Picky Eater - Swiftwater,PA

Hi T.,

My son, who is now 23 months old, went through the same thing. I know how frustrated you are! I tried everything and nothing worked. He just did not want to eat. I would make him special meals and he would waste them too. So, I did what my doctor suggested...I just gave him what we were eating and that was that. Some nights he ate a little and others nothing at all. If he didn't eat, I would only offer him an apple or a banana. The phase lasted 3 or 4 months and now my son eats most things you put in front of him. I don't expect him to eat everything. Now he's into doing whatever mommy and daddy are doing and even takes a drink when we do.

So, be strong, this too shall pass! Check with your doctor, but I think he should be on a vitamin. I use the liquid kind and put it in Nate's milk in the morning.

Good luck,
D.

I have a cousin whose daughter was the same way. Her doctor suggested that she put healthy snacks out all day so that she could graze all day long. She would put out crackers and cheese, apple slices, cut up grapes, anything that the kids could pick up and eat themselves.

I don't have any recipes or any elaborate ideas but I'm a mother of 3 (5 1/2, 2 1/2, & 1). My two oldest have both done what your son is doing now and in fact my middle son still does it. I've asked the dr several times and basically they tell me, 'They'll eat when they're hungry'. Also, if there is one thing in particular that they like then give it to them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's usually a phase anyway. For instance sometimes my son will have a grilled cheese for all three meals, so I'll try giving him fruit or a granola bar for snacks.
This is most likely a phase and he just likes to snack all day. So maybe cut up something you would normally give at meal time, put in in a bowl and let him 'snack' on that. Make the meal look like a snack. I've used plastic snack bags, bowls, cups etc. Good Luck!

Yogurt
Turkey lunch meat topped with melted cheese
Beef and barley soup - Campbells
Soft pizza {microwaveable]
Broccoli/Cauliflower with melted cheese
Tuna salad
Oatmeal, cream of wheat {flavored}
string cheese
olives
V-8 - My 18 month old loves v-8
Ravioli, pasta
french toast
hot dogs
rice pudding
pancakes
mac and cheese
chicken fingers
I still use squash, carrot, and sweet potato baby food

GOOD LUCK XOXO

Consider trying an elimination diet: first milk, then eggs, then soy, then wheat. My boy is also a skinny thing and a picky eater. Once he turned 2, he could tell me that his belly hurts, so he doesn't want to eat. Still searching for the root of the problem. Good luck!

My little guy is on the small side too, so we've been told to feed him six small meals a day, that way he can handle more food. Another thing to do is to make sure what you give him has "calorie boosts" which means putting things like butter and olive oil on everything. My son LOVES to dip his food into things, so you could maybe offer your son dips like sour cream to dip things in and he might want to eat it more.

I think all kids are picky so we always find foods he likes and keep feeding them, then he'll get sick of them and we'll rotate to something else. Usually he's a good eater but because of the smallness we try to make sure every calorie counts. You can seriously even put oil on fruits and veggies, over bread and pasta, anything and it adds calories.

Good luck.