spitting out food, what is going on?

My DD has been eating solids from 4 months old.

Around 7 months old, she started on chunkier food and although it was difficult at first and she gagged a bit at times, she got used to it rather quickly.

Recently, in the last 2 weeks, she is finding it hard eating her dinner. I will sit down with her and put some TV on as she likes the distraction when eating.

She will eat some spoonfuls and other times, she will spit it out, will always open her mouth (like she wants the food) but then she start chewing and will dribble it out onto her bib. She likes the flavour, just not the chunks it seems.

How could she go backwards from liking the food to not liking it? It is very confusing.

She will drink lots of water too from a sippy cup. But she will drink when she's thirsty and then have more water, store it in her mouth and dribble it out also, all over her top, her top will be saturated if I don't take the cup off her.

Hmmm...any ideas?

Thanks so much!!

food is fun until the age of one....
she is feeling the food and the water then feels it leave her mouth to and probably getting a responce from you.. so thats funny as well...
just one of those things they do...

Ooh food is so tactile, spaghetti is extra good when you run it through your hair :lol:

Don't stress too much, use it as a photo opportunity. If you start stressing now, she will feel it and you will be the dinner-time puppet for years to come.

Its ok, have a laugh, they eat when they are hungry and do artwork when they are not ;)

ahhhhhh that's good to know, thanks girls! yes i am sure if i show stress she'll definately pick up on it! she isn't feeding herself yet. what would i do without BB!!

lol kids! They are so funny :)
Why not let her 'feed' herself once she seems finished eating. It might encourage her to eat a little more, just be prepared for mess!

everyone, i don't mind the mess! i have given her chunks of vegies before and she puts it everywhere, which doesn't bother me. just like to get a solid meal into her for dinner so she is nice and full for her sleep. maybe i should be giving her the solid meal at lunch and she can just play with food at dinner time (i.e. whatever we eat), rub it in her hair, all over her, what do you think?

thats probably a great idea!

I always let DS make a big mess at dinner - because he has a bath straight after. I give him things that he can feed himself, but are still filling (eg. rissoles/meatballs with vegies in them, omlette, fish-cakes, frittata). If you are concerned about your DD being full, you can always spoon feed her at the end (eg. give her yoghurt after her main meal).

Re. the water - DS does this too (he also shakes the cup to make it splash everywhere). I take the cup from him, because he is obviously not thirsty. I want him to learn that drinks are for drinking.

rissoles is a great idea! omelette too! i haven't given DD eggs yet, she should be ok with them now. always bath DD after her dinner anyway so she can just make more of a mess now! will try some rissoles tomorrow i think, might do a mix up and freeze them. thanks so much girls!

They actually DO say that kids are more open to eating a bigger meal at lunch time!
I haven't had a problem myself, my kids would eat all day if they could.
Is she booby fed at all? Or bottle? cup? milk at all? Maybe shes drinking too much and it's filling her up?

Has a bottle at 9am, 1pm and 7pm. That is all she has. Loves her milk. So when I feed her dinner at 5pm, I assume she would be hungry.

Hi queenbee,
my DS is doing the same thing as well, I think he thinks it's just a bit funny and gets a reaction from mum too... I've now resigned myself to the fact that I will have a mess to clean up after his dinner and he has a great time too!
P.S Congrats on making the decision to go for number 2 next year!! That's fantastic as I was following your threads when you were trying to decide.
We always said that we'd only have the one but have also decided that we are going for round 2 when our house is built at the end of next year...woohoo!
:)

yes my DD did it tonight again, had been OK last few nights but started it again, also doing it with water, has a drink then spits it out. i don't react anymore when she spits her food out, just ignore it and give her more. sometimes she will take some more in, sometimes she won't. hmmmm....i don't care cleaning up the mess anymore!

yes definately have made the decision. just wondering whether i should wait until the end of 2009 so DD is almost 3 when new bub has arrived. not sure whether to have them super close IYKWIM. it is weird when you change your mind so quickly!!!

xx