DD won't eat carbs.

tbmadeamistake

My daughter is a somewhat picky eater (takes after me).  She's great with fruit, some veggies, and does ok with meat (prefers processed like hot dogs and deli meat, so we buy the best we can of those and offer her "real" meat often).  She will not eat a carb to save her own life, unless it's pasta in sauce, and she doesn't react well to the tomatoes!  I'm just wondering how bad it is that she's not eating carbs.  She's almost 13 months, she's on rice milk, no formula, and gets yogurt every day with breakfast. 

Any thoughts on the lack of carbs?

boogerbearoriginal

Well there are lots of carbs in fruit, and in veggies - especially starchy ones like peas and potatoes. There are also carbs in rice milk, and yogurt.

Are you equating carbs with pasta/bread? Because that is certainly not the only source of carbs in a person's diet. 

ETA - I would certainly prefer my child eat fruits/veggies/dairy which offer vit/minerals/fiber as their carbs vs. something like crackers which offers pretty much nothing besides calories. 

boogerbearoriginal

This link https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Dietary-Recommendations-for-Healthy-Children_UCM_303886_Article.jsp

is to the american heart association page, at the bottom it has a chart by age of total daily cal (900 for a 1yr old 35-45% should be fat btw) and amounts of foods. They only recommend 2oz per day of grains for a 1yr old.  As shown here, and other places, fat is a HUGE (almost half) part of all calories for infants, and a third or more for older toddlers.

blu-eyedwife

At 13 months it's probably less "picky eater" and more "toddler eater."  I've yet to meet/hear about a child who didn't go through some phase where they would only eat something or refuse to eat something.  So keep offering what you want her to eat, and eventually she'll probably eat it.

That aside, as pp's have pointed out - breads and pastas aren't the only way to get carbs.  Carbohydrates are in lots of foods!  If she eats veggies, corn and potato are both high in carbohydrates.  I believe beans are also high in carbohydrates.  If your daughter is eating a varied diet aside from the lack of bread, then she's probably getting more carbs than you think.

tbmadeamistake

Thanks!!  I was equating carbs with breads/pastas.  She generally doesn't eat potatoes (though we have found out that she'll eat frozen fries, so that's something, odd child), but she eats tons of carrots/corn/peas/fruits.   

 

That link is fabulous!

jkelly41

Lilygrace48:

Thanks!!  I was equating carbs with breads/pastas.  She generally doesn't eat potatoes (though we have found out that she'll eat frozen fries, so that's something, odd child), but she eats tons of carrots/corn/peas/fruits.   

 

That link is fabulous!

 

Veggies and fruits have carbs!  banana are a great source of carbs.   Also try sweet potatoes.  My kids hate reg potatoes, but will inhale sweet potatoes.

sibby

Ummmm.... fruits and vegetables are carbs. Perhaps you mean your DD won't eat grains? If that's the case, I wouldn't worry too much. She needs carbohydrates for proper brain function and fiber for digestion but she getting both from fruit and vegetables.

bennikki

Disclaimer: Paleo Mom.  Fruit and vegetables are a much more nutrient dense form of carbs than grains.  If grains have any nutrients outside of carbohydrates, it's often because they are artificially fortified.  Wouldn't you rather your child get naturally occuring vitamins and minerals along with her carbs from eating fruits and veggies? 

This is an amazing podcast.  If you start listening at 26 min 48 sec, the bio-chemists does a great job explaining what our bodies actually need in order to grow and function as stated in his med-school textbook (he teaches bio-chemistry).

https://robbwolf.com/2011/04/19/the-paleo-solution-episode-76/

lcherian

I would be jumping for joy if my kids didn't like breads and pasta.

abbyful

Look up paleo/primal. It is entirely possible to have a balanced diet without grain. (Fun fact: Humans, and most mammals, can't even digest grain unless it's ground/cooked. Grains are meant to spread seeds, they are supposed to come out the other end exactly the way they went in and land in a nice pile of fertilizer.)

My LO eats some grains, at daycare he gets whatever the daycare is serving, but they have told me that he prefers fruits and vegetables. Makes me happy to hear! At home, we eat mostly primal.