Support thread for moms of picky eaters - Part 2

[Mom to M&M]

I'm worried if I cut them they'd be too tiny then? I'm going to try with the frozen multigrain (Van's) square waffles I bought tomorrow and if I can get him accepting those I'll switch to homemade in a week or so. I'm hoping he's hungry after no dinner and next to no lunch so he'll go for it?

I'd be happy to complain about the grocery bill! Dinner is so upsetting here lately. He just screams basically. And then the whole night is shot...

[Jiinx]

Oh Karen. I feel so bad complaining about Z's eating when you've got so so so much on your plate. It's so hard when Z eats so little..

It's hard with no dairy too...

BIG BIG hugs Karen. Really. You're a superstar.

lol Martina..I think she's already eating me out of the house. the things I buy sometimes just to get her to eat Fruits..veggies..frozen salmon cakes..frozen broccoli nuggets. sigh. Just so much easier to get them frozen than to make them on my own bc I'd have to make her stuff AND our dinner. She did dinner today while sitting near me on the window again.

[Mom to M&M]

Sarah, don't feel badly at all! We are all here to listen and vent and try to help each other.

[~Sara~]

Karen, that stinks   I hate when they go to bed without having eaten much at dinner, too.  Hopefully the pickiness is just being amplified bc he's not feeling well.  Maybe he likes the smoothie bc it soothes his mouth/throat??  At least you can pack that full of healthy stuff.  What do you treat coxsackie with?

Sarah, yes, he normally does just fine with that gap.  Obviously, it's not a hard rule or anything.  He normally eats a fairly big breakfast and a fairly large lunch.  Yesterday he ate 3 pancakes for breakfast!!!  But then he only ate about 3/4 of a PBJ sandwich...had a smallish snack post-nap and a smallish dinner (~2.5-3 chicken nuggets and some mandarin oranges).

[Mom to M&M]

OMG - 3/4 of a PB sandwich and 2.5-3 nuggets and oranges would be considered a FEAST here!

Nothing really to treat coxsackie since it's viral. Rest, fluids, pain meds as needed.

He did have the square waffle this morning, so at least there's that!

[~Sara~]

OMG - 3/4 of a PB sandwich and 2.5-3 nuggets and oranges would be considered a FEAST here!

LOL, see...that's where I think differences in what makes a picky eater is highlighted:  Our problem has never been quantity, just that he won't try new things.  With the exception of pickles   I think there are multiple kinds of these kiddos.

Woohoo, Matty, for having a square waffle today   Hopefully today will be better for him, sweet boy   And you, too!

[Mom to M&M]

Ah, I totally get it. Unfortunately, our problem is with both issues!

[~Sara~]

Am I remembering this correctly, Karen: I thought you had mentioned once that Marisa used to be a picky eater but that she does fine now.  If that's the case, what did you do to help her with that, and what age did she start eating more of the foods that you and DH eat?

[Mom to M&M]

Yup! Marisa was picky until about age two, when she slowly started getting better. But hers was mainly a texture issue - she had bad reflux and associated eating with it. So for some time she'd only eat grilled cheese (cut into small bites), dried fruit and chicken nuggets and that was IT. By 3 she was eating most things we were minus the veggies and by four the veggies too. And she started adding in fresh fruits around that age. What helped with her was that she really wanted to eat what we were eating - especially what DH was eating. And distraction. We'd let her have small books in her booster seat while she was eating (then we slowly weaned the books away around 3 or so). Plus she's a health nut and really interested in eating foods that are good for her. Sadly, none of the above works with DS! She does still dislike certain textures - especially mashed potatoes!

No lunch here. We'll see what happens after nap.

[Jiinx]

lol that would be a feast here too. 3 pancakes would be worth celebrating for!

[~Sara~]

lol that would be a feast here too. 3 pancakes would be worth celebrating for!

He's never eaten that many before, normally he maxes at 1-1.5.  I don't know if he was just more in touch with his inner chimpmunk yesterday and felt compelled to store away or what!

[~inbalance~]

3 pancakes, I'm thrilled if either of my boys eats 1/2 of one!    Seriously though, what do I have to do to get them to eat?  T hardly ate breakfast, F at least had about 6 bites of omlette.  For lunch all they ate was grapes.  I managed to get T to eat a few bites of pasta and chicken only by telling him his monster truck wanted him to eat it, but it was over the course of like an hour. 

[Jiinx]

aw, hugs Martina. Does he like a particular fruit? could you mash them into a cereal or oatmeal or pancake?

would he like his food arranged in a funny way? smiley face etc?

[~inbalance~]

Food presentation doesn't seem to make a difference with these boys.    I have tried adding fruits that they like to cereal, etc.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  There is no rhyme or reason!  Maybe they just hate my cooking! 

[Jiinx]

I feel that way too... I don't think it's that though...

Different types of pasta? Variety? I sometimes rotate bw wagon wheels, farfelle, spaghetti, etc etc.