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Futuremrssoll
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Fed up with DS
Futuremrssoll
member
I am so frustrated with my son right now. ?I think I've posted before about how I'm getting stressed and frustrated by his lack of eating. ?Each morning, I try to get him to eat breakfast, but it ends up being just a cup of milk. ?Lunch is not much better, maybe a peanut butter sandwich, sometimes a grilled cheese, dinner, i can maybe get him to eat a chicken tender and a string cheese. ?Throughout the day he drinks plenty of milk. ?His new thing is popcicles, we get the pedilyte ones since I feel a little less guilty letting him eat those, and i cut them in half so he only gets half at a time. ?I am trying to give this kid a diverse amount of food, but when I offer him things, he screams, wont sit in his chair, cries, rips off his bib...I am not sure what to do. ?I can't continue to make him three different meals until he finds something he'll eat. ?He rarely eats any fruits or vegetables, well, he eats no vegetables. ?The most veggies he gets are when i give him some V8 fusion juice, which has veggies in it. ?I just do not know what to do. ?At the doctor's appointment for his 18 month, i told them he does not eat much meat at all beyond a chicken tender and eats no veggies and they did not offer advice. ?I have tried to offer him little amounts of things like that muffin tin monday thingy, but then he'll only eat goldfish. ?I feel like a horrible mom because I cannot get him to eat a healthy or even a well balanced diet. ?Sometimes he'll eat if i let him walk around with it the food, so should i just let him do that? ?Does that mean he has won? ?I think hes getting some teeth again, but it sucks and its so embarrassing when all I can get him to eat is potato chips. ?
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Re: Fed up with DS
He's 18 months. He will always "win". You gave up all control when you had children.
It sounds like you're doing a good job of trying to give him a balanced diet, but in the end, he's only going to eat what he wants to eat. I suggest keep attempting to introduce new foods. I have heard other mom's letting their LO's walking around with food, so I'm interested in hearing the other suggestions.
Good luck!
ETA: I just remembered a conversation that I had with a nutritionist re: picky eaters. She suggested "hiding" healthy foods by cutting up veggies and adding them to meals, adding powered milk to soup to sneak in calcium. She also suggested making food kid fun by cutting sandwiches into fun shapes, etc.
TTC since Jan 07. Dx with PCOS Jan 08
How much milk do you think he's drinking in a day? It's so filling that it just might be filling him up enough to keep him from being hungry. Do you feel comfortable yet with giving him a choice between two healthy options of something and if he doesn't want one of them, telling him that he doesn't get anything? You could also always have healthy stuff out where he can see it and get it if he wants it - blueberries, bananas, beans, steamed or raw carrots, hard boiled eggs and just let him snack on those any time he wants to. Will he do smoothies? I can get so much stuff into a smoothie and tell her it's ice cream;) You could do plain yogurt, berries, spinach, kale, oat or wheat bran, ground flax seed. Dr Sears has a drink that he suggest for kids and adults where he says to just make a big batch and let them snack on it all day. If you want a book, I'm really loving his "Healthiest Kid on the Block" book - it has so many great ideas and it's kept me really motivated to make sure that she's eating well, but giving her different options of things she'll like. They're such little stinkers, aren't they?? And I'm sure it probably doesn't help much when people just tell you that he'll eat eventually:( I'd definitely just say to maybe try some completely different things and see if he's interested - especially if threy're things tht you can pack a ton of nutrition into, then even if he only takes a bite or two, he's still getting good stuff.
Some recipes to try to give some ideas for new things(I can never think of things when I want to!):
https://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyfingerfood.htm
https://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/Meals.htm
https://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/Mealtimes.htm
What about going through early intervention and trying to get a nutritionist of Occupational Therapist that specializes in feeding?
Great suggestions ladies! ?He loves ketcup, but the problem ends up being that he licks up just the ketcup, haha. I like the smoothie idea, we used to do them a good bit to get him to get fruits and I'd put in peas. ?The problem becomes then that when he doesn't drink it and theres a ton left over, i'm not a pea person, haha. ?He loves to use utensils and that has helped a little bit. ?I like the hummus idea! ?I wish I read this before I went to the grocery store....
As far as needing early intervention, I don't think its that bad. ?At least he does eat every now and then and while its not always the best, he is in his healthy height and weight ranges. ?
Is there a way I can save this post somehow like in my "file" or anything? ?So i can refer back??
I found this post on the Working Mom's board and thought it might be helpful as well.
https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/20156862.aspx
Is there a way I can save this post somehow like in my "file" or anything? So i can refer back?
Yes! As long as you are singed in, you can scroll down and click on "My Posts" on the left side. From there you can choose to view all and you can see all the posts you've made. That should be a good way for you to refer back to this post as needed.
I don't have much advice, just a comment. When I was little, I was a huge milk drinker... still am. When I was drinking the milk, I didn't eat much. My mom spoke to the Dr. about this and he said that i was getting all I needed and when I was hungry, I'd eat. Try to think of it as you were bfing.
How is he when you and Dh sit down to eat? Does he show any interest in your food? I wasn't much for baby or childrens food. I wanted what my mom had.
This won't be helpful, but you're not alone. While my DD will eat somewhat of a variety of foods, she mainly lives on french fries, pizza, hot dogs and rice krispies (as in a bowl of cereal) and ketchup. She's a juice drinker and drinks A LOT. I often think that she doesn't eat much because she bloats herself with drinks.
I hope things get better for you and DS soon.
I agree with all the suggestions here and I've tried them all. My DD does not eat vegetables unless they are hidden in sauce. Except celery - she loves that (thank you, Wonder Pets!). She's gotten a lot better the last few months, but she was exactly the same (or worse) at Eli's age---only I didn't have the time or patience you seem to have to keep trying.I wanted to cry when people would suggest fancy recipes because with working outside home I just couldn't find more time to be creative and get her to eat better!
That said, cutting the milk down has seemed to help...from 24 oz a day down to about 16-18 max. Also, she has certain ways she'll eat certain foods...some have to be whole, some cut up, some with utensils, etc. I also agree with letting her have healthy foods for snacks whenever she wants, even at the expense of her eating less at meals (canteloupe, blueberries, strawberries, whole grain fish or other snacks, celery). I've found she will tell me when she's hungry and then eat better.
Honestly, I'm sure I could worry myself into a tizzy about her living on sugar, french fries, and processed meats. But she's growing and healthy and it really does help to look at it more over a week or so than any given day! I try not to look at it as someone winning and someone losing, because that sets up mealtimes to be a battle. I find I have to be careful trying to snaek things because she catches me trying to be decietful sneaking stuff on her fork and then doesn't trust anything I put in front of her.
Try to go easy on yourself, at least for a few months or so while you adjust to life with two babies (and enjoy the little time you have left with just one)! I know I get worked up thinking it will be like this forever if I don't 'fix' or address it, but that just hasn't panned out to be true. Little ones listen to their bodies way better than we do.