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Toddler Eating Help
I am at my wits end here. DS lived on chicken nuggets, tator tots, bananas, raspberries and strawberries. THATS IT. (oh plus, puffs, mum mums, teddy grahams, animal crackers, fruit snack, the junk stuff).
This week he is now refusing chicken nuggets and bananas. He gets strawberries for breakfast, tots for lunch, strawberries for a snack and tots for dinner. This is terrible for him. At least before he was getting some kind of protein, even though it was awful processed protein, but still.
I've tried veggies, pasta, coconut yogurt, grilled cheeses with rice cheese (he has a dairy allergy), grapes, raisins, veggie sticks, waffles, pancakes, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken....everything. He swats my hand away if I offer it to him or if I put it on his tray it immediately gets thrown on the floor.
Tonight I made steamed carrots and even drizzled honey and sprinkled a little brown sugar on them. NOPE. So I took one when he wasnt looking and shoved it in. OMG, the drama. You would think I rubbed hot sauce on his tongue. Screaming, crying, sticking his tongue out, rubbing it, pointing at it. Ugh.
Want can I do here?
Re: Toddler Eating Help
Honestly, nothing. Its realy a stage. A went through the same thing from about 16-19ish months. I was at my wits end also. The motto a lot of moms told me was "he will eat when he is hungry" You can continue to offer a variety of foods but he will he what he wants. I was starting to get frustrated as well so I just stuck with what he liked.
You can try to offer baby food if you want. That way you know he will be getting some type of veggie. Or applesauce. Or adding these things to things like pancakes, breads (banana bread). A is/was a carb fanatic. Peanut butter and jelly is always a hit. Im not sure what D is allergic to.....
He's now recently eating veggies and venturing out (a little) with some new things. But he sticks to what he likes.
Good luck!
Ava used to scoop up peanut butter on cheerios. most of it was on her fingers, but she ate that dry meal and liked it.
I used to make her salmon croquettes and she loved that. she wouldn't touch it today, though - lol!
how about mashed potatoes?
i read a book - child of mine by ellyn satter - that i got at the library. wished i bought it because i will probably need it again anyway. it's focus is that you are in charge of providing the food and your child is in charge of knowing how much to eat and when. you are not a short order cook, and it's ok to offer a second, non-cook option like yogurt or bread and butter,if your kid doesn't eat.
it helped me understand a lot about toddler eating, and i relaxed a lot.
good luck!
We're going through the same thing K. I've cut down on snacks in between meals, and she seems more hungry at mealtimes now. I've been only giving her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With an occassional mum mum in between if i need to keep her quiet while trying to get grocery shopping done. LOL
She is very picky and wont eat most things i offer her...I think it's just thier age and it will get better.
Ditto all of this. I went through the same thing with A. He ate mac & cheese for a solid month and would scream anytime I tried to give him something different. Now he eats green beans, fish sticks & will at least try things if I ask him to. Also the bigger deal you make of meal time (and the more frustrated you are) the worse it is for him. I know that's easier said that done as I would get really frustrated at meals, but you have to try and relax and realize that he won't starve. He'll eat when he's hungry. He drinks rice milk, right? Does he drink a lot of it during the day? I found that A was drinking waaaay too much milk and that was curbing his appetite. When I reduced his milk intake he started to eat more at meal time.
All you can do is keep offering things. He eventually will move on from this stage. I also bought Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious which has great ideas for sneaking good things into your kids food. With D's allergies though not sure how many recipies you can use out of here.
Good luck!
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Definitely a stage and he won't starve himself as others have said but, I know it is frustrating and can be distressing. We have also started cutting back on his daytime milks (from 6 ounces down to 4 ounces) so that he will eat more food.
Have you tried feeding him what you are eating and sitting down to eat with him? G hasn't had a long stretch of not eating well (a couple of days here and there) but, he always eats much more when I have dinner prepared before his meal time (5:00) and sit to share the meal with him.
Also, I don't know if he'll like it or not but G's absolute favorite meal on earth is my MIL's Lentil Soup. It packs in the protien, had some good fat, veggies and a ton of flavor. It's cheap and easy to make and can't hurt to try (it freezes really well, too). Here is the the recipe:
Amalia's Lentil Soup
1 bag lentils
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
? cup olive oil
1 tsp. chicken base/bullion
4 bay leaves
10 cups water
1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz)
? cup white vinegar (or more, to taste)
Add lentils to 6-8 quart pot, cover with water; bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and drain water.
Return lentils to pot and add above ingredients though water. Cook over high heat until soup comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cover; stirring occasionally. Simmer until lentils are soft, approximately 45 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste and vinegar. Simmer for another 5 minutes; serve.
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Thanks for all the suggestions and im glad to know to know im not alone. I went shopping today and picked up some hummus and flat pretzels. He eats the pretzels, so lets hope he'll be a dipping kid and like hummus. I looked at a few ranch dressings and all had buttermilk.
On the milk front. Thats another thing he wont drink. So the only milk he gets is when he nurses and that down to 2-3 time a day before naps and bedtime. I've tried kosher chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup and today just got kosher nesquick. Kosher is dairy free. Ive tried rice, almond, hemp, oat and coconut milks. I stick with the almond one bc to me thats the one that seems to taste the plainest and I just keep trying it.
Luckily he is obsessed with the gummy calcium bears and I just found ones that are 1 serving of fruits and veggies and too. I also use the lowest sugar fruitables juice. So I try to sneak stuff in his diet.
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Like others have suggested, I sneak things in everything - the food processor is my friend! I make meatloaf "muffins" and i substitute pureed veggies for some of the wet ingredients. I don't really give her much juice, but when I do its either V8, V8 splash or one of the "naked" drinks (or homemade juice) - stuff that has a serving of veggies in them.
What about making a "shake" with whatever milk he'll drink, maybe some kind of yogurt and fruit? Serve it like ice cream so he thinks he's getting a treat.
When all else failed, I went back to purees and baby cereal mixed together. K called it her "applesauce" (I didn't correct her) and would inhale it by the bowl.
GL!