Toddler eating and refusal

ilovemybaby

Yes, I have a picky eater.  Yes, I probably indulged him for too long and now we're breaking some habits.

So just recently I decided that I'm not the short order cook I used to be, and I've been making toddler friendly meals entirely and not making any side items like pb&j, grilled cheese, macncheese, etc. for DS.  He gets exactly what we eat now.

 So its not working well, but we've only just started.

Here's my question- he refuses the main meal and asks/begs for yogurt, banana, applesauce, etc- you know, the fun stuff.  I am glad that its not junk food, but still.

OH, the question.  If he's refusing the real food, is it bad to give him the fruit and yogurt- like its a reward?  He would seriously fill up on that and be done.

I give him a vitamin and he eats well at daycare- but its not the best of food.  Not like I try to make at home. I've heard that if a toddler gets ONE good meal a day, that's pretty good.  I guess daycare is it then.

So general questions- what do you do with your picky eater?  What do you offer at a meal?  meat/protein?  carb?  vegie?  fruit?  dairy?  all or just some of those?

Thanks!

isabella22

I make her a balanced meal for dinner (meat, starch, veggie, fruit after) and try to make something that she likes, even if it is a slight modification of what we are eating (e.g. we have tacos and she has just the hamburg and shredded cheese).

She is really strange eater, one night it will be all veggies, another all meat, another 2 apples.  Daycare says that she eats great there (and they cook great, well-balanced meals).

I just go with the flow... I don't want to make food and mealtime is an issue.

I wish I had a great suggestion

Zenya

If DS doesn't want what we're eating he can have any easy to grab, healthy alternative.  I won't cook a separate meal. But if he wants leftover pasta, pepper slices, fruit, barley.. whatever.  He can have that.

Mostly he only eats one thing at dinner.  Like tonight he had chicken.

If we're making something we know he won't eat and we have time... we'll cook some chicken for him.  that's his favorite.

So really we don't fight too much.  He's 2. He'll grow out of it.  Meal times are nice for us - no battles.

DandelionMom

I often make modifications to our dinner for our picky toddler. ?Like when we have fried rice, she gets everything separately (veggies, tofu, and rice with no sauce). ?I know she'll outgrow it. ?My older girls did. ?