Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

DD is 13 months, and a HORRIBLE eater compared to lots of others we know about.

Only "table foods" she'll eat are breads, mac & cheese, dough part of pizza. I literally think that's it. Oh, maybe a random piece of chicken, but that's more miss than hit.

How, how, how do I get her to eat? I would fall over if she'd actually eat a piece of fresh fruit or a real veggie. I'd cry with happiness.

She's still on jarred food, only b/c I know she's getting nourishment. But lately, she's refusing to eat any Stage 3 because of the chunks, she's down to Stage 2's-- at 13 months!!

We've tried everything. Constantly offer her new things, same things over & over, offer her stuff she loves then try to sneak in a bluebery or fruit, etc...nothing works! If she sees us eating something, she says "mmmmm" and comes over to beg, and we try to give her a piece of banana, a pea, etc (yes, tricking her ), and if it even hits her tongue, she spits it out instantly.

I'm desparate

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

Put something on a spoon or fork! When DD is being picky, I will put whatever I'm trying to get her to eat on a fork...and then she wants it

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

Posted by luvsun27

Put something on a spoon or fork! When DD is being picky, I will put whatever I'm trying to get her to eat on a fork...and then she wants it

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

DD started doing this about that age too. I stopped giving in to her and making her something she would eat. I didn't want to get into the habit of her thinking she can tell ME what she wants to eat by not eating until I gave in. So, I gave her what the family was eating and if she was hungry, she would eat it. If she didn't eat, she didn't get anything special. Now she eats pretty much anything I give her.

At this age, they are still learning what they like to eat. When they get hungry, they will eat what you serve them. If I had let her, she would still be eating only pasta for every meal.

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

Aly was on stage 2 baby food til about 15 mths for the same reasons...she finally came around. just give it time... Shes still a bit of a picky eater at times but shes come a long way. (she is 25 mths now)

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

You've seen Luka and he ate that diet for a year!! I was lucky in that he did eat yogurt, fruit and the whole slice of pizza, but that was it.
Now at two he still eats mac&cheese, waffles, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal w/applesauce, chicken nuggets (sometimes) and that's it. I am conviced he just doesn't like to eat.

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

I agree with PP about delivery, it's all about creative delivery for us. In the beginning utensils made it exciting so I agree try a fork or spoon and let them self feed. Also don't underestimate the power of suggestive marketing. She's learned to love Dora and Diego yogurt if I say it's dora yogurt and now she eats Dora soup which has been a miracle b/c it has chicken and carrots and peas in it! so she eats the veggies too. You just hve to keep trying. It does get better. I've got a really picky eater but over the last 6 mos she's really opening up. If he like mac n cheese then do other noodles or pasta or mac. I've found that even though DD is super picky b/c she likes macaroni she'll eat really bizarre things like pad thai and lo mein b/c we told her it's noodles. WE started out with spaghetti which worked then we tried the pad thai and lo mein and go figure my kid who won't eat 9 out of every 10 things gobbled it up. So pasta can be a real help b/c you can change it up and add things. Just be patient it will get better and they really do need to be offered something up teen times b4 they warm up to it. LIke a year after we started offering brocoli DD out of nowhere ate it at a bday party and no she'll have it. We must have unsuccessfully tried it 10-15 times. Be creative, broccoli we call trees. Soup she looked at and called juice so we went with it. And now it's soup juice but I guess b/c she likes juice she wanted it. We try different bowls and plates. Paper plates with Diego or backyardigans, etc. And we barter. We'll let her have something she wants only if she has a bite of chicken first and it works.

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

MY kid is two and a half and barely eats anything, so far he hasn't died of malnutrition nor has he had scurvy or anything like that. Truth is, I feed him what I know he likes to eat and thats pretty much it...

My best advice is, don't stress. They can smell fear. Just chill out and let the kid eat what he can.

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

Emily is also a very picky eater, still at almost 3 years of age.

Luckily she does have a wider range of foods that she eats, but it is still limited as far as what other kids eat. My niece eats EVERYTHING in sight, even salmon, crab legs, all kinds of proteins.

There are some tricks we do to try and get her to eat...

For lunch since I am home with her we do an "activity" at the table while she eats. Painting, playdough, reading books, puzzles, make homemade thank you cards, even paint with water which is super easy. It distracts her enough that she doesnt' realize how much she is eating. I can get her to eat MORE of healthy things, that she normally only takes a few bites of, like yogurt, cheese, fruits.

Also she loves ketchup. So if I cover hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fries, etc with ketchup chances are she'll eat them. I cut the hot dogs in half and then into little pieces since they can be a choking hazard.

She actually does WELL when we go out to eat. She's so nosey that I think she is so busy watching people that she doesn't realize she's eating so much.

You can make homemade fruit pops in the freezer. Puree fresh fruit (berries! apples!) in the blender or food mill and then mix with some apple juice or white grape juice (about 50/50) in small dixie cups. Then put in the freezer and about when they are halfway frozen stick a popsicle stick in, then freeze the rest of the way. A LOT of babies/toddlers like this esp for teething and you know you're getting some fresh fruit in.

We use a lot of "dips!" Fresh veggies like carrot sticks and she likes red peppers too, dipped in ranch dressing. Also if you mix one cup of marshmallow fluff with 1 brick of cream cheese with a hand mixer it makes a GREAT fruit dip. Use toothpicks to dip berries, pears, grapes, bananas into it. It is sweet from the fluff but at least there is some fruit in it.

Have you tried baking carrot muffins, zucchini muffins, etc? I have great recipies for both. You can mix in some chocolate chips or CAROB chips for a healthier alternative (they taste so similar) to trick her into thinking she is eating a treat.

What "snacks" does she like? Let me know and we'll see if we can think of ways to sneak healthier things in there!

Melissa

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

Re: Ok, moms of SUPER picky eaters (toddlers)-- I need major help!

I will reply more later, running out but I have some recipes and brands of stuff to try, also realize this is teh age where eating stops.

In Touch points, Dr. Brazelton actually has a minimum diet plan to follow if your toddler ownt eat showing how they can survive on very little, its TOTALLY normal and as annoying and worrying and frustrating as it is...Its ok, and the worst thing to do is ever try to force them to eat, it will create bad habits later.

My son eats strawberries and watermelon on rotation sometimes aND NOTHING ELSE.....