Picky Eater - Peru,NY

This I can totally relate to and guess what DONT WORRY.. Really. i'm not joking,.. my 2 yr old has taken complete control over her eating habits which is very typical for kids in when they're younger,.. I was worried to but her speach teacher told us that during the course of a week the kids get enough nutrients to make up for those not so great eating days.. there's days where she'll just eat a couple spoonfulls of peanutbutter and some oatmeal etc.. Kids are only suppose to eat about a tablespoon of each food for each yr they are.. ex. 2 yrs old = 2 tablespoons of each food... My husband still worries but if you watch your son threw the week you'll notice he gets plenty of the foods he needs...
Hope that helps..

My son is 19 months old and some days is a great eater, and other days can't be bothered with any food at all! Worrisome, sure, but my ped. told me to just keep offering healthy choices and let him decide. It's common, I guess.

I know he is only down to a few things that he WILL eat, and I see you included Ramen beef soup, but I would be careful of that one since it is sooooooo high in sodium. When my son is having a picky day, I cook up some brown rice (make it w/ chicken broth, it comes out better) and mix in some peas and carrots and put some unsweetened applesauce on top--this almost always works--the applesauce is a good mask for the other stuff, but yet very good for them.

Another thing is that I notice is sometimes when I offer my son stuff via fork/spoon, he won't take it, but when I walk away to get something, I'll come back and he is eating, so I find if I leave him alone he'll get the job done, by hands or silverware, making me believe it is an independence issue as well. If he is eating yogurt, what about buying those Gerber fruit cubes and mixing them in? I hope this was at least somewhat helpful!! Good luck...

I had, and still have the same problem with my now 3 year old daughter. She's extremely picky and we've tried everything. Now, if she's in the mood she'll occassionally try a spoonful of something "new". The doctor told us to try Pediasure. She loved it. Then, another mom said that Carnation Instant Breakfast mix is great because it has all the nutrition but costs a fraction of what Pediasure does. We still give her Carnation before bed. It's our own little way of feeling good about what she's eating...or, in this case, not eating. There are some good multi-vitamins on the market...but very few are for this age group. You usually have to cut them in half. Good luck!

HI T., I TOO HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH BOTH OF MY BOYS, FOR MY YOUNGER SON IT WAS JUST A PHASE BECAUSE NOW HE EATS ANY AND EVERYTHING HOWEVER MY OLDER SON IS STILL LIKE THAT BUT MAYBE BEING PICKY ISNT SO BAD, I MEAN, LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE, MY SON IS NOW 16 AND HE DOESNT EAT ANY RED MEATS, HARDLY ANY JUNK FOOD, HE LOVES VEGGIES AND IS VERY HEALTHY. ALSO WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER HIS DOCTOR PUT HIM ON VITAMINS TO MAKE UP FOR ANYTHING HE WAS MISSING FROM NOT EATING TO MUCH. SO PLZ MAKE SURE YOU ASK HIS DOCTOR FOR SOME VITAMINS.

I am having the same problem with my son, Joshua. He is 22 months old and the baby of 4 children. He will only eat macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, peanut butter, yogurt and fruit cereal bars. None of my other children were picky eaters. I am thinking of trying pediasure. Is your son underweight? Josh is 27 lbs, which isn't under weight so the doctor isn't concerned.

Hi,

I sometimes add things to the foods my daughter(16 months) already likes, like her cereal and yogurt. I bought untoasted wheat germ from the natural foods store and stir a teaspoon of that into her cereal some days. Other times I add a small amount of ground flax seed which is also available at the natural food store. I mash up avacado and add it to her yogurt or sometimes mash an egg yolk (egg white also if the baby is over a year old) and add it to her yogurt since she doesn't seem to want to eat scrambled eggs and it's good protein. Sometimes she will eat kiwi which is very high in vitamin C if I cut it up into finger food and also those little Dole fruit cups of all the different diced fruits. She will eat cheese all day long so maybe you could try adding cheese to things for calcium and protein if he will eat cheese. The peanut butter you(or someone) mentioned is great protein and omega fats so that is a good one. I guess they don't really need large amounts of protein when they are this little though. Maybe he would like cottage cheese? It comes in those convenient little 6 packs like the Yobaby yogurt. I would give him the new foods first when you know he is hungry and let him see you and especially his "big brother" eating those foods too. My daughter loves pizza and pasta with sauce and mozzerella and of course, mac and cheese. Sometimes she will eat meatloaf if it's very tender but not always. You can buy whole wheat mac and cheese in the organic section of the grocery store and just not add all of the cheese packet to cut back on the amount of sodium for greater nutrition. Maybe you could add some veggies to his mashed potatoes? You probably already know this stuff since you have another little boy but I hope maybe it will help a little. I'm always trying to find new things that my daughter will eat since it seems we are always stuck in a rut with the same foods. Good luck!

My 11 month old daughter has become very picky at about 9months!! I never had a problem feeding her before and now and she is totally stubborn about it! She will eat dry cereal, potatoes, chicken nuggets, p.b and jelly sandwiches (just inroduced), yogurt, which doesn't agree with her stomache, and a few other foods nothing of which holds any nutritional value! I too am worried she has an appointment next week so I am going to discuss it with her doc. But my other two children were not picky at all!!