Do babies need teeth to chew table foods?

amother

Wheat

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 10:45 pm

The pediatrician that my baby and I saw recently was concerned that my 18 month old baby eats mostly pureed food and said that I should nudge her to eat more table foods with concern that she might develop an aversion to food textures later on and she would then need therapy. I explained that although she eats some table food such as soft fruits, Cheerios, cereal flakes and just recently cheese (slices), she has difficulty eating a lot of table food b/c she only has 6 teeth. Only in the past month did she start to cut her top molars and I believe this influenced her sudden interest in cheese slices. She replied that babies don't need teeth to chew and I shouldn't delay too much giving her more textured food b/c she is concerned that she will develop a food texture aversion. I replied that I am concerned that she might choke. Her response was that I should become certified in CPR. She did concede that she has fewer teeth than most babies her age.

I have been introducing table foods to her according to her ability to chew/swallow and interest (in the food) and my rationale has been that as she cuts more teeth, she will be able to eat more table food. I don't think it is fair to expect a person without molars to manage food with so much texture although I am aware that there are many babies who are happy to gum food with a lot of texture.

In the past (btwn 8 and 15 months), when I have offered her meat, chicken, fish, eggs (pureed or in pieces) or hard cheese, she was not interested at all. And cottage cheese made her vomit. My theory was that maybe her body was just not ready for it, that is, she did not yet develop the necessary enzymes (for digesting this type of food) and this may have something to do with not having the teeth - the tools the body uses to start the digestion process. And now recently, after her top molars started to come in, all of a sudden she has a tyva for cheese. And I thought perhaps this supports my theory.

According to the AAP, babies should be able to handle most table food by their first birthday. Does anyone think this is realistic for most babies? And as this pediatrician said, babies don't need teeth to chew table food. But if our baby is gagging b/c he/she can't handle certain foods, we shouldn't back off b/c of a concern for food aversion, even though it could possibly put the baby in a position of sacana should he/she start to choke and what if the CPR doesn't work, chas' v'shalom? Even with no issue of choking, gagging on food is not fun, and baby will not want to look forward to eating if he/she so often gags on food. I think it's more important for baby to learn to enjoy eating rather than to force the issue in the name of reaching the "table food" milestone.

I personally don't like such general broad rules and feel pressured to comply, and if not, receive a guilt trip - Whatever happened to individual differences, mother's instinct and common sense?

I would love to hear what others have to say on this topic -

rosenbal

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 10:58 pm

I'm sorry I only skimmed your post but all my kids only cut their first teeth at around a year. It's molars that grind food anyway not those front teeth. My babies eat almost anything. (Especially now that all highly allergenic foods are fair game...like fish. Wasn't like that with my older kids).

Obviously I'm sensible and careful in how I intriduced things but by now my 9 month old eats salmon, ground meat/turkey things, chicken, pieces of cooked veggies, fresh produce like tomatoes and grapes ( both cut of course!), ommelettes, chunked pieces of soft pear, peaches, oranges etc, gefilte fish, cheese sticks, cream cheese sandwiches, pb sandwiches etc NO teeth at all and probably won't be for another 3 months lol!

Unfortunately she refuses for me to feed her at this point so she doesn't eat guacamole, yogurt etc anymore. I'm going to try to freeze little dollops of yogurt as a friend recommended and see of shell eat those! (I refuse to let her eat mush on her own...that's just too much mess for my taste).

So basically, teeth are not necessary so if you're still having issues maybe it's some kind of sensory issue or something else related. Maybe someone here can advise? But in a regular toothless or "few toothed" baby it shouldn't be a problem.

busydev

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 8:12 am

Baby gums are very good at chewing. They do not need teeth to chew. There is a method out there called baby led weaning (you can Google it) where they give babies regular food right away and not purees. And toothless babies can handle it. (Harder to chew things get cut up. And no choking hazards are given. But babies (they say to start at around 6 mo iirc) can handle a lot without any teeth.

Your baby may not have liked cottage cheese, been somewhat allergic or just have had a stomach bug. Cottage cheese is something that toothless babies can eat no problem. Its very soft. Your theories sound nice but are incorrect. Wink

lfab

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 10:06 am

Children can handle eating most foods even with no or very few teeth. One of my kids didn't get her first tooth until after her first birthday and she was still eating many different foods. The only things I wouldn't give a child with no/few teeth are really hard to chew foods, such as raw carrots or the like. At 18 months your child should be able to handle most foods, even with only 6 teeth. If she continues to display lack of interest in various foods it is more likely that she is either a picky eater (I have one of those and at 6 she still eats very few foods) or it could be a sensory issue. Definitely follow your doctor's advice and start introducing a variety of different foods. And remember, young children need many exposures to a new food before they may take an interest in the food.

gp2.0

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 11:10 am

All babies gag on food quite a bit until they figure out how long they need to chew before getting the food down. Gagging doesn't equal choking.

If your baby does choke, the pinky sweep is much more important than CPR for immediately removing the food. CPR is if she stops breathing. You should know the pinky sweep and Heimlich maneuver for toddlers whether or not they have teeth. This can save your baby's life.

Both I and DH have bh bh successfully used the pinky sweep several times, and once instructed a different family member how to do so on their kid.

At 18 months you should be offering a lot of different finger foods with different tastes and textures and let her choose what to eat.

amother

Wheat

Tue, Aug 02 2016, 7:04 am

Hi, OP here -

I agree with everyone that we want to expose our babies to a variety of foods so that they may eventually learn to eat what adults eat but at their own pace.
As I mentioned in my post, I have been introducing table foods to her according to her ability to chew/swallow and interest (in the food)..."

I think we need to pay attention to our babies' cues and if the baby starts gagging or is not interested or having difficulty with a food, we should respect what the baby is trying tell us. Her body is just not ready at the time. Creating all sorts of rules that at "X" age our baby should be eating "Y" may be placing unnecessary pressure on the baby to conform to a so-called societal norm.

While many babies can chew well without teeth, there also may be many babies who don't chew well without teeth and this may also be normal and fine for them. For the latter, more teeth might be helpful for them, esp. molars. Perhaps the gums have been too swollen and tender to deal with harder foods.

amother

Jetblack

Tue, Aug 02 2016, 7:35 am

Op, yes cues are important, but it is possible to misinterpret them and the concept of "it'll happen when they're ready" can be taken too far. It's a tricky balance, but there are lots of things a kid may do or not do indefinitely until someone pushes them or decides to investigate the matter and finds something that requires professional intervention. Gagging is not a sign of "not ready", it is a sign that this is a new skill and the child needs to practice. Most babies gag the first several times they eat solids, and gag again when table foods are introduced. It's a natural reflex, and one that gets overridden when taught the proper skill.
Also, while of course we don't want to push our kids to do things they're legitimately not ready to do, we have to be aware of a) when they are ready, but do need a push and b) when something isn't right and well past the point of just "all kids are different". One of my kids is on the autism spectrum, though very mildly so. We first started getting services for him when he was one and a half, though he wasn't diagnosed until 4. For all that time, we heard from family and even a pediatrician (who we eventually switched away from) that this was overkill, all kids are different, he'll figure it out when he's ready, etc. Guess what, we were right, something was wrong and he would NOT be where he is now had we not started helping him so early and taken the wait-and-see approach. Guidelines are not immutable law, but they exist for a reason. You are well outside the guidelines and your doctor has told as much. Perhaps it's time to step back from the "when she's ready" standard and either push, or look into feeding therapy if there seems to be a physical or sensory issue.

amother

Wheat

Wed, Aug 03 2016, 3:53 pm

Hello, OP here -

With regard to the last two postings: Thank you for your well intentioned replies. I would especially like to comment on the following parts of your posts:

"You are well outside the guidelines and your doctor has told as much. Perhaps it's time to step back from the "when she's ready" standard and either push, or look into feeding therapy if there seems to be a physical or sensory."

"Amother Jetblack -kol hakavod. I was trying to work out how to say exactly what you did, but couldn't work out how to do it without coming across as mean! Very well, and kindly, written."

I think we have to take in consideration that in writing about our situations in an email forum and also in giving advice, we don't know the full story. We have never met the person and don't know firsthand about the situation so I think your statement "You are well outside the guidelines and your doctor has told you as much" is greatly inaccurate. I believe my baby is progressing just fine and the previous pediatrician that we had been seeing thought she was doing just fine. (We moved so we had to go to a different practice.) The pediatrician that we just saw did not think my baby is "well outside the guidelines". That is something that you said. I think she is progressing nicely and gaining a nice repertoire of foods that she eats. As I said in my original post, she does eat some table food and recently has taken a liking to sliced cheese just after she started to cut her top molars. She also has just recently enjoyed bulgur wheat, tomatoes and cucumbers.

I think perhaps that we can both agree that doctors don't always know best. They make mistakes. Sometimes they over-react. Sometimes they under-react. They don't see our children every day. And I would like to add that the positions that the medical establishment takes on various medical topics, often changes through the years. As an example, the AAP once advocated starting solids at 3 months, then it was 4-6 months, now it is at about 6 months. There are also other health organizations that advocate between 6 - 8 months.

Kol Hakavod for sticking to your mother's intuition and seeking out the resources that you needed for your child.

All the best,