BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Eating For Toddlers => Topic started by: {{{Angela}}} on July 31, 2005, 00:08:24 am
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DS eats fruits and veggies well, and bread products moderately well, but he eats very little from the meat and alternatives group. Does anyone have any tips or strategies to get him to eat more meat? I guess the problem is that he only has 4 teeth, so he can't chew them up well. He will usually eat eggs, but not always. I'm afraid he's not getting enough iron. I bought some beans for him, but we haven't tried them yet, I'm a bit afraid of the gassiness that might ensue. :oops:
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Chris has 2 bottom teeth and 3 top (only the tips are poking out). He eats lots of chicken and beef, fruit and lots of potatoes. Try to offer the meat before the fruit and veggies. I am giving Chris the foods we are eating unless they are too spicy then his are plain. I take a bite and then offer him a bite. Whatever I want him to eat the most of is what I offer first. He hasn't found anything he doesn't like yet. Good luck. Matt didn't like meat until he was 2 years. He is still very picky about it. He will only eat steak, ribs, and grilled pork and Chickfila nuggets. He doesn't like burgers. Every now and then he eats grilled chicken. I gave him iron supplements since age 1.
Minerva
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Check out a vergetarian diet for kids and see what they suggest - either online or library.
I am a vegetarian and I am planning to take my time introducing meats to Caeden.
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We waited to introduce meats until Tyler could chew. That was a few months ago, and he still isn't a big fan of it, so we treat his diet as if he were a vegetarian. Iron is our main concern, and infant cereal for breakfast every morning just about takes care of it! If you're concerned, you can always ask the dr to check his iron level with a blood test, and if it's low, you can start iron supplements.
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John has never had any meat. If your concern is protein, try cottage cheese, eggs, black beans, hummus, and lentils. Black beans and lentils are not as gassy as pintos. If iron is your concern, try dark green veggies - brocalli (gassy), and spinach. Definately keep iron fortified cereal in his diet as long as you can. And use soy based products (tofu, veggie burger, veggie dogs) sparingly. There are some controversial studies out right now on them.
I have been giving John a vitamin since he was about 12 months. Talk to your doctor and find a vitamin drop with iron in it. Ask your doctor to check his blood for anemia, but it probably isn't a problem.
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Nathan's not big on meat either (I'm sure it's texture related) so we make sure he gets beans, dairy, eggs etc. We've actually changed our own eating habits to more of a vegetarian diet because of this (and actually really enjoying it). I don't worry too much because his cereal has iron and he also gets a kids multi vitamin.
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Just asked our pediatrician about this very same issue. Although Kyra is now starting to eat some pieces of meat at dinner time and will sometimes surprise me and eat a whole bunch, she was eating virtually none for quite a while. Just keep offering it and eventually he will eat it. Kyra eats spinach and dried fruit (this one may be hard unless he is really good with his gums so I don't recommend it unless you are sure he will chew/mash it up). The doctor said not to worry about it, it is very common. They test her hemoglobbin (at nine months and at 18 months). She was fine at nine... still on formula and I haven't gotten the 18 month results, but she does not act anemic by any means (lethargic etc.). If ds is active and happy... just offer him the meat and don't expect him to eat it (that way you won't feel disappointed when he doesn't). Eventually... he will! The first things dd started eating were the softer meat things, like meatloaf and meatballs. If you are worried about protein, the doctor said that she gets plenty of protein from her dairy products (and she won't even eat eggs... just cheese, yogurt and milk).
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Hi there,
Have you tried stew with loads of fav veg and small bit of meat, this is what we did and worked wonderful. Also how about bolognese? haven't tried yet but its soon on the agenda, also home made burgers or meat balls. What I do instead of buying the prepacked mince cos I am never 100% confident of whats in it is pick out my meat and ask the butcher to mince it 2 for me.
Lentils are also a great source of protein. DD has eaten a tiny bit once or twice mixed with other veg but am going to try again soon as they didnt go down too well the first time.
HTH
Fiona
Mom to Leah 23/09/04
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i agree about the lentils - i was always too busy to think about how to get meat done right for her so i would just toss ina handful of red lentils when cooking her veg and would just mash it all together - she rarely even knew they were there. i did this until dd1 was a bit over 1 yr old.
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Thanks for all the good ideas. I will try the beans. DS does like broccoli and I put spinach in his pasta sauce, along with pureed meat. So I know he is getting some. I'd like to try the lentils but ds prefers to feed himself, so can they be a finger food? They look pretty tiny to me. :) I've tried meatballs with beef and again with turkey but he'll eat 1/2 or one and that's it. We went for dinner and he had a bit of my chicken from my chicken fajitas, as well as the pureed chicken I put on his pasta, so yay! He does eat a lot of cheese too.
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Does he like little patties? What I did for a while to disguise food (and still do :roll: ) is make little vege patties with mashed or grated veges and added some mince etc (you could add your lentils here), and then add an egg and flour and fry in a little oil.
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Thanks for all the good ideas. I will try the beans. DS does like broccoli and I put spinach in his pasta sauce, along with pureed meat. So I know he is getting some. I'd like to try the lentils but ds prefers to feed himself, so can they be a finger food? They look pretty tiny to me. :) I've tried meatballs with beef and again with turkey but he'll eat 1/2 or one and that's it. We went for dinner and he had a bit of my chicken from my chicken fajitas, as well as the pureed chicken I put on his pasta, so yay! He does eat a lot of cheese too.
It sounds like he is eating pretty well. One thing to keep in mind is to look at how he eats over a large block of time, say a week, rather than a day. You will see that he may eat really well one day and not seem to eat anything for a few days, but he is getting all the nutrients he needs.
It is hard to make lentils finger food. But whane I served them at that age I would mix them in rice cereal. It became something like lentils and rice. Lentil patties sound good too. Or you could mash them, similar to a hummus, and spread them on bread or toast as a finger food.