Anything but Chicken Nugggets????

LOL, we are in the grilled cheese stage! Good Luck!

I make "milkshakes" with veggies and fruits in it.

keep offering different things- I think it can take up to 20 times of being offered something before a toddler might actually try/eat it...frustrating!

in the refrigerated 'healthy'/organic section at publix there are other 'nuggets' - there are broccoli cheese ones & I've seen spinach ones...I would put these on his plate also...

is he interested in what you or daddy are eating? maybe sit him on your lap, with your plate as you eat, & 'ignore' him- talk to your husband (he should also 'ignore' him) in an exaggerated manner about how GOOD your food is- really make a big show of it- he just might want to try what you 2 are eating...

J.,

This may sound harsh, but quit buying chicken nuggets! If you don't have them to feed him, he can't eat them! Your son may refuse other foods at first, but when he gets hungry enough he'll eat, trust me.

Chicken nuggets are horrible for anyone. They are high in sodium, full of preservatives, and full of trans-fat. I wouldn't feed my dogs chicken nuggets.

I'm a pharmacist, and I have two children ages 9 and 10, who are healthy eaters. But it started with ME setting the example, and not buying junk.

I also specialize in helping people get healthier by educating them on good nutrition. If you'd like me to work with you to help educate you on feeding your family a healthier diet, I would be more than happy to do so. I can mail you information, refer you to some helpful websites, and inform you of Wellness Presentations I host in the Gainesville area. There is no charge, btw.

Anyway, if you'd like me to help, let me know. I just need some contact info.

Look forward to speaking with you, J..

Sincerely,
L. W. Rowe, Rph.
###-###-#### (cell)

My daughter went through that phase, now it's hot dogs, the rare nugget, and carrots. And green beans. She will pretty much try anything now that I did what the pediatrician said to do. He said not to make a big deal out of it. Offer new stuff, and if they won't try it, just say ok and move on.

Oh, I've also found that when I make it look fun, she is more interested in it. Think pancakes with fruit faces on them, arranging the food on his plate to look like a face, fun forks and spoons, fun plates (they make those ZooPals disposable plates that look like animals with ears), etc. If all else fails, I give her the occasional pediasure if she's not eating well and you can always sneak in veggies (use baby food veggies to turn eggs green or orange, check out parenting magazines for recipes that sneak in veggies where they can't even taste them...)

Hi Jamie,

Went thru similar with young toddler, only solid food he would eat was McDonald's sausage Mcmuffins and cookies... and he got so plugged up he could only poop if we used suppositories along with me having to manually help him eliminate. Horrible experience. We not only wasted the big bucks to take him to a pediatric specialist over it, but he also would suffer terribly from being backed up and also was terrified of the suppositories. So finally I smartened up and took away the Mc D's and all other junk for a long time. We eat junk, Wendy's, McDonald's occasionally now, but no more catering to "addictions".

Get creative, offer him other things, one at a time and in very small portions. Big portions overwhelm most kids. Let him know he only has to try one bite and doesn't have to finish it if he doesn't like it. Trust me, you will find other healthier foods that he'll eat.

Also a concern is that fast food and most restaurant food (definatley not just Chinese food) is spiked with MSG. That and corn syrup make little kids (and big kids and adults) get addicted and screaming for the stuff.

Most grocery stores are now finally offering more frozen foods that have no preservatives (Stouffer's, Michael Angelo), and there is a brand of bread (Nature's Way) without corn syrup that most any grocery store carries. Try giving him the honey wheat, toasted or not, I bet he won't even care that it's not "white" bread. One way I get the former McSausage addict to eat most anything is to zing it up with cinnamon sugar, real maple syrup, or a little added salt. All their little taste buds can really discern is sweet, salty, and sour. So I figure a little salt is way better than loads of MSG.

I'll admit have tried all of the "natural foods" copies of the junk, but my kids don't like much of it. Winners from "health food" stores are frozen pizzas, Amy's frozen mac and cheese, Van's chocolate chip mini waffles. But they like all of the junk-free meats and coldl-cuts I buy there. We buy the new Oscar Mayer preservative-free hot dogs from Publix and Winn Dixie, also whole-grain Goldfish crackers, and the Nature's Own bread.

I feel for you and personally know it's not easy, but truly I promise you that with some persistence on your part that you can get him "off" of the nuggets, and you'll be really glad you did later on. I know some 7 and 9 year olds (my sons ages now) who are still calling the shots by "refusing" to eat anything other than "Happy" meals, Lunchables, Cheetos. I kid you not, and really hope that you can nip the "nugget addiction" in the bud now. Good Luck and best wishes,

C. N.

During my daughters nugget phase i noticed it was more her love for dipping than a love for chicken. Offering her fish sticks, carrot sticks, waffle slices, bread sticks, mini pancakes, basically anything she could pick up and dip in something, gave her a chance to do what she loved and still get some nutrients.

my son wasn't so easy. He went on a mac n cheese phase that i thought would never end. the only thing i could do was continue to offer him other foods (which he always refused) and add liquid vitamins (available at any health store) to his juice so he didn't lose too much nutrients. Looking back now, i can't belive he ate macaroni 3 times a day. crazy kid. :)

good luck to ya.

I have a very similar situation with my son... You can also try turkey nuggets, which look exactly the same, for a variety - fish sticks and mini corn dogs always work in my house too because my son thinks they are nuggets... as long as it looks like a nugget we're good! Pizza rolls might also work. My son also likes PB&J and Grilled Cheese, mini ravioli, mini hamburgers, and pot pies. I have found that the sauce thing works too, also if I don't cut things up too small and he can hold it like a big boy or use a plastic adult fork he will eat... it is very weird, I guess he thinks he's being just like me and daddy so he likes it. For example once I cut his sandwich into squares and he refused it, so I made him another one that was cut only in half and he ate it! KIDS - go figure :)

When I get really desperate I always resort to cook books with just fun kids recipes or parenting magazines usually have great ideas. I once went on freecycle.com for my area and requested old parenting magazines that someone was done reading and picked up a bundle and just went through them for the recipes to cut out. It was free and I found some great ideas!

My granddaughter was the same way and even now it's still her favorite but she does eat a few other things now. Krystal asked the doctor what to do and he said be thankful she eats that at this age they just dont eat much. Buy in Bulk.

Invest in chicken nugget stock and give him what he will eat. Children aren't used to the variety in their meals. My daughter drinks only milk.

I don't know if it will work but, I saw it on TLC with a Mom who was having problems getting her child to eat veggies. First she arranged it into a smiley face so it was fun. Then she gave her son chopsticks and made it a game. "Eat anything you can catch" kind of thing. Hope this helps.

Try making your own nuggets. They will be healthier and at least you will know that it is actually chicken. Just cut up pieces and bread them and bake them. My son is only 8 months old but had a crazy start on solids. He wouldn't eat anything but his bottle. Then we tasted the baby food and OMG it doesn't taste anything like what it says it is. So I started making all of his baby food and I freeze them in ice cube trays and once frozen pop the cubes into a gallon zip lock and put the bag in the freezer. Everyday he goes to school with two cubes of fresh homemade food. He loves it and now we have moved on to more sophisticated foods ...chicken, wild rice, spagetti squash...and my husband even sneaked him a little piece of filet. Good Luck keep us posted ....I will probably hit a wall with food as well.

I have a good eater, but my nephew at about that age, loves spaghetti. For weeks he would eat it for 3 meals a day. My sister in law iddnt sweat it, at least he was eating, he might have been taking bottle too for other nutrition. I think he will grow out of it. Just be patient and make it fun!

Once a week. start allowing him chicken nuggets once a week. how else will he learn?
a few ideas?
yes the glorious mac n cheese
spaghetti and meat sauce, or with meatballs
rice and chicken drumsticks (not the frozen ones, make them, easy to make them)
hot dogs
waffles
pancakkes
cereal with milk
fruit yoghurt
grilled cheese sandwich
pb and j sandwich (this one i hate personally but they like it)
cucumbers with plain yoghurt
eggs with cheese, or hard boiled eggs.
ami's pizza (a few kinds, but my toddlers only like the cheese pizza)
veggie soup, or chicken soup. let him feed himself. let him get dirty and what not but let him create his own ritual during mealtimes. he will enjoy it better.
start three meals a day and two snacks or if he is getting filled with snacks limit it to fruit only. it will take a few days for him to really feel hunger and once he does it is awesome
i went through the exact same thing. i was in mac and cheese and hot dog hell. really, until the day i put a stop to that and offered what was to be offered or nothing else. it's working
good luck

I have a 2 year old that eats chicken nuggets, ice cream and doughnuts only and sometimes mac and cheese. I have tried everything, but he wants nothing to do with it. I try to give him what he likes so atleast he eats something. As long as he is healthy, I don't worry too much about it anymore. Maybe you could try making cut out little sandwiches if he likes peanut butter, or grilled cheese and cut them out into shapes.

"No thank you" bites have always worked well for us; try a bite, and you can say "No, thank you" and eat something else instead. No pressure--easy to try new things! My father-in-law has another clever strategy; while spoon-feeding a toddler (will your son still allow that?), layer the offending part of the food on top of something more likable; the tasty stuff will cover the tongue, and the sneaky stuff will be against the roof of the mouth. Kind of like the old trick of slathering peanut butter around a pill before you give it to your dog, I guess!

When my daughter was that age, I think I depended completely on shell noodles and cheese. Not the boxed stuff with sauce packet--I mean, shell noodles with cheddar cheese melted over them. The great thing is, you can hide just about ANYTHING in this kind of meal. Whatever you put in winds up inside the shells, and then the cheese conceals the appearance and taste until the kid gets used to it! I'd often add tuna and peas, a tiny touch of Miracle Whip to sweeten it up (yeah, I know....but it worked!). The peas would always wind up sticking out of the shells, so I sensationalized them as "eggs in birds' nests!" That was her favorite thing.

Another trick, once you get away from the nuggets: finely (teeny-tiny!) chop fresh spinach leaves and toss them in last-minute while cooking soups, noodles, or sauces (you want them just barely wilted--add to noodles on the way to draining them; the flavor will stay more neutral, and you won't lose so many nutrients). This also works on homemade pizza--again, hidden under the cheese, of course!

I often relied on carrot and zucchini muffins--find a recipe with maximum veggie content (not just a cake with a few shreds for color!), play around with cutting down the sugar, and substitute some organic yogurt for 1/3 of the fat. And remember good old baby cereal? Maybe you still have a box. Try throwing that in to replace some of the flour; that'll up the nutrients, too.

Hmmm...come to think of it...why stop there? While he's still hooked on the nuggets (and I'd switch to the organic chicken nuggets, Publix has 'em and they're not so scary), maybe you could start inventing your own dips by doctoring up a jar of baby food...mmm mmm good! --Hey, I might be on to something here!

--oh, and one more fun one (though he's probably not old enough for it to be safe yet)--At some point, I noticed that at the grocery store, my daughter would gobble up free samples of things she would never consent to even look at at home. So I tried giving her "Publix dinners": meats, cheeses, fruits, veggies--whatever would work--all served with toothpicks on a festive tray. I'm not kidding. It did the trick, but there are safety issues, so you'll have to wait till your child can handle toothpicks, and then supervise nonstop!

Hot dogs. My daughter ate her weight in hot dogs at one time.

They will grow out of it. Just make sure he's drinking something healthy like milk and taking vitamins to make up for what he isn't eating.

But those broccoli nuggets someone else mentioned sounded good!

Try veggie nuggets. I agree that he maybe into the dipping more than the food....but, if that isn't the case....try cutting different foods in the same shape of nuggets. Kids eat what they need for the most part....don't over worry it! His tastes will change when you are least expecting it! lol
If he is into dipping....change the sauce. He maybe really into the sauce than the ckn. If that is the case, then you can use the sauce on other foods.
Good Luck!

Keep trying it takes 10 tries beforer they start to get th epoint, that youwill keep giving it to him until he eats it! It took me a lot of trials but by the time he was 1 year old he was eating all kinds of meats veggies and fruits, the only thing he never got on board with was pastas becasue I didnt try them ever! They are not too good for him anyways he gets his carb intake form cereals and breads. Anyway just keep trying is my advice!! Try giving him those tuna sensations in the tuna fish isle at the grocery store, they have tuna, salmon, chicken, and albacore. Very easy to prep and cook and VERY good protien!!!--C.