Orally Anxious

Beau is a big boy. He has cankles, and his arms look sausages intersected with rubber bands. He's got a gut most life-long beer drinkers would be impressed by, and cheeks so chubby you want to take a big bite out of one.

Mr Sausage Arms

But despite his impressive size, Beau doesn't like to eat. Well, anything other than breast milk that is.


And now it's got a name. A nurse specialising in delayed eating has labelled him "Orally anxious". Freud would have a field day.


Believe it or not our 75th percentile 8 month old will only swallow avocado, mushy weet bix, cottage cheese and plain yogurt. Stewed apples? No thank you. Mashed pumkin? No way. Banana? You've got to be joking! Even flavoured yogurt (his big sister's idea of heaven in a bowl) will be met by a screwed up face and a lot of tongue thrusting until the whole lot has been purged.


Apparently orally anxious babies don't like new textures or flavours and prefer bland, smooth foods. 


Here's what happened when I gave him a piece of pumpkin yesterday.

Ranga Beau

Beau defied the laws of physics by breaking it up into more particles and spreading them further than humanly possible. It also gives us a good indication of what he would have looked like if he was a ranga (AKA fanta pants. Google it peeps!)