Picky Eater - Canyon Country, CA

I wouldn't be too worried. My son goes through stages (he's 20 months) with food all the time. One day he'll eat anything, the next he wants specific foods. I try to adhere to this rule. I offer a balanced plate of food in small portions (protein, vegetable, fruits, and carbohydrates). If he doesn't want to eat, I don't force him, but I also don't offer other poor choices. If he's hungry, trust me, he'll eat! Kids just don't need as much food as we do, so parents get freaked out that they're not eating enough.-www.weelicous.com

I have two little ones who won't eat protein, too. Buy the silken tofu and blend it until it's creamy. Then you can mix it into all kinds of foods. (soup, pasta, yogurt) It is tasteless on its own and just adds a slight creaminess to the dish. (and a healthy dose of protein!)

Don't give up. Keep giving him a variety of foods to choose from and he will always go for what his body needs. It sounds like you're doing everything right! Most kids go through food jags at this age - keep the faith - it will eventually pass.

Good luck!

Reading this was like reading my own story with my son (now almost 2.5 years old). I too made my own babyfood, he loved EVERYTHING, the kid would've eaten pureed styrafoam if I fed it to him. Starting around 15 months or so, he became Mr. Picky . . . and still is. It is amazing frustrating. One thing that helped a lot at that age and STILL helps (sometimes) for us: we'd get what we wanted him to eat on our plate and get excited about it . . . and NOT offer him any. Pretty soon he'd want to try it. I think this mostly worked because it allowed HIM to decide he wanted to eat it.

He also goes on stints where he will eat one thing, and one thing ONLY, for days at a time . . . of course until I stock up on it then he wants it no longer!!

My pediatrician assured me that this is perfectly normal for some toddlers, and to just keep offering new foods . . . sometimes it can take them up to 20 times of being offered something before they'll finally taste it.

If I have one regret, it's this: not sticking to my guns a bit more. I really fed into it a bit and worried he wasn't getting enough, so I let him have what he wanted. The truth is, they won't starve themselves.

I wish you the best, and look forward to reading what others write you about this!!

Hi M.:

My college nutrition professor refers to it as "one year old anorexia" and her advice was to not worry about it, provided that you give your child healthy food options. She explains it like this: During the first year of life, a person grows more than any other period during their life and during the first year has the most rigorous nutritional requirements. Because the body needs comparatively less after 12 months, it SEEMS like they are not eating enough. Her recommendation is that you provide heathy options, and let the child's own hunger be the best judge of both what they eat and how much they eat at any sitting.

Best wishes,

M.

Gone are the days when we all sat down to eat the same meal! Now everything is cafeteria style, and children are asked what they are willing to eat. It's sad, and is partly responsible for the eating problems we see (I see in my grandchildren), and poor nutrition, weight gain, etc.

My mother had a rule: You ate what was on your plate, but you were allowed to choose the amount. (We had a protein dish -- usually meat in those days, chick or fish, or maybe an egg or cheese dish), some sort of what we called "starch" like pasta, potato or rice, bread, a vegetable, and a salad. We always had dessert, but it was often fruit, jello with fruit, or perhaps pudding made with milk. If there was a vegetable you didn't like, you were given an extremely small portion. I can remember getting two peas! You had to eat that. Some other things were voluntary. You didn't have to take any of them, as long as you ate the other things. As a result, I have never had problems with most foods, and love to explore new foods. I brought my children up the same way, and my adult children are also pretty good eaters of a variety of foods. It makes life so much more pleasant and interesting!

So, I guess I would plan menus that contained some variety, and allow your child to choose portions. For a 14 month old, much would be finger food -- maybe a strip of green pepper, a baby carrot, a cracker and a piece of string cheese (good protein and children usually love string cheese), maybe a small piece of lunch meat, yogurt, (yogurt does have protein!), banana, yam or sweet potato (an excellent food and source of all kinds of good things) and you can cook one in the micro and then cut off a few cubes.

S. Toji

HI M.,

As long as he's growing and your Ped. isn't concerned, take a deep breath, relax and read something by Ellyn Satter. Someone else recommended "How to Get Your Kid to Eat, but Not Too Much"; I also like "Child of Mine". Either will help you feel much more relaxed and confident about feeding your child.

It's normal for kids to go through phases where they don't eat foods that they used to like. Keep offering it to him and he'll come around. :-)

As far as protein goes, yogurt and milk are both a good source, so don't stress too much (yeah, I know, easier said than done....)
good luck!
C.

Hey M.,

Have you talked to your ped? That is my first question. I would make an appt with the ped and discuss this. I would not do formula, if he is not nursing anymore that is OK. You can look in to Pedia-sure I think that is the name of the drink for kids, and it has all kinds of vitamins and nutrients. Has he been gaining weight? That is another thing I would look at. I am a vegetarian and I am raising my little ones, ages 3 and 1 vegetarian. We eat Morning Star Chicken Nuggets and they have 12 grams of protein in 4 nuggets, you can always try them. Get them at Target, they are cheaper there. Beans, refried beans have a lot of protein in them, too. You can also try fish, like salmon, although I don't eat it, I know it can be good for him.

Good Luck! and I think it is great he knows sign language! My son is deaf in one ear and I am teaching him some signs.
M.

If your son is like mine, he loves to mimik me. If you want him to eat a variety, cook a variety of food for your family and let him eat what you do. Whenever I can I try to sit and eat with my son when he eats just so he doesn't feel alone. Sometimes he eats a lot, other times he doesn't eat too much. This morning my family got together for eggs and begels and he ate eggs and lox with the rest of us.
Good luck! I can tell you are a very attentive mother; too much worry is bad for a person. Your son will let you know what he wants...

The most valuable resource I found for trying mealtimes was a book by Ellyn Satter titled "How to Get Your Child to Eat ... But Not Too Much."

She basically assigns the parent the non-judgmental role of providing a variety of healthy foods at each meal, and the child decides whether and how much to eat. Once you take the emotion out of eating, the process becomes much easier on everyone - no short-order cooking in addition to the regular meal, and children are provided with healthy food and a healthy approach to food (no more "3 bites of meat and then you can have dessert"). It's sensible and loving at the same time.

Good luck!

M. - yogurt is actually a great source of protein. I would be concerned about his intake of vitamins and minerals that he would get from fruits and vegetables, but they do make yogurts with fruit mixed in. Your son sounds lovely but you may want to talk to your pediatrician about this - maybe he's just going through a phase.

BTW, where is your studio?

I can see you have already gotten some great advice so I'll keep mine short. I also have the book Super Baby Food. There is some great advice in there about maximizing the nutrition your child gets through healthy, natural supplements. For example, blackstrap molasses is a great source of iron and can be added to cereals or yogurt. Brewers yeast is a great source of amino acids and B vitamins and can also be added to those things (the taste takes getting used to though). So even if your child only eats a few things, they can still get all the nutrition they need with a little creativity.

I have a picky eater, too and I wish I would have been a little more forceful with the foods I wanted her to eat. Make sure the formula does not replace food--some kids fill up on it and it doesn't fill all their needs.
Small servings, let the child make cholces--this or that--and now or when the timer goes off, but don't get too crazy or food issues could arise.
I wish my kids would have been on Juice Plus back then. It fruits and veggies in a gummie form. You can get it on karen4betterhealth.com
Good luck!

It's probably just a phase. He also could be getting his molars, which takes awhile and can make eating uncomfortable. Yogurt actually has quite a bit of protein, especially greek yogurt. Mix fruits and veggies into yogurt and cereal for now to sneak more nutrients into him, see if he'll drink fruit smoothies, and keep offering the other stuff.

With the exception of the word son you are describing my daughter to a T. We also did follow up formula for a bit. We have tried everything. One thing that does make me feel better is this super porridge my husband makes. We got it from Super Baby Food- the book. It is basically rice cereal with lentils. He grinds the rice and lentils himself and then makes the cereal. We used to add pureed pears to make it a little sweet but now find it is most effective with a little butter milk and brown sugar. It still takes coaxing to get her to try but it is basically cereal so she will eat it. At this point I am more concerned about getting protein in her than her having sugar - since she eats no other processed sugars. She too is healthy, growing, and happy. Most other mommies I know tell me not to worry about it- so I try not to. My husband is not all that worried and the doctor does not seem all that worried. Apparently I was exactly the same according to Granny and am healthy and eat everything now!!! Good luck. I am now going to read all the answers to find more tips. good luck.