My 11-month-old daughter is eating three solid meals a day, usually about 4-5 oz at a time. My concern is that she won't eat anything that's not sweet, and by sweet I mean with fruit added. Most of the time, she'll eat carrots, squash, and sweet potato without fruit, but not always, and everything else (meat, green veggies, etc) needs to have at least a teaspoon of something like apples or pears mixed in before she'll eat it. Believe me, I did try to start her on the less sweet foods, but she wanted nothing to do with them.
I think she's starting to realize that if she refuses to eat whatever we give her, we'll eventually give in and let her have fruit. I always do mix it with something healthy and something with protein (yogurt, ricotta, mashed beans), but I hate to keep encouraging a sweet tooth. I'd be more strict, but she's also pretty low-weight (around the 5th percentile for weight, normal height/head circumference -- doctor says she's fine, just small). So I'm definitely conscious of trying to get as much food as I can into her, and I'd rather it be fruit than nothing.
Has anybody had any experience with this kind of thing? Will she just grow out of it and start eating normal stuff eventually?
PS: I should also note that she is EXTREMELY stubborn, and will honestly not eat (or drink) anything if she doesn't want to, no matter how hungry she is. She refused to eat for a full 48 hours after birth, and feeding her has always been a big challenge. So I'm reluctant to try anything too pushy and give her any more food issues than she already has.
Just keep offering her the foods. Don't substitute it with something sweet. She won't starve herself. The key is to be consistant.
If she has teeth I would try to introduce table foods and wean her off the baby food. Maybe if she tastes other textures other foods will be appealing.
It is natural for kids to like sweet things, but it is good to give the non-sweet stuff too. I've known parents who have put veggies on the spoon and then dipped that spoon into a fruit or something sweet so the sweet stuff is on the front of the spoon. That way the child tastes the sweet and takes the spoonful, yet the child is really getting 99% veggie on the spoon.
Ask your doctor for advice too. Our ped was fantastic with advice about foods.
Personally, I think if you're *only* sweetening it with natural fruit and she's still EATING the veggies, grains and proteins, then I wouldn't worry about it. Keep offering her food unsweetened forst, but fruit IS healthy and full of vitamins, fibre and other good stuff.
Is she feeding herself? She might be more interested in feeding herself enough to not notice the sweetness as much. Just make sure her food is soft and cut up pretty small. I know my girls were pickier about their food when I was feeding them, rather than them feeding themselves.
You are setting a precedent if you continue to give in to her. My son also didn't eat for the first 48 hours - it has nothing to do with being stubborn. If you label her now and give in, you will be wrapped around her little finger and have bigger problems later. Kids only do what they are allowed to do. She WILL eat eventually...don't be reluctant to take control or you will have suspended control to her.
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Wow! Please don't make this a power struggle-- eating so often becomes this.
There is a reason your child likes sweet things: it is a Biological Imperative. That is to say, way deep down in our human DNA, we learned that sweet food usually meant it was edible; more bitter flavors were often poisonous, and meant to be avoided. So, this IS part of your human child's makeup.:) It may take a long time for her to enjoy savory foods, but have faith that she eventually will. It's rare that kids don't.
For what it's worth, my son was very similar in his inclinations. He's three now, nearly four, and a great eater of all sorts of foods. I disagree with those who worry about 'setting a precedent' now. I've worked with children for nearly 20 years and personally think you are very wise not to make this a big deal. Your daughter is still just only beginning to develop a palate for more than breastmilk or formula, and at this age, my goal with my son and the babies I cared for was to make meals pleasant.
If you start meals with the more savory foods, with the sweet mixed in, that's fine. As your daughter gets older, you can slowly reduce the amount of sweet you add to them.
I see people really sweat this one a lot. Most kids also are inclined to eat what their body is needing. I think you are really doing fine with this, and try not to worry so much. Children wax and wane with eating. Right now, you just want it to be enjoyable for you both. Not like you're feeding baby ice cream, right?;)
H.
It sounds like you have a relatively good eater and I would continue to offer her lots of healthy options and let her decide what to eat. A study was done a few years ago that babies who were given vegetable with fruit developed a liking for the vegetable faster than those who were only given the veggie (it is summarized here http://www.parentingscience.com/baby-food.html). Plus babies are wired to have a sweet tooth, because sweet foods are higher in energy.
You don't mention if you are giving her mashed foods or table foods, but at that age my son was much more likely to eat something if I let him pick it up. He also didn't like bland food at all. I was much more likely to get him to eat sweet potatoes if they had some cinnamon or refried beans if they had some cumin. I didn't add salt of sugar, of course, but there is no reason not to expose her to some new flavors.
I think you are doing the right thing by not forcing her. That just creates a negative association with the food and she's likely to not like it in the long run. Just keep offering variety and do your best to sneak in veggies and protein where you can to keep her healthy, but expose her to the unmasked flavors too so that she develops a liking for them.
I would also start table food. Both of my kids were mainly on table food by 11 months. They loved veggies because they could pick them up themselves!
N., I would keep offering her a well balanced diet and not compromise to "get" her to eat. She should be meeting her nutritional needs right now with breastmilk or formula. Solids are for experimentation, introduction, and fun. And 12 months isn't a magic number. That's when you *start* seeing a rhythm of eating solids as a pattern - a beautiful natural transition.
And I concur with starting real food. minced steamed carrot's, avocado, hummus and a spoon - texture, control, and choice will entice her as much as sweetness, so long as it's not offered at every meal.
Sounds similar to my toddler, who at that age, also loved his fruit. I also started off giving him only veggies as his first foods and gradually started refusing to eat any, except for sweet potato. He also wasn't liking meat and would only eat salmon. Not canned, but fresh smoked!! For a while, all he was eating was salmon sweet potato and of course any kind of fruit. According to his pediatrician, he was healthy and growing like a weed. I stopped stressing over it, and grateful that at least he was eating healthy stuff. He did grow out of it!! His curiosity got the best of him, and started showing more intrest in other kinds of foods. Especially when he got into the finger food stage, and wanted to feed himself. He will be two years old soon and to this day, he would rather have strawberries, oranges, blueberries, apples etc., than candy or junk food. Keeps me healthy too, but I'm also a fruit fanatic :) oh, and he also likes veggies, espically if they are steamed. Think that they taste better. Hope this helps. It will get better:)
I have one of those extremely stubborn kids. My daughter is almost 4 and has never eaten well except for the last 3 days. I'm hoping it's a new trend but we have had feeding issues with her since day one. She would go on a nursing strike if I ate something she didn't like when she was a baby.
So I guess my only piece of advice is to not make it a power struggle. Offer her a well balanced diet and hope for the best. I have also found that cutting back on her fluid intake made her a little more hungery as she would and still prefers to drink her meals. If your daughter is not on a mulitvit yet you may consider starting one. At her age it may be tough to get her to take the liquid vitamin.(it has a pretty strong taste for someone who already is showing flavor sensitivities) you can crush up a my first flinstones vitamin and mix it with a little of her formula or milk.
Also when our daughter was about 1 1/2 we started her on carnation instant breakfast. I swear that is the only way she has grown.
Good luck to you and try not to get overly stressed about it. She will feed off your stress and possibly struggle even more.
