How on earth do you get your picky toddler to eat decently!!

SchroederMommy2Two · August 2012

My son turned 2 in June and is SUCH A PICKY EATER! Unheard of for a toddler, right? ugh. I feel so frustrated because he has always been this way. I am a little picky too, but I love fruits and veggies and we eat plenty in front of him to show a good example. From birth he never accepted a bottle, didn't take a sippy until he was about 14 months old, won't drink regular milk but will drink lots of flavored milk, absolutely won't drink water unless it's flavored like those Capri Sun roarin' water things...and here is what he will eat:

Chicken nuggets ( about 70% of the time he will actually eat them), fish sticks, homemade french fries, yogurt (very rarely), of course any type of junk food but we limit this as much as possible, some types of crackers, pizza (we make homemade and put healthy herbs and spices on it) , biscuits, fruit snacks, chips, popcorn, very few brands of granola bars...hmm..I think that's about it. We sit down together for every meal, my husband and I always have healthy options and we don't pressure him too much to eat it we ask him a couple of times and then don't fuss too much over it if he refuses. The awesome thing is that he never refuses his gummy vitamins so at least that's good. I keep telling myself that this is just a phase and that he will learn to eat more but I want to PULL MY HAIR out sometimes!! I feel so ashamed because sometimes I do cave in and give him chips and other unhealthy things just so he eats something because I don't want him going hungry for too long, but then I guilt trip myself nonstop for letting him have the snack foods when he wouldn't eat anything healthy. The things he does eat I try to do healthy twists, like do things homemade and use wheat and natural products. If you get your picky eater to somehow eat healthier share your secret !! Crying It seems like my child is getting pickier and pickier each day!

ncbelle · August 2012

In general toddlers won't starve themselves. But they will hold out if they know you'll give them something they like instead. So I'd just serve what's for dinner and that's that. If he doesn't eat, save it for a snack for later. At the next meal, serve what you are eating. He may eat very little for a few days but eventually he'll get hungry and eat. I would also cut out flavored milk and juice drinks - those are empty sugary calories that won't help as they'll just fill him up and not make him hungry for good foods. Good luck!

nosoup4u · August 2012

I agree with the other posters, if your DS only has healthy options, that's what he'll eat. If you have junk food around, then he's going to want to eat it.

I really, really like what Ellyn Satter has to say about feeding kids. Her basic premise is that you can control what you serve them, but you can't make them eat. The less of a big deal you make food (so ignoring them eating or not eating), the better.

Here's a link to her website. She has a few books out, too: https://www.ellynsatter.com/how-to-feed-i-24.html

KateLouise · August 2012

A hungry child will eat.

We had a couple of nights of DD1 waking around 4am hungry because she wouldn't eat her dinner and we wouldn't give her other options. (The dinners were nutritious foods that we knew she liked, not weird food she hated or had never had before).

We had to tell her to go back to bed and that it wasn't time to get up. I think the first night we gave her a drink of milk because she got upset.

But basically it didn't take her long to realise that dinner was dinner, and she could eat it or not, but that was all there was.

Now the rule is she has to try some of everything on her plate, and "try" means two good mouthfuls, and after that she can eat what she pleases.

They say it can take 10 tastes of a food to get comfortable with it. I try and give LO a mix of some foods she likes, and mix in new things or things she's not too keen on. At the moment she's gone off cheese (used to love it) but I still keep offering it to her.

sadsadie · August 2012

Yep, stop offering the sugary, fatty and salty options. Kids learn how to "work" their parents to get what they want pretty quickly. If there simply arent any junk foods around, this game can't happen. Be strong; your toddler may complain, cry, even tantrum, but no harm is being done. No toddler has yet starved themselves!

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How on earth do you get your picky toddler to eat decently!!

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