I need help! My son is a 3 and 5 months old. He used to be a very good eater and now, not at all!
all the vegetables that he will eat have to come in #3 gerber little jars, and the chicken or other meat that he would eat all the time he will not touch anymore.. For my first child I would be an open kitchen but I refuse to do that for the 2nd one. I do not know what to do anymore, because he will not eat anymore but pepperigge fish and bananas. Trust me, the saying" he'll eat when he is hungry"does not work! He will rather go to sleep for the night than to eat. His pediatricians are stomped as well. Please help!
You guys are awsome. I don't think, however, I was very clear about my "picky eater"' s age. He will be 3 1/2 years old next month... Thanks for all your advice and I know now that I am not the only one going through that!
C.
I am glad to hear I am not the only one still feeding a 3 year old gerber veggies from the jar. :) My daughter is very picky too. She seems to go in phases...sometimes she eats ok and then sometimes she goes for days/weeks without really eating anything. Her 8 month old sister definitely eats more than she does. However, she is fine with her growth and I give her a multi-vitamin.
Hi C.,
Has he been to the dentist? It could be that he has a sore tooth or some such and doesn't like / want to chew a lot of foods. Try giving him some Tylenol or Motrin 20m before a meal.
Just a thought.
M.
Hi C.- I'm not sure if your son is 3 yrs or 5 months old. My daughter is the same way. We have appts for an OT eval and feeding clinic review. Just to let you know you are not alone.
Hi C.,
Here are some web sites about picky eaters:
www.cureyourpickyeater.com/eatwell
http://life.familyeducation.com/toddler/behavioral-proble...
I have a book that may be of interest that you can watch out for yourself as the toddler grows up to be a man.
"The Enabler: when helping hurts the ones you love."
by Angelyn Miller, MA
Hope this helps. Good luck. D.
Have you tried in the interm, fortified eggnog/milkshakes? (with pediatric vitamins as you would approve.). Watch if he has a weight loss. It may be a stage, different taste buds develop at a different time. He may have burnt his tongue on something too warm or is he teething? I dont know if any of those things are considered.
My brother lived off of yogurt, bananas and cheerios, literally when he was around 1-2. He was scrawny, but grew up to be over 6ft and 200lbs.
I would just give him what he wants to eat and continue to offer other foods as often as you can. He is just going thru a phase. As far as the meat in the jars...I havent met a baby yet that likes that stuff. Have you tasted it? Try the meat mixed w/ fruit: turkey and apples, chicken and swt. potatoes, they love those.
You could also try NO FOOD at all and stick w/ bottles and cereal...mixed w/ a little fruit. Then in a month or so try starting foods all over again, and dont start w/ fruits, start w/ veggies.
I am not sure why people feed their kids so young these days...its not really necessary. My kids didnt even START on baby food until around 5/6months. Straight formula or breast milk up until then. Good luck.
This is really common in three year olds. There was an article in the Washington Post Food section about it last year. My sister is going through it right now with her 4 year old who used to be a fantastic eater and now he will not tough a vegatable (not even french fries-ug). I know she got a lot of flack about being deceptive, but I think J. Seinfeld had some good idea. She wrote a cookbook about sneaking fruits and veggies into kids favorites, so for instance she puts sweet potato or squash in mac & cheese and she purees spinach and puts it in brownies. Stuff like that. Your son will most likely grow out of this phase in a few years, but in the meantime, J. Seinfeld's method might help you out. Good luck
I don't have much time to write, but I am a pediatric Occupational Therapist. There is a good book titled "How to get you child to eat, but not too much" Good for dealing with behavioral issues around eating. Some questions for you. Do you feel it is a texture issue or something else? Does he have any other sensory concerns (ie bothered by lights, noises, getting messy, clothes, ect.)?? If so you may want to think about having him evaluated by an Occupational Therapist that can help with these issues. Feel free to respond if you have further questions.
Hi -- We are going through the same thing with our 2-1/2 year old, who also only eats Gerber veggies in a jar and Pepperidge Farm goldfish! We even have to mix the goldfish into veggies and soup sometimes (we say they're swimming) to get her to eat. One thing that has worked for us is to have her pretend to be different animals and take "big lion bites," "tiny kitten bites," "tall giraffe bites," etc. We also negotiate number of bites -- e.g., if you take three bites of carrots then you can have a goldfish -- and sometimes we can get her to try something new by saying that if she doesn't like it after two bites then she doesn't have to eat it. Other than that, we're just doing the best we can and hoping she gets over it soon! Good luck.
