Author Topic: 19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges  (Read 1947 times)

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Offline TracyP21

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19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges
« on: September 17, 2013, 09:43:56 am »
Hi,

Looking for some reassurances that this will one day end or some suggestions...19.5 month old refuses to eat meat/veges.  He eats three meals and two snacks, drinks plenty of water, no milk (gone off it since he dropped his bottles) but has a limited range of food.  He won't take anything on a spoon now, has just started feeding himself custard/yoghurt off a spoon and will not try any new foods off his plate (poke them sometimes).  I am concerned about his iron levels, he is quite pale, sleeps well, (WU 6:30; nap 12:15/12:30-2:00-2:30; BT 7:00), has boundless amounts of energy.  He does eat his fruit.  Just waiting on last 4 molars and don't see any sign of them yet. 
He was eating meat/veges until about a month ago (he wouldn't want them until I managed to smear a bit on his lip then he would eat them), then had a vomiting/tummy bug for about a week and now is fine but on a limited diet.

Food as follows:

Brekkie:  2 pieces of toast with jam and vegemite; used to be cereal and yoghurt, then started to refuse this last week, now have got him having some yoghurt (which he feeds to himself, so that's progress)

Morning tea:  pikelets, apple, cracker, cheese

Lunch:  banana, yoghurt or banana and ham & cheese toasted sandwich

Afternoon tea:  similar to morning tea - maybe a muesli bar

Tea:  6 pom poms (potato balls); 2 fish fingers; ham; cheese; mandarin; dates and raisins - sometimes quiche or pie depending on the mood.  Half an hour later, custard or yoghurt

So every night I put veges and meat / last night's leftovers on his plate; he may poke or squeeze them but never try them.  To me it seems like he is texture sensitive.  There seems to be no rhythm or reason about what he will eat sometimes!  If I offer it to him he will thrash around and cry. 

He has no problems with finger food.  Unsure where to go to from here....he is a tall and solid boy so definitely not wasting away.  Is this just a phase?  I haven't been to the doctor to get his iron levels tested and don't want to give him an iron supplement as it said a side effect could be diahorrea. 

Offline creations

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Re: 19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2013, 13:05:07 pm »
Hi.  Mine didn't have problems with eating veg (although there are some he just won't eat) but we did have a difficulty with protein (he would sometimes eat a fish finger but only a couple of times per week max).  I see he eats fish fingers ok so protein isn't a problem for you but I hear what you're saying about iron.  What really helped me a lot was to change breakfast.  Most LOs are happy to eat a larger breakfast or lunch and it's common to eat less or be less interested by dinner so if there are gaps in the diet or difficulties with trying new foods I would move them to breakfast.  For us this meant changing breakfast to totally protein, a full sausage or a full egg omelet or eggy bread (french toast).  He ate them no problem, really surprised me at the time.  Once he'd put away a decent portion of protein at breakfast i didn't worry the rest of the day, if we had meat or fish at dinner I gave him a little to see if he would try it but usually he didn't...these days he will try a bite of just about any meat or fish I give him so over time it really has been successful to keep offering without the pressure of 'needing' him to eat it.
Maybe you can put aside some veg and meat from dinner and offer it at breakfast?

Fortified breads and cereals will have a good amount of iron in each portion.
White beans and lentils are also high in iron, maybe try making some bean burgers or a lentil curry, mine always liked little bean fritters or burgers, falafel.  There's also a cup cake recipe on the allergies recipe board that uses white beans and eggs to make yummy cakes which are high protein/iron.
How about pate on his morning toast or at lunch time?  Liver is high in iron whether pork, chicken, turkey, lamb or beef, I would try a few different flavours of pate if he reject the first as some are quick strong and some mild but some LOs like strong flavours and some milder flavours.
How about offering a dip with the veggies?  Sweet potato, carrot, turnip chips (french fries, or wedges) tossed in a little oil and roasted in the oven are very tasty maybe serve with a mayo dip or ketchup?  Mine liked to dip green beans, asparagus and steamed carrot batons too, it was one way to get him to eat when he was teething and didn't have a good appetite.
It might also help to cut down on the fruit portions offered. Mine would eat fruit all day if I let him, I've had to be firm with portion sizes and frequency a few times to ensure he takes his veg.

hth a bit


Offline TracyP21

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Re: 19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2013, 00:41:51 am »
Creations,

Thanks for the advice and ideas.  I never thought of pate, which would at least help out with the iron issue.
Great idea about changing breakfast around - would I still offer toast / yoghurt as well?  The only issue I could see is that he wouldn't eat anything.
I have been trying roasted veges and dips for him - he will just ignore it and wait it out till something he wants appears on his plate.  So do you think just keep offering until he tries it?  I guess I am concerned about him going to bed hungry and then waking up.
I will try bean fritters - though, again if its anything he's not used to he won't try it.  Maybe I could add the white beans to pikelets mix?  Just puree them?
I have actually encouraged the fruit because I thought that at least he's getting some of the '5' needed a day.  Is the amount of fruit a problem?

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Re: 19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2013, 14:03:24 pm »
Personally I would not offer the morning toast and yoghurt as well, it just gives him the opportunity to continue to limit his diet. When I switched DS's breakfast up I stopped all other food at breakfast (our routine is WU milk in a cup then breakfast at least an hour later) and only offer the protein, I also had my reservations because I was giving him food that he was totally refusing at other times of the day (sausage he would eat maybe half or a full one once per week, omelet he had eaten as a baby and refused for months and months on end and refused all other types of egg any other time of the day), the whole point is that very many LOs are more willing to eat at breakfast than at other times of the day which is why it can help to offer the refused foods at that time.
Honestly at his age he is not going to starve himself, he might well eat not much for a few meals or even a few days but he will not starve.  If you think about how little they eat when teething, they always make up for it afterwards, he'll be fine a few days, teary possibly, angry possibly, demanding fruit possibly... hug him through it and try to stay calm and supportive, hearing his protests but be firm that your job is to offer a balanced diet so that he grows and has the energy he needs for having fun, and that is what you are going to do.
It is highly unlikely a child this age will wake in the night from hunger.  If you are worried that he is going to bed hungry you could re-offer his dinner just before you take him up to bed. With DS I told him straight, "If you're hungry you'll eat this" although I would never say that and offer him broccoli because I know he has a true hate for it, but I didn't let him have fruit and we did have some tears about that a couple of days.  you could offer a piece of toast for supper at the end of the day if you are very worried, just nothing too exciting, functional, yk?
The amount of fruit can be a problem, LOs are guided to have 2 servings of fruit per day, a serving is a quarter a piece of fruit, or the size of what they can fit in their own hand (not your hand).  Honestly even when I limited my DS's fruit intake it was still well over this, but it is well worth thinking about this serving guide, it's tiny, and if you give more than this some other food group is likely to suffer because they just don't have the space in their tummy, that's why at this age even though they won't starve themselves, every mouthful counts, really there is no 'space' for biscuits or treats iyswim and if the imbalance is something 'healthy' like fruit even that can have a big impact on how much appetite they have for other foods.  Fruit is also not good for their teeth so several fruit meals and snacks per day can lead to tooth decay.
If you decide to go for it and be strict for several days with a change of diet try to ready yourself, this isn't a fight of wills or power, it isn't you against your LO, it is you comforting your LO whilst he goes through a bit of a tricky time adjusting to a change in his routine.  You don't have to change everything in one go but equally it's a bit pointless to switch up breakfast if you then give huge fruit portions at morning snack or lunch - as he will learn to just hold out for that.  A small serving of toast or fruit at snack time will see him through to lunch even if he skipped breakfast a few days.  Then a tiny portion of fruit after lunch or dinner (tiny I mean 2 grapes or one wedge of apple, or 2 thin slices of banana) so he is not filling up on it.

Sorry I don't know what pikelets are!

hope this helps some, I know it is hard to refuse the foods our LOs like but I do think it is worth the effort and slight upset. xx


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Re: 19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2013, 13:41:26 pm »
Sorry I don't know what pikelets are!

Creations! You shock me!! Are they a southern hemisphere thing? They are basically just a name for little pancakes- usually about 10cm or so across and usually sweet. You can make them not as sweet. We serve them with butter or jam and cream (yummy!) or just plain!
Katy, Mummy to Hamish!


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Re: 19.5 month old - refusing meat and veges
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2013, 18:51:37 pm »
They are basically just a name for little pancakes
So why not just call them pancakes  :D  ??? ??? :D

Is it like an american or scotch pancake? like kind of thick/chubby rather than flat/thin like a British pancake or crepe?

I make pancakes for DS all the time, well, not as much as I used to but yk, have made thousands. There were totally a staple here for about 18 months.

So yeah - white beans in pancake mix, sure, of course, I'd add and whizz before adding the milk just to judge how much liquid you need to add to the mix as beans whizz up pretty sloppy.  I chuck anything into our pancakes and just use the batter as a basic binder for veg and beans whether whizzed or not to make little burgers or fritters.