mexican stand-off..good or bad ?

[hollybush]

After reading some of the posts I realise that most moms have the same trouble at some point as Im having at the moment with my 17 month old. I have always given her the best homemade purees packed with veggies etc and she scoffed them down but now shes all picky and refuses things she used to love ( pasta bolognaise, spinach cheesy pasta etc). She often doesnt even try new foods which I understand is normal but Im running out of things to give her now..dont want to keep giving her cheese cubes and corn! I also read that it takes a child 15-20 presentations of a new food before they will try it...so with that I am being patient with new foods.
However, I just wanted to know what the general view was on not giving any alternative food choice if lo doesnt want the meal thats been made?..dont offer anything else and they will eat it when they are hungry or will eat what you give them at next meal time..has anyone tried this?
I see the logic in this but I just worry that maybe she really doesnt like the taste anymore? Some meals she actually spits the food out as though she hates the taste!! but in the past she has eaten it and enjoyed it.
Would love any advice on this as I would hate to think Im misreading her and forcing her to eat stuff she doesnt lke but at same time dont think she should have all this controll at food time!

keep smilingxxxx

[hollybush]

p.s 95% of the recipes I have made lo and still do are from Annabel Karmens book..was really hopeful about the chicken and apple balls but hey ho..she wont eat them so me and her pa have to scoff them..no good for my diet guys!!

[jennyh]

i would keep some of her favorite food on the plate with new stuff.eventually she will try it -i promise!

[Matka]

Hugs for you. It's frustrating isn't it?

I've actually had the same question lately.   I feel like I'm feeding ds the same thing everyday.  I swear, if I let him he would survive on cottage cheese and fruit!  I'm tired of making two dinners (his and dh and mine) and would love it if he would just eat what I make for us, but if he doesn't, I don't want him to go hungry

Anyone have any thoughts?

[rinajack]

Personally, I give something else if they won't eat what I serve.  But I don't cook two dinners, if they dont' eat it they get yoghurt or fruit or something.

But my lo is one who will wake early if hungry.  Also, whilst you don't like them having control at food time, there is actually very little that you can do to maintain control, and the less you fight, the less they resist iykwim.

[Kimberly®]

in our home we don't give an alternative, its worked for us so far.

For example if I give a new food I do it at lunch, then if she wont eat I five it to her again at dinner. She has a small snack mid afternoon, by supper though she's hungry and will eat what I give her.

We believe (as my parents did) that you eat what you get, and we don't have the money to waist food to be honest. Sometimes there is no choice, what she gets is all there is. I have yet to have her go without all day.

If, on the other hand, she tries the food and really doesn't like it we will give her something else. We also know not to make that again. This way she knows that she does have some choice. So far it works great for us. DD very rarely doesn't try what we give her, and very rare does she actually not like it. DD is actually one of the least picky toddlers I know, even the daycare had been suprised at how easily she tries new foods.

We've actually done the same with her since we introduced foods. If she didn't want it at first we kept trying untill she ate it and we found 95% of the time she liked it as soon as she tried it.

[rinajack]

Kimberly, we get Zara to try everything too.  It is rare that I end up offering another food, but it has happened a few times, etiher because she didn't like it, or (more commonly) because she was either unwell, or too tired to eat her dinner.  But usually she eats what we offer, if in limited amounts.

[Kimberly®]

we basically have a 1 bite rule in our home (for parents too as Daddy is the picky one) everyone has to try everything at least once. Its not really a battle, because if the one bite rule isn't followed there is not other choice. Even DH has started liking foods he thought he didn't like LOL. We plan to do the same with #2.

As I said we don't have the money to waist the food, and to be honest with us both working we don't have the time or energy to make 2 meals.

Usually DD will get a "treat" if she eats her meal too. Even if its fruit or yogert. Sometimes its a sweet. If she doesn't eat, no treat.

If she doesn't eat at all (like at lunch) I'll give her an extra glass of milk since its a whole food.

[maggie2]

We've also tried the "one bite to be polite" rule - it works for our nephew who comes to dinner once a week (he's 6) and sometimes he will happily eat something that he thought looked "yucky".  But ds is a different story on that one - we're really having a ton of feeding issues with him right now!  Most caused by AP , but some actually from his inability to handle textures and being really sensitive to new tastes, etc (since has been the case his whole life - we had a heck of a time trying to get him on purees!).

Anyway, just lurking now!