My son is 22 months old and extremely selective about what he will eat. His diet pretty much consists of fruit (he loves fruit...every kind!), crackers, cheerios, granola/cereal bars, oatmeal, soy yogurt and the occasionaly hot dog. He is allergic to milk, so there goes anything with milk, cheese, dairy. We do put new foods on his tray or plate consistently, yet he refuses to even try. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
Actually, I think he has an awesome diet... I can understand why you'd want him to try new foods, perhaps trying a cookbook for kids would work, one that allows him to prepare the food with you - but if it doesn't happen anytime soon you should be proud that he is not stuck on wanting to eat junk! :)
My son was the same. and it seemed like forever. And he also would go a few months of eating us out of cheerios and fruit, and suddenly didnt want to eat. My husband would get mad and make him sit at the table and I said enough-he will eat when he is hungry. The docs always told me that balance is morre important then how much and to just introduce new things a little ata time and keep trying. Say he needs to eat to meat and you are having some chiken, take a bit put it front of him. he wont eat it, but save it and try it again the next day, etc. Also, if his energy is low then worry. Otherwise you can start to give a old fashioned Flinstones vitamin to supplement the iron and calcium he may be missing. He will do new things eventually. Dont worry too much-it seems they all go through it and end up OK and in the right weight ratio.
Our 5yr old daughter is an ovo-vegetarian, allergic to milk. She frequently goes through a just fruit phase especially when it's warm. One thing her ped. suggested is to make our own fruit & tofu popsicles. If I don't have time, or space in the freezer to do that, I'll blend frozen fruit + plain soy yogurt with a squirt of agave nectar (from trader joes) if the fruit is a bit tart. The vanilla yogurts have a lot of sugar and the agave nectar is a "healthier" sweetner. This turns out like "ice cream". Another one we do is the whole grain shaped pastas, no sauce as mine won't eat sauce. Kamut or Quinoa are great grains and the Kamut spiral colored noodles are a fav. Check out vegfamily.com for some advice about feeding children that aren't all about meat. I don't mean that you should raise your children as veggies. There are a lot of healthy options to feed children if they aren't all about the meat by their own choosing.
So long as you're buying good quality granola bars, crackers, etc. - no hydrogenated, low sugars, organic if poss. - I think the diet is fine. There are a lot of Sneaky Chef type books with recipes that use pureed veggies to add to various things like spaghetti sauce, brownies. When you're ready to start nuts, start with cashews and almonds as they are lower on the Usual Allergens list than peanuts & walnuts.
Hey S.....
My son was the same way at that age. Really, the best advise I can tell you is to keep the things coming that he likes at the same time you try to introduce something new. In other words, on one side of the highchair tray place some cheerios and on the other side maybe lay down some egg. The kind he's allowed to eat around his allergies..... at lunch and dinner do the same. If you allow him to make the choice to try something new, he just might do it. vs. him thinking that's his only choice. I really hope that makes sence. That's what we did with my boy and it turns out he loved pizza. Who would have thought that gums would find a way to moww through pizza?
Good Luck
Hi. Our daughter is also finicky. She's now 27 months and continues on her picky path. My advice is, don't worry about it. Just keep putting new stuff on his plate. I read that a child needs to see the same food about 20 + times before even trying it! So just keep trying. Our daughter has tried many things now and isn't as picky any more. A GREAT book we bought was "How to get Your Kid to Eat...But Not Too Much" by Ellyn Satter. It helped us not force food issues and not to over praise when she finally did try something. Good luck...he won't eat like that forever!
Hi S.!
All kids are picky eaters. Some to a more extent than others. But they don't usually starve themselves. ;->
We made up a rule when we started having children which I think has helped our children to open their minds about foods.
The rule goes like this: If you are 2 years old, then you have to eat 2 bites of everything on your plate, whether you like it or not. if you are 7, then you have to eat 7 bites of everything on your plate...etc...etc... (I also amended this rule by telling the older kids that they could NOT complain about the food 'til AFTER they took their bites) ;->
By implementing this rule from the beginning, all of our children know what is expected of them. Some of the younger ones still give us a struggle sometimes when it comes to eating something they do not like. A couple of times my husband has had to pin the child down while I put the food in their mouth. (not very often,thank goodness)...But the kids get the idea. If they do not eat the food, then Mom and Dad will make them take their bites. And after they take their bites, they get their dessert.
(Sometimes, I hide the green bean in the noodle, so the young child does not see it, but it still counts as taking his bite.)
My kids have tried lots of different kinds of food via this rule. It's so interesting to hear them tell me how much they do not like such-n-such food, but once they try it by taking their bites, they keep eating it and then ask for seconds...and tell me how much they like it... Sometimes, the hardest part is getting the food into the child's mouth...
Oh, I also tell our kids the I do not run a short-order kitchen and that they have to eat what I make for them...and then AFTER they take their bites, they may request a sandwich or leftovers...
Our oldest son is now interested in cooking because I had offered him the chance to cook something he likes if he didn't like my cooking...This way, he is guaranteed a meal that he really likes...
Our parents are continually impressed at what our children are willing to eat and are surprised when our 8 year old tells them that her favorite meal is lobster and spinach and that my 9 year old really likes sushi. (They are used to the other grandchildren being so picky and only eating things such as mac N cheese, hot dogs and muffins, that seeing our children eating real meals is a pleasant surprise to them.)
So far, none of our children have starved yet.
Have fun!
Huggs,
L.
A little about me: I have been married for 12 years to a wonderful man (who is also a good cook). I am a STAHM with 5 very active children, ages 11, 9, 8, 4 and 3 yrs old. I love to find easy-to-cook recipes that my whole family enjoys.
My two year old did the same thing at that age for about 4 to 5 months and then one day he started to eat other stuff i never forced him to eat but what he did eat I made sure was healthy for him and then he started to choose other things.. If you see weight loss then don't stress to much even as adults we go through periods of what we eat and then don't if there is weight loss then there is a concern my doctor recommended vitiams for my son just incase he is missing some of the nutritian he needed. Good luck and he'll settle down soon and eat right just never tell him no unless its junk food and let him try everything unless he has an allergy to it..
Sounds like what he is eating is fine! Some children that go through this choose "not so good" food. His needs are being met and he will add more choices within the next 8 mos. Just keep offering--NEVER force...negative feelings around food are never good and a 2 year old cannot find reason in "you have to eat 2 bites". He has a healthy diet...your doing something right! :0)
