totally not directed to you, but lol at this response in a picky eating thread. Veggies? Meatballs? Hummus? Yeah right, my kid says. Pass the bread and cheese.
We never really given him a lot of carbs like pasta or rice for dinner. I do do toast sometimes but again it's with hummus. the only way for him to eat the veggies is if I mix it in something. For two months the only way he would eat veggies was if it was frozen peas.
That's great he eats all that when offered! We tried to expose him to things but he either spits it out or wouldn't even touch it, so early on we had to offer carbs and dairy for calories. I just giggled when I saw your suggestion because of the absurdity of it working on picky eaters like my son. Don't take it personally. I'm a bitter Betty with his feeding issues because I'm a reformed food snob who used to totally judge mothers of picky eaters.
I make Lincoln an alternative meal if he won't eat what we're eating because I know he's hungry, he's just being picky. There's not a lot that he won't eat so it's easy to know what meals he will or will not eat. Like tonight, I made him a hot ham and cheese sandwich.
Oh food woes. It is so stressful having a toddler who refuses to eat. I totally know how you feel.
He just got over teething and is eating much better. He even surprised me tonight by eating broccoli, which he has always refused before. When he was teething and the refusing was pretty bad I quit scrambling to make 500 things. I always made one thing I knew he liked and offered that. I don't think he was " hungry", but I think Me not giving him a million options might have ingrained a " I'm hungry so I better eat this" mentality for now.
I don't let him snack past 4 and he eats between 6:30-7. I always offer vegetables or a new food first. He does better when one food is on his tray at a time.
It's hard. I don't think they will starve themselves, though. Try not to beat yourself up about it. Can you have one veggie or protein that you know she likes ready to go in the fridge for the refusal times?
Post by wildcatprincess on Sept 9, 2013 22:27:46 GMT -5
Neither of my kids eat dinner, I don't even pay attention anymore. Riley complains 30 mins later she's hungry and goes back and eats some (we leave her plate on the table) but she doesn't get anything extra. Sam just goes to bed happy lol
I can't even keep track of Ada's eating anymore. Some days she will eat tons of things and other days she'll barely eat anything I offer. The only progress we have made lately is she doesn't throw as much food on the floor, if she doesn't want it she ignores it or plays with it instead of throwing it, which is awesome! I cannot wait until she can communicate and let me know if she is hungry, or not, so I don't waste so much time getting food ready for her to eat nothing.
Hmmm, Violet is really picky, but I would never consider letting her go without a meal at this age. I don't make her eat what we're eating if she doesn't want to. I will always offer her things that she likes, along with offering her whatever the new/undesired thing is too. When she's old enough to be reasoned with, I might take a different stance.
Ditto this, except my Violet isn't that picky. Lately she's been a PITA with food because she's teething.
Yep, I thinks it's mainly teething here too.
She's been doing really crappy with eating lunch, but on those days she usually does great with dinner. If she doesn't do good with dinner, I give her a pouch, but that's it. No more cheddar bunnies because I know that's what she really wants. She gets 8oz of milk before bed so she's not going to bed hungry.
If Max refuses what I've cooked I offer cereal, yogurt and fruit. He usually eats that...if he doesn't, then I don't offer anything else and he seems fine. I don't feel like cooking a second time since I've generally just spent an hour making dinner and this way I know whether he's being picky or is not hungry. He likes cereal and yogurt but not so much he would reject dinner on purpose. We got lucky with that
Post by Dorothy Zbornak on Sept 10, 2013 4:45:10 GMT -5
I stuff him full of baby cereal if he doesn't seem to be interested in dinner. If he goes to bed hungry, I'll just be feeding him bananas or something in bed at two in the morning, so I'd just rather make sure he goes to bed full somehow.
I would never send either kid to bed hungry, actually.
I used to think that C was a picky eater, but now I realize he's just a slow one. It easily takes him an hour a meal when he's in his high chair, but he'll eat much more quickly if I relent and pass him bites as he's zooming around.
He will eat a ton in his chair, but it's a few bites, then several minutes of playing with his food, another bite, more playing...
Post by JuliaGulia on Sept 10, 2013 5:39:09 GMT -5
Alexis used to be a great eater. Now she likes yogurt, cheese, fruit and corn. I try to offer her other things first and sometimes she eats and sometimes she picks it up and says "no no no" and throws it on the floor without even trying it. If I don't let her see things that she likes we usually have more luck. I always let her have fruit or a pouch if she won't eat what I give her. I'm not going to lie I don't want her to get up in the middle of the night because she is hungry...
I feel so much better after reading this thread. Dd is so picky and I blamed myself. She also won't eat veggies. At least she eats eggs and peanut butter. She ate a couple chicken nuggets yesterday and nearly shouted for joy because she has refused all meat.
I keep meals short and less snacking. She eats when she is hungry and usually I am trying to feed her too often. If she refuses dinner I will offer a snack before bed but not right after refusing a meal.
Cam does the refusing AND the 'share with mom' thing. I wish I had a magic cure, but frankly, he's so hot and cold. The kid HATES ground beef (most meat actually) and refuses most 'new' things now. I made a quesadilla casserole one night... didnt touch it. Kind of ate the tortilla but not really. The next day, he devoured his plate of it. I was SHOCKED. I had no idea what changed... I dont thnk anything did. My pedi gave some good advice that I stick with: Offer them whatever you're eating and different things, always, every night. Doesn't matter if they eat it or not. Eventually they will....but even the sight of it builds up their 'tolerance' for other new foods. But if you keep giving them the same things for dinner, then that is what they'll expect and they can become VERY picky. So I always make Camden a plate/bowl of whatever we're eating. I give him like 10 minutes to fiddle with it. If by then he ate like ONE bite, then I'll give him some fruit or cheese stick. But if he eats even a small amount, thats it. I dont give him what he's begging for.
So, reading this thread makes me feel bad about my "he'll eat if he's hungry" mentality.
Nah. I'm in the same group
What, no! Don't feel bad about that! I'm the same way. But if he doesn't eat at dinner, we still see if we can stuff him with cereal, just because we know he'll wake up hungry in the middle of the night
Post by rubber pants on Sept 10, 2013 7:28:51 GMT -5
I still think they are too little to go to bed hungry. I dotn think they fully grasp the concept of "eat this or you get nothign else". I always have cooked pasta on hand when she doesnt want what we give her first. When she refuses what is served, I give her pasta (with sauce) and a pouch.
What, no! Don't feel bad about that! I'm the same way. But if he doesn't eat at dinner, we still see if we can stuff him with cereal, just because we know he'll wake up hungry in the middle of the night
That is a pain (waking up hungry), so I understand! Camden did it once, and I felt really bad....he wouldn't go to bed, so finally at 11:30pm we gave him food...inhaled an entire banana and nutrigrain bar. But so far he hasn't done it again so I'm not even really sure he IS hungry even after he barely eats dinner.. I try to tell by the size of his belly. lol. Most nights his belly is huge so I figure he's good. I think if he was constantly waking up in MOTN for more food then I'd change my philosophy, but its working for now so I'm sticking with it.
I don't make it a battle. I offer everything that I would be okay with them just eating -- so this morning was eggs w cheese and spinach, toast w a little jam, and banana. They just wanted toast and banana. Totally cool w me! Marc just wanted toast for a while -- totally cool w me! As long as they are eating healthy, I will not make meals battle. (This doesn't mean they don't cry, lol).
Jake also offers vegetables first w dinner, figuring if they're hungry they'll eat it. It works every time! I felt really dumb when he told me that, lol. So at least once a day they are getting at least half a full meal of just vegetables.
If they don't want dinner they get PB on bread. No fuss about it. When they are ~5 we will start leaving PB and jelly and bread where they can reach it, and if they don't want what we're eating (more likely, if they try it first, lol), they can make themselves a sandwich.
So, reading this thread makes me feel bad about my "he'll eat if he's hungry" mentality.
Don't feel bad. The only foods acceptable to A right now is Easy Mac, steamed corn, waffles, and yogurt, so that's what he eats if he wants. Him eating what I want him to eat is not my hill to die on.
Some things you can try to do are use probiotics and try to up zinc content in their diet (I do it through nuts and seeds - pumpkin are especially good). Being even slightly low in zinc will dull your smell and tastebuds so that everything tastes bland, and many kids that get into the carbs and fruit stage will be deficient. Eating only carbs all the time also changes the bacteria in the gut to where they only want carbs. Jameson used to be that way, but he now is *much* more adventurous and I don't make separate meals. I also do intense smoothies several times a week. I'll put mostly yummy things and sugar in it, and then add protein dense things like seeds, nuts, and kid safe herb powders and a scoop of probiotics. We also don't offer snack after lunch unless dinner is going to be really late, and then it is something really small and not carby. It only took a week or so before we started to notice a huge change in both what and how much Jameson would eat. Another tip for presentation I heard was to get a fun tray to put their food in, like a bento box or even a small 6 cup muffin tray, and to put half things you know they like and half new things. Picking the food out of the compartments is fun and they are more tempted to eat.
What, no! Don't feel bad about that! I'm the same way. But if he doesn't eat at dinner, we still see if we can stuff him with cereal, just because we know he'll wake up hungry in the middle of the night
That is a pain (waking up hungry), so I understand! Camden did it once, and I felt really bad....he wouldn't go to bed, so finally at 11:30pm we gave him food...inhaled an entire banana and nutrigrain bar. But so far he hasn't done it again so I'm not even really sure he IS hungry even after he barely eats dinner.. I try to tell by the size of his belly. lol. Most nights his belly is huge so I figure he's good. I think if he was constantly waking up in MOTN for more food then I'd change my philosophy, but its working for now so I'm sticking with it.
Same. I'm firmly in the "he'll eat if he's hungry camp" and if he doesn't eat dinner, or lunch or whatever, then fine. He woke up once hungry and drank an entire cup of milk.
I don't know how I would feel if he were waking up all the time or if he weren't a big kid, like if he was struggling with weight. But he's happy, at a good weight and eats enough usually. Some days he's just not hungry. It was especially bad when he first learned to walk - he just wanted to zoom around and didn't want to stop for food. Yesterday he ate barely anything, today he ate more.
Post by imimahoney on Sept 10, 2013 18:23:03 GMT -5
I almost never make a second meal. He will at least eat some of what I make. I typically leave his plate out after he wants to get down and sometimes he picks at that.
We actually just moved him to a booster seat at the table because we had to get rid of his highchair. He LOVES sitting at the table like a big boy. I think it has helped a lot with meal time.