butternut squash - it had a bit of cinnamon in it and he seems to like it marginally better - but it's hard to tell.

But then he started more actively grabbing for my food.  I didn't plan to do Baby Led Weaning, but by following Dylan's lead, I guess I am doing it a bit.  First he grabbed for watermelon.  Success!  He gnawed on it, maybe swallowing some juice, and spit out any pieces that he bit off.  In Hawaii he tried honeydew and also enjoyed it.  Cantaloupe was a no.  He was also grabbing at my bagel in the morning.  I didn't let him have it the first day (it was an "Everything" bagel), but I did let him gnaw on a roll at dinner that night and he loved it!  He has also enjoyed gnawing on whole carrots.

So I could tell that he was interested in food, just not the purees.  Texture issue?  Or still swallowing?

His OT said that if it is a texture issue, that we want to "nip it in the bud" right away or else it will become a behavioral issue where food in mouth = spit out food.  She said to keep trying the purees, but to also add in some "meltables" like  Baby Mum Mums and Puffs.  I believe these are basically "junk" foods, but at this point, I just want him to learn that he can put food in his mouth and swallow it.  He has definitely eaten some of the Mum Mums and Puffs.

I'm also using a variety of feeding techniques.  I use spoons and he can (somewhat successfully) put the spoon in his mouth.  I bought little rubber toppers for the pouches to make them easier and more comfortable to suck on.  So far he just bites and I squeeze a little in (and then he spits it out). He seemed to kind of like prunes yesterday.  I also bought the Boon silicone feeder.  I put honeydew in there one day and he enjoyed chewing on it.  It's a bit large for him right now though. I have to help him hold it and it's pretty big for his mouth.  I definitely think he prefers holding his food and feeding himself.  He's just not super coordinated yet.

He hasn't choked on anything at home yet.  He bites pieces of and then swallows them when they melt (carbs) or spits them out (fruits).  But...we let him chew on a piece of bread at dinner one night.  In hindsight I knew it was a bad choice since it had kind of a hard skin on it.  A small piece of skin got stuck in the back of his mouth.  It wasn't dangerous for choking.  It was completely flat, but it annoyed the heck out of him.  He got it out all right...by projectile vomiting it up.  So now that's happened. : /

One of the most important things with feeding is to be consistent and keep introducing new things and textures.  I can't just give in and only give him things he likes.  But I'm at least as stubborn as he is, so I'll take the challenge!

He's one tooth bud out and one on the way.  It'll be interesting to see how teeth change the game.

Oh and he loves chewing on glass.  The bowl I put his food in is his favorite.  My coffee mug is a close second.  #futurebruin