Picky Eaters - Southbridge,MA

I had a picky eater and I found that letting my child be involved in helping prepare her food actually got her to want to eat!

I'm having the same problem and have been for 4 months. My 21-month old son refuses to eat anything but cereal bars, granola bars, and crackers and I am losing my mind. My doctor and I had a LONG dicussion about it and she told me that, "A good mom feeds her child a nutritious meal every day and if you don't provide nutrition, you are not a good mom". I know it sounds harsh but I didn't consider it to be rude. Right now your child is controlling your environment and you are letting her by feeding her what she wants. Your job (and this is everything that the doctor told me last night) is to feed them a nutritious meal, not to make sure they eat something just to fill their bellys. I was assured by the doctor that THE CHILD WILL NOT STARVE...they will eat when they are ready to eat. But you have to break the cycle of letting her control you. I know it will be difficult and my doctor says it will take at least 2 weeks for a child to actually start eating. We, as mothers, just have to be patient. GOOD LUCK (and I'll be feeling your pain, as I deal with the same issue. What I have been doing is after I feed my son his dinner and he screams and whines, I leave the room).

My advice would be to put her on a set schedule
example:
brkfast 7:30 am
am snck 10:00 am
lnch 12:30
pm snck 2:30
supper 5:30
pm snack 7:30

keep your snack light but enough where they tide her over till next meal time. Keep your menu full of vareity, it could be that she is sick of her favorite and wants something new. Find a kids meal cook book... have her help you prepare meals.

Also don't make her something else if she refuses to eat, have her wait til next eating time. it will take a few weeks but stick to it and see if it works... In the long run you are showing her the correct way of eating to live.

Good Luck
M.

My daughter had serious food jags when she was that age, and she's actually at the beginning of another one. MY way of getting around it was exploiting something that she liked. For example...she loved (and still does) little food snack like pudding and applesauce. What I did was give her a yogurt one day and she how she took it, as a "snack" or as food. She loves yogurt, so when she'as going thru her jags and wants only snacks, that is what I give her. At least that way I know she's getting some important vitamins and the calcium she needs. My daughter also likes milkshakes and the like, so I buy her those children's nutrition shakes. She thinks that they're just a snack, but she's getting the nutrient she needs to gain the right amount of weight.

i have 2 kids who are very very picky, i too have consulted with a nutrionist, i was told the same thing. i try to make the favotite suppers for my 3 kids. but that doesnt always work. i used to have to make so many seperate meals that finally i got sick of it and told them they will eat what we're eating or else. when one of my picky eaters says they wont eat it, i save it for later. i've learned to feed my picky eaters lots of yourgerts to help them gain the wheight and keep them as healthy as possible. it really works. picky eaters is jsut something we all have to deal with. make sure u tell the sitter that your child needs to eat that kind of thing. if its a good sitter, they will follow your instructions. dont give up..my son used to eat the same things over and over until he got sick of it, then started to try different things. so eventually she will try it. i keep offering my son things i know he wont eat and soemtimes he tries it. i try to make food fun for him too. have your daughter help u make dinner and mix in something she likes. my olderst son has this game of saying, 'i'll eat it if u do' then if he sees his brother eating it, he'll try it. they wont like everything and they may even grow up to never try anything. but all we can do is give them the best start with food! good luck and i hope this helps.
C.

Hi C.,

My son was the same way when he was 3. He's now 5 and still has those days where he doesn't eat much. Like you, we were concerned that he wasn't eating enough. We asked his doctor and she said the samething as the nutrionist you saw .. he'll eat when he's hungry. Try giving her the kids yogart, those are usually a hit. My son also loves waffles, the ones that have shapes and such. We tried to buy/make 'cute' foods to entice him. Try not to worry too much .. as long as she's healthy, that's the important thing, not that she eats a ton.

Hope this helps .. good luck!
~ B.

Hello,
I have a daughter with spina bifida. So she doesn't eat my mouth right now because of all the problem that she has had. I know it isn't the same as your daughter not eating but my daughter is in a feeding clinic to get her to start eating. Here is what I have learned that might help.
1) have you tried getting her to help with getting dinner on the table?
2) Try taking her food shopping to get dinner, snacks or what ever she wants(not candy)to eat. Let her pick it and pay for it. It makes it funner to eat for some reason.
3)Give her a choice a breakfast, lunch and snacks. But tell her since she picked it she needs to at least try it. But don't shove it down her throat because then she won't want to eat.
Then if she still doesn't want to eat ask her why. Is it the taste, how it feels in her mouth, is it because she's not hungery, is it because she doesn't like people watching her eat? There may be a bigger reason that your not seeing.
The biggest thing make sure she doesn't feel like she's a bad girl if she doesn't eat all her food. If she take 2 bites of food and says she's all done, tell her fine but could you just finish your drink and visit with us at the table until were done. Make sure she feels included, even if she not eating.
I could go on but I won't. I just say if this problem continues call her doctor and have her checked just to make sure everything is good and it's just her being a 3 year old and testing you. Good luck
D.

i have a nephew like that. he is very skinny and is picky. my sisters pediatrician told her to give him pedia sure..and if the taste isnt so great to add stuff like choclate syrup or fruit

Hi C.,
I have the same problem with my four year old daughter. The problem started when she was three, and there were days when all she had to eat were doritos. I decided to turn dinner into a game and since then she eats all of her dinner. The game is a little messy, but if you have a dog then clean up is a snap. This is what we do: I sit in my seat and she sits in hers. She opens her mouth really wide and I throw a small piece of chicken at her aiming for her mouth. If I get it in she has to eat it, if i miss 3x in a row she has to take a bite on her own. We do this with all foods, including mashed potatoes (hence the mess. She has a lot of fun & she eats and doesn't even realize it. Usually after a couple of throws she is eating on her own. At the end of dinner she will tell me how good it was and how much she liked it. So when I make that meal again I usually only have to throw once & then she eats on her own. We actually haven't played the game in a while because she knows she likes everything. It's messy, but if you really want her to eat it's worth a try. have a camera handy because it is cute & funny to see her with a glop of mashed potato on her cheek. Good luck!

Hi C.,
I have the same problem with my almost 3 year old daughter. My husband stresses over it more then I do. I just let her eat what she wants and pretty much when she wants and figured sooner or later she will eat better. She did have low iron when she had her 2 year old check up, I have cleard up that, thank god she likes veggies. I say don't stress over it, lots of children do this as long as she is eating something and is getting food from all food groups. K.

My son is also a very picky eater. I have started to let him help me make a grocery list that way he can at least have some input in what i buy at the store. He has also started to help with making dinner, even if it's as easy as pouring water in the pan for mac-n-cheese. I also try to make dinners where I know at least one item on his plate he will eat such as, porkchops, mac-n-cheese, and greenbeans. I know he'll eat the mac-n-cheese if nothing else. I also have started a reward system of which he gets dessert if he eats all of the item he likes plus 3 bites of everything else. This is really working! Plus he loves fruit and considers fruit a dessert. Therefore even dessert is becoming a healthy choice. I know how frustrating it can be! And for those who say you are not being a good mom ignore them. There is nothing you can do about it. I have taken MANY child development classes and it's a stage all children go through where they either don't eat or only want to eat one type of food. Good luck!

There is a show that I watch on TLC called "Surviving motherhood" the expert on the show basically said not to worry too much about it. Children at that age are trying to find something that they can control and what they eat is an easy one. Maybe you can try giving her some choices, but if she refuses don't make a big fuss about because it will make the issue bigger than what it should be. Hopefully she will come around, she will eat when she is hungry.