Will only eat small amounts of main meal...

[Canadian_Mom]

So I am starting to get a little frustrated over here.  DS has been for the last few weeks eating maybe 3 tbsp of his meal then refusing to eat anything else other than carbs (bread, cookies, crackers, cheerios), milk products (cheese, yogurt) or fruit (and only certain types of fruit).  I don’t know how to manage this, and I am starting to think I have been going about it wrong.  I had been trying to get him to eat more of his main meals by giving him only small amounts of the other foods to help “tide him over”.  But I have been getting more and more meltdowns and less time that he has been able to play on his own.  I did an experiment and let him eat as much as he wanted and whatever he wanted for a couple of days and he was MUCH happier in between meals.  I don’t know how to proceed.

Today for supper he happily ate about 3 tbsp of ham and scalloped potatoes for supper then flatly refused to eat anymore but vigorously did his own sign that he made up for “more” and “eat”.  So I gave him 1/3 of a banana and I figured that I would stop and if he was still hungry in 30 min I would offer the supper again.  So he played for about 5 minutes then was crabby and wanted to be held 24/7 (and still crabby) for the next 20 min.  I asked him if he wanted to eat and he signed his “eat” sign so I put him in his highchair and tried to offer him his supper again.  Well it was firmly refused, but as soon as I put it on a piece of bread as a sandwich he DEVOURED it.  And right now he is playing happily.  So I don’t know what to do over here.  DS has always been a touchy eater.  And everyone that I talk to says that at least he is still eating “healthy” things.  I have tried changing things up or offering him his favourites but it is always the same thing.

Any suggestions??  Should I continue with offering the main meal and then whatever he will eat to fill him up??  or should I stand my ground and continue to frequently offer the main meals?? (or is he too young to do that??)  As I said I am a little frustrated and am not thinking to clearly about meal times over here!!  Any thoughts will help!!

Forgot to add that DS is 13.5 months old!

[inoella]

Hey Nadia - just want to tag along... DD is close in age and very similar in trait! i've been doing the "offer the main meal then anything else" thing too. interested to hear what advice you get.

[Mom to M&M]

So he ended up eating the ham and scalloped potatoes -just in a different form (sandwich)? If so, I think that's totally fine - in fact I'm jealous! It's awesome that he's eating the same meal as you - even if in a different form!

[inoella]

Nadia - just thinking "out loud" --- i think since we're surrounded by awesome BW mamas we tend to have super high standards... which is great! But the other day I was explaining my dilemma to a (irl) friend and she was surprised DD is already eating our food at 12 months. So I think we are ahead of the game in some ways. Still hope to get some great advice but I thot I'd send some encouragement your way that you are doing a great job! 

[Maxmiliansmom]

Hehe I agree with the responds at the same time as I totally feel your concern as I too am in the same situation and a night feed on top of it due to teething!!

Experts, gosh, experts say so much... some go hard on WHAT children should eat and others say that that is one of the very few things our children can control and that it´s fine if they get to choose what they want to eat. If we push them etc they can get eating disorder later in life...
I think the best we can do is offer the healthy choices too but be happy as long as they eat at all... Cause once my son is sick or teething and refuse ALL of the food I just wish he would at least eat his potatos or rice...
SEE?! We are being to hard on ourselfs.

Children do have a different metabolism and until the age of 5 they will change their taste many times as well as how their body consumes food.
I guess as long as we have routines about when to eat, we offer the best we can at what to eat they should decide how much to eat.

You re doing great as far as im concerned!

[Canadian_Mom]

Thanks for all of the support ladies!!  I think I was being to hard on myself.

The last couple of days he has just been chewing on the nipples of his bottles, so last night I checked his mouth while I was brushing his teeth and 3 molars have broken through!     So I am thinking that might be the reason for the eating issue.  I gave him tylenol about 1hr before supper and he happily munched on some chili (much more than usually) and then when he was done I put the rest on a piece of bread and he finished the rest!  So I am going continue to let him eat whatever he whats, but making sure to offer what I want him to eat first 

Jaci - I have been getting the same comments as well about Aiden eating "normal" food (though it does need to be cut up into smaller pieces), so I was thinking that maybe I wasn't getting good advice about just letting him eat what he wanted!

M to M&M - He LOVES sandwiches.  He would he them all day, every day if I let him.  He doesn't care what is on them as long as there is cheese.  I am using them as much as possible right now because I am sure he will get to the point of refusing them and I will look back and ask myself "why didn't I try to give him more sandwiches while I could?!"  lol