Let's Talk About Chow...

I have 2 sons, 4 1/2 and 3, they are still a little picky, but it's getting better every day. My kids mastered a fork LONG before a spoon. We had a fork under control by the time they were about a year old. Stabbing is much easier than scooping, so there is seldom anything spilled on the floor. I got them toddler forks but not the ones with the really rounded ends because they didn't work well for us. They have to have enough of a point to pierce the food. I still cook nice meals for my DH and myself, but I'll fix the boys something I know they'll eat if they won't eat what we're having. They love meat and it's easy to stab. If you look at what you daughter is eating, it's not a bad selection. When I was about 2, my mother said I ate cereal, green beans, hot dogs, and cheese. The doctor told her I was eating a balanced diet (4 main food groups), that I only needed about 2 tablespoons of food a day, and that when I was hungry, I would eat. Keep trying, it get better!!

M., Hate to laugh but I remember those days. I don't know if it will work for you but my little one mimicked daddy at everything. So when I got to the issue you are having I tried a salad fork with her. Other than soups and things liquid after a couple of days she got it down to an art. She could stab her food and pick it. Never did eat with a spoon until she got much older. Never know it, might work.

that phase can last a long time or she could learn very quickly and be relatively short. I would keep working with the spoon, give her things that are easy to eat with the spoon, and also let her use a fork, a fork may be easier if you are serving green beans that she can stab. But just keep working with her and encourage her to eat with her utilensils it will be easier the older she gets.

I'd love to tell ya that the pickiness will soon be over, but that wouldn't be fair. My boys are all picky in one way or another still and the range from 3-8 years old. The best you can do is make sure that you try and get a variety of new foods in. Maybe you'll find something unexpected that she'll love. I started with the Gerbers meals that they have now, and went from there. One of the favs of all of my kids still is dippy eggs. Of course to us these are fried eggs where you can eighter break the yolk up on toast or open it so that she can "dip strips of toast of bacon sausage etc in it. it can get messy, but what's wrong with that? it's all learning right
S. J

I COULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS SAME THING WITH MY FIRST CHILD WHO IS NOW 8...KIDS ARE NATURALLY MESSY WITH SPOONS UNTIL ABOUT 3ISH.....AFTER 2 IT IS LESS MESSY. WHAT I DO WITH MY DAUGHTER NOW WHO IS 2 IS I LET HER HAVE DRY CEREAL AND A SPOON AND LET HER PRACTICE...SO IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT SHE CAN EAT AND "PRACTICE" TRY THAT. i HAVE NOTICED THAT THE FANCIER THINGS ARE THE LESS LIKELY LITTLE ONES ARE TO LIKE THEM. MAYBE IF YOU ADD A DIFFERENT KIND OF FOOD ONCE IN AWHILE WITH THE NORMAL FOODS OUT OF SIGHT TO HER THEN MAYBE THAT WILL WORK TO

Hi M.,
I remember this so well! My daughter is still a very picky eater. My cousin gave me the best advice and it still works to this day. Get out your cupcake pan (I don't know what it is about the pan, but it attracts them), fill each cup with things that they like (marshmellows, grapes, raisins, crackes, etc.), make sure each one holds something different and leave it out on the table where they can reach it and just let them walk by and nibble all day. My daughter was eating almost nothing and I got really worried after the 3rd day. You could visibly see her thinning. My cousin told me her son was the same way - maybe it's all 1st children...- but that's what she did. I tried it and just re-filled the cups when they were low and I was amazed at how much more she ate. She loved feeding herself and didn't care if it was with her fingers instead of the spoon or fork. I still get out 2-3 bowls (she wouldn't eat out of bowls when she was younger though, just the cupcake pan) of sliced fruit and vegetables and leave them out on the table to nibble at all day long.
Good luck!
Y.

Everything I have read says give her what you make and let her make the choice. If she refuses to eat, remove her from the table. Missing a meal or two WILL NOT hurt her and she will be hungry enough to eat what you put in front of her. Don't cater to her taste because it will change time and time again and what she says she doesn't like now she may in a few months.
Good Luck!
~S.

I have a 15 month old son that I still feed myself. He hasn't gotten the hand of utensils so what I do is let him play with them in his high chair while I feed and then help him put something on the spoon and get it into his mouth. If he touches food, for example chicken which he loves and it feels wet or slippery he won't eat it. Forget about wet or slippery dices fruit. Mac and cheese even on the spoon, if the gooey stuff touches his lip instead of getting it in his mouth before he feels it, he closes his mouth to investigate. The way I see it, as long as I feed him I know he is getting enough. I am still dealing with trying to get him off all bottles except for the bed time bottle but this is a very difficult stage when you have babies that won't just sit down and eat whatever you put in front of them. One day we'll look back and miss this, I think.

Hang in there. Their motor skills can be improved with a little more work and not to mention they are still learning coordination

Hi! My son went through this stage of not eating between about 15-16months and just started eating again about 1 month ago at 22 months. He has been able to use a spoon since about 9 months so that wasn't the issue for him - he just didn't want to eat! There were a couple of days that he went all day and ate only a cup full of grapes and maybe some crackers. I love to cook and prepare food as well and this stage was very frustrating and disheartning, but he got through it still healthy as a horse and now he eats all day every day(I guess he's making up for lost time).