toddler feeding

[kerry3]

Hi my b/g twins are now 17mo (15mo corrected) I'm having huge issues with food.  My girl spits most things out or throws it off her tray, so far she'll only eat toast, grilled cheese, cheese, crackers, yogurt and cereal plus whatever Gerber Graduates I buy.  She's stopped eating Heinz toddler food(will eat the friut though) and refuses to open her mouth to try new things.  Her brother is not much better but will at least eat the Heinz so I know he's getting some nutrition.  I hate resorting to the baby food but I don't know what else to do.  I sat for 45 minutes yesterday fighting with her on ravioli with peas & carrots....any help would be really welcomed.

 

[woopster]

Hi Kerry,

Don't fight!

Put her favourite foods out for dinner and also add one or two new things every couple of days. If you make it a battle you'll lose! 

Do you eat with them?  If they see you eating they are more likely to try things.

They won't starve. My eldest used to live on 2 slices of toast and a handful of grapes.

How is their milk intake?

[kerry3]

They both drink around 22oz of milk a day plus water when I can convince them.  They don't eat with us as they normally go to bed before we eat (around 6ish).  I have noticed that they are interested in what we eat during the day and I always offer them some which is generally hit and miss.  It's just frustrating when one day a food is a hit and then the next it's a total disaster.

[Freddymom]

At different times my son would go through phases like this one. When this happend I gave food very little "attention" For eample when it was time to eat I would not even say come for supper I would just show him his plate and let him know I was going to the table. He would always saunter out after a few minutes. Whatever he would eat was what he would eat- sometimes very little supper followed by two yogurts. Depending on how things are going you could also try to sneak nutrients into foods you know they like. I make mini meatloaves in muffin tins which I can freeze and zap quickyl and I grind up some veggiees in the meatloaf. Since this can be eaten with ketchup it usually goes over well. The Jessica Seinfeld cook book is ful of ideas like that too. Ex: pancakes with beat puree and sweet potatoe puree. Plus she has dessert/snacks like brownies with spinach hidden in them so you can up the nutrients at snack time too. I always found these phases would pass, he would not starve himself and the less time I made over it the better. good luck- I know it is frustrating.

[kerry3]

Can you give me the meatloaf recipe please?  I'd like to try that, I've made my own pasta sauce with carrots, ground beef and vegetable pasta in it which was a lukewarm response.  I'm going to try muffins again with veggies in them too.
I'll look into the Seinfeld book, I heard good reviews about it.

[Freddymom]

I just used a basic meatloaf recipe from Good Housekeeping and added a couple of carrots, celery adn sometimes spinach if I have it. I grind it in the food processor before I add it to the meat mixture. I will post the actual recipe later on for you. The jessica Seinfeld book is good and you can get some of her recipes from Oprah.com as she was on the show plus it will take you to a link if you want to receive a newsletter from Jessica and thus get some recipes not in the book.

[woopster]

I like the sound of that meatloaf!

Kerry, could you have lunch with them? Maybe a sandwich or some fruit?  What about making smoothies and fruit sticks to dip into it?  Strawberries and melted chocolate/ice cream?

[Freddymom]

I am telling you the meatloaf is great and so good for nights I don't have anything ready and need something in a hurry. You could also substitute ground chicken or turkey. In the Seinfeld book she adds pureed cauliflower to banana bread and reccomends serving with peanut butter insted of butter- yummy. Sometimes I also just make a snack plate of things I know he likes and are healthy like whole grain crackers with hummus or peanut butter, yogurt, banana, etc...And a freind of mine told me if you add cinnamon to carrots kids are more likely to eat them.
I also have the same situation where we eat later than my toddler and before my 4 month old was born what I did was I would still sit with him and have a snack.He did not seem bothered that we weren't eating the same stuff.

[kerry3]

I think some of the issues are "monkey see, monkey do" I've tried feeding them seperately but I end up with one screaming and one eating.  Last night I tried cut up whole wheat rotini with cheese & chicken - total disaster, they wouldn't even put the food in their mouths.  I ended up putting fruit on a spoon and hiding the chicken in it - then I picked up all the food they threw on the floor  I'm going to get the Seinfeld book to try.  Reese still only has one slightly emerging molar so he's gumming everything to death which I think frustrates him.  Oh well I'll work my magic again today and keep trying.