HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

my ds is almost 11 months and has always been a difficult eater (i even had an E.I. eval.).

he eats so little but drinks probably around 25-30 oz. a day (he's nursed and gets a sippy of formula.)

he fights me every step of the way with meals and either refuses to eat, spits out the food, or ends up eating pureed baby food (all the while he must have a toy in his hands or forget about it.) he even fights the pureed food! he will self feed or i will feed him.

on the BEST BEST BEST day he will eat:

breakfast: 3/4 yobaby yogurt with 2 tbls. of oatmeal in it, 1-10 cheerios, 1-10 blueberries

lunch: 15 mashed peas, 10 small pieces of diced carrots, 3/4 stage 2 veggie

dinner: stage 2 meat (2 oz.) mixed with 1/2 stage 2 fruit

snack: puffs

he has a possible egg allergy so we can't try everything but he's tried the basics (french fries, chicken, cheese, lentils, pancakes, meatballs, pasta, etc.)

i'm worried about next month when i wean of bfing and he weans from formula to cows milk. i think he'll be hungry and lack proper nutrition. he still wakes up after 7-9 hours of sleeping to nurse as is.

how long can this kid stay on pureed baby food?!?! this stresses me sooo much!!

any advice would be sooo appreciated!

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

I have a 2 year old that eats nothing. So far he isn't dead, so I don't worry too much about it. Give him whatever he will eat, kids are like dogs, they smell fear, so if you stress out about it, they clam up and stop eating.

And that is why tonight my son ate his tortellini dinner from a soup spoon while standing on one leg in the living room. I refuse to stress out about it.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

We have been introducing meals around here. Today for lunch he had two mini waffles, 1/2 a grilled cheese for lunch and some rice pudding and a EB snack bar as a snack.

When will you know for sure if he has an egg allergy?

And honestly, he won't starve, he will eat when he is hungry!

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

If he's eating baby food, I really wouldn't stress, since he's eating something.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Wow he eats so much more than my 9 month old does - she eats, just very very little no where near that much - but her ped isn't concerned at all. You mean they actually DO sleep more than 8 hours or so at night - that is all DD has ever slept - I couldn't imagine her sleeping more than that.

I wouldn't worry about it at this point in time- My ped said it isn't unusual for kids to be small eaters and it does sound like he is eating something. I can't tell you how many parents have told me that their 2 or 3 year olds weren't big eaters until they were about 15 or 18 months.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Sorry I have no words of advice for you Michele.



On a side note, I know of someone whose daughter was still on baby food at 18 mos. She had milk and egg allergies, which made some "real" foods a challenge.

GL!

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Can you go get your son tested for the egg allergy? At least then you will now if you can try something different for him. I took Ella at 10 months for food allergy testing - she had a problem with milk based formula when she was a baby, but when we tested her she is not allergic to it.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Honestly, i know the list of food above is something DS eats only on his BEST BEST day, but that is more than my 11 month old eats each day. I just keep reminding myself that my boy isn't going to let himself starve to death...it's hard, especially when i see how much my friends' babies eat, but each kid is different.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Feeding my son was a struggle for a while and then one day....super eater...hang in there....it will get better...and he wont let himself starve

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

thanks everyone!

i'm so surprised that some of you said that josh eats more than your babies! i always hear how little he eats in comparison.

his GI dr. was very worried about how little he was eating and said he should be eating WAY more. this freaked me out and has added to my stress. both his ped. and GI wanted him to have an EI eval to see if he could get feeding therapy (he was a HUGE gagger but has gotten better.)

the dr. wanted to wait for him to turn 1 yr. before he sent us to get allergy tested (i assumed this was the norm but i guess not. )

Message edited 4/5/2008 10:57:52 PM.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Cailen is so similar - people thinks he eats a lot because he's so big - but he is a crappy eater!!!! He eats very similar to your DS!!!

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Bryan is a good breakfast eater. Rice Krispies, waffle, pancake(the mini ones), 1/2 a bagel (lenders mini)..
Lunch I'm lucky if he'll eat a yogurt and dinner I'm lucky if he'll eat a chicken nugget. Sometimes he will have bits and pieces of what we are having, but, most of the time he still rely's on jar food.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

My DD is 11 months old and barely eats ANY table food yet. She eats puffs and cheerios only when I feed them to her. She will only feed herself a arrowroot cookie or biscuit. (but she only takes a few licks and then throws it.)
She is a huge gagger. She will eat jarred baby food but that's it. Sometimes she will even gag on that.

I try everything and never give up. I just hope things will change soon. She also has reflux and a milk protein allergy(we have to test soon to see if she still has it or not) DD is not a skinny baby at all, so nobody is too concerned right now. As long she is eating and is happy and healthy is all that matters.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

I was stressing over Lucas' eating too recently but my pediatrician was really very assuring and told me that I could continue with the purees and not to feel like Lucas was behind. I was worried because he really doesn't eat a lot of table food yet but the doc said that was the problem...I...was worried. So long as Lucas is eating something and doing well health/weight wise he was fine.

So I actually just finished making pureed apples and sweet potatoes It is what it is - I do think that eventually they will come around...on their own terms with how much more they want and what they want.

Hang in there...I know it's so frustrating (to the point of crying) when these food concerns come up.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

Posted by Ang-Rich



I was stressing over Lucas' eating too recently but my pediatrician was really very assuring and told me that I could continue with the purees and not to feel like Lucas was behind. I was worried because he really doesn't eat a lot of table food yet but the doc said that was the problem...I...was worried. So long as Lucas is eating something and doing well health/weight wise he was fine.

So I actually just finished making pureed apples and sweet potatoes It is what it is - I do think that eventually they will come around...on their own terms with how much more they want and what they want.

Hang in there...I know it's so frustrating (to the point of crying) when these food concerns come up.

Re: HOW DO I GET THIS KID TO EAT REAL FOOD?

My best advice on how to get your son to eat real food is to not worry about getting your son to eat real food. Easier said than done, huh?
Put it on his plate, and let it be.
If you really want to be proactive, slowly increase the amount of cereal you add to his purees making it thicker over a long period of time. My mother is an infant and toddler feeding specialist and this is what she tells many parents to do. But take like a month to thicken it up. Literally add a tiny amount more each day. HTH