Won't eat veggies now refusing fruit...help!

[Sabine]

My 19.5 mo lo was picky but has gotten worse over the last month.  In that time he has gotten over croup and pneumonia so I know illness played a factor but he is back to normal but eating isn't.

He used to eat at least some fruit--apples, bananas, pears and dried blueberries.  He also would eat applesauces different flavours.  Now I am lucky if he has a few blueberries or banana.  He eats raisins but not every day.  The only veggies he eats are peas and dried corn (one tbsp if that) and baked potato slices on occasion.  i try to give fruit in between meals so he doesn't fill up on carbs.  he doesen;t like bread but eats anything else that is hard or crunchy and will eat baked fish, hamburger, ham and turkey, eggs and chicken.   

oh yeah, we are also having spoon/fork issues. he can and will eat yoghurt by himself but anytime i try stew, spaghetti etc he stabs it with the fork and leaves it.

Here are my questions:

1) do i keep putting out fruit he likes and new fruit?  how often do i do it...i just get sick and tired of preparing it all not to be eaten

2) one day i offered snacks and he refused and ate HUGE meals...what age do you stop snacks?

3) how long will this last?

4) should i use a vitamin supplement and if so can anyone recommend one that tastes good??  I live in the toronto area.

Please help.

Sabine

Thanks,

Sabine

[Kate A]

Only a few suggestions for you.

My dd loves things that are crunchy.  WE have a hard time getting fruit and veggies into her so we went to the freeze dried version.  We found freeze dried strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.  She goes in phases, but seems to be okay with them.  We have also tried smoothies in her sippy cup.  We mix bananas, frozen strawberries, yogurt and some milk and she loves it.

Snacks - All of our meals are snacks.  She calls them "snacky's".  I don't want to discourage snacks as it is actually a better way for us all to eat.  We have 4 a day with the bulk of her food intake happening in the morning.  She's not a big dinner eater.  We do try to space them about 3 hours apart.

I think that the age is a picky age.  I wouldn't worry too much about the fruit and vegetable intake.  He will come around.  Also, someone told me to look at the overall intake over the week as oppossed to the day.  Our ped also told us to roll with the eating.  If he doesn't want to eat, don't force it, he'll make up for it.  They will never starve themselves...

good luck

[princessrianna]

hi my 21mnth son is same he wont eat veggies at all weve tried blending them a nd mashing them but he still wont eat them all he will eat is hoops on toast and ice cream please can anyone help

[Sabine]

ok so this is what he ate today;

breakfast--8oz milk in sippy then breakfast 1hr later--usually dried cereal, Nutrios, waffle and dried blueberries or banana

snack--homemade carrott and oatmeal cookie--refused apples/pears

lunch-1/2 scrambled egg, 1/4 slice turkey breast, 2T dried Gerber corn, 2 melba toasts, refused fruit

snack 3oz milk in sippy with 1/2 banana

supper--1.5 slices ham, 1T peas, refused carrotts, refused fruit, 1 minigo yoghurt and 1/2 box of raisins and few dried blueberries

bed 6oz milk in sippy with nutrios with show then brush teeth and bed

He is stuck on raisins, dried blueberries and bananas.
HELP!!

Sabine

[Kate A]

Sabine - I think what he ate today looks like a normal toddler and frankly, he got SO many more veggies in than I can get into my dd.  You managed to do Corn and peas.  Great Job!   Seriously, what he eats looks amazing.  Here's my dd today to compare.

breakfast - 8 oz milk then hour later 1/4 cup oatmeal.

snack/lunch - 1 chick nugget, dried snap pea (2), 3 pretzels with peanut butter

snack - 8 oz milk & a few bites of dried fruit

dinner - half bagel with cream cheese and Jam, half banana & dried fruit

8 oz milk before bed. 

So compare yourself to this little picky toddler and I think you are doing a fantastic job! Especially with the protein.  I have the hardest time getting protein into DD. I gave DD some turkey today and she spits it right back out.

[Sabine]

Thanks for the reassurance Kate.

What do you do if your lo throws a fit after you offer dinner?  THis has happened here a few times. 

Do you supplement with a multivitamin?  I am thinking of starting but I know the taste is awful and he has refused already.

Sabine

[Kate A]

I am thinking a multivitamin in the liquid form.  I think you can add those to water or milk.  But I have to do a little more research.

As far as the fits go.  I have a friend who is a pediatrcian whose sons eats just as awful as my dd.  She said the best way to respond to food issues is to be as non-emotional about it as possible.  Also, kids at this age won't starve themselves, they will always eat when they need it.  I think when they hit 3 you can respond differently to the fits, but now  you don't want to make meals a battle.  This is what I would do, but I don't know if others would have a different opinion.

good luck

[Sabine]

just to clarify...if he throws a fit at dinner time, do I take him down and not give him anything else to eat?  I dont want to be a short order cook.  can i put him to bed hungry?

sabine

[Kate A]

I would do that.  You don't want to reward bad behavior and by this point, sleeping through the night and waking up from hunger isn't really an issue.
What we try to do is say that we will return her to whatever she was doing when she stops crying.  At that point, when he is done throwing a fit, you can try again.  If he just doesn't want to eat, than yes put him to bed hungry.  Chances are, he's probably not hungry and that's why he's throwing the fit. 

Just a bunch of guesses..sorry if I'm not much help

[Sabine]

thanks...i will see how things progress and keep you posted!!

sabine