This past weekend we did a parenting seminar in Luxembourg.  While there, one young mother asked me a question that was troubling her.  Her concern was for her two year old that was not making the transition from blended foods to more solid substances.

She had tried everything that she knew but still the child would not eat solids.  We too had a child that found it difficult to make the transition from soft goods to solids, particularly meat.  We would find a soggy, mashed packet of food in his cheeks before brushing his teeth at night.  To eat mince of any kind was fine but a roast or chunks of meat were another thing.  He would chew and chew but we would still have to dig it out of his mouth before brushing his teeth and putting him to bed.

The problem was swallowing.  It wasn’t that he was refusing to eat or being rebellious about the whole process.  The problem was physical.  He found it difficult to swallow the food.  I shared this with her.  Her eyes welled up because she realised her little one was indeed having the same difficulty.  They were experiencing exactly the same symptoms.

The solution is simply to not make a big deal out of it.  Your child will grow out of it.  You want your child to get the nutrition he/she requires so make the food palatable.  Use plenty of gravy or sauces, i.e., cheese sauce for cooked broccoli.  Leave some lumps in that he can chew easily.  Slice up fresh fruit like peaches, pears, and melons in small pieces or get canned fruit.

This mother’s child had had a series of bouts with tonsillitis and for her the light bulb went on.  This is a problem he will grow out of.  For our son there were years when he did not eat a lot of steak.  However, steak ranks up there on the favourite food list now.

Children are all different.  It is important to look at all the possibilities because one solution doesn’t fit every situation.