My baby/toddler won’t eat meat! Help!

*Melting Meatballs from our Printed Toddler Book, which are the perfect soft-cooked texture for babies 6M+ and toddlers.*

Written by Written by Catherine Callahan, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, Speech-language Pathologist, Pediatric Feeding Therapist, and Certified Lactation Counselor

Baby Led Weaning Q&A Series

Q: My baby is struggling to eat meat. He spits it out or refuses to eat it. What can I do to help?

Refusal or spitting meats is common in babies and children. Depending on how they are cooked, meats can be drier and harder to chew. At 6-12 months, baby has not yet developed the circular rotary chewing pattern needed to grind drier meats down. While your baby doesn’t need to eat meat, if it is something your family enjoys, it’s important to figure out a way for your baby to enjoy it as well.

Here are four tips to help:

First, keep exposing your baby. When you are serving your family meat, serve baby, even if they typically don’t eat it. Research tells us that exposure matters and will make a difference over time. When your baby watches you eat the meat, and has meat in front of them, even if they are not eating it, they are learning and moving in the right direction. Serve meat alongside another food your baby enjoys to ensure they are getting what they need.
Try making your meat softer and easier to break down quickly. When baby is able to eat it more efficiently, they will enjoy it more. Serve ground meats, slow cooked meats, soft meatballs (mashed, whole, or cubed depending on age), or meats from stews or soups.

The slow cooker is your best friend! Here is our favorite slow cooker on Amazon.

We have tons of slow cooker and other meat recipes inside our app + books.
Try adding a sauce to the meat or serving with a dip to soften it. Consider mixing ground or mashed meat into a puree and serving it on a spoon.

Need sauce ideas? Things like tomato sauce, pesto, yogurt, Alfredo, gravy, stock or broth or even dips like ketchup or mustard can help keep meat moist, making it easier to chew and swallow.
Cut or shred your meat into smaller pieces (if baby is over 8 months old). Smaller pieces will break down more quickly in baby’s mouth. You can go as small as rice-sized pieces and work your way up to 1/2” pieces - sometimes a large tough piece of meat is just too hard for little ones to chew, so cutting smaller can help.

Babies 6-8 months should still be served large strips of meat, more for gnawing on, and they can consume more as they develop their pincer grasp. You can also serve meat purees or mash cooked meat into something like sweet potatoes.

If baby continues to refuse meat, consider alternative protein and iron sources that will be easier for baby to consume while their oral skills are developing. Fish and eggs are great options. They are both nutrient dense and iron rich, and can be cooked soft and easy to chew. You may also consider soft, cooked beans or lentils, as is or mashed, hummus as a dip, spread on toast or on a spoon, or nut butters thinly spread on toast or mixed into a purée like oatmeal, applesauce, or yogurt.

While meat is a nutrient dense food, rich in iron and protein, it’s important to say that not all babies need to eat meat. Babies can get what they need from other foods.

It’s important to keep in mind your family goals, and work to support your baby in consuming the family meal.