Worried

[mommasboys]

Dorian will be 1 in just a matter of days and i'm worried that once he's not on formula any more that he won't get enough of the right stuff to eat.  As far as the baby food goes there are very few that he won't eat so hopefully he won't be too picky when it comes to real food. 

He has already mastered a sippy so i know getting rid of the bottle will be know problem i just have to do it. 

There are already ALOT of posts on food you can feed your children but it's all still a little overwhelming. 

Do any of you have any advice on what kinds of food i could feed him to help with the lose of formula???

[Tonya]

Hi there!!!

It's completely overwhelming, especially with a picky toddler! :shock:

Will you have your lo on a vitamin?  That honestly made me feel so much less "stressed" about his eating habits, though you would find a few posts from me on his eating if you went looking! :wink:

Just try to go for a balanced diet - fruits, veggies, grains and meats.

My ds has gone through several "phases" where all he would eat was chicken nuggets and green beans, or pancakes!! :evil:
Drives you nuts, but you really need to look at their overall weekly eating, and not judge on just one day.

And, did I mention vitamins? :wink:

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

Will you be switching your lo to milk?  That will take care of a lot of nutrients too for the next year or so.  But just be sure to offer a variety of foods.  My ped also said not to worry too much about picky toddlers.  They go through phases of what they will and won't eat, but overall, it usually balances out and they do fine.  Good luck!

[Chantel03]

I give my ds alot of whole milk.  Since he is thin he need's fat so he get's that from the whole milk.

[Katet]

The best thing I got told about worrying (my ds can be a picky eater) is to look at the food they eat over the course of a week, not a day & as long as they take food from all the food groups then not to worry.

my 2yo eats about 13 foods + drinks milk (& the odd 'naughty foods') (apples/bananas/potato/carrot/meat/fish/chicken/bread/breakfast cereal/yogurt/cheese/rice/spaghetti) but in that group he gets food from each part & my early childhood nurse said it was normal & very toddler like to do that. Oh & he can eat 2 apples one day & none for 3-4 days.

He just got over a tummy bug & the first 3 foods he wanted to eat were... rice biscuits, banana & toast... the best foods for that stage. If you learn to let your lo self regulate with healthy choices they will get what they need. we adults are actually far worse at not eating what we need than toddlers

[mommasboys]

Thank you all for your opinions.  You have all helped ALOT!!!

Tonyaamstutz-- Vitamins??  Like chewable vitamins??

I have already started giving him whole milk. I only give it to him once a day since he's not 1 yet.  We are on a program here, that's how we get the formula now. On our next appointment afew days after his birthday he will be getting whole milk.

Another problem i'm having with my goober is that there are alot of things that he likes to eat but he will not pick it up to feed himself.  But if i feed it to him he'll eat it.   I'm pretty sure that's a normal thing but how do i get him to eat it by himself???

You ladies are lifesavers!!!!!!!

[Tonya]

The vitamins that we get are a liquid, and we get them by prescription from our ped.
We also don't have flouride in our water, so the vitamins contain flouride too (but you can get them without).

So he gets his vitamins every night before bed, via a medicine dropper, and he's a real trooper about taking them!

It's very important to try to teach healthy eating habits from the start.  And we definately DO try!  But toddlers are picky eaters, and honestly giving him a vitamin has just made me relax so much more about his eating habits.  I still feed very healthy food every time, but if he only eats 2 chicken nuggets for dinner, I don't freak about the nutrients he's getting anymore.  He'll eat when he's hungry!

[tylersmommy]

It takes some time to get the coordination to self-feed. Go ahead and feed it to him, but be sure to have a few bits of finger food out on his high chair tray so he can pick them up himself and give it a go if he wants. He'll get curious and try eventually when he's ready.

The other gals had some great advice for you...it's soooo true that you have to look at what they eat over time instead of that particular day. There are lots of ups and downs with feeding a toddler, but I've found it's really helpful to only include healthy foods in Tyler's diet. Even if he barely eats anything all day, at least I know it was good for him.

Iron is extremely important in the first 18 mo of life. Since we didn't do vitamins, Tyler's main source of iron has been infant cereal for breakfast every day. Other good sources of iron are meat, beans, and iron fortified adult cereals like cheerios. HTH!

[happy mommy]

Amy, if it helps in X. hardly eats at all!!  Get this...He's 3 right...he wants to help feed J. everyday, but won't hardly eat unless I'm feeding HIM!!  J. is only 2 months behind D...he likes to pick up food (and grab for spoons)...Have you tried giving him the Gerber Finger Foods Fruit or Veggie Puffs?  J. loves those.  He'll pick up that and shredded cheese...although not nearly enough cheese makes it to his mouth!!
Oh, Gotta run!

~Holly~

[mommasboys]

Oh yes ,   he LOVES the puffs and the little dried fuit.  We haven't tried the veggies yet.  He REALLY loves bananas but he won't pick them up to eat them.  I have to feed them to him.

He had eggs for the first time today and seemed to really like them. Chase would NOT have ANYTHING to do with eggs when he was little.  He still doesn't really care for eggs.

But dorian doesn't seem interested at all in holding his own spoon.



Sorry i wasn't on here when you were holly.  We had a HUGE thunderstorm so i had to turn off the computer.   I just read you e-mail and that is SOOOOOOOO dad.  I even printed it.  I know afew people that will really get a kick out of it.  Jeff and family are coming to dinner here at my house tonight.  To bad your SO FAR AWAY!!!!!!!!!  I wish you could come to my house for dinner.