Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Rylan is a horrible eater....really bad. He eats waffles...bagels...plain pasta and McD's french fries. About once a week I can get him to eat a yogurt and every once in a while a cheese stick. Other than that he'll eats snacks...cookies...crackers...almonds. No meats...veggies or fruits.

He had his 2 1/2 year well visits today and I told the ped I was concerned. He said to try and get him to drink 1 or 2 Pediasures and if he won't drink them to give him breakfast and that's it. He said he won't starve himself and will eat when needed but he NEEDS more protien.

Now I totally agree with what he is saying. His eating habits just get worse and worse as time goes on. He used to eat so much and now he won't even TRY new things or even things he used to love. It's frustrating on my end and just not healthy for him.

If you tried this with your DC how exactly did you go about it?

Oh and the drinks are $11 for a 6 pack. That will last 3 days. Call me mean but I refuse to spend over $100 a month on a glorified chocolate milk for him. I bought them today but will not make it a habit. I feel he needs to eat...plain and simple.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

both my 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 yr old ds drink 2 pediasures a day bc of eating issues. but they are thankfully covered by insurance. maybe ask for a rx.

i also don't give snacks and space meals out a lot so that they will hopefully be hungry at meal time.

it is super frustrating. gl!

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

I think you need to really cut down on the snacks so he is hungry at meal times. I agree with the ped - they will eat when they are hungry, so skipping a meal won't hurt them - but it's going to be counter-productive if you are still offering him snacks.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

DS is the same way. He keeps losing weight. He gets pediasure 2-3 per day. My insurance doesn't cover it . I really have no choice as he is such a poor eater. I figured I'm saving money on food because he doesn't eat it anyway.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Jack has very few things he will eat.

On a daily basis:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal
Dry fruity cheerios
Plain bagel
French toast sticks.

Lunch and dinner are the same:
French toast sticks
Pizza
Chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries

On a very very rare occasion he will eat:
Steak
Baked beans
Ziti
Corn and peas

He is a big snacker too and would eat crap all day if I let him - along with drinking a gallon of milk a day. I offer him what I know he will eat. I make other things for myself, DH, and Tyler - I always offer it but he never eats anything and will never try a thing.

It's frustrating but I keep telling myself it has to be a phase.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

I agree with the MD that he won't starve himself. I have put DD to bed without dinner b/c she didn't want to eat what I made. She has survived.

I read somewhere that as kids start using utensils they stop experimenting with new foods and become very picky eaters. That could in part be contributing. I only ask my DD to use a spoon for yogurt, applesauce and soup - otherwise I let her use her fingers. She is completely capable of using a fork and does know how - but the experimentation thing sticks in the back of my mind, and for her at least it's true.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Posted by LoveBeingMrsT

both my 1 1/2 and 3 1/2 yr old ds drink 2 pediasures a day bc of eating issues. but they are thankfully covered by insurance. maybe ask for a rx.

i also don't give snacks and space meals out a lot so that they will hopefully be hungry at meal time.

it is super frustrating. gl!

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

I think I might have explained it wrong. It's not that he's not hungry at mealtime. It's WHAT he'll eat at mealtime. He eats nothing nutritional...all carbs. He needs more protien...etc. He hardly snacks at home although he does snack alot while out at stores and stuff like that.

The ped wants me to give him his carbs that he likes at breakfast and after that only offer more nutritional items only. He's saying when he'll get hungry enough he'll eat those healthier items. I can't see it working though.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Can you trick him with the Gerber freezed dried fruits? They taste like candy but they are just freeze dried bananas/strawberries and apples. That' the only ingredient.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

You ped is right (unless there is an underlying issue, of course). But, it's tough to do.

DD is a picky eater. I always put our what we are eating however I always have something on the menu that I know she will like so that she has the option of eating something. If she refuses to eat, I know it's because she is being difficult and is not really hungry. I don't give her an alternative at meal time once it is on the table. If I happen to be making a meal that I know she doesn't like, I'll add chicken nuggets to the menu so she has something.

Where I falter is at the end of the night. If she decided not to eat dinner and is hungry later; when I tell her it's time for bed she might rub her belly and say "I hungry". I can't stick the cold plate of food in front of her, I just can't bring myself to. So, I often let her have a yogurt or a cottage cheese before bed. Since she KNOWS this is a possibility later in the night, she is encouraged to skip dinner I need to be tougher on this but I just haven't found the strength.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

DS is the same way

The ped told us to cut out all junk food so when he does get hungry he'll have to eat "good food". As PPs have said, babies won't starve themselves. Some days he'll take a few bites of dinner and call it quits, and a few days later he'll eat like it's the last supper and make up for all the meals he's skipped. I'm not going to go out of my way to cook him 5 different meals to push him to eat. DS knows either he eats what we eat or he goes to bed hungry. As cruel as it sounds, it works for us. For example, yesterday he asked me to cut him an apple for a snack instead of wanting goldfish crackers. Food choices are starting to click with him!

Just to ease my mind, we took him to the ped to get a weight check a few months ago and have his iron checked. Surprisingly, everything was fine despite his crazy eating habits.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Ds is a very picky eater also. He's big on carbs! Have you tried mixing fruits/veggies into things he likes? DS likes meatballs so I've been putting broccoli in them and mixing in mashed up fruit with his yogurt. Have you tried looking at the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook? I just took it out of the library and it has some good ideas on how to sneak fruits and veggies into different foods. GL!

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

just wanted to say we're going through the same EXACT thing.
French Fries are a food group to DS. It's so frustrating.

following this thread for ideas.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

DS is very picky as well. He does love guacamole though. All I do is mash an avocado add a little lemon juice and kosher salt. He eats it with blue tortilla chips.

Not to be gross but how are your DS's bowel movements? DS is always constipated and I've been chalking it up to his poor eating habits.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

DS is a terrible eater, always has been. He is 3 now, but since he was around 2 or so...we would make lunch and or dinner. For lunch he got to pick what he wanted, for dinner, he got what DH and I were having (although we try to make sure to include something we know he will like).

He gets his lunch and dinner. If he doesnt eat them, thats fine, he doesnt have to, although he does have to at least try everything. As for getting him to try things, he has to at least TRY a tiny bite of everything before he is allowed to be excused. If it means he sits there for an hour, he does.

If he doesnt eat lunch or dinner and he comes to us later hungry, he gets re-offered his lunch or dinner to eat. There are NO SNACKS after lunch or after dinner if you dont eat them. He also doesnt have to clear his plate, but just eat a fair amount.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

We also have a hard time getting DS to eat proteins, he is a veggie boy. He'll eat any veggie we throw at him, but meat is a struggle.

A few things we have done:

I switched from wheat pasta to Quinoa, if he doesn't like the quinoa pearls, you can buy a quinoa-corn blend in traditional pasta shapes. Quinoa is a grain that is also a complete protein.


I also hide all veggies (in your case carbs) until he eats some meat, if I give him veggies first he won't eat the meat.

Limit snacks so he is truly hungry

Our PED suggested 1/2 a packed of Carnation Instant Breakfast in milk (rather than Pedisure) it is much less expensive. We mixed it with whole milk rather than skim since the kids need the fat. You could ask your PED about using this instead.

Good Luck!

I forgot to mention - Spice Things Up! DS will eat more if the food has more flavor, he likes the peppercorn rub on steak, or salty ham, he also likes balsamic marinades. I used to keep things bland thinking I had too because he was little, but he prefers spice and flavor!

Message edited 10/4/2010 12:55:12 PM.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

does he like beans? alot of protein in them
How about making him a smoothie with fruit?

Message edited 10/4/2010 1:18:16 PM.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

We did this though with DD#1 and I'm so glad we did. She was being picky and I was making lots of chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, etc. I finally decided not to make 2 separate dinners anymore. This is how it went:

Night one: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and green beans.

we all sat down together she cried and whined and moaned for 1 and 1/2 hours that she didn't want this for dinner and we calmly and repeatedly told her this is what we're having for dinner and this is all there is.

Longest dinner of my life and I prepared for several days of this.

Night two: same meal, left overs

She ate! Not much but some and from then on she ate with us new food every night. Now she's awesome. She's try everything and as long as she tastes it we don't make her eat it.

Important thing is no alternatives. What's for dinner is what's for dinner. We will not give her an out.

And if I were you I would cut out the snacks. That is undermining your goal. At least until he's eating his meals. GOOD LUCK! I think good eating habits last a lifetime and it is a battle worth fighting now while he's young enough that you can still mold him.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Another suggestion too is to have them start helping in the kitchen to cook dinner with you. Alot of times they'll be more interested in the food if they got to prepare it themselves.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Maybe once he starts drinking the pediasure you can start weening him off of it like formula.

What about ovaltine or carnation instant breakfast - compare the nutrition of those.

WHERE DO YOU GET THAT QUINOA PASTA?

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

My DD is 2 and she is a pretty good eater but she goes through phases where she won't eat things she normally does or she won't eat the dinner I make. I found that for meats (she's not really a big meat eater) the best way to get her to eat protein is to "hide" it. I will take her chicken or turkey and mix it in with her mashed potatoes and veggies and add a little gravy. She ends up eating all the meat and loves it. I also give her things to dip her meat into.......ketchup, tomato sauce, etc. For some reason if she can dip she's more inclined to eat.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?

Message edited 10/4/2010 2:18:38 PM.

Re: Has anyone witheld food from DC due to poor eating habits?