Recommendations Please

christinasullie37

Can any one recommend any good books on introducing new foods to my 21 month old? She is so resistant and she basically has a panic attack every time you put something new on her plate.  The pedi said she is not in need of any therapy but I am beginning to wonder.  The amount of anxiety she has as the sight of anything out of the ordinary is unreal.  And when I do put something new on her plate, along side familiar foods she stops eating all together.  I am getting tired of feeding her the same 6 foods.  I hate giving her that poly-vi-sol crap because it is staining her teeth despite brushing and I know she is not getting what she needs, hence why we are still on toddler formula.

pb_bride

That does sound kind of extreme.  You can try chaining foods (I think that's the term?) I don't know what 6 foods she is eating, but you can try chaining foods that have similar appearance/texture to the 6 that she currently eats, and slowly expand her diet.  

And you just have to keep offering new foods.  If she sees the same foods over and over again, eventually they won't be "new" to her (even if she refuses to eat them).  At some point, she'll realize that these "new" foods aren't going away.

I like the book "Fearless Feeding".  If you don't want to buy the book, it's still worth checking out the website/blog written by one of the 2 authors:

https://www.raisehealthyeaters.com

There is an entire section on Picky Eaters (look for the tag on the "categories" column on the R).

Crequito

This might be a stupid question but does your LO ever want whatever you're eating/snacking on?  I ask because that's how our DD started on many of the foods she now eats regularly.  If DH or I have a snack she wants some.  She won't like it every time but she will try it every time.  Our only issue right now is milk.  DD doesn't seem to want to drink it at all.

christinasullie37

Actually yes, she does ask for some of the foods we eat but it is usually only the junk food like doritos, microwave popcorn and chips, etc.  We do let her try it but try not to eat it too frequently in front of her.  I offer her the same things we eat at dinner, she is not with us for breakfast or lunch.  I am told though that her daycare provider has the same problem with breakfast and lunch.  I am going to buy the book food chaining and also another one, can't remember the name right now. and go from there.  If things don't get any better by her two year appointment in mid-october, I will be asking the pediatrician to provide me with more help with this.

Crequito

One thing our pedi told us to try since we're having problems with DD eating vegetables (she'll eat any kind of protein or fruit) is to make it a game.  Put it on her plate and then snatch a piece and exaggerate eating it and enjoying it.  It's worked once or twice but not every time.  I also learned that some vegetables DD likes if we cook them differently.  For the longest time she wouldn't eat carrots then at my parent's house for dinner she had carrots that had been cooked in the crockpot with a pot roast and she devoured them and kept asking for more.  So I'm looking for new ways/flavors to use on all the veggies DD currently turns away from.

greyt00

DS1 was the same way.  We never could get him off baby food on to table food (besides bread and bananas and Cheerios).  If I were you I would get an evaluation.  DS1 stopped eating and drinking altogether at just before 1 year and we determined he had silent reflux.  With some Prevacid and occupational therapy, he began moving toward some table food (cheese sandwiches, fish sticks, veggie tots, nothing great but it was a start).  But then we stopped therapy and he began having more behavioral issues and I think that's when the screaming when presented with different foods started (around 20 months).  We finally started taking him back to occupational therapy and it was determined he has sensory processing disorder.  I don't want to scare but you I would get help sooner rather than later.