picky eating 11m. old

[donvitol]

My DS has become a very picky eater.  He usually does great at breakfast, ok at lunch, but dinner has been terrible.  He will not eat any of his favorite foods, but will always eat yogurt.  So dinners and lunch end up with me making several different meals trying to figure out what he will eat.  Tonight he ate a few bites of chicken, then he had a few bites of cheesy potatoes/peas, then some pasta, then peaches, then waffle with yogurt on it, then prunes, then finally giving in and giving him his yogurt.  So my question is, am I giving in too much by giving him all these different choices?  I am getting exhausted cooking several meals for him at a time.  Should I only be giving him say 2 choices?  Or should I just try to get him filled up with something?

[RyansMum]

I wouldn't cook a variety to be honest.  Dinner or lunch or whatever should be just the one thing and if they don't eat it not to make a fuss, just take it away but continue to give a pudding as it is just part of the meal. They all go through phases of not wanting food but they will never starve themselves.  I suspect as you are giving him one thing then trying another he is just waiting for the 'right' thing to turn up ie yoghurt which is his fav at the mo.

Just give him the one choice, if he doesn't eat it so be it (even though it is frustrating when you have just cooked it!) he will eventually come round to eating more at dinner time.

I would also suggest if he is having an afternoon snack to either cut this out or give it a lot earlier in case that is spoiling his appetite.

HTH!

[taygensmom]

At that age we just served whatever we were having, as long as it was foods he could handle. So he got 3 or 4 choices of foods, but typically whatever we were having. If he didn't want it, we didn't give him other foods, just accepted his refusal and went on with our day. He quickly got used to the fact that he was not going to get "special foods" and we were not going to short-order cook for him, and now he is 20 months and a great eater. I think at 11 months you can be a little flexible with what you are offering, but I would select your choices at the beginning of the meal and stick with them. Otherwise you may be setting yourself up for big eating battles in the future. HTH

[donvitol]

good suggestions, thanks!

[nickiharrell]

Hi there, please can anybody help me. My dd is 21 months old and even though I have tried to get her to eat food that I have made, she will still only eat food from jars from the supermarket. She is so picky with them aswell and only will eat about 3 of them. They are for 12 months and up. I worry myself sick that she will continue to only eat these. Do you think I am worrying unesessarily?
Nicki

[RyansMum]

Can you try and get rid of all the jars to avoid the temptation to use them and to try and get her back on track eating the foods you make or give her?  Really at her age she should be fully weaned and be off the jars and eating like the rest of the family.

They do tend to go through phases though of being picky but won't ever starve themselves.  If for example you try your food then she refuses and you give in and give her a jar you are sending a signal that if she holds out she will get what she wants anyway so by taking them away completely she will eventually have to eat what you give her as she won't get anything else!

HTH!

[taygensmom]

I think your strategy depends on why she is refusing the regular tablefoods. Does she simply prefer the jars, and knows that if she holds out she will get them (if so then removing them as an option may help, assuming thre are no concerns regarding weight, et...) or is she refusing because she has texture/taste issues with the tablefoods (i.e. gagging on any tablefoods, etc...). If it is more a texture/taste issue then you would have to take smaller steps to correct, like starting for example with working on acceptance of jarred foods that she won't normally take (could start my mixing with her "regulars", then pureed table foods that you make (they will get her used to the taste of "real" foods without changing the texture too much, then moving to the real table foods.

So really I think it depends on why she is refusing....once you figure that out, you can make a plan that will work for your LO. HTH

[nickiharrell]

thankyou for your replies, I think it is because I have always given into her when she refuses anything else....just is quite fussy and just likes what she knows..dosnt really like to try different foods and can be very stubborn...lol.
i probably need to just calm down a bit myself because I get worried when she dosnt eat what I think she should be eating at her age and she probably picks up on my tension. I do hate to think that by not offering her the jar when she refuses that she will be hungry, but I understand like you said that los will not starve themselves.
I think I will start introducing our food mixed with hers and see what happens, then maybe when I have run out of jars, I just wont by anymore, then I will have no choice but to persevere.
Thanks again
x