SUPER picky eater

kat81again2

I don't know what to do. Any suggestions are welcome, about what to try to feed this kid, etc. 

Our child used to eat almost anything we'd give him, but recently he has been extremely picky. Recently means for about a month or two, so it's not some fleeting phase.

DS will eat:

bananas (no matter how hungry...almost always room for more)

yogurt (totally plain! yay!)

puffs, crackers, cheerios and similar carbs

applesauce, including applesauce mixed with infant cereal

breast milk from the breast or bottle, cow's milk from a bottle 

And that's about it. He won't drink water or anything from a sippy cup or regular cup. Sometimes you can get him to eat a few bites of other fruit, ground meat, or fish. He refuses almost everything else, even pasta (though he sometimes likes the mini-shells, but only with the perfect sauce, and fresh...not re-heated.) He will also usually have a puree of veggies, esp if it is a fruit/veggie combo. I just feel like he is too old to have purees all of the time.  

So...what should we do? What should we do to get him to drink from a sippy? He's getting too old for a bottle. How do we get him to drink water? I'm only nursing 2x a day so there's not that much liquid going to him (though he usually has a small bottle of cow's milk at daycare.) How do we get him to eat regular food instead of purees? I know he can do it because he's had the manual dexterity for about 5 months and when he feels like it he can chew large chunks of ground meat, which is a non-trivial chewing task. So he has the capability...but most of the time he throws food on the ground, waves it away from his face, or spits it out if it makes it into his mouth. 

Any suggestions of foods to try that your LOs like? Any tips on getting LO to drink? 

Also, do we just feed him what he likes so that he doesn't starve, or do we hold off on all food until he tries something new? It's a daily question I have. Recently DS has been looking skinnier so I don't want to be too tough on him. I tend to just let him eat what he wants (at least yogurt--that's super healthy) so that he has SOMETHING. DH is pushier with the foods that DS doesn't like, and daycare is somewhere in between.

Cheekers2010

Well, I can tell you that at the feeding clinic we went to they suggested feeding G his familiar foods and introducing one new food.  Even if he doesn't eat the new food it will eventually become familiar.  

mayanut

Mine's not super picky, but has a thing about textures.  Here are few things I've done with him that works.  Some of the things he liked surprised me.

Sneak super-ground-up meat and pureed veggies into regular marinara sauce.

Different shapes of pasta, like wagon wheels and letters.  He loves the Barilla Piccolini pasta that is wagon wheels but has added veggies in it.

Avacado

Black or red beans 

Whole grain crackers - plain 

Brown rice (from a spoon, he won't pick it up) 

He really liked a butternut squash and roasted red pepper pasta sauce that was kinda spicy...that surprised me. 

Plum Teensy Fruit - loves like candy

Revolution Foods Grammy Sammy 

ChicagoBroad26

It seems like he likes fruit (applesauce, bananas). Maybe you could try introducing new fruits first, just so he gets used to trying new foods. Something like pears because they're similar to apples, maybe? The other thing I've noticed with Ava is that she does NOT like to try things when I cut them up into bite sized portions. She will gnaw on a half apple, but will not eat it if I cut it up. She likes to eat a whole cheese stick, but won't eat the slices, etc. 

kat81again2

ChicagoBroad26:

It seems like he likes fruit (applesauce, bananas). Maybe you could try introducing new fruits first, just so he gets used to trying new foods. Something like pears because they're similar to apples, maybe? The other thing I've noticed with Ava is that she does NOT like to try things when I cut them up into bite sized portions. She will gnaw on a half apple, but will not eat it if I cut it up. She likes to eat a whole cheese stick, but won't eat the slices, etc. 

He has my palate (but more limited, haha) so he loves sweets. Blueberries have been hit-or-miss and he refuses to try most other fruit. He loves pears pureed but usually won't try them in pieces. Maybe we will try your suggestion of giving even LARGER pieces so that he can bite chunks off or suck on them or something. Interesting! Cheese has also been hit-or-miss.  

kat81again2

mayanut:

Mine's not super picky, but has a thing about textures.  Here are few things I've done with him that works.  Some of the things he liked surprised me.

Sneak super-ground-up meat and pureed veggies into regular marinara sauce.

Different shapes of pasta, like wagon wheels and letters.  He loves the Barilla Piccolini pasta that is wagon wheels but has added veggies in it.

Avacado

Black or red beans 

Whole grain crackers - plain 

Brown rice (from a spoon, he won't pick it up) 

He really liked a butternut squash and roasted red pepper pasta sauce that was kinda spicy...that surprised me. 

Plum Teensy Fruit - loves like candy

Revolution Foods Grammy Sammy 

Nice suggestions. DS abhors avocado--it seriously makes him gag he hates it so much, and he always has from 6 mo onward, even when he was not picky about other things. It was one of the first things we tried and we try it again periodically, but he always hates it. 

But we have not tried beans yet. We will try rice from a spoon; DS also does not like it if he has to pick it up (though some foods are the opposite....) We will try those other specific products we have not tried before (e.g. revolution foods). Thanks! 

mamaholmes2010

Oliver is not really that picky but here are a couple of his favorites:

Stuffed Peppers (I make them with ground turkrey and then I cut the pepper into strips)

Lasagna-He will eat the meat/cheese combination its hit or miss with the noodles

Grilled Cheese with fresh tomato

Oliver is more picky about HOW the food ends up in his mouth.  He wants to feed himself at all times and prefers to use utensils to his fingers (he doesn't like having dirty hands-wierd, I know) so even though he has to eat in nothing but a diaper and I have to wash the floors 5 times a day its better to have him eating than not at all.

I really like the Whey Protein suggestion....