Picky eating starts now?

mamabear2010 · July 2011

When my friend told me that as soon as her son turned 1, his eating habits changed, I almost didn't believe her. But here I am, DS is almost 1, and he's starting to question/reject some of the things I offer him. I'm not sure how to react, especially when he gets really frustrated and starts throwing the food on the ground. He was never picky about any food since I started offering him solids at 5 months. We started with veggies and then fruits and he's pretty much taken everything I give him without complaint.

But now he's starting to "inspect" the food before he puts it in his mouth, and if he doesn't like it, he'll just refuse to eat it. Sometimes if I sing to him, he gets distracted and I can sneak it in his mouth. But other times, it's just a no go, and sometimes he starts throwing food on the ground. He will eat fruits for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I offer them to him but I obviously want him to have a more balanced diet. He especially loves blueberries and anything that is small/round like that (peas, cheerios, etc).

He's not a fussy baby, and whenever he sees someone eating, he'll start grunting and act like he's famished and loves to eat from his grandparents, aunts, etc. He's not really rejecting "new foods", he's had them before but I'm not sure what the problem is. I know sometimes when he's teething it impacts his eating habits. But sometimes it just seems like he's picky at some meals. I usually try to give him another alternative, but if he doesn't like that either, I'm not sure I should go to option #3? I'm really not sure how to deal with the food throwing either-- I've given him a stern face and said "no", and tried to show him that I'm picking it up and not offering it to him for a few minutes...but I doubt the message is getting to him.

MrsPhilDunphy · July 2011

C is generally not a picky eater, but he definitely goes through phases. I try not to offer too many back-up options and make too big a deal out of it because I have no intention of becoming a short order cook at meal time. He eats (almost always) exactly what we eat and if it's something that I'm pretty sure he won't eat, I'll make sure that at least one option on the table is something healthy that he does like.

DH and I recently decided that if he's in a mood where he absolutely won't eat any part of the meal, the fall back meal in our house will be peanut butter sandwich and fruit. Something that he'll always eat but isn't very exciting. I think a lot of their phases at this age really have more to do with asserting their independence rather than actual tastes. A few months ago he basically refused to eat vegetables for a week, but we just kept offering (and gave him a little extra fruit during that time) and he came back around. The kid asks for green beans and broccoli by name.

kastle · July 2011

i feel your pain! sprout does this thing where he'll put food in his mouth & then spit it back out. and then throw it on the floor.

gross.

it's weird b/c one night he'll gobble up what we serve him & then when we give him leftovers the next night, he's a totally "WTF is THIS?!?"

So, my sympathies. i agree with pp that offering a few things is fine, but you don't want to get yourself into the short order cook role.

smacb · July 2011

It's amazing how early they have opinions! I refuse to have food battles. Someone once told me and I totally agree with it, that your job is to provide them with healthy options, not to force them to eat. Toddler eating can make you insane. They'll love something one day and hate it the next. I think the thing to do is to look at it over a long time rather then a short time. What I find with DS is that it balances out. He has days when he wants nothing but protein and days he wants nothing but dairy and days he wants nothing but fruit or broccoli.

Last night he wanted nothing but corn for dinner. Today has been a protein/dairy day. He picked the turkey and cheese out of his sandwich at lunch and inhaled his milk and several yogurts. I refuse to cook more then one meal, but if he's hungry and refused most of his meal I'll let him have a healthy snack that doesn't involve cooking.

mamabear2010 · July 2011

Thanks ladies! This makes me feel a bit better. I guess this is just the beginning

In trying to look at the bright side, I tell myself that I'm impressed that he is recognizing different kinds of food, developing different tastes, etc. I will keep all this advice in mind and try to look at the bigger picture (ie- how eats over several days instead of one).

HikerBride07 · July 2011

smacb:
It's amazing how early they have opinions! I refuse to have food battles. Someone once told me and I totally agree with it, that your job is to provide them with healthy options, not to force them to eat. Toddler eating can make you insane. They'll love something one day and hate it the next. I think the thing to do is to look at it over a long time rather then a short time. What I find with DS is that it balances out. He has days when he wants nothing but protein and days he wants nothing but dairy and days he wants nothing but fruit or broccoli.

Totally this! DD's favorite today might be something she decides she hates tomorrow!! She is very texture obsessed lately. We just keep offering her the same meals we eat, some days she'll eat it and other days she won't but there's no arguing because she knows this is how it works. Our pediatrician assured us that it is normal for kids this age to refuse to eat at all sometimes and that she won't starve. We do offer healthy snacks between meals especially when she isn't eating what we give her. I try to focus the snacks I offer to fill whatever I think she's missing, like cheese or yogurt if she needs more protein, etc.

membrn · July 2011

I could have written this post! It's kind of starting to worry me because I feel like he is not eating enough...

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