I'm not a short order cook, how do I get enough in my boy??

[~Sarah~]

I guess I am kind of asking for your EASY for a 2.5yo 

I am having issues with DS (29mo) as he is eating less and less and I am having NW that I think are partly due to hunger.  He wakes asking for milk or food at 430am.  We are also having sleep issues with him and I am beginning to wonder if it is not related to how little he is willing to eat.  What he does eat is good for him.  He loves fruit, although he is becomming more selective.  He used to eat all sorts of veg, now he will just eat peas and sweet corn.  His protein source is dairy, baked beans, peanut butter, and nuts.  He refuses all meat and all other beans.  We only do whole grain breads, almost all organic, no HFCS, and I make most of what we eat.  Whatever ready made snacks we have are also organic etc.  He would LOVE to live on those, but I limit them.

So without being a short order cook, I don't know how to get enough food in my guy.  At supper I always  give him what we are having and some fruit or whatever he would like.  I had been giving him O's or toast before bed during his story, but it seemed like he just stoped eating supper to wait for the BT snack.

Any ideas?? 
Thanks
Sarah

[We Three]

Can you maybe post what a typical day looks like in terms of food? And what does he do when he is "done" or doesn't wish to partake at all? Does he just walk away?

[~Sarah~]

He does just walk away.  In fact both kids tend to have a hard time finishing in one sitting.  They are both sprited and they both tend to eat a lot on the move.  This is what are day looks like most of the time.  I do not push food.  I give them a grain, fruit, and protien at most meals.

WU 730ish
800 yogurt and milk  sometimes homemade waffles or fr. toast

1000  raisins, a few crackers and some cheese  or peanut butter toast

12ish either PBJ or grilled chz on whole wheat and then normally strawberries or bueberries with either applesauce or raisins (if they did not have them at snack) or peas or corn

after nap (around 3) cereal bar and milk.  This is their "treat" of the day

4ish (this is hard) they start getting very peckish and want O's or crackers or animal cookies.
I try to hold them off so we can hae supper at 5 or 530 at the latest.

5-530  whatever I make for supper with fruit of some sort on the plate as well as peas or corn

BT has been all over the place bc of nap refusal.  Sometimes he is asleep by 6-630, so no more food.  If he is up later, he will get O's or toast with PB or bread with butter.

He gets milk at Break/lunch/snack/dinner  I only give him about 4oz at a time and honestly I have to be very careful when I give it to him.  He has to take a bite of the meal first, or he will skip the meal completely in favor of living on milk.

He did have reflux, but I took him off meds at 6mo.  In retrospect I know he most likely still had issues, but I did not realize it until I have #2 who is 17mo and is still on meds.  I think that may have something to do with it still.

I do leave their food out for them to pick at as they run about.  I don't *think* I am giving them to big of portions.  I have toddler plates with sections and I don't stack those (except fruit which takes up a lot of space)

Maybe that will shed some light??

Thanks for the reply

[Katet]

If he is regularly hungry at 4pm could you not give the snack right after the nap (just a drink) & then make a bigger "meal" at 4pm & then rather than the evening meal at 5/5.30 make it closer to 6pm

I know that it is a while from lunch at noon, when having the nap the digestion will slow down, so he may not actually be all that hungry after the nap & waiting an hour may mean you can give more food+ cereal bar & then get him eating a bit closer to dinner time.

Do you actually feed (or give mil) at 4.30am? As that could have got into a habit of being hungry. I'd only offer water at that time (does he drink much water?).

[We Three]

I agree...could you maybe offer atiny snack after nap with some water...maybe a few animal crackers and a cup of water...that way he keeps his routine but it isn't very filling.  The cereal bars I give to Millie are really hearty (Kashi) and filling.  I'm wondering if they had cereal bar and milk for "dessert" after dinner, perhaps he'd make it through the night better? 

Also, if they are on-the-go type of lo's, and are still picking at their foods after mealtimes, maybe they aren't hungry, kwim? Like, if brek is at 7:30, but they are still returning to pick on it at 9, then maybe lunch isn't as successful because they "had" brek so late...does that make sense at all?

If you cut back the snack, move dinner to 4:45 (easy for me to say, I know!) then have cereal bar/milk before bed...maybe?

[~Sarah~]

Unfortunately the cereal bar has to be at that time BUT he actually does not get it every day lately bc we have been having nap refusal issues.  So he knows our routine is PJ's on, read books, nap, wake up and have cereal bar.  He wakes saying Ceareal bar and if he refuses nap he says "no cereal bar" meaning he will forego his favorite treat and not nap   Also ours aren't that filling I don't think.  They are the Earth's Best little ones like nutrigrain ones.  They are small in size compared to nutrigrain ones.

I do think a little more of something at 4would be ok, but with the nap refusals he often needs to start BT routine at 530 so even doing supper at 5 is sometimes tricky and if I let him eat at 4 he for sure would not eat before BT.

He knows that he can have milk with meals and he gets "morning juice" after milk at breakfast.  Other than that he will ask for milk non-stop all day long.  But I have noticed the last few days if I MAKE him start eating first, he won't even finish his serving of milk.  He will drink ice water in between meals if I remind him 20,000 times he already had milk and morning juice   The other problem is my DD is not a milk hound like he is, but I am trying to get her to gain some weight (a whole other issue)  so I kind of let her have as much as she will have.  That means though DS know to hang around her and she will leave a milk cup for him to finish up if I am not on top of it.

I do not feed him at 4am, but he has that NW every night, but he only asks for food about twice/wk at that time.  He has gotten pretty worked up about it and I did give him some food and drink as it was pretty clear he was starving and I knew he ate next to nothing the previous day.

Thanks so much for your replies girls.
Sarah

[Katet]

Try doing a chart with how much food he can have in the way of milk etc if you made it sort of interactive where you stuck pictures of a cup of milk in special boxes then he could see that he'd had his x number & that was it.

[Lemonthyme]

Have you tried sneaking meat or fish into things?  E.g. fishcakes?  http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/06/salmon-and-spinach-fishcakes-for-babies.html  Quesadillas?  http://mamacook.blogspot.com/2011/05/quesadillas-ok-for-adults-12-months.html

[~Sarah~]

The short answer is no, but that is mostly due to the fact that he won't put anything into his mouth he hasn't seen before.

I have tried fish sticks and chicken nuggets and he won't even try them.

I have tried quesadillas, but he has no use for tortillas.  In fact I just got him to try pizza for the first time a few weeks ago when I had him help me make it. (I do homemade pizza crust etc.)

I am having *some* luck with him helping me cook stuff...but it is very limited.  I guess I don't worry as much about the variety as I think that will come in the future.  I am more worried about the amount of food he is eating (of the things he will eat)

I have been even more conscientious of when I let him drink his milk, more importantly I am telling him whenhe will get milk next...Kind of like Kate's chart idea just without the chart... and that does seem to be helping some.  He in fact ate his  supper last night...grilled cheese, peas, and frozen bluberries, and he didn't even finish his milk.  The trick definitely seems to be NOT giving him his cup of milk until after he has started to eat his food.

Thanks again ladies for the idea and help.

[Lemonthyme]

That's a good idea getting him to help.  If you can get him to try tortillas, the quesadillas recipe would be good for that.

I dunno about the variety increasing, I'm luckily not in that situation right now (but I know things change) but I guess I'd still be trying to offer variety so his range of foods doesn't get too limited.  I did read somewhere if you cut up things differently that can help.  I tried that with my son when he went on grape refusal and quartered grapes were ok (but halved ones weren't!)

[~Sarah~]

Sorry I guess I may not have been clear. 
He gets everything I make for family meals on his plate so he is exposed to a wide variety of foods.  He just chooses not to eat them.  So in that regard, I personally would not eat the quesadilla recipe...I don't really love tortillas either...so that would kind of defeat the purpose of not being a short order cook, thats all.

Not saying I don't appreciate the help though

Pickiness in refluxers tends to run in our family.  My nephew had awful food aversions and would only eat crackers and pudding until he was almost 4.  Now as a 10yo he tries just about everything.  He still won't eat everything, but he will try it. 

It is my goal not to make food a power struggle.  It is my job to provide the appropriate food and it is his job to eat it.  For us it has always been a texture issue that I think has grown into normal 2yo fussiness but is hampered by his insatiable want for milk.

My DD who is 16mo eats everything under the sun including ribs off the bone (dinner last night) but she barely will drink any milk.

Thanks again though

[Lemonthyme]

Ah.  I see.  Well I hope it gets better.  I'm out of ideas.