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D.C. Area Babies
kastle
member
picky eating
kastle
member
up until this point, sprout has eaten everything we've ever put in front of him & then asked for more. lately, he's become incredibly picky. i realize part of this is likely some tooth pain from molars coming in so he doesn't want to eat anything remotely "hard" (like cheerios), but last night he sucked the pesto off some pasta & left the pasta alone. what kid doesn't gobble up pasta?!? (note: he's always loved pasta in the past & I made sure this pasta was a little on the soft side)
Anyway, I ended up making him a PB sandwich b/c he didn't eat very much for breakfast or lunch either.
So, if you have a picky eater, what do you do? I definitely don't want food to be a struggle.
eta: last night's dinner that he wouldn't eat was full of stuff he's loved in the past & were soft: roasted acorn squash, sauteed corn/onions/pepper, & pasta.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: picky eating
I wouldn't say that one "bad" meal or day means he's a picky eater. C is a great eater (last night he declared "Quinoa good, Mama!" and the night before that he specifically requested okra for dinner) but even he has his days, sometimes weeks. When that happens, we still offer him whatever we are eating and if he flat out refuses he can have what we've decided is the default kid's meal - peanut butter sandwich and fruit. Two things that we know he'll eat, but aren't so exciting that he'd pass up other stuff for them.
I would ride this out the way that you have been and be careful not to offer him too many alternatives. Personally, I think that's where parents fall in to a trap and start the picky eating cycle. Of course, C is only two, so my experience is limited and this just might bite me in the ass in a few years.
If you think it's his teeth, I would probably try to make soft foods for the whole family (polenta, mashed cauliflower, an easily gummed fish entree, etc.).
he's been refusing food for a few weeks now. in the past few days i think his teeth have been bothering him based on his mood & slobbering more. but feeding him has been a challenge for at least 2 weeks.
I wish I could help you but I'm jealous of your eating baby!
I've been meaning to do a separate post since the only things DS eats with any regularity are yogurt, cheese, and fruit! Everything else is touch and go.
Off to the beach
DS 7/18/2010
Handy 2.0 Due Early August
2011/2012 Races
12/17/2011 Christmas Caper 10K
2/11/2012 Have a Heart 5K
3/17/2012 DC RNR Half Marathon
4/22/2012 10M Parkway Classic
10/28/2012 Marine Corps Marathon
DD won't eat pasta or rice. I think it must be the texture.
Also, when she was younger she would eat something for several weeks and then it she would not eat it again. I think you are doing the right thing by offering- we do that and then we always have a back-up plan of yogurt, or cereal or oatmeal or whatever that we know she will eat regularly.
I was shocked the other night when she ate a plate of cucumber and beets topped with vinagrette and feta cheese.
I think most parents struggle with this at some point. I know that we have and it suuuuuucks.
Here is my two cents...this is one of the first things that kids have control over, deciding what to eat and what not to eat. And from now on it's all about exerting their independence. Now it very well could be that he is teething or he just wasn't that hungry. But it also could be him figuring out that, "hey, I don't have to eat this if I don't want to!"
In our house, at meal time, if Warner doesn't eat what I fix, then he just doesn't eat. I know that sounds harsh, but I have talked to our pediatrician about it and based on the fact that he is a huge kid and has never been anywhere close to underweight, it won't hurt him to miss a meal or two. I never just make him an alternate meal if he doesn't want what we are having for dinner/lunch. It seems to me that that is a good way to end up with the kid who only eats chicken nuggets, KWIM?
Now because I'm not a big meanie, I do always make sure that he has a couple things on his plate that I know he will eat. I give him some variety and some choices, but once I've given him his plate and I sit down at the table, I stay there and don't get up to get him to get him a second meal.
We just keep on offering. I went from a great eater to a picky eater (another thing to dislike about the 2's). We joke that her food groups are milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs, vegetables and berries. DD has a funny thing about only eating whole items, she doesn't like it when you cut them. So a whole apple is great, but apple slices are a no-no. We eat dinner together every night, but seeing her parents eat has not so far made an impression on DD. She's definitely not starving and growing just fine so I don't worry too much about it. The pediatrician joked with me that some kids just seem to survive on air. The annoying part is when she won't touch any part of a meal and I have to give her an alternative (either sandwich, cereal or a yogurt) and that I've mostly changed DHs and my food options to mimic her preferences. The latter I need to change. Her diet world view gets boring after a while.
PS DD does not like to eat the same thing multiple nights in a row. So if we have rice one night, I try to follow it with another grain or pasta. Makes me sad, my favorite dinner is the one that is already made (leftovers).
when Warner's one and two year molars came in, he hardly ate at all. each time it was about a month where I thought I was going to pull my hair out worry about his poor diet. like I said, it suuuuuucks.
but he's fine now :-)
DS started to show signs of pickiness around 12 months, while he had been a wonderful eater before. From what I heard from other moms and our pedi, "the only thing consistent about toddler eating habits is inconsistency." So if he likes something today, he might not like it tomorrow. He might prefer a different texture one day. In the beginning, I was really stressed out about it, but I feel like I'm managing it better now. I try to look at his intake over several days rather than just one day. He may want to eat mostly dairy one day and mostly veggies another day.
I was also confused as to how much of each he should be getting. This is what the pedi told me most recently:
2 servings of fruits/day
2 servings of veggies/day
3 servings of dairy/day (6 oz each)
1 serving of protein/day (I think)
He gets the fruits in very easily, he can live off them if I would let him. Dairy is a little harder because he doesn't chug his cup of milk easily, so I try to add pieces of cheese as snacks, yogurt, sour cream here and there. I also just started making him some smoothies with lots of veggies mixed in with a little yogurt/milk and one fruit to make it taste better. You can also steam veggies like squash and then puree them into a soup with some cream/broth. He might enjoy dipping bread into the soup.
I also bought some small veggie cutters to make fun shapes out of sandwiches and anything else. He's not that familiar with the shapes and sometimes he doesn't realize it, but he does like things in bite size pieces like sliced up string cheese into little circles.
Another thing is to provide a colorful/diverse palette. Sometimes I separate the meal instead of mixing everything together so he can see the different components. Sometimes he picks his favorites, but I try to squeeze in the rest. And I try to leave out some healthy snacks that he can "graze" on in between meals.
Sorry for the long post, HTH!
I think M has issues with particular textures. He prefers food that is very smooth and puree-like OR very crunchy. In-between textures (which include most foods) are often rejected. But then there are exceptions, like pizza, which he loves. But he only wants it if we hold the slice of pizza and let him take bites of it. If we cut it up in pieces and put it in front of him, he throws them on the floor. It is so, so strange.
I don't think my child is a picky "eater", I think she's a picky 2-year old in general. For us, it's not just about food, it's about what shirt she wears, which shoes she wears, which cup she uses, etc. It's kind of annoying but I think it's part of the toddler stage. They are at a point where they can start to make choices and so they want to assert their independence.
For my daughter, this is how we handle meal time:
1. If the food I'm offering her is something that she has eaten before and which I know she likes, she does not get any alternatives. I say, "that's what's for dinner" and if she doesn't want to eat it then she doesn't eat dinner. She's not underweight and my pediatrician supports this approach.
2. If I offer her something that she has not eaten before, I try to at least get her to take one bite before giving her something else. I won't cook a separate meal but I'll offer her something easy like yogurt, fruit, etc.
3. When I put something out and she says, "I don't like it", I don't argue with her or push it on her. I just leave it on her placement. Many times, I'll look over a few minutes later and she's happily chowing down on the food.
4. Presentation is everything in our house. I put finger foods in a cup because she likes eating out of a cup. I have fun plates and bowls and I let her choose what her food is on, what color cup she wants, and what utensils she uses. For her, it seems to help if I give her a choice on the vessel but not the food.
5. For new foods, I'll take a bite and say how good it is and then give DH a bite and he says how yummy it is. Then I put the food at my placemat. Many times, this inspires her to say "I want some of that" and she tries it.
6. For lunches on the weekends, I usually give her a choice of what she wants to eat and let her help chose. But for whatever she choses, that's what she has to eat after I make it.
So, those are some of my strategies but meal time is still a struggle at our house. Half the time she doesn't want to eat what I give her or she picks at it, or she wants a different spoon, or she's all finished and wants to go off and play. It's not easy by any means.
I guess DH and I have a different view about eating and I think it is largely influenced by being 'force fed' items as kids. My mom insisted I eat things like asparagus, melon (which I am allergic too- obviously she did not know that at the time), cole slaw (fairly certain it has little nutriotional value) and hamburger. To this day, I do not like any of these things. DH is one of the pickiest eaters I know and I cook things that he will not eat and he finds an alternative.
We have never had an issue with DD trying something on her plate but sometimes she spits it out. She usually will eat any fruit or vegetable and she knows that she can go to the kitchen and get yogurt. She loves plain greek yogurt with fruit mixed in and I figure it is healthy.
Thank you everyone for your comments.
I think I might, at least at first, try bh's approach. Homeboy is huge for his age so if he doesn't eat dinner, it's not the end of the world. I mean, I put things on his plate that I *know* he's liked before & a few different textures going on. I'm also thinking that his appetite is low to begin with b/c of the teething...he was eating less before the pickiness started.
I really wish he could just tell me what's gong on. Sigh.