Support thread for moms of picky eaters

[Mom to M&M]

So does that come out lumpy or smooth, Jenn? DD won't do lumps - has to be smooth (although can be thickened with cereal) or finger food - nothing in between. Would love to try it if it will work!

[Jenn©]

If you squish them really good, it should be smooth enough.  It also works well in the going department.

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks Jenn - will try tomorrow morning! Although DD only likes  yogurt if mixed with fruit puree so maybe mix half container yogurt with 1-2 ounces fruit (same flavor) and then add Wheetabix and milk? Do you serve cold or warm?

[Jenn©]

Cold.  I add the milk as I'm feeding it as it starts to get thicker.  You might want to give it a few minutes for the cereal to soften up.
Drum roll...  Charlotte ate shaved deli turkey!!!!!!!!  As well as 3/4 a slice of cheese and part of her cinamon toast.  I've never had her eat any meat on its own.   I did not jinx this.  I did not jinx this...

[Mom to M&M]

That's great!! How thinly was it shaved? Marisa won't try that one so far. And how do you make the cinnamon toast? Thx again  will try the Wheetabix tomorrow - do you think it will come out ok if I mix 2 ounces yo-baby with 2 ounces fruit puree and then crush in the Wheetabix? How much thicker does it all get?

[Sylvia.]

great thread, dd has always been difficult to feed, i am so over it

what i really hate is cooking for her and then having the mess to deal with, i can put a meal infront of her and she will not eat any of it, these day i always make sure there is something of the plate that she will eat and hope for the best

she doesn't really eat meat, mouth full of sausage if we are lucky and chicken from roast chicken

dd really loves grated cheese, eggs and cucumber

dd surprised me the other day by eating lettuce leave

[Jenn©]

Think oatmeal consistancy if you skip the milk.  Just let it sit a few minutes, then thin as much as you need.  The turkey was shaved really thin.  A bit thinner than a Kraft single.  The toast is easy, just butter and sprinkle on cinamon and sugar.  I just put a bit of sugar in a shaker container, added about 2x the cinamon.  Then gave it to Charlotte to mix.  Give her anything, shake shake shake!   

[Sylvia.]

do any of you with toddlers not eating meat worry about the iron they are not getting?

[Mom to M&M]

I still give DD 2-4 tbsp baby oatmeal a day so she gets a decent amount of iron there. But you can always get iron supplements if you are concerned - my doctor checked DD's iron levels last month and they were OK.

Thx Jenn - sounds good. I'm scared to try it though because DD is extra picky lately with extreme teething and when I did a trial run tonight it came out kind of dry/gritty...

[deenz]

Yes Russyl, I worry about that.  Dd1 is a rather fussy eater, and always has been.  For a while (probably around age 12 - 15m) she ate mince, but not any more.  However just recently she will eat corned beef.  Only a couple of mouthfulls, but more than ever before!  She will eat chicken nuggets and those cocktail sausages, but I don't buy those (the sausages) as I reckon they're not that good for her.  Iron - I buy bread that has added iron, and her breakfast cereal (Weetbix and Ricies) has iron added as well.  Any other ideas?? 

My dd1 seems to be a carb addict, and will eat most carbs like crackers, bread, pasta, rice, cereal.  Fruit she is ok with.  Veges are pretty much not a happening thing, and most meat.  Dinner she generally doesn't eat.  And then goes to bed without anything (I don't give her anything else anymore... I used to give her a banana or something when she was younger).

My main concern at the moment is how to approach dinners.  I don't want to use food as a reward (eg. eat x, then you'll get y).  But should I just say absolutely nothing?  Should I try encouraging her?  If so, how?  Luckily for me, dd2 is a great eater, so I sometimes will praise dd2 extra,  kind of hinting to dd1.  Don't think this is a good strategy either.  I just don't want to bring about a bad relationship with food.  Any ideas?

[Deb_in_oz]

thanks for starting this thread. for me i have different issues with dd1 and dd2 - dd1 is just a typical 3 yo who has gotten very selective about what she will try... but dd2 is spirited and sensitive to textures and consistency + is very independent and hard to please.  i never know what new foods they will try but at least 90% of them get rejected.

dd2 is not a big breakfats food eater and that is driving me crazy (it is the easiest meal for dd1 who eats a TON for bkfst and then less at lunch and dinner).  dd2 gets ed off at what i offer and will refuse cereal for days and then gobble up a whole bowl just when i am giving up on cereal (weetbix + milk) as an option. she seems to prefer it dry (except days like today when i skip the dry/wet debate and offered it dry and she got upset).  has refused all forms of eggs every time offered. LOVES fruit thankfully and up until 2 weeks ago was a decent veggie eater but seems to have gone on sudden veggie strike.

i feel at times that both girls are living on carbs - plus fruit for liv.

staples of liv's diet at 19 mo - crackers, pretzels, cheerios, weetbix, mandarins, pears, strawberries, melon, smoked salmon (the one food she will strangely gorge on every day if i can afford it),rice, plain pasta with NO sauces, oven chips /fries roast chicken (less so these days), turkish bread rolls and raisins.  occassionally eats: broccoli, carrots, fish sticks (as of 2 weeks ago hurray!), raisin bread, jars of older toddler (10-15 mo with lumps) heinz meals  , baked beans (another recent win!!)

what do you do for meals on the run with your picky eaters as at least at home i can offer up faves. on the road i usually give her smoked salmon or salami sticks (if she will eat it) or chicken if there is a shop around + plain pasta + veg choice + fruit.  dd1 gets peanut butter and jelly sandwich (dd2 won't touch this) or a date scone + salami  They are not sandwich eaters  so i can't just make a ham sandwich and go out etc. 

[Mom to M&M]

Debra - does Liv eat the baked beans with her fingers? Are they mushy? My DD has texture issues too and only wants foods that feel dry. She won't eat pasta for that reason - it feels too slimey to her and she only lets me feed her mushy food.

How do you all go about offering new foods? Do you pick 1-2 new foods to try and consistently try them (along with a food you know they like) every day for 1-2 weeks?

[Deb_in_oz]

Karen - she has been self feeding since 10-11 mo onwards and  is proficient with a spoon and fork - i give her a small bowl with baked beans from the tin (heinz english style  warmed up and she  spoons it in!! she really likes it now and says "beans" when she sees a pot on the stove assumes it is beans every time.  -  have you tried plain beans from a tin rinsed off (like kidney beans or cannelini beans) as finger food??  liv likes things that are either really plain or saucy and not in the middle (very hard to find what is the key sometimes) so she likes jar foods because they are mushy and saucy.  i can sometimes add sauces to her rice and she likes that texture now (did not like rice until recently either)

good news - she ate pasta with bolognaise sauce tonight - refused the veggies in it but it is the first time she did not reject pasta with a sauce and she liked the meat in it.  the first bite she was really hesitant (i had taken a bite before i gave it to her and said "yummy" really enthusiastically so she gave it a second bite) and then was happy to eat all the pasta in it (dd1 took one taste after much cajoling and then requested plain pasta.) once she had the plain stuff dd2 wanted it too but i just perservered and when she wanted more food i gave her dd1's saucy pasta and she ate some of that too 

this gives me real hope - sad but i felt so triumphant that she ate it! and even getting dd1 to take 1 bite was a triumph because she would rather skip a meal than give in to my request to try it before saying it is yucky...

to be honest i had been pretty inconsistent about offering new foods because i was getting frustrated and felt i was wasting my time etc. but i decided this week i need to start doing it more often and instead of making it a whole meal that gets rejected - dish up the new food as a side dish and do it more often.  so for mac and cheese which both girls reject (dd1 used to love it  ) i was doing it as a one dish meal by adding some veggies.  next time i think i will dish it up as a side dish alongside some chicken and steamed veggies so they can choose to take a bite or 2 or nothing and i won't be in a bind as to whether i shoudl offer something else.  i think i am going to finally get off my butt and come up with a meal plan for the week so i can see what i am offering them over the course of a whole week so they don't end up eating the same 4 things over and over - need to retry some things that failed before seeing as her tastes are obviously changing! now if only i could get the 2 girls to coordinate their preferences so i only make 1 thing for both

i always have yogurt and fruit as my back up if they don't eat their meals - i forgot to put yogurt on liv's list of foods - she likes it most of the time. also sausages she will gobble those up and hokkein noodles.  how many foods SHOULD a child  have in their repertoire??? i know she does not have a restrictive diet like eating only 2 foods, but it does feel very limited to me compared to those kids that eat whatever their family is eating IYKWIM.

[Mom to M&M]

Debra - I'm jealous that she's been self-feeding for so long! That's a good idea with beans - I'll definitely try them soon. I want to try edamame beans too since they are both protein and vegetable. And great news that she ate the pasta bolognaise!

Also, do you think I'm best off to keep offering purees since she still lets me and gets good nutrition that way? Currently we do baby cereal mixed with milk and fruit puree (and sometimes also baby yogurt) - made pretty thick - for breakfast. I offer cheerios and/or freeze dried fruit after that. For lunch I offer finger foods/table foods at same time as I'm feeding cereal/milk/veggie puree mix (so I'll have grilled cheese or turkey meatball or something on the tray) and do the same as dinner - table foods (often chicken nugget) while spoon feeding a chicken/veggie puree mix... I'm not sure if this is best to keep good nutrition in since she doesnt' mind me spoon feeding her or if I'm only encouraging her not to to to more table foods... I do offer her a spoon at the same time but she only wants to chew on it/play with it.

[Jenn©]

On the iron question, her levels were recently checked out ok.  She has a baby vitamin with iron that I just restarted.  Karen, my gut says continue as you are and she will come around in her own time.  To try to force a change risks an even bigger problem.