Community› The Bump Message Boards› Stay at Home Moms
Stay at Home Moms
New Discussion

I need food ideas, my DS won't eat..

ShurasGirlShurasGirl
in Stay at Home Moms
Hi ladies. My name is Lynnae and I have a 3 yr old DS, Elijah. My issue is he's a very picky eater. He never eats lunch at school (he just started a new program from 12-3 M-F) and rarely eats snack. When he was in daycare full-time before he never ate lunch either. He's been the same weight all year. I just need suggestions of things I can try to feed him. More meal ideas. I do make him eat some times but it literally takes him hours when he doesn't like something. I'm tired and at a loss. Please help.
Report Reply to Post

Re: I need food ideas, my DS won't eat..

  • Stacyc625Stacyc625 member

    have you tried getting him involved in the cooking/preparing of the mea/snacksl?-

    or giving him choices?- do you want peanut butter or turkey sandwich?

    Have you tried fun ideas like 'ants on a log' ??- Celery stalks cut spread with peanut butter and place the ants/raisins on top.

    Dipping sauces?- help with meals. BBQ, ranch dressing, and of course ketchup

    Cookie cutter shapes for sandwiches

    Maybe try wraps or pita pockets.

    have you tried making pizza with him?- english muffins toasted in the toaster oven, have him spread the sauce, and sprinkle the cheese and wait for them to bake

    I will come up with more ideas

     

    Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers Lilypie Third Birthday tickers
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • mandymackmandymack member

    Oh my gosh, that sounds so frustrating!  :(

    I have a 3-year old as well and find that she's become incredibly stubborn, refusing to do the simplest of tasks JUST because she knows I need/want her to do them (sit so I can take her shoes off, stop kicking the seat, eat her lunch, get out of the tub, pick up her toys, etc.)... is it possible he's just being difficult?!?

    Will he eat anything?

    My daughter really LOVES when I cut her sandwiches into shapes (Williams-Sonoma sells a Dinosaur that is ubber cute!), let her choose her fruit and if I let her eat on a plate like mine, at the dining room table with me.  Any way some of these special things might entice him to eat?  Would he be interested in helping you make his meals, Emily gets absolutely giddy at this idea and is much more likely to eat when she gets to help?  Maybe the promise of a dessert (like blueberries stirred into fat-free whipped cream)?

    Ugh... I'm sure you feel at the end of your rope, I know I do a lot of the time, good luck!!!

    eclaire 9.10.06  diggy 6.2.11

    Report Reply
  • EnglishMajor03EnglishMajor03 member

    Was he a good eater when he was a baby?  My daughter has special needs and had a rough time eating as a baby and didn't gain at all.  We watch her diet very closely and make sure she's getting enough calories. 

    I'm wondering if he has some aversion to eating?  If you give him what he wants to eat will he scarf it down?  Is this a new behavior or something that you've seen since he was an infant?  Have you tried to talk to him about his eating to see if something triggered his refusal? Have you found a pattern with the foods he's eating (ie: all soft breads/pastas but no acidic fruits)?

    We worked with a lot of feeding specialists who all said not to force your child to eat.  It makes for a stressful situation and if there is really something wrong they may refuse to eat altogether.   You can also call your ped to talk about the situation/his behavior to see if they can help decifer if there's a problem or not.  Good luck!

    image
    Report Reply
  • EnglishMajor03EnglishMajor03 member
    imageEnglishMajor03:

    Was he a good eater when he was a baby?  My daughter has special needs and had a rough time eating as a baby and didn't gain at all.  We watch her diet very closely and make sure she's getting enough calories. 

    I'm wondering if he has some aversion to eating?  If you give him what he wants to eat will he scarf it down?  Is this a new behavior or something that you've seen since he was an infant?  Have you tried to talk to him about his eating to see if something triggered his refusal? Have you found a pattern with the foods he's eating (ie: all soft breads/pastas but no acidic fruits)?

    We worked with a lot of feeding specialists who all said not to force your child to eat.  It makes for a stressful situation and if there is really something wrong they may refuse to eat altogether.   You can also call your ped to talk about the situation/his behavior to see if they can help decifer if there's a problem or not.  Good luck!

    BTW- I didn't mean to make it seem that I was judging you on the forcing him to eat issue.  Unfortunately, we've forced DD plenty of times.  Not something I'm proud of, but it happens.

    image
    Report Reply
  • ShurasGirlShurasGirl
    imageStacyc625:

    have you tried getting him involved in the cooking/preparing of the mea/snacksl?-

    or giving him choices?- do you want peanut butter or turkey sandwich?

    Have you tried fun ideas like 'ants on a log' ??- Celery stalks cut spread with peanut butter and place the ants/raisins on top.

    Dipping sauces?- help with meals. BBQ, ranch dressing, and of course ketchup

    Cookie cutter shapes for sandwiches

    Maybe try wraps or pita pockets.

    have you tried making pizza with him?- english muffins toasted in the toaster oven, have him spread the sauce, and sprinkle the cheese and wait for them to bake

    I will come up with more ideas

     

    Thank you for these suggestions. I never let him prepare food with me, so that's definitely something I'll try. I'll also have to try the fun shapes. He will not eat any type of sauce or peanut butter, jelly, or cheese.
    Report Reply
  • ShurasGirlShurasGirl
    imageTobeMrs.Shavers:

    Oh my gosh, that sounds so frustrating!  :(

    I have a 3-year old as well and find that she's become incredibly stubborn, refusing to do the simplest of tasks JUST because she knows I need/want her to do them (sit so I can take her shoes off, stop kicking the seat, eat her lunch, get out of the tub, pick up her toys, etc.)... is it possible he's just being difficult?!?

    Will he eat anything?

    My daughter really LOVES when I cut her sandwiches into shapes (Williams-Sonoma sells a Dinosaur that is ubber cute!), let her choose her fruit and if I let her eat on a plate like mine, at the dining room table with me.  Any way some of these special things might entice him to eat?  Would he be interested in helping you make his meals, Emily gets absolutely giddy at this idea and is much more likely to eat when she gets to help?  Maybe the promise of a dessert (like blueberries stirred into fat-free whipped cream)?

    Ugh... I'm sure you feel at the end of your rope, I know I do a lot of the time, good luck!!!

    Yes, it's very frustrating. His old pedi said it was just him being stubborn and not to give in. She said a child wouldn't starve themselves. Well I tried that and he won. I told him if he didn't eat he'd go to bed hungry and he'd say ok and go get in his bed and go to sleep...I cried. So maybe if I let him help me make the food he'll want it.
    Report Reply
  • ShurasGirlShurasGirl
    imageEnglishMajor03:

    Was he a good eater when he was a baby?  My daughter has special needs and had a rough time eating as a baby and didn't gain at all.  We watch her diet very closely and make sure she's getting enough calories. 

    I'm wondering if he has some aversion to eating?  If you give him what he wants to eat will he scarf it down?  Is this a new behavior or something that you've seen since he was an infant?  Have you tried to talk to him about his eating to see if something triggered his refusal? Have you found a pattern with the foods he's eating (ie: all soft breads/pastas but no acidic fruits)?

    We worked with a lot of feeding specialists who all said not to force your child to eat.  It makes for a stressful situation and if there is really something wrong they may refuse to eat altogether.   You can also call your ped to talk about the situation/his behavior to see if they can help decifer if there's a problem or not.  Good luck!

    Nope, he was a horrible eater as a baby. He NEVER ate baby food he'd just spit it out. So for the first year of solids it was oatmeal, and then grits. I'm a very picky eater and I think some of it's learned behavior but'll I'll even eat the food I'm trying to get him to eat and he'll just cry b/c he doesn't want/like it. I will stop forcing him to eat I just want him to be healthy. He does eat fruit but no vegetables other than a potatoe and he prefers that fried. He eats foods he likes but not a lot of it's healthy. He loves fish (catfish) but it's too expensive (now that I live in CA) and I can't afford to buy it often. He'll eat bread (loves it) and poultry if it's plain. I'm going to try the things all of you suggested and hopefully he'll grow past this. Thank you.
    Report Reply
  • Stacyc625Stacyc625 member

     

     

     

    No problem- I have a great eater- but she is on the smaller side weight wise- Pedi always suggests putting sauces etc on her foods- and she will have absolutely NONE of that. So she eats her veggies plain. I have stopped worrying. ~ there is a good cookbook - maybe you can take a look at it in the library- i see a ton of women rave about it

    https://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/

    its on my list of books to check out- might be worth a look. they say the recipes are easy. But i think getting him involved might help the most. Put a fun kids CD on in the kitchen and make your meal. Also what might help- since he is older is getting him involved in 'menu making' -- where you sit down together and plan out meals- and then have him  help with the grocery shopping. (can be a lot of fun and very educational- colors of veggies, shapes, counting bananas etc).

    I used to nanny (a 3 year old) and I was in charge of all of the meal planning and shopping. They had a ton of food magazines they subscribed to (don't ask me why because they never cooked- ) but i would let him look at the pictures and we would cut them out and place them on construction paper by color (green for veggies he liked, red for different kinds of meat "think chicken, tacos etc- yellow for breads, cereals, muffins. blue was for snacks, orange was for fruits, etc- ) and we would save the construction paper art- and when we would sit down and do our 'menu' he would take out and show me what his ideas were for meals. -- believe it or not it really helped- and it was fun. And if there wasn't any pictures in the magazines he would sit and draw it (and then i had to guess- oh that was fun lol.... toddler pictionary)- but 1. it gave him some control in deciding what foods to eat. 2. he loooooved doing it. 3. it always killed a nice chunk of time and 4. meal time became a whole lot less of a headache.

    just throwing an idea out. making meal time fun for both of you doesn't have to be hard- ya just need to make take a different direction and run with what works!

     

     

    Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers Lilypie Third Birthday tickers
    Report Reply
  • Stacyc625Stacyc625 member

    Oh and here is a GREAT blog that you can look at and gather some ideas-

    https://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com

    it has a GREAT toddler foods section

    Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers Lilypie Third Birthday tickers
    Report Reply
  • mandymackmandymack member
    imageStacyc625:

     

     

     

    No problem- I have a great eater- but she is on the smaller side weight wise- Pedi always suggests putting sauces etc on her foods- and she will have absolutely NONE of that. So she eats her veggies plain. I have stopped worrying. ~ there is a good cookbook - maybe you can take a look at it in the library- i see a ton of women rave about it

    https://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/

    its on my list of books to check out- might be worth a look. they say the recipes are easy. But i think getting him involved might help the most. Put a fun kids CD on in the kitchen and make your meal. Also what might help- since he is older is getting him involved in 'menu making' -- where you sit down together and plan out meals- and then have him  help with the grocery shopping. (can be a lot of fun and very educational- colors of veggies, shapes, counting bananas etc).

    I used to nanny (a 3 year old) and I was in charge of all of the meal planning and shopping. They had a ton of food magazines they subscribed to (don't ask me why because they never cooked- ) but i would let him look at the pictures and we would cut them out and place them on construction paper by color (green for veggies he liked, red for different kinds of meat "think chicken, tacos etc- yellow for breads, cereals, muffins. blue was for snacks, orange was for fruits, etc- ) and we would save the construction paper art- and when we would sit down and do our 'menu' he would take out and show me what his ideas were for meals. -- believe it or not it really helped- and it was fun. And if there wasn't any pictures in the magazines he would sit and draw it (and then i had to guess- oh that was fun lol.... toddler pictionary)- but 1. it gave him some control in deciding what foods to eat. 2. he loooooved doing it. 3. it always killed a nice chunk of time and 4. meal time became a whole lot less of a headache.

    just throwing an idea out. making meal time fun for both of you doesn't have to be hard- ya just need to make take a different direction and run with what works!

     

     

    I have that cook book and it IS totally worth every penny, it's amazing, especially the butternut squash mixed into mac 'n cheese and the spinach brownies!!!  :)

    By the way, Stacy, such great information in this post, thank you for taking the time to type it all out.  I get Emily involved as much as possible and, like you, am feeling pretty lucky that Emily doesn't hesitate much to eat what I put in front of her BUT the meal planning idea is definitely something I am going to do with her to get her further involved!  YOU ROCK!!!  :)

    eclaire 9.10.06  diggy 6.2.11

    Report Reply
  • ShurasGirlShurasGirl
    imageStacyc625:

     

     

     

    No problem- I have a great eater- but she is on the smaller side weight wise- Pedi always suggests putting sauces etc on her foods- and she will have absolutely NONE of that. So she eats her veggies plain. I have stopped worrying. ~ there is a good cookbook - maybe you can take a look at it in the library- i see a ton of women rave about it

    https://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/

    its on my list of books to check out- might be worth a look. they say the recipes are easy. But i think getting him involved might help the most. Put a fun kids CD on in the kitchen and make your meal. Also what might help- since he is older is getting him involved in 'menu making' -- where you sit down together and plan out meals- and then have him  help with the grocery shopping. (can be a lot of fun and very educational- colors of veggies, shapes, counting bananas etc).

    I used to nanny (a 3 year old) and I was in charge of all of the meal planning and shopping. They had a ton of food magazines they subscribed to (don't ask me why because they never cooked- ) but i would let him look at the pictures and we would cut them out and place them on construction paper by color (green for veggies he liked, red for different kinds of meat "think chicken, tacos etc- yellow for breads, cereals, muffins. blue was for snacks, orange was for fruits, etc- ) and we would save the construction paper art- and when we would sit down and do our 'menu' he would take out and show me what his ideas were for meals. -- believe it or not it really helped- and it was fun. And if there wasn't any pictures in the magazines he would sit and draw it (and then i had to guess- oh that was fun lol.... toddler pictionary)- but 1. it gave him some control in deciding what foods to eat. 2. he loooooved doing it. 3. it always killed a nice chunk of time and 4. meal time became a whole lot less of a headache.

    just throwing an idea out. making meal time fun for both of you doesn't have to be hard- ya just need to make take a different direction and run with what works!

     

     

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm all over this!
    Report Reply
  • ShurasGirlShurasGirl
    imageStacyc625:

    Oh and here is a GREAT blog that you can look at and gather some ideas-

    https://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com

    it has a GREAT toddler foods section

    Thank you so much.
    Report Reply
  • Stacyc625Stacyc625 member

    No problem! -

    That is what this board is soooo great about- to step back and get some different angles and perspectives. Sometimes just tweaking how we go about our problems is all our kids need. ~ sometimes it works- sometimes it doesn't. Never hurts to try something different.

    Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers Lilypie Third Birthday tickers
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"