Author Topic: At War During Meal Times  (Read 1074 times)

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Offline i-wei

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At War During Meal Times
« on: September 08, 2005, 10:23:01 am »
Hi There

Hoping someone anyone out there can offer some words of wisdom.

I usually give DS (8.5mths) 4oz of formula before each meal (b'fast, lunch, tea).  He will drink this no problem.  Afterwards I offer him his solids (savory first) and the problems start.  He will refuse to open his mouth and generally start looking around the room or start whinging.  What usually happens is that i need to touch the spoon to his lips so he can have a taste of what I'm offering him and if it's to his liking he will eat it.  If not he won't eat any of it.  I will then offer him some fruit which he loves and he'll eat it all up.  Sometimes I will sneek in the odd mouthful of savory but as soon as he realises it is not the fruit he will scream the place down. 

This has been going on for 4-5wks now.  At the beginning I used to practically force the spoon into his mouth but it was so distressing for both of us that I soon stopped that.  We are now just going with the flow and following his lead.

My main concern is that I have seen children who basically exist on junk food and am worried that LO will turn out like this if we keep giving in to him and allowing him to choose what he wants to eat.  But at what stage/age do we put our foot down and say, OK, if you don't eat your savorys then you don't get your dessert?

We're also experiencing some problems with his sleep and separation but that's another story.

Thanks for listening.

Offline i-wei

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At War During Meal Times
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2005, 10:25:36 am »
Me again.  Just thought I'll mention that I have tried giving solids before milk but that resulted in him refusing his milk as well coz he'll get all upset during his solid feed.

Offline tylersmommy

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At War During Meal Times
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2005, 13:20:41 pm »
Quote (selected)
We are now just going with the flow and following his lead
This is the exact advice I was going to give you! Don't make it into a battle, because I guarantee you'll lose and just get more frustrated. I feel the same way you do about kids and junk food, and it was a priority for me to raise Tyler with good eating habits (still is). I worried all the time, and I've come to realize that babies' and toddlers' tastes change all the time. As long as you only offer healthy choices, you're doing fine. And yes, fruit counts too! Tyler's gone through "no veggie" phases and I'd respect his choices by offering him other healthy foods, like fruits or grains, or finding ways to make veggies interesting again. Now he's old enough to understand "after you eat your veggies," and he does.

You might try offering well-cooked veggie pieces as finger food, many babies start to reject eating from a spoon around 9 mo but will eat anything with their hands. If it's slippery, try coating it with dry baby cereal, wheat germ, or crushed cheerios. Hang in there!
Melissa
Mommy to Tyler, 12/30/03 and Mackenzie, 10/17/06
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