Very picky and not getting better...when will it stop???

[Sabine]

my now 2yo lo is picky.  i have read several books, have seen a dietician and have tried to follow all suggestions but nothing is happening.  i have been doing this for months.  i make all meals from scratch (with exception of fish) and it frustrates me to have him not eat what dh and I eat.  i loathe mealtimes now.

this is his repetoire (i find we eat the same thing almost everyday)

breakfast--granola, granola bar, yoghurt, dry cereal (shreddies, nutrios), crisp bread, waffles and sometimes dry blueberries/cherries
snack-fruit (usu banana or apple)
lunch- ham/turkey (deli slices), scrambled egg, sometimes dried corn, toasted whole wheat pita, spelt/flax crackers, unsweetened applesauce, homemade oatmeal and carrot cookie
snack--fruit usu dried cherries or blueberries
supper- fish, hamburger (homemade), chicken fingers (homemade) or some sort of grilled  chicken
rice, pita
sometimes peas
applesauce
bedtime snack-nutrios or shreddies

he won't eat pasta or toast
he won't eat any veggies now (used to eat peas and corn and potatoes and sweet potatoes)
i am trying new foods every meal and day w/o avail..please help.

sabine

[Grace's Mom]

My good friends nephews for months and months would literally only eat hot dogs and cheerios so compared to that you precious lo is eat heap   

I think as long as he is eating all of that you are fine.  It may not be a huge variety in your mind but he is getting most everything he needs.  I am sure in time he will want more things.  I would just keep offering the things he may not like now and I am sure one day he will like them.  They all go through these crazy phases but will soon enough grow out it and will be on to a new one...oh how they keep us guessing 

For the veggies....can you give him some V8 Fusion?  It has fruit and veggies in it and there is no added sugar.
We also use Veggie Bites from Veggie Star Farms....I also give my lo their veggie burgers and she loves them, but won't eat regular veggies (fresh or frozen)
http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/
There is also a new chip out that has a 1/2 a serving of veggies in one ounce....oh if I could only remember their name.  The ingredients are all wonderful too.  I know health foods sell a ton of those kinds of chips.

[jennyh]

i know where your concerns are.my oldest is really picky too.imo i think his eating could be better but personally i think he has quite a range....hugs to you.it really is heart breaking when you put all the effort in just to be rejected ....jenny

[taygensmom]

I agree that it may be working against you to "short order cook" and prepare separate foods for your LO. Especially at the 2 yr. mark, your LO is very bright and knows exactly what is going on. I really think there has to be a balance as far as dynamics during feeding. If your Lo has too much control (i.e. he determines what he eats, where he eats, when he eats, if he eats, etc....) then this can lead to very picky eating. If we as parents have too much control, it will also cause problems and often many control battles over eating. But if there is a healthy balance I have found that this works very well. We do not prepare separate meals for our LO. We offer him what we eat and decide when he eats (with some flexibility of course) and where he eats (always at the table). We also make sure there is at least 3 hrs between each meal/snack and only give him milk with meals (and water in between), so that he is sufficiently hungry and motivated to eat. So basically he eats breakfast at about 7:30 or 8:00, lunch at about 12:00, a snack at about 2:30 (before a nap), and then supper at about 6:00. We don't do a morning snack as it can be too close to lunch and result in poor eating for the actual meal. Then during meals/snacks we give him the power to decide what he eats (from the choices we have provided), how much he eats, and when he is done. If he refuses we respect that and then wait until the next meal. This has worked for us. Maybe it will help you in some way. HTH

[Katet]

For a 2yo he actually eats probably right on average amount... my 2 (2 & almost 4) don't exactly have a wide variety they eat & the way Ihave got around it is cooking double serves for them, so say we have Hamburgers one night, they have it the next too & dh & I have curry.
I offer 4-5 things on the plate for my children... 2 of which I am pretty sure they will eat, if they don't eat any, that is there choice... at the moment my 2yo (being my 2nd, I'm not worried) probably eats his Dinner 50% of the time & I could truely say he lives on air somedays. I know I was someone who ate maybe 10 different food things at age 4 & my brother ate everything in sight... guess who is the one who is fussy now (not me ).
Toddlers like control & food is something they can control & make a battle over it. If you offer a balanced diet & give them the right to eat or not to eat... that is all you can do.
BTW some children need to be offered a food anywhere from 3-30 times before they are willing to even pick it up & then they may pick it up the same number of times before they actually try it. I offer a new food every second day for weeks on end & then stop if it hasn't been tried after about 2 months... that said my 2yo will try unusual things like "short soup" over more everyday stuff.

[Sabine]

Thanks for the replies...I am trying not to short order cook.  For ex last night made BBQ beef tloin (never has eaten) cut into small pieces (dh and I were eating this), put some breaded fish too (he likes this as an alternative) with rice (we were eating this) and grilled veggies.  Plus his staples of pita and applesauce.  He tried 5 bites of tloin  and some fish and rice but no veggies.  He ate his applesauce and pita though. 

I do try to give him what dh and I are eating and usually he refuses but I do put some of his staples down too. I guess what I worry most about is that he eats zero veggies.  Fruit is limited too.  He will eat apple, banana, dried cherries and blueberries and occasionally pear but that's it.  I just want him to eat either a good balance of fruit and try veggies.

Sorry for rambling but thanks for all your input.

sabine

[taygensmom]

You could try offering veggies/fruit as an "appetizer" before you all sit down to eat the rest of your meal. We do this with our LO with veggies, as he would prefer the carbs and meat . So about 10 minutes beofre the "meal" starts we give him his veggies and if he is hungry he will usually eat some, and then we will put out the rest of the food. When doing this we also try to have at least 2 fruits or 2 veggies for him to choose from. Then he gets whatever we are eating mealwise along with some more veggies. HTH

[Katet]

Toddlers have very strong taste buds & actually Veg have a taste that seems to be too strong for many of them... I have many friends whose toddlers didn't eat Veg & they now all pretty much eat them as older children... as most people have lost a big percentage of their tastebuds by about 10yo... I think an adult has less than 10% of the taste sensation that a toddler does.
Also given what he did eat at dinner, I'd say offer him less of the staples as he probably eats his prefered food first & fills up on them, where as if they weren't there he might just fill up on other things

[Sabine]

thanks for the suggestions...i will give them a go!

sabine