Support thread for moms of picky eaters - Part 3

[~inbalance~]

Well, I haven't posted in awhile but that doesn't mean my boys aren't picky anymore!  They're still as picky as ever.    But we have good days and bad days, and nothing too horrible so I haven't been stressing.  They do it, just so limited. 

[Buntybear]

Hiya!

The problem I have with Olly ( DH doesn't see it as a problem) is that he won't eat anything, for want of a better word, wet. Ie casseroles, sauces, pies etc. he loves yoghurt and porridge and will sometimes eat a pouch of something ie chicken casserole for babies, so I don't think it is a texture thing just a picky thing.

Of course his diet is so restricted we are left with only a few foods he will eat. Luckily he loves meat, pasta, his GF bread, fruit so we can fill him up and really his diet isn't unhealthy.

I love food and cooking and would love to be cooking things up for him and every so often I will try new things again but they get rejected and I stop again. Have got huge batches of bolognaise and roast veg sauce in the freezer which I will prob offer every now and again till I have to chuck them!

Hey ho! Just needed somewhere to get that off my chest!! X

[my3girlsjde]

Oh I so hear you on the frustration!

I got E to eat soup yesterday after months of trying. Very similar with the 'wet' foods. There are so many things she simply won't eat and so many she can't eat that we're left with her eating less than 10 different foods. And when all-beef, dairy free hot dogs are among the favourite, I cringe at the thought of her coming off of her Nutramigen.

Are any of you supplementing with a multivitamin? E is still on the HAF until she's two, but I'm wondering what to do after that. There's NO way she'll be eating enough varied foods to get her nutritional requirements and I'm already stressed about it just thinking of the future. We now have an issue with citrus and tomatoes and potatoes quickly rejected (unless you count homemade fries and ketchup ), so where will vitamin C come from? Among many other vitamins and nutrients.

And like I said to my Dr last week. The big girls are eating like typical children. J is even willing to try anything once so I know the whole "persevere and keep trying" rule all too well. Ugh! At this point someone would have to try pretty hard to talk me out of giving a multivitamin.

[~inbalance~]

My 3yo is picky in the sense that he won't eat anything with sauce.    Or cheese.  He is so picky about what he eats, sometimes I worry but other times I just stick with it.

The 20mo is better but still picky.

I find dinner the most frustrating.  But I know sometimes they will touch nothing, and other times they'll eat a lot so it balances out.

We give a vegan multivitamin, can't remember the brand.  It's just kind of my backup and reassurance that at least they're getting something.  I also make them smoothies with lots of supplements in them, however atm they are hardly touching those. 

My big thing is I will not cater to them or make specific things.  So I carry on planning our meals for the family, and if they eat it they eat it.  Generally they do much better at breakfast and lunch so I try to focus on those a little more, which is tough because those are the two meals that I have the least amount of time to prepare!

[Buntybear]

I don't use a multi viatamin but really only because I hadn't thought about it. I did buy some when he was about 8 months but he was sick after it and as we were going through all the allergy stuff I didn't persevere with it. We have been prescribed a calcium supplement but with the fructose thing I don't give that very often as it is a sugary liquid.

Olly rarely eats what we are eating due to his allergies (and his preferences) but if we eat pasta I will do him his pasta. I do a roast every sunday and we all have that. I would love him to eat what we do, I could adjust the meals to make them Olly friendly but again - no point - he won't eat them! I do a lot of roast meats so they keep us going a few days and Olly gets his protein.

Vicki - could you do a diluted OJ drink for vitamin C? Do berries contain it? Olly loves them 

[my3girlsjde]

Oh berries! I forgot about them and picked some frozen ones up yesterday. I have no idea about the vit C content but I know they're pretty good for them.

I did learn something about an hour ago. Yesterday she got up in my lap and happily ate the soup I'd been trying to get her to eat for months. Today she crawled up and wanted some of my fried chickpeas. That's two new foods in two days . That's more than that past two months put together lol. Perhaps that's how she needs them introduced?

I was thinking of a smoothie made from nutramigen. Eeeeeew I know but she loves the stuff. And maybe it's a way to continue it after she's two because I've got a ton of the stuff. All my girls love sauce. Most things they refuse unless it's got some kind of sauce so I've been able to sneak all kinds of goodies in that way. The other thing I'm going to start doing is pureeing some veggies into muffins and cookies.

Not sure about the diluted OJ. Every time she has anything citrus she gets explosive diarrhea. I have no idea if this is a new food issue, but even a sip of lemonade has done it.

[~inbalance~]

I'm pretty sure strawberries are high in vitamin C.  So is corn I think.  I'm sure there are other juices out there as well that aren't necessarily citrus but that have a good amoutn of vitamin C. 

Hugs to you ladies, I struggle enough with my boys' eating and they don't have any allergies or intolerances, so I imagine that does make it even harder to find foods that work.

[Buntybear]

Here is the first page I found on google for foods high in vit C - not the list I expected to see - green veg high up there! What about kiwis? We have recently discovered them here.

Is that that E is not hungry enough to experiment? Wondering if the HA is filling her up?

[my3girlsjde]

Kiwi's are on our 'maybe' list. Havent trialled them again.

She's getting an 8oz HAF now only at bedtime. I just started this a few days ago so perhaps. I know she's ballooned on this stuff since she started it. I'm going to keep trying new foods on my lap and see how that goes. The past two days has given me lots to work with, with being able to give her soup and chickpeas are such a great source of fibre and protein. Not sure of the vit content but I'd feel a lot more comfortable with knowing she was getting all of her vitamins yk?

[Buntybear]

OMG lunch time here and coming I here to have a moan about trying 3 new things yesterday and Olly refusing them all but as I sit here ignoring him with a bowl of bolognaise in front of him he is eating it all up! Not even with pasta just the sauce! (pasta went in the floor 10 mins ago!!).

Tried a new strategy of ignoring him so put pasta with sauce in front of him whilst made my lunch, pasta went on floor, stuck bowl of sauce in front of him and sat to eat mine (and type this) and after a bit of sulking he ate the whole lot, just asked for more!!!

Now wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he refused it if I gave it to him for dinner but it is one small victory and I am pleased!!!

[~inbalance~]

I'll join in the frustration. DS2 has been asking for mac n cheese for days. Made it (from scratch) and he wouldn't touch it because he wanted the 'orange' one. But he's never eaten that stuff!

[Buntybear]

Grrrrrrrr xxxxxx

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

DS2 has been asking for mac n cheese for days. Made it (from scratch) and he wouldn't touch it because he wanted the 'orange' one.

I feel your pain there.  DS refuses -- I mean refuses to even put in his mouth -- any chicken nugget I make.  He will eat them in a restaurant no problem, doesn't matter what they look like, where we are, he eats them.  Luckily, at home, he will eat the organic baked Earth's Best ones, so it's not so bad, but seriously! I have tried frying them, baking them, breading them with regular breadcrumbs, making my own breadcrumbs, using panko breadcrumbs, using pancake mix, etc and he won't touch them! (I am not a bad cook either!) It's like he knows.  Grrrr! Rant over.

[mjohnson33]

HI ladies,
I have a picky 13 month old!!!   Not to mention he is MSPI and gluten intolerant....leaves for a very BLAND diet with alot of repetition.....some days he's a great eater, others not so much...I think he gets sick of the same crap!!

[Canwi]

Vicki: Citrus and Kiwifruit (cannot bring myself to call them Kiwis - google both and see the difference) are exceptionally high in acid and with refluxers can upset the GI tract enough to give them the diarrhea.  DS2 has only just been able (and wanted to) to eat oranges, raw tomatoes or kiwifruit in the past year without a bad case of diarrhea.
Berries are good Vit C sources.  And fun to eat!