Help! Eating Has Become a Battle!

I've gone through the same thing. My son is now 21 months old. Some days he eats great, other days, barely nothing. Our pediatrician said to look at his weekly food groups, not daily food groups. That helped. Several months ago, out of the blue, after he had eaten no meat at all for one month and very little other food for weeks, he communicated to me that he wanted a fork. Not a little baby fork. But a real adult sized fork. He went to town with that fork, eating everything in site. He loves to stab things. Over the past few months, he's gotten excellent at welding an adult fork and spoon.

My son went through this around 1 year old. He LOVED bread, so I got to where I would serve a slice of bread with his meal, but put it out of reach and tell him he had to eat some of his other food before he ate bread. That worked sometimes. Other times I would make grilled cheese or even slice cold cuts and cheese into small bits. Once he started eating on the bread or crackers, he would move on to the other stuff. It's like he just needed a jumpstart. Sometimes I would make him taste the food even though he didn't want to, and if he still didn't want it, I wouldn't force him to eat. I figured if he got hungry enough he would eat. As long as he was getting enough cheese, milk and yogurt I knew he wouldn't starve. My doctor also told us that his eating habits would vary with age, and he may go through phases where he needs little food, and other growing spurts when he eats more that usual. As long as you feel she is not unhappy, I wouldn't push it. It won't last long!

You have gotten some good advice.
The only thing I can add is what I did with my picky eater.
I put one thing on his plate he liked and then 1 thing new. With only 2-3 choices he was not overwhelmed. I also mixed the yummy with the gross so he had to taste it. LOL

K.,
It gets easier the older they get. I went thru the same thing with my son. Good luck.

J.
www.deliveringonthepromise.com/40420383

My daughter is 15 months old and she did the same thing (sometimes still does). Sometimes, you just have to take a step back and try not to make it a battle. If my daughter pitches a fit like that, then I calmly take her out of her high chair and tell her that her dinner is there when she is ready to eat (or breakfast, lunch, whatever). My pediatrician recommended this because she said that the one thing these little guys have control over is what they are (or aren't) going to put in their mouths. You can't force them to eat, so just let them get down and when they are hungry enough, they will eat it. It is really hard the first couple of times and I had to put her in and out of her chair several times before she realized that she wasn't going to get anything different. (She would have lived on hot dogs and macaroni and cheese every day if I kept giving in to what she wanted) The bottom line is that you have to put a meal in front of them and let them decide if they want to eat it or not. Trying new things is hard for them, but I was having the same problem you did in that she would refuse to eat something that I know she loves and as soon as she did take a bite she would say "mmmmm!"

As hard as it was the first few times to let her go a little hungry, she finally figured it out and now we don't have too many of those days anymore. She may start to whine a little and I just tell her that she doesn't have to eat it if she doesn't want to, but she knows nothing else is coming along behind it, so that is her choice. She does much better now and eats lots of different foods, so it does get better.

I also noticed recently that my daughter's appetite has become more like a toddler's. Some days she will eat a ton and some days I wonder how she isn't totally starving because she will hardly eat at all. Sorry for rambling...I guess the bottom line is not to force food. All it does is get everyone worked up and it really doesn't help in the long run. I went through about a month of what you're describing before I realized that it wasn't worth it to keep forcing the issue. Good luck!

This is a little off the questions, but can you tell me more about your stay at home job? I signed up for them to call, but what type of work is it? It really does not explain.

Thanks

First off K., Take a DEEP breathe at feeding time. This has been a huge battle for me with my 16 month old too. She loves banannas then hates them a week later. She also LOVES bread, any bread doesn't matter what kind. I have taken to melting cheese on the bread or wrapping a pea into the ball of bread I give her. I have noticed that the bottles that you can put food into, I found them at HEB really work for her. I can put in some fruit or a sweet tasting vegtable or meal and she will suck it down because she thinks it looks like a bottle. Last night she ate some little pieces of chicken, so tonight I will try again although I know tonight, she won't want it. Just breathe and make note of her stubborness so she can read it later and be very thankful to you that you did not let her starve. My doctor said as long as she ate and you offered different foods, it doesn't really matter until they are about 2, then there are vitamins :-) Just don't give her sweets to fill up, carbs don't hurt when they are little everyone likes baby fat just not adult fat. Good luck

Sometimes you have to start slowly. There are days where my daughter LOVES her food and the next she can't stand it. My best advice is when she starts crying like that, soothe her, give her a taste of the food and see if that helps. Childrens taste buds change all the time, and they don't have memories like us, they can't remember that oh yah I like banana's or liver is gross. You have to remind them, and if she doesn't eat then, put it to the side and try again later.
I hope that the eating on her part gets easier. Good luck!