2 Year Old Who USED to Eat EVERYTHING!!

I was just reading up on how this is very normal kids around the age of two... so YES it is! We also do the three bite rule in our house, and I've upped it to one bite per age after 3 years old... just because it too often tends to be the veggie they don't like! It has always worked well and my kids know they just have to get through those bites and they're done. My five year old doesn't even complain about any foods offered now and is willing to try nearly anything. I think two might be a little young to implement this?? so you might try waiting until closer to 3, and then implementing the 3 bite rule. It's worked out for our 3!

This is very normal. I have three children and my oldest is 12. He has gone through many changes in likes and dislikes. As babies they seem to eat any kind of fruit and vegetable and then around 2 they started to dislike certain things. This seemed consistant with all my children. But,If you continue to offer them all kinds of foods they will eventually come around again. Even once they get older they will all of a sudden hate certain things. My 12 year old went through this about 10, he suddenly hated corn (I thought all kids liked corn) and my sweet and sour meatballs that everyone in my family loved. He now likes corn again, but still dispises the meatballs. My 8 yr old decided that he doesn't like oranges or orange juice. I can live with that since there are other fruits we can eat instead. I do make sure my children try everything on their plate when we sit down to dinner. The best idea I have ever tried is that they have to take 3 bites. One to see if their mouth likes it, One to see if their tummy likes it and the last one to see if they agree. It's seemed to work great. At least they get a little bit of nutrition from it and they have tried it, so it makes everyone happy.

My daughter is now 18. All throughout her growing up, she has eaten based on her body's needs. I think we just lucked out. When she was about to grow, her appetite increased. In more dormant stages, her appetite decreased. I remember a time period when she was around 4 that she wanted to eat carrots and peanut butter on bread pretty much to the exclusion of all else. Our pediatrician told me to leave it alone, keep offering other foods and to rely on the knowledge that with most kids, their bodies tell them what they need. That said, we always had a game we played with our kids all throughout their growing up that has become a family tradition. It began with the daughter I have just written about. She was very focused from an early age on "being smart". So we told her, from an early age, to be a smart person you must have tried many different foods so that you can grown up and "know" all about food. Every meal, every outing, every visit to a restaurant or a friend or family member's home we instituted the "educational bite". If the child did not want to eat a certain thing we would ask them to take an educational bite. It was a "house rule". We now have three kids who will at least try anything and all three of them like a very wide variety of food. The only other suggestion that comes to mind is that most children will want to eat things they prepare themselves. It takes more time and is a little messier but since you are looking for more ways to spend time with your daughter, I would suggest allowing her to help prepare as many meals as you can starting now. If her hands created it, she is much more likely to at least try it. And maybe like it! Hope this helps, S.

Oh, I know, it's soooo depressing! I had the great pleasure of watching my toddler stealing bits of asparagus off my mother-in-law's plate. It was wonderful. She thought I was doing such a great job with him. He also ADORED steamed brocolli. Brown rice, hummus, all kinds of healthy things.

And as long as I kept making it ALL THE TIME (like 2-3 times a week), he'd eat it. Then, maybe I'd go for a week or 2 without serving it and WHAMMO! - suddenly it's a foreign, unidentified food.

It helped me to understand that not only is this normal, is biologically imperative. Throughout human history, children at this age were starting to explore the world, and sometimes wandering farther from their mothers. The children who put any old thing in their mouth (you may recognize this because she was probably doing it last year) were more likely to come across something poisonous or dangerous. The children that didn't eat anything unless it was VERY familiar lived. (I swear i'm not making this up - I have a biologist friend and we have these great discussions. Also read it in "Our Babies, Ourselves")

So, this tendency towards being a picky eater has tended to reinforce itself thoughout our history. They are hard-wired to do this for a while - it has nothing to do with what you are doing right or wrong. Instead of fighting it, just think "That's my girl - developing exactly the way she should be - she won't be eating any poisonous berries! Or, you know, anything else..."

My own sister went through a Cheerios-and-milk-only phase for WEEKS! And I once read a great story about a mom whose son would ONLY eat white food. (He was older, too, like 7-8). Mashed potatoes, white rice, milk. And what really drove her crazy was that she was REALLY into food - top editor at Gourmet magazine or something like that. It just KILLED her - she wanted to set him up with a machine that pumped vegetables into his stomach while he slept. Then one day, they were at a sushi restaurant and she asked the waiter to put a little... I think it was some sort of squid sauce - on the rice. Then she had (for a while) a kid that would eat white food and squid sauce. Then graudally, gradually, he came around.

And she will, too. At least we have vitamins now.

My own son is 4 and he's in a bit of a PBJ/pizza/pasta rut. Ah well.

Hi K.,

I have 2 boys but the same thing happened to me. Completely normal. She is discovering what she likes and doesn't like. Eventually my boys came back around to liking some of the things they said they didn't like.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
L. R.

I went through that with my first two children. They would not eat the variety that I prepared but each had one particular food that they would eat during this stagnant time. One was mac and cheese, one was bush's baked beans. (beans are full of iron). My mother in law was a pediatric nurse practioner and I was lucky to be able to call her whenever I needed advice. She told me that when toddlers go through what her Mom's would call non-existant eating practices, their bodies are just not in a growth spurt and aren't going to be as hungry during this time. When they start growing again, they will eat. Just do the best you can. Make sure they take vitamins in some form and give them the opportunity to eat what you would normally prepare without making it a battle zone. And don't feel that you need to eat the leftovers, hahaha. been there, done that, stretched the t-shirt.