South Florida Babies

getting toddler to eat healthy

So I took Emma to her 18 month checkup this morning and while she's still steadily in the 50th-55th percentile for height as she's been since birth, she's jumped to the 70th and now 75th percentile for weight between her 16 month appointment and today (she was at the 50th from birth till a year old).  The pedi wasn't overly concerned, but he did say it's something we need to be conscious of and he recommended cutting back on her snacking and trying to give her healthier foods.

As an infant, she was a great eater, but since her first birthday she's become extremely picky and overall a BAD eater.  The only adult table foods she really likes are pizza (bad), french fries (bad), mac and cheese (not great but not terrible), bread/toast (okay, I guess) and whole fruits (great). Other than that she eats snack-type food (Goldfish, crackers, raisins, string cheese, puffs, etc.) and she'll still eat store-made baby food (I give her Earth's Best for the meat/veggie blends and Gerber for fruit). She also drinks a ton of milk throughout the day and little bits of juice (no more than 5 or 6 oz. throughout the entire day, spread out throughout the day). Right after her first birthday, I started trying to make her a big variety of all these healthy homemade adult table foods but after a dozen or so times of me investing a lot of time into making her something healthy from scratch and her totally rejecting it, I kind of gave up. I don't really cook for my husband and myself on weeknights, so it's not like I can just give her a bit of whatever we're eating.

The problem is that it's gotten to a point where I'll offer a healthy option and she'll reject it and then, for the sake of not letting her go hungry, I'll end up giving her whatever she'll eat (Goldfish, a glass of milk, bread, cheese, etc.) just so that she'll have something in her stomach. Of course, from the pedi appointment this morning and now actually writing it all out and seeing it there in black and white in front of me, it's become SO obvious that she's totally playing me. That little booger is too smart for her own good and I guess she knows that she always has the option of just skipping the healthy part of her meal and I'll go straight for the crappy snacky stuff. And the sad part is that most of the time she doesn't even ask for it...I just automatically provide it to her because it feels wrong for me to let her go without eating anything.

Anyway, the pedi told me that it's more than okay to let her skip a meal or two if she doesn't want to eat what we're offering her. I am wondering if this is my only option to get her to eat healthy. She still feels so little (only 18 months) and I feel so guilty thinking that she'll be hungry, but I guess in the long run it's what's best for her. Also, since she knows exactly where we keep all the snack food, I guess I'm just going to have to stop buying that stuff and not even let her see it or have access to it so that she understands it's not an option.

Any experience with this?!?! I know I've read from a few of you either here or on Facebook about your toddler's eating struggles and if I'm not mistaken I think I've read a few times that some of you (Gena? Andrea?) have just eliminated all snack options and essentially forced your toddlers to eat the right stuff. I just don't know if it was with kids as young as Emma is now or if they were a little older.

I feel so guilty for letting it get to this point (i.e., letting her get hooked on snack food instead of healthy, well-balanced meals). I always said that I wouldn't be "one of those parents" who lets their kids eat junk all the time, but parenthood always has the last laugh, huh?  I never wanted to make any foods "off limits" in my house because I believe everything is okay in moderation, but I guess Emma is too young to understand the concept of moderation, so maybe I have to ban that stuff all together. I am a busy working mom and the last thing I want to do at the end of a long day or on my precious weekend time with my baby is fight over food and meals. But if it's at the point where it's getting unhealthy, obviously I have to make a change.

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Re: getting toddler to eat healthy

  • I would stop giving her baby food entirely. At this point there's not reason why she can't eat all adult food. Baby food tends to be higher in fat and calories than the adult equivalent.

    Offer her a variety of foods. Give her tomatoes, steamed broccoli, corn, carrots, etc. I'm a believer in not depriving Alexis of foods so if we go to a fast food place, I get her fries and it's ok if she eats them. But if we're home, I make healthier options. I sneak veggies in food all the time. I don't ever make a big deal out of food. I offer her dinner, some nights she doesn't want to eat, no big deal, I take it away.

    I'm with you on not letting anything be off limits, but you're still in charge of how much she gets. Buy the healthier alternatives of things - get the whole grain goldfish for snacks. I only buy the 2% cheese at home and 1% milk. Make better choices, but I still wouldn't ban anything entirely.

    She may not eat everything you offer her, at least not at first, but I think it's good that she's being exposed to it.  

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  • Zachary was very picky but always in the 90% for weight and 100% for height. I let him eat baby food until he decided he was DONE (about age 2). He still will NOT AT ALL EVER eat a vegetable, but instead I feed him fruit. The doctor said that fruit is just as good and he loves strawberries, blueberries, apples, and bananas!

    He eats lots of PB sandwiches, bagels with Olivio, Ellios pizza, Morningstar Farms chick'n tenders, mac n cheese, fat free Italian ice, low fat cheese, and up until recently he drank FIVE (yes, five) 8oz sippy cups of milk per day. Yes, you read that correctly. Since we just started potty training a couple weeks ago I cut that out and it was not easy. I should have done it sooner though. He also eats plenty of junk like the Gerber fruit twists (though they do have a serving of fruit in each twist), Entenmanns Little Bites, pretzels, cookies when we go to publix, etc.

    I really would not worry too much, but try cutting out the milk. She does not NEED that much milk. Give her a cup or two in the morning and then the rest at dinner. Tell her that she is a big girl now and big girls only drink milk at breakfast and dinner. I have had a lot more success getting Zachary to eat healthier meals when he's not drinking his entire day's calories in milk. From one milk guzzler mom to another this is my advice! IT is sooooo hard at first, but worth it. ANd WAY easier for you in the long run.

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  • This is something Jose and I have discussed A LOT because we want her to eat healthy as she grows up. We figure if we are out, like at a restaurant or a party, she'll have whatever we're having or whatever is served.  But, we'll make sure to only have healthy options at home.  That's the way my parents raised us and that's what I do at home.  Now, when Jose goes grocery shopping with me, he tends to add junky foods to the cart as I try to put them all back.  So, I know I will have the will power to say no to the junk food for her, but I'm not so sure about him.  She's also never really liked being spoon-fed.  Depending on her mood and which puree it is, she'll either eat a whole serving or just have a few spoonfuls.  However, she LOVES when I give her pieces of fruits or veggies.  So, I'm hoping to get rid of the baby food altogether by the time she's 1. 

  • Adri, I really hope that works out for you the way you've planned. Good luck!

    Lee & Karen, thanks for the advice. Karen, after reading your post I am definitely cutting back on milk. I actually called my pedi the day after the appointment to see if he suggested switching her from whole milk to a lower fat milk, but he still wants her on whole milk despite the weight gain. I think I just need to give her LESS. She's not drinking quite as much as Zach was, but she's still over the amount suggested for her age by the feeding guide on babycenter.com.

    As an update, I've been feeding her almost zero snacks since Tuesday and giving her much less milk and she's been eating her real food much better. She also doesn't seem overly hungry from not having the snacks and extra milk. I am excited for when we get back from our week-long cruise (we leave on Saturday) to get a big load of groceries with new stuff for her to try. I am fully prepared for her to reject some of the new stuff I offer her, but I'm hoping to be persistent and that eventually it will pay off and she'll get used to eating better foods and more variety. Hopefully I can wean her off the baby foods soon, or just keep them around in case of emergencies (i.e., out of other stuff).

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  • I don't have personal experience yet, and it is probably easier for me to say this than reality, but I'd have her skip the meal like doc said to stick to her eating healthy... especially that she is still so little and doesn't know any better.

    Nephew is a horrible eater (and at 3.5 yrs old still asks for baby food) and only eats pizza and PB&J.  Bc of this, I am making a huge effort to make all foods the boys eat, except for fruits (those are hard to "make" so I still buy those in jars).  I want them to get used to table food tastes (which are quite diff from jar foods) from now, and try to limit the unhealthy intake as they grow older... again I totally understand that is very difficult, but one can try.

    GL!  Hope Ms Emma starts eating better!

    -- Jackie
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  • imagecocojack10:

    I am making a huge effort to make all foods the boys eat, except for fruits (those are hard to "make" so I still buy those in jars).  I want them to get used to table food tastes (which are quite diff from jar foods) from now, and try to limit the unhealthy intake as they grow older... again I totally understand that is very difficult, but one can try.

    Thanks Jackie. For what it's worth, I made all of Emma's foods too (including fruits) for that same reason you mentioned. I wanted to get her used to table foods more quickly. I would purposely make her purees a little chunkier and everything because I never wanted her to get used to how smooth and easy to swallow the jarred baby foods were. Well, I did end up buying a few store-bought foods a few months after she had started solids, just to have in cases of emergencies and for when we were out and about so I wouldn't have to be heating up the frozen homemade food I made her. Turns out she preferred the store bought baby foods 10 times more than the food I made her! I still continued to make her all her food and would only give her store bought food once in a while, but every time I would give her the store bought baby food, she would inhale it. The closer she got to her 1st birthday, the more and more she would reject all the homemade purees I made her, but she would still gobble up the store-bought baby food. So that's how she ended up hooked on it...at some point she flat out refused to keep eating her homemade purees so I had to rely on the jarred stuff :(

    Anyway, just wanted to share. Definitely give the boys as much real food as possible and keep on doing what you're doing. Just learn from my mistake and be careful with the jarred foods because they end up being addictive...the babies seem to love the texture (it's like pudding).

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  • Chiming in late- but with Nadia, I try to offer healthy choices & unhealthy stuff in moderation. If she doesn't eat what I offer, then she skips that meal & I don't stress it. I prefer her to miss a meal here & there rather than eating junk. Good luck!!!
  • Lucas is extremely picky as well! There is a few things he does like...rice and beans (if she likes beans you can make a lot of it since they do take some time and then put them in freezer bags and I add carrots, calabaza to the beans and purree those so it has some kind of veggies in it), if I make garbanzos, I always add cauliflower to it and then puree those pieces, try to sneak it in where I can.  He also loves spaghetti  (I buy the whole wheat) and he's not a super fan of sauce so I cut up onions, green peppers and garlic really fine and saute in olive oil, season with a little adobo, sazon and then I add a can of tomato sauce..and mix with spaghetti...both boys love that and it's ready in 10 minutes.  Does she like fruits, I usually give him some grapes or strawberries as well after he eats.
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