1 Year Old's Changing Eating Habits...

my kids at that age loved scrambled eggs with katchup mixed in for my son and penut butter mixed in for my daughter. I don't know why my daughter hates tomato scauce and katchup but my son loves it. although her father is'nt big on tomatoes. My kids turned there nose to jar baby food at 6-7 months old. and started grabbing food off my plate. when my son was 6 months old he was sitting next to me. i was feeding him baby jar food spagetti and I turned to put it down. he grabbed a handful of my sagetti off my plate and shoved it in his mouth so fast that I was afraid he was starving. from then on he has not touched any baby food. and my daughter did that with my lasania at 8 months. she did not like her baby food anymroe and grabbed my food when I was'nt looking. I'm surprised they make baby food for oldedr than one year. I'd scramble 1 or 2 eggs and split them up in like 5-6 differant bowels. mix them with her favs see whitch one she likes the most and feed her those eggs. try it several diferant times. that's how I came up with the penut butter. she loved it but it sounds so nasty to me. but at least protine got into her body. LOL good luck.

My son's eating habbits changed at around 1 yr old also. He became a bit pickier. I too give him smoothies or shakes with things like yogurt and sometimes I even sneak in veggies (juice or pureed). As far as your baby not eating enough protien I wouldn't be too concerned. She will eat what she needs. Sometimes my son will just eat fruit all day and sometimes for a day or two. The next meal he might inhale 4 chicken nuggets or some cheese. I always make sure that I am just offering him some of all the food groups during the day. He is not a big veggie fan, but I still offer him some type of veggie once a day. They say it takes over 20 times for a child to start eating a food after you offer something new. So don't give up.

I also would not be concerned with her not eating baby food. I stopped feeding my son jarred food at 1 because he was eating mostly table food. I would offer whatever you are eating to your daughter. I do that with my son. I always make sure I have something on his plate that I am certain he will eat.

at this age, jar and pureed foods are pretty much out, her palet is matureing and she is gaining independance and wants to be picky and make her own choices. i wouldn't push her to eat anything she rejects, it will only become a battle that you won't win, and eating is supposed to fun, not punishment. i don't know how your daughter will react to frozen dinners, but my son loves them. how many teeth does she have? if she has any molars, she can pretty much just eat what your eating. if your worried about protien, it might be a good idea to try eggs more often, if she rejects, just try again another day. my son used to say no to new foods for sometimes over a week, but if i just kept giving it to him everyday, he would eventually eat it and usually like it. its all about persistance and patience. you could also give her a childrens daily vitamin if you think shes not getting a good variety.

When my son turned a year old, almost to the day, he became very picky with food. It was so hard for me to get used to this as before he ate everything, including vegetables. Everyone told me, when he is hungry he will eat, etc. But I was still worried about his getting the proper nutrition. My mom suggested PediaEnsure, it has vitamins and protiens and is used as a supplement. I would much rather his eating his protein and getting vitamins from veggies but this is the next best thing for now. He is getting better, except for the vegetables, so I cut down his intake of PediaEnsure to once a day and give him a multivitamin. By the way, he is in his percentile. Take care and be patient.

Babies taste change constantly, and will throughout life, even we do it, its just not something we realise.

If you choose to go organic, yes, Amy's is a good choice. If you dont mind other things Gerber makes meals for babies similar, they are less costly and they are monitored for the proper nutrition of the child, so if you are at a loss for time and adding up calories, protien intake, fruitand veggie intake ect....Gerber is a good way for it. They also make snacks that are all natural and disolve in the babies mouth to reduce chocking hazzards, I foundthose to be safer then some of the other things I was making my kids. She can have fish and chicken now if she chooses, i dont know if you are vegan ornot.....and the yougurt will supply plenty of protein. Also, you can ask your doctor for iron and protien drops to hold her until she developes morehealthy habits.

K.,

Like the other moms who have responded, my girls became rather uninterested in "baby" food once they hit the one year mark. I think you've received some really great advice; here a few other things that have helped me...

-just offer one or two food groups per meal/snack. Just yogurt and cheese one time, just fresh cooked broccoli and finely shredded carrot another, etc. This works great for my kids.

-Neither of my kids like meat or eggs, and my one year old refuses milk altogether. They get protein through carefully chosen whole grains, yogurt, nuts/seeds (no nuts for the little one though), and cheese.

-For cheese, you might try different kinds of cheese and try serving in a different way- try coarsely shredded, finely shredded, cut into tiny cubes, cut into strips. Serve it with toothpicks (no, he won't poke his eye out so long as you're watching him!).

-Another awesome protein source is beans. I always have several types of canned organic beans in my pantry- kidney, pinto, white, black, etc. My oldest ate these like from before she was one to now (she's three). My youngest likes them too. It's a great finger food.

-Check out some different kinds of whole grains. I've recently discovered Kasha, which is toasted buckwheat. It cooks in ten minutes, tastes good, and is a great source of protein. Bob's Red Mill is the brand I use.

-Another great source of protein is soy butter (think peanut butter). My one year old eats it by the spoonful.

-The book, "Super Baby Food" is a terrific resource. It's a little spendy, but I consider it my nutrition "bible."

Good luck!

J.

She is really old enough to eat whtever you and the rest of the family are eating. I dont suggest processed frozen foods though. There are just too many perservatives and sodium in them. It sounds like she is getting enough protein in her diet. try cheese sticks, hard boild eggs, canned tuna fish, and beans are all good ways to get some extra protein inher and they are all soft enough fro her to chew. Also try homemade Mac n cheese lots of protein and calcium. At this age most kids slow their ravenous eating patterns way down. You would be surprised how little food that one year olds really need. Dont worry about it too much she will eat what she needs.

What do you eat? It sounds like you must eat/ know about healthy foods since you know about Amy's. If you have a reasonably healthy diet, just let her eat whatever you're eating and cut it up into smaller pieces so she can pick it up. Once they get into the toddler years it is a little harder to feed them mushy foods because they want to be able to pick eveything up. As far as protein goes: Hot dogs/ or smart dogs, Chicken nuggets/ grilled chicken/ fake chick patties, Fish sticks/ grilled fish, etc. I see you are married so whatever you and your husband eat for dinner should be fine (unless it is really spicy - that's when it's good to have a pack of frozen fish stix or something). Good luck!

K.,

I can relate to you. My fifteen month old used to gobble up her baby food, but has become a very picky eater. She will not eat eggs or cheese and she will not drink milk of any kind.

As far as protein, what my daughter will eat is plain cooked beans. She eats black, kidney and pinto beans. She also eats lots of avocado. Also there is a cereal sold at Henry's Market called Amaranth cereal. It has about 6gm of protein in it. My daughter snacks on those (even though I think they taste awful). Also, if your daughter eats pancakes and muffins and stuff, you could try replacing some of the flour with amaranth flour as it is very high in protein.

You might want to talk to your daughter's doc or some others because it can be controversial, but my daughter also eats almond butter and peanut butter. Mostly, I mix it into her hot cereal in the morning with some brown rice syrup, cinnamon and unsweetened coconut. Also, if you did decide to try it, be very careful how and how much you give her because they can choke on it! Also, there is a lot of concern over allergies. My daughter hasn't had any problems with it, but, of course, they are all different.

I also found some fish sticks at Trader Joe's that seemed a little healthier than some. Every once in a while she will eat a little of those.

If you are doing shakes and stuff, I guess you could put some protein powder in it.

Anyway, hang in there, good luck and remember you're not alone!

J.

i have twins and one of them is very picky. They are 17 months. You can try peanut butter very thinly spread now that she is one, for protein. Just try it slowly and with NO new foods to check for allergies. Something else that's fun, since she likes eggs is french toast, egg salad sandwich, a hard boiled egg. Also, sprinkle some protein powder in everything you make (pancakes, waffles, yogurt...) hope it helps

Offer her a variety of healthy foods and let her choose from there. She'll make sure she gets enough of what her body needs, protein etc. It's very common for young children to be picky eaters, all the new tastes and textures are scary and overwhelming. Try not to make a big deal out of what she chooses to eat, or not eat, it will just make you both miserable and eating time unpleasant.