What to Do When Your Baby Won't Eat Bananas

My niece Piper, who is about three months older than Will, is a champion eater. The one time that I fed her, she rocked it.  Opened her mouth wide for every bite, kept her hands off to the sides, ate every last drop of her food, and we barely needed her bib. Buoyed by my success with Piper, I was so excited to start solids with Will after his four month check-up.  

The first week, Will refused to open his mouth, grabbed at the spoon, spit out most of the food, and...well, you can see the bib.  My sister had warned me that there was a learning curve for both mama and babe, and so when we had little success the first week, my excitement was not deterred.  Will eventually started swallowing more of the rice cereal than he spit out, and I felt we were progressing, slowly but surely.  When we went beyond rice cereal, adding a new food every three days--sweet peas, then sweet potatoes, then bananas, then mangoes and on and on--I felt success and then defeat with no real understanding of why.  Will seemed to eat some foods better than others and seemed to enjoy fruits the most, so, in hopes of getting more of a variety in his belly, I decided to start mixing his fruits and veggies. He loved the mixed meals...sometimes. Again, we seemed to be progressing, still slowly but unsurely. Every so often, he just refused to eat or cried and cried until I gave up. 

After a week or so of the mixed meals, I hypothesized that my baby didn't like bananas. The very first time I fed him the nanners, he had gobbled them up, but after two days of experimentation and careful observation, I realized, that was it...

But I had so many bananas! Frozen cubes of pureed banana ready to be mixed with oatmeal for breakfast and banana/peach/spinach baby food ready to eat for lunch and dinner the next few weeks. I also had fresh bananas ready for the next round of baby food making.  What was a mama do?  The next time Maggie and Piper came over, we sent off the frozen goods with them. Then, it was time to bake...

Base Recipe Supplies...teething baby optional.

My go-to banana bread recipe was the very first one that popped up in Google one day when I had extra bananas and was too lazy to go looking through my cookbooks. The recipe includes a sweet story about sharing recipes and skiing and, more importantly, ingredients that I almost always have in my kitchen, but the reason I come back to it over and over again is that it is a great base recipe to which I can add in my own favorites ingredients.

For this batch, I added 1/4 cup flax seed and 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, which makes very yummy bread that makes me feel like I am eating a health food.  I have also tried 1/4 cup chopped nuts and 1/4 cup white chocolate chips...and flax seeds. Next time, I want to try some grated carrots and cinnamon...and probably flax seeds.  For good flavor in each bite, I've found 1/4 cup to be the ideal amount for each add in.

Also, I've found that the key to this recipe is following the directions from the link exactly EXCEPT THE TIME.  When I make a loaf of bread, I bake it for 45 minutes max. If I split it into muffins, I usually only bake it for 20-25 minutes depending on if I remembered to preheat.

So if you have a baby that won't eat bananas, make banana bread with your favorite ingredients, and if you want to feel healthy, add in some flax seed.

Also, a week later, I discovered Will would eat anything with apples in it. So keep trying different approved foods with your baby and enjoy your baked goods!