Re: putting at least one thing they like on the plate

marybeth1699

What do you do if the only things your kid likes and will definitely eat are on the junky side??  My 2 yo likes so few things!  He'll eat fruit but other than that he likes toast, pancakes, sausage/bacon, cashews, pizza, chicken nuggets, cheese, yogurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grilled cheese, applesauce (or anything similar including those pouch things) and then all your typical crunchy snacky stuff like (kashi or kix cereal, crackers, goldfish etc).  I try to buy the healthiest versions of these foods for example, I use the fruit spread instead of jelly and I buy the organic peanut butter that is only peanuts and no other ingredients.  I buy greek yogurt or the stonyfield organic that has less sugar in it etc etc etc.  But still, none of it is great really.

 I can sometimes get him to eat a few bites of egg, steak, salmon, pork chops or a quesadilla but I would not consider these things that are a "go to" or that he will always eat if they are put in front of him.  He rejects them just as often as he eats them.  He will barely eat pasta or mac n' cheese.  Won't touch meatloaf.  I've tried hummus and ranch dressing with various things to dip.  He won't eat sweet potato fries (neither homemade or store bought).  I've tried to do crepes with various fillings or even panini's but if I try to sneak turkey or ham or something into them he tears them apart and just eats the bread and won't eat the crepe at all.  I've tried burgers, turkey burgers and pulled pork sliders.  I can't list everything I have tried b/c it is just so much stuff - basically anything we eat for dinner I have tried.  And I have tried for lunch and dinner in case it was that he just wasn't hungry by the end of the day.

I know most experts say that when you make dinner you should always have one thing on the plate that they like but I feel like he's always eating the extremely limited foods I mentioned above which aren't the healthiest options.  Do I just give him fruit with every single meal?  When he was constantly eating fruit he had the worst diaper rashes.  I felt so bad for him. 

HELP!  I need suggestions!

blu-eyedwife

I don't see the things you're listing as inherently unhealthy - especially if you're buying healthy versions of them. Carbohydrates aren't the devil - especially if eaten in moderation.  And kids tend not to overeat - they self regulate.

chicken sausage, baked chicken nuggets, pizza, and yogurt are all fine choices.  It doesn't even sound like your kid is that picky of an eater - just not so into a variety of protein and vegetables - which is typical toddler behavior. 

So incorporate it a you can - pizza is a great conduit for vegetables - broccoli, radish, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, artichoke, eggplant, etc.  (and be prepared for him to peel them off - my son does this with spinach)

 And continue to serve alongside things you want him to eat- peanut butter and jelly with green beans, chicken sausage and white bean ragout.  The picky eating is a phase they all go through.  Eventually he will broaden his food choices if they're made available.  This doesn't mean he'll eventually eat everything you put on his plate, but he may be open to a wider variety.

 

eyenigh

I don't have any helpful suggestions but I did want to commiserate with you. My son would live on goldfish crackers, cheese, French toast and yogurt if I let him pick. I try to offer him different options for each meal and continue to offer without pushing (I realize it can take many times until they decide they actually like something) but I'm with you. I do what you do and try to give him one thing that I know he likes but it's frustrating when you're really trying hard to give him healthy meals and you feel like you're just repeating the same stuff (sometimes junky) over and over again for them since that's what they'll eat. 

dairygirl19

The 1st pp has great advice. It's pretty much what I would say.

When my kid goes through a picky phase I have no shame. I've been known to slide her a goldfish cracker after 3 blueberries on occassion.

I. just. can't. fight. it. They eat or they don't. It's such a short lived phase for a lot of kids that if they're perfectly healthy surviving on kix for a bit won't kill them.

dairygirl19

LalaMama81:

I serve what I serve and they eat what they eat. They choose breakfast - or rather DD1 choose and DD2 eats the same. Lunch is usually leftover or I choose. Dinner we all eat the same. They don't eat, oh well, they won't starve. I leave meals out until the next meal and they often come back to eat more. I don't have time to worry if they got X amount of protein or Y amount of veggies. They are offered a varied and healthy diet w/ plenty of foods they love and foods they haven't had. It can take a dozen tries to like a food, so I keep offering. To this day, there is only 1 food (mushrooms) that DD1 consistently dislikes. The rest she will eat here and there. 

I think people over think this. If you are buying and preparing only good and "acceptable" foods, there is not much to worry about.  

Lala is wise too. She said it much better than me.

I really think only on the Bump are people freaking out about what their kids eat every second of the day.

ladybugpjb

I'm with the first poster -- a lot of things on your list are good. At the very least, they aren't bad. I don't understand why yogurt is a bad thing. Yogurt and cheese were pretty much DS's only sources of protein for 6 or 8 weeks during his picky eating phase. I purchase plain yogurt and added stuff to it - either fruit or honey - to avoid the sugar issue. I would have given ANYTHING if he'd just eaten a peanut butter sandwich.

I also bribed him to eat the things I wanted him to eat with things I knew he would eat. I'm glad we're past that phase now.

CheezeFace

dairygirl19:

LalaMama81:

I serve what I serve and they eat what they eat. They choose breakfast - or rather DD1 choose and DD2 eats the same. Lunch is usually leftover or I choose. Dinner we all eat the same. They don't eat, oh well, they won't starve. I leave meals out until the next meal and they often come back to eat more. I don't have time to worry if they got X amount of protein or Y amount of veggies. They are offered a varied and healthy diet w/ plenty of foods they love and foods they haven't had. It can take a dozen tries to like a food, so I keep offering. To this day, there is only 1 food (mushrooms) that DD1 consistently dislikes. The rest she will eat here and there. 

I think people over think this. If you are buying and preparing only good and "acceptable" foods, there is not much to worry about.  

Lala is wise too. She said it much better than me.

I really think only on the Bump are people freaking out about what their kids eat every second of the day.

This.  100% this.   

If it gets eaten I say something like, "aren't carrots and dill yummy?  I like them too".  If he tries if but doesn't like it I say, "Thanks for trying that.  I'm glad you gave it a chance."  If he throws it on the floor I say, "Well, maybe you will like it next time."  

No big.  They are babies.  They'll figure it out if you just offer them good choices.  

chardonnay24

I don't really see much on your list that is unhealthy.

Breakfast is my kid's best meal. He usually has toast, cereal, French toast, pumpkin pancakes, or a blueberry waffle (homemade or Kashi) with yogurt, chicken sausage, a scrambled egg or crustless quiche with veggies, or peanut butter, and fruit.

Lunch is hit or miss. I served a cheese quesadilla with a side of seasoned black ebeans and avacado the other day and he didn't touch it. I offered it again at snack and he still refused it. He loves grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, PBJ, cheese and crackers, and Annie's O's with peas and cheese. I almost always serve a vegetable (steamed or raw) which he refuses it and a fruit which he'll normally eat.

Dinner is not his best meal. We also have a lot more variety at dinner and I don't always cater to his wants. This weekend, I made pulled pork in the crockpot and served it on grilled ciabatta with broccoli slaw and sweet potato fries. He not only didn't even try one bite, he threw his plate across the room. Yesterday, we had barbecue baked potatoes with cheese, bacon, sour cream, butter, and chives with cantelope and broccoli. Not healthy, but he gobbled it up. Tonight, he ate the orange chicken, didn't touch the brown rice, and took a bite of mango and determined it was "yucky". Basically, I cook and serve what I want and he eats it or not (usually not).

Toddlers are fairly notorious for being picky eaters. As long as you're not pulling trhough a drive-thru every day for a cheeseburger and fries, I think he'll be fine. You have plenty of foods on your list that can be made relatively healthy and toddler friendly. If you're worried about nutrition, you can always do a multivitamin.

Leap08

blu-eyedwife:

I don't see the things you're listing as inherently unhealthy - especially if you're buying healthy versions of them. Carbohydrates aren't the devil - especially if eaten in moderation.  And kids tend not to overeat - they self regulate.

chicken sausage, baked chicken nuggets, pizza, and yogurt are all fine choices.  It doesn't even sound like your kid is that picky of an eater - just not so into a variety of protein and vegetables - which is typical toddler behavior. 

So incorporate it a you can - pizza is a great conduit for vegetables - broccoli, radish, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, artichoke, eggplant, etc.  (and be prepared for him to peel them off - my son does this with spinach)

 And continue to serve alongside things you want him to eat- peanut butter and jelly with green beans, chicken sausage and white bean ragout.  The picky eating is a phase they all go through.  Eventually he will broaden his food choices if they're made available.  This doesn't mean he'll eventually eat everything you put on his plate, but he may be open to a wider variety.

 

I agree with all of this! The things your kid is eating aren't really all that bad or unhealthy. 

When I say I always put one thing on my kids' plate that I know they will eat, that one thing is often fruit or cheese. 

Honestly, all kids do go through a kind of non-eating/picky stage. I think the best way to get through it is to continue to serve a variety of things that you are also eating. If your child doesn't eat any of it, don't really push it. My daughter has started to surprise me lately by eating most of the food on her plate, including chicken and salmon - two things she wouldn't touch a month ago.  

boogerbearoriginal

LalaMama81:

I serve what I serve and they eat what they eat. They choose breakfast - or rather DD1 choose and DD2 eats the same. Lunch is usually leftover or I choose. Dinner we all eat the same. They don't eat, oh well, they won't starve. I leave meals out until the next meal and they often come back to eat more. I don't have time to worry if they got X amount of protein or Y amount of veggies. They are offered a varied and healthy diet w/ plenty of foods they love and foods they haven't had. It can take a dozen tries to like a food, so I keep offering. To this day, there is only 1 food (mushrooms) that DD1 consistently dislikes. The rest she will eat here and there. 

I think people over think this. If you are buying and preparing only good and "acceptable" foods, there is not much to worry about.  

ITA with this.  I make the food, ensure there is a healthy variety at most meals and the kid eats whatever he feels like eating. Some days he loves sweet potatoes, the next he won't touch them but eats a ton of pork or whatever. At any one meal I don't think he ever eats everything, even things he likes. It's more like over the day/week he gets a variety.

Also, I feel like people on TB are obsessed with veggies. Toddlers don't need a 1/4 cup of broccoli or whatever with their meal. A bite or two is sufficient.

tbmadeamistake

See if there's a sauce your LO will dip food in.  Mine won't eat peas unless they are dipped in ketchup.  Ketchup won't kill her, so I let it happen.  You can also try things like putting veggie purees into other foods.  Make pancakes with applesauce in them, put carrots into mac & cheese.