Feeding a 15 Months Old Who Refuses Solid Food
In this Article
A 15-month-old toddler refusing solid food can be frustrating for parents. In fact, it’s a struggle many moms face. Yet, while getting your baby used to table food does take some doing, its not impossible and with persistence you can get it done.
Transitioning a toddler from baby food to solid food is not something that happens overnight. Sometimes it can take many, many attempts of introducing solid food before your child takes to it. If you’re one of those moms whose patience is being stretched to the limit, a few tricks may help.
5 Tips on How to Get Toddlers to Start Eating Solids
1. Begin by thickening baby food
When trying to introduce solid food to your toddler, it helps to begin by increasing the thickness of her baby food. The consistency will require her to use more of her tongue and muscles in the mouth. This is good practice for getting children used to thicker textures of food as well as enabling them to move about more solid pieces of food in their mouths when the time comes.
2. Keep offering the food
When introducing your baby to solid food, keep offering the item to her rather than trying to force-feed it. Bear in mind that she doesn’t have to eat it right then and there. If she wants to pick it up in her hands and play with it, let her. It’s perfectly natural for toddlers to examine and explore a food item. The idea is to keep offering the food till they get used to it.
3. Introduce foods one at a time
Offer one type of food at every meal. Giving a variety of foods at one go will only confuse your child and make it that much more difficult for you to get her to eat it. Let her become used to the taste and texture of one type of food before you offer another.
4. Feed small amounts of the family meal
If your toddler shows an interest in eating when you sit down for your family meal, offer her small portions of it. Cut meat or vegetables into small pieces and try feeding it to her. A baby might feel more inclined to place the food into her mouth when it’s in pieces.
5. Offer food when she’s hungry
One of the best ways of feeding solids to 15-month-old toddlers is to offer it when they’re hungry. They’re more likely to accept and chew solid food rather than when they have a full stomach. Chopped bananas, macaroni, boiled carrots and potatoes, diced and mixed with fine grains like rice, are good examples of soft food that a baby can easily warm to when hungry.
Don’t be discouraged if your child refuses to eat solid food. Like everything else, getting a toddler used to it is a gradual process and takes time. As a parent who’s trying to help her baby with this food transition, you need to have patience. Otherwise, your child will pick up on your frustration.
