Being Picky

Updated on February 01, 2010
K.C. asks from South Bend, IN
4 answers

I have a 15 month old and she is getting over being very sick, with pneumonia to be exact. We caught it in time so nothing like hospitalization or anything. My question is do I wait it out to see if her eating habits come back or do I take measures in insuring they do? She was eating very healthy and happy until she got sick. I understand the loss of appetite, but now she just wants to eat things like goldfish crackers and junk food. She used to love oranges, banana's.... now won't touch them. My gut is telling me she is trying to pull one over on me. She shakes her head no when i give her food. I am disappointed at all my hard to work to make her a healthy eater is gone.

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I.G.

answers from Seattle on

Please don't try to take this personally or make it an emotional issue. It is completely normal for children in that age range to become picky. It's a developmental step and that will come and go in phases over the next years.
It's funny, because my pediatrician had warned my about it at one of our checkups, and I though "No way" because my daughter was such a healthy eater - but sure enough a couple of weeks later she suddenly would not touch anything green any more.
Just keep offering healthy food and I promise she will go back to eating them! I currently do the following (my child is a little older): I offer the vegetables raw as well as cooked (she prefers some uncooked), I don't mix her food together, but put in on the plate seperately (helps to an extent and she doesn't spend more time picking than eating) and if she won't eat what is offered she may have whole wheat bread (we usually serve some with dinner) instead. I don't cook extra meals for her.
Oh - and get rid of the junk food. If there is none in the house, she won't starve herself!

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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

I suggest offering small amounts of healthy foods she liked before and just going with it. Don't force anything on her. She's too young for "you eat what I give you or you don't eat at all." So, offer things she may not like as much before the things you know she'll like. Or, go bite-for-bite with her. That has worked for our kids. You get a bite of apples if you take a bite of green beans, etc...

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S.C.

answers from Fort Wayne on

Just keep offering her the healthy food. There's no way she should just be eating junk food. It's possible that she's not quite up to par yet with her eating too. I would still make sure that you're offering her the healthy alternatives. If she decides at lunch time that she's not hungry, then put the food aside and offer it again a little later. Don't offer her the Goldfish or other junk food. If you want to offer her a snacky type finger food, stick with things like Cheerios. We go through this with my almost 3 year old every time she gets sick. It's always a battle to get her to eat regular food again. I know it's our fault because when she's sick, we let her get away with not eating or not eating what she should.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

I wonder if she's making an association between those items and getting sick. Foods like Goldfish can be a little more settling on the stomach (so can bananas) when you're sick.

I think it's a little of both. Our son used to be such a good eater, but a light switched in his head, and there are some things he just won't eat any more. I may have the only kid who doesn't like mandarin oranges.

I'd keep trying them and perhaps not offering the foods that she does want. We're offering our kids more of the drinkable yogurts (Dannon Danimals) as a snack these days vs. Goldfish to try to get something a little healthier.

My only other recommendation may be to try different fruits/veggies than the ones you used to try to see how she reacts to them in case there is a guilt by association thing going on.

Good luck!

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