Toddler Food Issues

My 1 year old likes sabra hummus on crackers or bread. High in protein and good fats. It gets better with age when it comes to eating.

I have finally put raisens in oat bran pancakes and let her pick at them or other fruits. I make up a big batch and freeze them then microwave when needed. Hope this helps with some ideas.

T. F.

M., It is NORMAL! He will eat when he is hungry. You can give him Ensure too. Has everything he needs, the day will come when you can't feed him enough! Don't push it will make it worse. Keep introducing new things, give him vitamins. He will be ok. K.

My 20 month old daughter loves steak and broccoli, and has been eating both since last summer. Other favorites are yogurt (her favorite is Dannon Naturals), applesauce and peaches. She will also eat anything with ketchup on it (hotdogs, mac & cheese, chicken). For months we couldn't get her to eat much except the Gerber Ravioli, which have plenty of calories and some nutrition. We also started giving her toddler Flintstones vitamins a few months ago. She has all 20 teeth (and 16 when we started the vitamins), so I'm not sure that a toddler with less could chew them, but she is fine. We checked with the Doc and she said that as long as she was chewing them, it was okay to give her one per day.

Have you tried yogurt? I've been buying Stoneyfield Farm Organic yogurt since my oldest was a baby. My kids love it and it's really good for them. It's a little more expensive, but when you read the nutrition labels you'll see that it's worth it. Most of the other yogurts, esp "kids" yogurt, is full of junk and stuff that I can't pronounce. There's very little nutrition in them and they are mostly sugar (empty calories). Go to www.stonyfield.com to check it out for yourself. Large grocery stores do carry it, but a good health food store will have a larger variety. I buy the stuff for the kids at Sawall's in Kalamazoo and buy mine at Sam's Club. I can get 12-6oz cups for under $10, which is cheaper than buying them individually. But they only come in Strawberry and Blueberry. There's even a Soy variety. Happy hunting! If you have any questions, please let me know.

We give our son who is 2 1/2 now boost with protien. He has been drinking it at night ever since he was 1 1/2 or so. It comes in vanilla or chocolate flavor. He enjoys it and looks forward to getting it every day before bedtime.

He is also a picky eater and we just have to try and give him small amounts and see if he eats that. I have found the smaller amount of food that you put on his plate the more likely he is to eat it. I think the larger the serving the more intimidating it is for him. Hope this helps. Good luck

Hi M.. I think just about every parent goes through this stage with their toddler/preschooler. My little girl was a great eater until she turned 3. She's 4 now, and some days she is a piggie and some days she'll barely touch food.

Here are some things I had success with:

grilled cheese
string cheese
yogurt
macaroni & cheese (hmmm, lots of cheese, eh?)
pizza
pasta, with tomato sauce or butter
nutra grain bars (not the best nutrition, but they gotta eat)
baked chicken nuggets
pancakes & french toast with a little syrup & butter
fish sticks

Lots of whole grain options on the market these days that taste pretty good...pasta, pancakes, bread. Cereal may have sugar, but it's spray-coated with vitamins and he can eat it dry if he wants as a snack.

Good luck!
L.

Hi, M.. My kids love cottage cheese. Another favorite is to mix Cheerios with yogurt. Their favorite is french vanilla yoplait. You can even mix in different fruits if he's a berry eater. If I put ranch dressing on meats, my kids will eat about any kind of meat. I figure they need the fat, so it's not a big deal for them to have ranch dressing. At least it gets them to eat protein-rich meats that they normally wouldn't eat. One more favorite is to take Scoops tortilla chips and put taco meat, shredded cheese and sour cream on top. They can pick up them up and eat them individually.

We take "Might-A-Mins" (drinkable) so that my son gets his nutrients as he is a picky eater too. They are loaded with everything that he needs and isotonic so I know that he gets them completely absorbed.

See www.marketamerica.com/thevoiceoftruth and click on the brand name Isotonix.

Good luck!

Does he have any problems gaining weight???? I'm unclear why they have to be calorie dense? Doesn't he like any foods in particular? My daughter is now 15 months and has eaten table food since 8 months and used to like everything. Now she goes inton picky spurts. Well, all I can do is tell you what I feed her and maybe that can give you some ideas...by the way, I make sure to give her the same food that she chose not to eat at that time ina few days and keep trying.You'll be surprised how much they like it in such a short time. Frozen chicken nuggets, hot dogs, Eggo pancakes and waffles(chocolate chip is good), animal crackers, string cheese, grilled cheese, frozen sirlion patties(very easy), those mini packets of hamburger helper, all fruits, de-seed a cucumber, marshmallows, corndogs, frozen green beans(she loves those) and I let her pick out what ceral box she likes and goes crazy over and then you'll be suprised at how they always want to eat what's inside that box!!!!

A big help to us has been the pasta's with added protein and fiber, like Barilla Plus. Our son likes to eat noodles with butter and parmesean cheese and that's become a staple for him. Hope that helps!

The Jessica Seinfeld cookbook is awesome. My son has become a very picky eater and this book has been a lifesaver. Her reciepies are not throw together quickies. I ALWAYS have to go to the grocery store to make anything from her cookbook, but my son eats everything I make. Also, my neighbor has a child that litterally eats seven bites of food a day. Her doctor gave her a suggestion of making high calorie "milk shakes". She starts with milk and ice cream and adds yogurt, fruit, vegetables, and anything else she can sneek in. She tells her daughter that she has to have one bite of everything on her dinner plate before she can have her drink. Finally, I have learned that forcing the issue does make things worse. The more you force it, the less they eat. Children thrive off of that one on one attention, possitive or negative. If they don't eat at meal time, simply take the plate away. Everyone who does eat well at dinner could have a small dessert for doing a good job. I try to stay away from sweets, but they can be a good insentive for children who hate to eat. I hope this helps. Good luck. I know what a challenge this is!

One thing I've noticed, to toddlers, condiments are a food group. So, I focused on foods that could be made into or at least look like dips, ie, hummus, sweet potatoe (can be doctored a lot ways), yogurts, etc. Also, many veggies can be hidden in breads, cakes, etc. There's a great book, called "The Sneaky Chef" that has wonderful recipes for getting extra nutrients into kid-friendly foods.

I've also made potato soup that had just about anything white in it (yellow squash, zuccini, cauliflower). Then just used a stick blender to make it all the same consistency. My little guy loved it.

Hope that helps.KKJ

have you tried beans? my daughter loves kidney beans..
my daughter also loves avacado.. (weird I know but..)

we try her on everything becuase she has low weight and needs to bulk up a bit and she chooses to love odd things..

she loves mashed potatoes also so I make them with milk, add a little butter, add cheese etc. basically load up what she likes with what she will eat..

For extra protein you can add powdered milk to everything from his milk, yogurt (drinks and regular), pudding, etc. At one point in my life I needed a lot of protein and couldn't really eat, so that is what my Dr. told me to do. Even those Carnation Instant Breakfasts - add some powdered milk to that - and it will double the protein! I also really like that organic baby yogurt that comes in a 6 pack stuck together. Some has cereal in it (and they will NEVER know), and it's made from whole milk. My daughter loves it and even though she's older, I'd rather her have that then some of those "toddler" yogurts will so much sugar added! Good luck!
N.

Parents always worry about their children not getting enough to eat. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your son will eat when he is hungry enough. My suggestion is to give him two or three healthy choices when it is time to eat or when he is hungry and let HIM choose what he will eat. Maybe that will take care of half the battle.
I am a married stay at home mom with three kids ages 4, 6, and 9.

I had very picky eaters. They have grown out of it for the most part. A very structured routine worked for me, and very small portions. They can always get seconds if they want more and they are so proud when they clean there plate. The routine I tried to stick to went something like this... Breakfast at 7:30am with 1/2 cup of juice or milk. Small snack at 10 with 1/2 cup of juice or milk. Drinks had to stay at the table no sippy cup to sip on all day long. Then lunch at 12:30 again with 1/2 cup of juice or milk. Once they leave the table, no more juice or milk. They can have all the water they want, but they had to drink it at the table. 3:00pm another small snack, 6:00 dinner. I insist on milk at dinner. I also give seconds of milk if they eat their dinner good. Then good eaters get popcorn or ice cream or a Popsicle or a little bowl of chips for a snack. Work hard to keep the routine. Only provide healthy snacks during the day and balanced meals and limit the drinks. I let my first daughter walk around with a sippy cup all the time then wondered why she wouldn't eat. My sister helped me create the routine. Before bed time I'd made a cup of carnation instant breakfast and let her sip on that during story time. Then she'd brush teeth and get to bed. The carnation filled her up and I think it helped her sleep through the night. Mostly, I stopped letting her sip on a sippy cup all day. My mom never forced me to eat. She always said that made kids fat. I make sure mine eat at least a bite of what ever it is they don't want to eat before they can get down from the table. When they want to get down bad enough they will take the bite. Just be firm. Try not to worry to much, when they get hungry enough they will eat. Good luck.

I found that if I chopped up everything and put it in dixie cups, my son would just go and help himself when he was hungry. Try to avoid too many foods that claim to be healthy but really aren't (i.e. gold fish, gummi fruit etc). I usually had a cup of cubed cheese, some clementine oranges or grapes and some carrots. Also homemade "smoothies" (yogurt mixed in the blender with fruit)

My daughter loves pasta! I buy the vegetable blend so that I know the noodles are good for her. She also really likes spinach so I find ways to get that into her diet. What really helped for me was an ice cube tray with a variety of foods, all healthy and she could choose what to eat. She is still a grazer and not really a meal time eater so I make sure her snacks are good, we don't buy any junk food.

I don't force the issue with her and I can tell when she is about to grow! LOL!! She has hollow legs some days! This morning she had oatmeal, yogurt, a banana, an orange, then she wanted cheese noodles (home made mac n cheese), she had peanut butter crackers.... all before noon!

M., I am not sure what field of diet you choose for your son. So here is my suggestion. Quit using artificial stuff and quit using diary foods. What foods does your son like? If this were me i would put some frozen bananas, strawberries, and apple juice in a blender and make him a smoothie have him use his straw or a sippy cup. Try plant proteins, try mash potatoes, steamed broccoli, peas. If you are interested in my knowledge on healthy liven i will continue to help you.
~T. (50)