Picky eater?

Superchicy

DD has become an extremely picky eater.  Before 10 mo. she ate more than I thought a kid could ever eat at mealtime.  Right around 10 mo. when she cut her upper teeth she totally stopped eating (bottle and all), then we got her back on the bottle after a couple days, but now she refuses anything off a spoon.  I can get 2-4 oz of puree in her through major distraction, but that's it.  I've been giving her as much finger foods as I can, but she is even picky about that.  Her rules are it can be squishy (she squeezes the heck out of anything she eats), nothing slimy or sticky either, which really limits what she'll eat, even though I offer an array of things that are all textures hoping she'll try it.

I keep trying new things, but she just isn't having it, and she eats like a bird at mealtimes.  Then she throws her food all over the floor.  I take the tray away and give her one thing at a time which sometimes works, but she still hardly eats.  I offer things through the day while she plays and she'll eat some then, but she still doesn't eat a lot on the whole.  She still takes 3-4 bottles a day. 

Any advice?  We have our 1 yr appt on Thursday and I'll ask then too.  

KristenBtobe

Unfortunately this isn't uncommon. After eating anything we put in front of her before 1 year, Maggie still hates the texture of a lot of veggies.Spits them out. Hopefully she will come around a little, just keep trying. I know it's tough.

Mrs.Cooley2bee

Although my DD isn't a picky eater she does kind of have "rules" about how she likes to eat.She really doesn't like for me to spoon feed her, which is fine most of the time but the child needs to get some applesauce, yogurt and cottage cheese at some point....everything isn't a finger food!  SO, I have begun offering her the baby spoon and letting her eat with it (I hold the cup or bowl).  She figured out how to dip her spoon in things and lick it clean.  Don't het me wrong - she makes a farkin mess most of the time but she does eat more. Maybe try to assist her in eating with a spoon on her own. 

Also, I took the tray off of her highchair and scooted her right up to the table to eat and for some reason this has drastically cut down on the food throwing.  My highchair is a spacesaver so it was easy to do.  If you have a regular high chair maybe it's time to switch to some sort of booster and get her up to the table with all the big people :0)

Good luck.  Sometimes it's still a crapshoot at my house when we are trying to get her to eat.

MrsMoher

I know you will think I am crazy, but hear me out.  Have you tried giving her a spoon/fork?  I know it's messy and loads of fun to clean up (<-for the record that is sarcasm), BUT E went through this stage too and it was ALL about independence for him.  He wanted to do it himself. 

Try yogurt (assuming you are doing milk) with cheerios mixed in.  The cheerios make it a little thicker and less messy to help her learn to use utensils.  We loved the metal gerber forks too.  He never got hurt with them (although I feared he would stab himself) and it makes picking up cubed carrots/pears/apples/peaches, like the gerber graduates, easier.  When we started doing that the amount he consumed increased quite a bit.

He also between 1 and 1.5 years decided he wanted to eat what we ate.  So try making sweet potatoes, potato, carrot, soft pasta, etc. really soft and give her some after you eat a bite or two.  Sometimes that worked with Eli too, because he felt more adult like then.

Superchicy

MrsMoher:

I know you will think I am crazy, but hear me out.  Have you tried giving her a spoon/fork?  I know it's messy and loads of fun to clean up (<-for the record that is sarcasm), BUT E went through this stage too and it was ALL about independence for him.  He wanted to do it himself. 

Try yogurt (assuming you are doing milk) with cheerios mixed in.  The cheerios make it a little thicker and less messy to help her learn to use utensils.  We loved the metal gerber forks too.  He never got hurt with them (although I feared he would stab himself) and it makes picking up cubed carrots/pears/apples/peaches, like the gerber graduates, easier.  When we started doing that the amount he consumed increased quite a bit.

He also between 1 and 1.5 years decided he wanted to eat what we ate.  So try making sweet potatoes, potato, carrot, soft pasta, etc. really soft and give her some after you eat a bite or two.  Sometimes that worked with Eli too, because he felt more adult like then.

I will have to get brave and try a spoon.  We have carpet so I'll get some extra plastic to put down under her and give it a go.  I'm making spaghetti tonight and even though it breaks two of her rules and she's just smashed and thrown pasta in the past, I'm going to try that too.   Thanks for the suggestions!

Lyons_in_2007

I agree with pp's - this is completely normal/typical behavior at this age; and we still struggle with this - some days more than others.

I'll also suggest reading a few books on toddler eating, which Jersey initially recommended to me:

How to Get Your Kid to Eat: But Not Too Much

Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense

Both helped me to put the stages of toddler eating (and related behavior) into perspective and eliminate most of my stress around the issue(s). 

MrsMoher:

I know you will think I am crazy, but hear me out.  Have you tried giving her a spoon/fork?  I know it's messy and loads of fun to clean up (<-for the record that is sarcasm), BUT E went through this stage too and it was ALL about independence for him.  He wanted to do it himself. 

This!  DS oftentimes refuses to eat anything (even things that we KNOW he loves) unless he can do it himself...with utensils.  Moreover, sometimes toddler utensils aren't good enough, so he demands a full sized spoon and/or fork in order to eat.  If we so much as ATTEMPT to help him, it's almost as if we've tainted the food; and, from that point forward (during that meal), he will refuse to touch what we tried to help him with. 

JLPT830

Right around 1 DS became picky.  Honestly, it lasted up until recently.  I truly think it was more of a texture/tactile issue for him than a taste issue.  I agree with what all the pp's have said but especially about reading one of those books Lyons mentioned.  It helped me put into perspective what was happening in DS's mind at mealtime and I was a much less edgy person about him eating or not eating.   Hang in there and just keep offering a wide variety.  One day it will click.

Missbollinger

2 things I have noticed with Henry (who is a human garbage disposal) is that when his gums are sore he just doesn't like anything at all unless it is cool and soothing, like Rice Dream frozen dessert, that usually goes down really well.  When I make soup or something messy I give him something a little less messy like bread and butter to eat on his own while I spoon the messier food in for him.  These work for us for now but he isn't a texture sensitive baby like DS1 who to this day can not eat cottage cheese or applesauce (I have no idea why) without gagging.

HTH 

Superchicy

THANK YOU!  I will definitely check out the books.  I think my family is freaking me out more than my own worries.  It will be good to talk to he pedi too on Thursday. 

jerseygirl81

Lyons_in_2007:

I'll also suggest reading a few books on toddler eating, which Jersey initially recommended to me:

How to Get Your Kid to Eat: But Not Too Much

Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense

YES and YES! These will totally change the way you think about her eating habits.

Letting him hold the spoon and fork helped a lot for us, too. Like pps mentioned, it was ungodly messy, but he liked it.