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Houston Babies
please reassure me
that it's normal for toddlers to eat next to anything and still survive. also please tell me that just giving her normal food, not making her special meals, is the proper way to handle this.
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Re: please reassure me
yes and yes.
At least, this is how we handle it. She eats what is on the table or she goes hungry.
Although, if we're having several sides I know she won't eat I will make at least ONE that she will (normally mashed potatoes or macaroni).
Some days Kaitlyn doesn't eat hardly anything... Some days I think she'll eat us broke. lol
i agree with what you're doing. my dd eats great for breakfast and lunch, but doesn't eat dinner most nights. i used to try to make sure there was something on the table she liked, beside her milk, but stopped this two days ago. because all she was doing was eating her fruit and drinking her milk.
so, the other day i told her that she needed to eat a couple of bites and then i'd give her the fruit. to my surprise, she did just that. my dd used to eat EVERYTHING i put in front of her. it shocked me when she stopped eating. i think they're trying to excersise their free will at this age. my will is just going to have to be stronger.
so, i think you're right. don't give in and become a short order cook. good luck
Yes, definitely. I will admit, I made Tru his own food on occasion until he was closer to 3 but that is mostly b/c he's in the 20-25% for weight. Now that I have reached the you're-out-of-luck phase I handle it a couple of ways-
I try to power pack his other meals so that dinner is just gravy, esp his lunch box. Lots of protein and fruit/veggies plus whole grains (whole wheat mac'n'cheese with broccoli and carrots mixed in. maybe add a turkey hot dog.). I think if his lunch was the only meal he ate all day, he would be ok. Breakfast is usually whole milk yogurt with cheerios or scrambled eggs with cheese and whole wheat toast.
When I make something I know he doesn't like, ie chicken, I try to make sides that I know he does- rice and broccoli, for example. I also try to accommodate his eating preferences a couple nights, without telling him of course. He loves fish, so we have it one night most weeks (plus he'll get fried fish at Luby's or Berryhill). Also, we go out a couple nights so he gets what he wants which is usually a cheeseburger.
I would say Truitt eats 3 "real" dinners a week and most nights has a few bites that's it. He's healthy and smart and just fine.
okay good. i feel better
i always do to try to have at least one thing she'll eat, especially at lunch or dinner. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
she didn't eat much for breakfast and I bet anything her lunch box at MDO will be empty and they'll tell me to send more food, LOL
j+k+m+e | running with needles
Isn't that frustrating? Kaitlyn randomly decides she doesn't like something these days. "I don't like shells and cheese today" yet... she eats them ALL THE TIME!
my favorite is that even as she's eating something she loves, she's shaking her head and saying NO!
kids!
j+k+m+e | running with needles
LOL! I love it. Eloise used to say "NO Green Beans!!" as she shoveled green beans in her mouth. Yeah kid, whatever you say.
We go through this, too and even though I know she's okay and will eat when she's hungry, it's still as frustrating as can be. I asked our pedi about it when it started and she said not to fix meals specifically for her as I am not her "short-order cook" -- which is true. I agree with a pp that this is part of the toddler yearn to exercise their free will.
Abbie ate soup, eggs, and oatmeal for every meal when she was that age. She just wouldn't eat anything else, so whatever I made for dinner I made sure she had a cup of soup with it to get some veggies in her.
We still go through the "I don't want to eat that" stuff but now that she's older there are no substitutes. Last night was a big fight, but luckily DH is better at sticking to it than I am. :-P
We had to cut out snacking (she gets one healthy thing right after school and that's it) and desserts. Having a treat after dinner is not a given, and if we decide she can have one it's only if she makes a "happy plate." Doesn't have to totally clear it, but has to eat enough of the good stuff to make us happy!
Collin Thayne 10.11.2010