Marit,
I've seen older babies who reject solids for one of three reasons: 
tendency toward allergy (they seem to be protecting themselves from 
allergens, and at about a year start to eat everything); difficulty with 
tongue function (either neurologically based or from tongue-tie) that 
makes it scary to swallow; and sensory processing problems (which can 
make new tastes or textures scary). Most hesitant kids seem to start 
eating by 10-12 months, and most do not have any detectable nutritional 
problems.
I do sometimes help parents with these problems. Sometimes if the 
parents are encouraged to offer the baby larger pieces of food (whole 
peas instead of pureed peas) the baby feels more control and will eat by 
themselves. Sometimes we experiment with textures - some babies feel 
safer with crunchy food (whole wheat toast cut into strips). Often once 
they are used to one food, they will try others.
I hope this answers your question. We need a lot more research on this 
area. Most of the research on growth and nutrition in infants is done in 
resource poor areas, and this particular question is not well studied in 
more wealthy countries.
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC

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