Don’t worry – your granddaughter will accept solid foods again. But she will probably need time.
It sounds as though she can clearly remember the experience of having apple stuck in her tooth – and how uncomfortable it felt.
The best approach is for her parents to go back a step and reintroduce solid foods again in a gradual way. Add them one at a time, rather like returning to the weaning stage.
It’s best to let her set the pace. She will need to learn in her own time that hard foods can be tasty and don’t always mean discomfort!
Soft foods
There are lots of nutritious foods that are quite soft in texture that your granddaughter will probably be very willing to eat.
Good examples are:
Her parents could base her diet around these staple foods for now, slowly blending them less thoroughly to introduce soft lumps.
Introducing solids
They could then try introducing solid foods that dissolve in the mouth and that appeal to your granddaughter’s taste buds, such as prawn crackers. Or for a special treat try chocolate buttons.
This would get her used to the idea that she can eat hard foods – and that they can be tasty!
They could then move on to foods that require a little more chewing such as breadsticks.
Reintroducing apples may be the trickiest. Apples are quite hard. But by starting with cooked apple puree, moving on to perhaps slightly more lumpy apples in the form of apple crumble, they will be reintroducing apples and your granddaughter might begin to feel happier about eating them.
Hunger incentive
A big incentive for your granddaughter to try different foods is if she feels slightly hungry.
It’s best that she doesn’t have too much milk – this would make her feel full and less inclined to eat.
At two-and-a-half, she shouldn’t need any more than around 500mls of full fat milk a day, and two small cups of fruit juice. Sipping water for the rest of the day will help preserve her appetite.
Sociable mealtimes
Another big incentive is for the family to eat together. Toddlers are often more interested in what you’ve got on your plate than what’s on their own.
It’s important for your granddaughter to see other people eating and enjoying hard foods, such as apples. She may very well be keen on trying something if she’s seen mum, dad or a grandparent enjoying it first.
Another idea is for her parents to invite a little friend round for a meal and offer a selection of solid foods. If the friend is happy to eat them, this might encourage your granddaughter.
Persevere
In time your granddaughter will come to enjoy a wider range of foods and textures.
This might take some months so it’s important to persevere in offering her a wide range of foods. Good luck!
