Imagine you are at your favorite café or restaurant, enjoying a cool, rich, delicious bowl of chocolate pudding for dessert. Maybe you come to this spot every week (or more if it’s a particularly stressful week!) and indulge in this smooth, creamy treat. Now imagine that one week, you are served your pudding and it looks a little different. You take a bite and realize that the chef has changed the recipe! Your silken chocolate pudding now contains small, soft lumps of mushy brownies! This is not what you expected! Maybe you even cover your mouth with a napkin and spit out the lump to see what the heck it is. Maybe you don’t finish your pudding today because it’s just not what you wanted. Either way, you notice that you can’t just let the pudding slip down your throat anymore. Now you must swallow a part of your mouthful, chew the rest, and then swallow again. This pudding just got complicated.
Now imagine that you are 8 months old. You’ve never had a lump in your life! That lump in your food might be surprising and even a little scary if it starts to slip down your throat. You might gag to try and get it out. Maybe your eyes start watering and you start to cry. Chances are that you might be a little wary of that food the next time mom or dad brings it out.
Not all children have difficulty transitioning from a stage-2 thick puree to a stage-3 lumpy puree. If they did, the baby food companies might go out of business! But I frequently see families for feeding evaluations because their child is having a lot of trouble transitioning to textured foods. Some of these children demonstrate sensory aversions or oral-motor delays, but many are not really displaying either. How can we help our kids with this sometimes troublesome transition?
A Little More Time: Every child is different and reaches their developmental milestones at slightly different times. Some children may have no problem with lumpy textures the first time they are offered, while others may react strongly to the change. My first suggestion for families experiencing difficulty with this transition is to wait a few days to a week and try it again. If the difficulty persists, then you can move on to some of the following ideas to help your little one adjust.
Not all children have difficulty transitioning from a stage-2 thick puree to a stage-3 lumpy puree. If they did, the baby food companies might go out of business! But I frequently see families for feeding evaluations because their child is having a lot of trouble transitioning to textured foods. Some of these children demonstrate sensory aversions or oral-motor delays, but many are not really displaying either. How can we help our kids with this sometimes troublesome transition?
A Little More Time: Every child is different and reaches their developmental milestones at slightly different times. Some children may have no problem with lumpy textures the first time they are offered, while others may react strongly to the change. My first suggestion for families experiencing difficulty with this transition is to wait a few days to a week and try it again. If the difficulty persists, then you can move on to some of the following ideas to help your little one adjust.
Ignore the Numbers: Just because the number “3” comes after “2”, doesn’t mean that you are bound by law to offer stage-3 foods immediately. Often changing the order in which solid textures are introduced can help children transition more easily to the lumpy texture. Here is an example of a different transition plan that has helped many families make the change (see the articles on puree, soft solid, and hard solid textures for more information on the different food textures listed below) The following textures should be offered for exploration IN ADDITION TO stage-2 or thick purees and breastmilk or formula for the majority of their nutrition:
1. Hard Munchables: Offer hard, stick-shaped foods like carrot or celery sticks. Encourage your child to dip the sticks in their pureed food and to play with the texture in their mouth. When the stick is placed in the side of the mouth, it encourages the tongue to move to both sides, a skill necessary for chewing. The hard munchable is NOT intended to be eaten. It is purely for exploration of a new shape and texture in the mouth.
2. Small, soft cubes: Ripe banana or well cooked carrot works very well for this stage. Think of it as offering the “lumps” from the stage-3, but without the surrounding puree. The pieces should be small, but still able to be picked up with the fingers. Offering small, soft cubes on their own can help a child learn to manage the one texture before mixing it with others.
3. Lumpy puree or mashed table food: At this point, parents have the option of trying the stage-3 jars again, or moving to mashed table foods. Both are a lumpy texture, but the mashed table foods tend to be thicker. If your child has tolerated the hard munchables and soft cubes well, the transition to lumpy purees should be much easier.
If your child still demonstrates difficulty transitioning to lumpy textures or does not tolerate the hard munchables or soft cubes, seek the advice and guidance of a feeding team evaluation. Ask your pediatrician for a referral and see our guide on what to look for in a feeding team.
1. Hard Munchables: Offer hard, stick-shaped foods like carrot or celery sticks. Encourage your child to dip the sticks in their pureed food and to play with the texture in their mouth. When the stick is placed in the side of the mouth, it encourages the tongue to move to both sides, a skill necessary for chewing. The hard munchable is NOT intended to be eaten. It is purely for exploration of a new shape and texture in the mouth.
2. Small, soft cubes: Ripe banana or well cooked carrot works very well for this stage. Think of it as offering the “lumps” from the stage-3, but without the surrounding puree. The pieces should be small, but still able to be picked up with the fingers. Offering small, soft cubes on their own can help a child learn to manage the one texture before mixing it with others.
3. Lumpy puree or mashed table food: At this point, parents have the option of trying the stage-3 jars again, or moving to mashed table foods. Both are a lumpy texture, but the mashed table foods tend to be thicker. If your child has tolerated the hard munchables and soft cubes well, the transition to lumpy purees should be much easier.
If your child still demonstrates difficulty transitioning to lumpy textures or does not tolerate the hard munchables or soft cubes, seek the advice and guidance of a feeding team evaluation. Ask your pediatrician for a referral and see our guide on what to look for in a feeding team.
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