My kid won't eat anything but pasta!

amy715

My DD constantly goes through picky eater phases. The latest is that she won't eat anything but pasta. I'm trying my best to offer her many different kinds so that she is still getting all of her nutrients. Anyone have some suggestions on healthy pasta recipes until she moves into her next picky eater phase that is.

ashiscute

I'm confused. Are you only making her pasta or is she only eating pasta? Make whatever you would normally make and let her choose what she'll eat. I don't agree with letting a 1 yo choose what's for dinner. If pasta isn't an option she won't only eat pasta.

amy715

She won't eat anything else. She will skip meals. If pasta isn't an option, she will just refuse to eat. Her pediatrician said it's normal and as long as what she's holding out for isn't unhealthy, to give it to her when she refuses to eat so that she is eating something. I'm just looking for healthy pasta recipes from other mom's that I can give her to ensure that she is getting a balanced diet.

LSU628

I do regular spaghetti with meat sauce, they make the veggie noodles (although not sure how nutritional they really are), we do like a shrimp scampi with olive oil, garlic, some butter and shrimp. I also do a Mediterranean style pasta with artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives with feta. You can do bowtie pasta with pesto and and grilled chicken- the list goes on and on.

LSU628

Oh, another fave that is big on veggies is a chicken teriyaki stiry fry

amy715

I'm not offering pasta for breakfast and most days she goes without eating any breakfast. And she has gone an entire day with eating nothing because she doesn't like what I made. No offense, but I'm looking for recipes, not judgement on my patenting. I thought the point of these boards was to be able to vent and talk to other moms and it feels like I'm getting slammed every other post because what I do isn't exactly what someone else might do. Her pediatrician is aware of this new food aversion and suggested that I try to find a variety or pasta recipes to feed if that's all she'll eat because her weight gain had slowed a lot because she won't eat. Every other day, we will offer her something else but by day 2, when she is refusing food again I am going to make her something else.

73jewels

Does pasta include Mac and Cheese?  My son is a good eater but recently went on a vegetable embargo.  We make a dozen mac and cheese muffins on the weekend and freeze them for meals over the next few weeks... and we put vegies in there.  The ones we have now have spinach and red peppers (diced).  He eats it up and wants more!  The way I figure it, it's got almost all he needs in a meal right in that little muffin.

If he does it Mac and Cheese, let me know, and I will dig up the recipe, but pretty much any mac and cheese recipe should work, and just add the diced vegies!  

Good luck!

ashiscute

Pinkie78 said:

I love how people with kids who eat well think it's so easy! Our son will go days without eating or will be up all night so OP I feel your pain! We offer things we kniw he likes and add in something new every few days and we have had success with slowly getting him to accept new things. With our son it's a fear of textures so working slowly on overcoming it. Regarding your question I would try to get veggies in the sauce, add meat. Also barilla makes noodles from veggies. I wish we could get our son to eat pasta

This is a silly assumption.  My DD is 3 and has been diagnosed with Oral Sensory Processing Disorder.  It isn't easy.  We have to be very careful with the foods we give her because she will hoard things in her mouth and not chew them which is obviously very scary.  

However, I do not only give her foods that she will easily accept and call it a day.  It's my job as a parent to help her overcome this and learn how to eat a well balanced diet.  If I'm serving foods that can be a problem with her I have to try harder and make sure they are served along with other foods that are easy for her so she doesn't get frustrated and not want to eat.  But I would never just say "Oh, well.  Pasta it is!" because I don't think that helps the issue.  

Also, my DS just weaned off his medicine for reflux after his 2nd birthday.  We had to be very conservative with his diet (and mine while breastfeeding) to make sure we weren't giving foods that would increase the pain he was in.  He also does not tolerate cows milk, soy, or almond milk very well so we have to be very firm with his diet to make sure gets enough vitamin D or calcium since he isn't getting them from the most obvious areas.  

OP did not mention a medical reason for her daughter's reluctance to eat other foods.  Just said it's one of her phases.  I don't think it's beneficial to play into that.  I would continue to serve a variety of foods that she has liked.  Pasta isn't really healthy (not even the veggie kind) so I would work hard to make her understand that's not an option for every meal.  Also, OP unless your pedi specifically mentioned an issue with her weight gain I wouldn't be concerned.  Weight gain significantly slows down in the second year. 

Carmen101613

I thought I would chime in here because we went thru something similar . I understand where both sides of the debate are coming from. I will say that during the holidays I accidentally cut out a milk feeding (DS is 14 mo and gets milk at 8,12,4 and 8. We cut out the one at four). And suddenly he is eating EVERYTHING because he is actually hungry . This may not work for you, but I thought I would mention it.

Btw, I love making those Mac and cheese mini muffins and freezing them.

Also check out weelicious.com

smileybabyboy

We do the whole wheat or veggie pastas.  I'll mix in pureed vegetables into the pasta sauce sometimes.  I usually add in pureed veggies into mac and cheese also.  Here are a few good recipes both with purees: mac and cheese and buttered noodles 

Micelle78

amy715 said:

My DD constantly goes through picky eater phases. The latest is that she won't eat anything but pasta. I'm trying my best to offer her many different kinds so that she is still getting all of her nutrients. Anyone have some suggestions on healthy pasta recipes until she moves into her next picky eater phase that is.

Is there any chance that this is a medical issue? The reason I ask is that this is the first sign my son had when we realized he had delays.

He ate a variety of foods in purees and then refused anything with texture. He will still skip eating too if it's the wrong brand or temperature of food and get upset. He has been in speech for 2.5 years and feeding therapy for 1.5 years. He was and is a happy kid. At 4 we are now waiting for an official dx for autism. The reason I am even posting is that he did not show any signs of anything except eating avoidance for a long time. He is a very social kid. Later when he was past age 2 it was evident that his lack of language was a problem. We may just be looking at global delays. Like I said. .. we are in waiting right now.

My heart goes to you because it took a while for people to believe me -- like MIL- Because I was a first time mom. Don't let the posts here bother you. Every one has their own experiences they are coming from.

Try your best to try new foods, but I would still offer preferred foods daily next to the nonpreffered. My son once refused to drink for 24 hours because I put milk in his sippy when obviously the sippy should have had water. I had to pry his mouth open. Not something that I would want to do again. I hope my situation does not apply to you. I just know the stress of a child that won't eat despite your efforts