21 mth old food battles :(

[~Lori~]

My D'S was the BEST eater till around 15 mths old. We started him eating so healthily (non processed foods, veggies, fruit etc). All that changed at 15 mths. He started refusing foods that he had always eaten. We kept offering them to him as well as trying new foods and he'd always refuse the old
Food and hit or miss on the new food.

Fast forward til now, 21 mths old. I absolutely dread meal teams. Every.single.meal. Has some
Sort of screaming/ getting mad because the food that we offer him is not what he "wants". It's getting to the point where he will just look at a food item and if it doesn't look like what he wants, he refuses. I always offer at least 3 things to him and now it's to the point where he won't eat dinner. People say "he'll eat when he's hungry" but I honestly don't think that applies to my son. he wants the processes foods (crackers/cookies) which he hardly eve gets  and I don't keep those in my house anymore because he is gravitated to the pantry.

He is my 3rd. My best eater initially and then the sudden change. I just don't know what to do with the feeding thing. I have never been one to make separate meals for the little kids but we always all eat the same food. He does eat fruits and would eat them all day but trying to find protein that hell eat is slim to none.  I hate the battle and don't really like how meal times are going...I don't really feel like wasting all this food I am making for him in hopes he'll eat something of it (which he never does). He is constantly hungry and wanting to eat but my angel baby has turned into a spirited nearly 2 year old and he will just refuse food. Yet fuss or cry because he's hungry.  Any suggestions???

[amayzie]

Oh no honey!! It sounds like you've been having quite the ride of it! I would try to start with stepping right back on the pressure at meal times. It sounds like it's turrning into a bit of a battle ground- an opportunity for him to make his little mark! Possibly if you are the youngest of 3 you need to find a spot and dig your heels in!!

So... I would try just not worrying about meal times. I would not give in to the demands for crackers and such- good if they are not in the house- but perhaps have other foods for him to eat. For the moment i would let him graze on other foods during the day and if he's not hungry at dinner then don't worry about it. Little ones at that age know when they are hungry and not usually. I

s there a meal that he is better with than others? My guy is always a big breakfast man but could take or leave dinner. Perhaps focus on getting sources of protien hidden in to that meal? There are sometimes differing opinions on 'hiding' vegies and such- but i've also heard it called 'insurance vegetables' - so don't stop offerring the foods in their regular form, but it means you don't have to panic if they refuse. My mother (cares for DS while i work) hides a heap of chopped up chicken into his sandwich every single day! He also has an omeltte with tuna and spinach cheese and sultanas in it!

I am just thinking that once the focus and attention is taken off the battle of mealtimes then you can perhaps start moving to things like limiting snacks so he's hungry at mealtimes (if you want to go that way).

Also- how much milk is he having in the day? That could be filling him up?

[~Lori~]

Thank you Katy.  He typically eats a good breakfast.  Loves oatmeal so we have been making some oatmeal concoctions with apples/slivered almonds in it and he loves that.  He eats peas so there's a veggie lol.  But lunches are pretty much a bust.  he'll eat yogurt and a fruit.  I just feel that he's getting so many carbs and sugars.

He is so random with his eating but lately he's refusing meats and all protein.  I love eating smoothies in the morning so I've been making some for him and giving it as a snack throughout the day...I blend up fruits, spinach, put some unsweetened almond milk and (gag) I even threw a hard boiled egg in there!  He loved it.  So i may keep offering those for snacks.

The hard part is is that 2 days a week he goes to daycare.  They provide food (which he never eats) so I just send an assortment of food.  But they do give him snacks (the crackers/cookies) and I know that's not helping!

He hardly drinks milk.  This has been another battle.  Loved milk in a bottle hated it in a cup.  Now he will drink some in a cup but no more than 4-6 oz A DAY.  And that's if I'm on him all the time to drink some!

Thanks for the tips

[amayzie]

Don't stress too much about the milk. At this age it really doesn't matter if they don't have too much MILK as such- theycan have their calcium through other means such as cheese and yogurt. I was only asking as sometimes kids are filling up on milk and not eating anything else!

It sounds like he's getting some great nutrition and vitamins in with the oatmeal, and fruit and yoghurt! Keep trying with the smoothies as theya re a great way to sneak nutrients in! The other thing that i do is will put things like smoothies and such into ice block moulds- my guy will eat ice blocks made of ANYTHING!! It's a great way to sneak stuff in also!

does he eat eggs? Nut butters? Cheese?

[amayzie]

Oh- the other idea is to offer him fortified cereals- as in breakfast cereals. You want to look out for one which isn't too high in sugar and salt, but they are usually a better option than other snack foods and have iron and other vitamins added in.

[creations]

Hi there.
When mine ate little protein I switched breakfast around, maybe worth a try? Here I used to give cereal (baby muesli) at breakfast but changed to an omelet which at any other time of day he would refuse but the first day I tried it at breakfast he ate the lot, an entire egg. So here for a long time it was omelet every morning and at least then I knew he'd had a serving of protein and I didn't need to stress over it the rest of the day. It freed us up to try a variety of other meats and fish so he could either taste a bit or not and as time has gone on the exposure has been well worth while as he now eats some unexpected proteins.
I also used to make lots of bean burgers/fritters, just canned beans (no salt) drained and rinsed and mashed up a bit mixed with flour, egg, bit of left over veg and some sort of flavouring like herbs, spices or even a squirt of tom ketchup. They can be frozen after cooking.
Oddly it turned out mine would eat sprats and mussels, who would have though, so he gets protein that way too.

Peas are high protein so I would serve them daily if necessary!  Peas, pea puree as a dip or a sandwich/toast spread, pea soup, pea burgers...

Pate and humus were also accepted here. I think sometimes it's just a case of experimenting within the limits you are willing to go to within your own family, for instance we like sprats and mussels I wouldn't have even though of trying DS with them otherwise but when it's your own meal you don't feel like you've made something especially and then it's wasted.

hope this triggers some ideas.

[amayzie]

Oh- Hamish has an omlette every single day that he's with mum (I work 4 days a week and he's with her for those).. she puts egg, sultanas, tuna, cheese and spinach in it. So i know that he's had heaps. Hamish was always very hit and miss with dinner at your little guy's age...

[creations]

Wow Katy that's a huge omelet your Mum makes! Sounds yum!

[~Lori~]

My other 2 kids LOVE eggs and omelets.  A staple here!  Mr. J absolutely refuses them.  He won't even taste them, just freaks out if I put it in front of him.  He doesn't eat anykind of nut butters or cheese (used to eat cheese).  I gave him greek yogurt today and he loved it which is so funny to me because my older 2 don't like the taste of that (and they will eat anything).  Tonight he refused rice, corn and chicken (has loved rice), but he ate a whole bowl of peas??!?!?  We did get a honey baked ham last week and gave him that and he loved it for 2 days, refused it for 2 days but had some today again.  It's hard!  But thanks for all your tips...we'll keep plodding along...

[amayzie]

Sounds like he might have some sensory aversion issues to some things... omlette has a really weird rubbery texture that can't be trusted!! Perhaps you can also offer him these foods and just let him play with them and explore rather than expecting him to eat them...