Toddler- Picky Eater

I started making smoothies for my one year old with frozen strawberries, bananas and apple juice. He loves them and now I add ingredients such as avocados, hemp milk, cod liver oil, kale, cashews, raisins, dates. All food he adamantly refuses when offered alone. As long as it contains bananas and is sweet, he loves it!

My son has started doing the same thing so I tell him that he is going to be put in time out and he'll do whatever I say.

Yes, most toddlers wake up one morning and are super picky with food. However, please do not convince yourself that it's just a faze that will pass because he will NOT wake up one morning and suddenly decide he'll eat whatever you put in front of him like he used to. I fell into a rut of feeding my first born the basics-- hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc with very few fruits and veggies and we are not a big milk drinking family. When he was around 8 years old he got a stomach virus and was unable to kick it for over a week (the rest of the family each had it for 24 hours) and the doctor said it was because his body did not have the "reserves" to fight off infection because of how unhealthy he eats. He started drinking Ensure daily and did so for a couple of years until he started eating much better as he got older (he'll 11 now). I am not recommending Ensure (or Pediasure) -- what I'm saying is not to allow yourself to give in and only feed him the junk. My 3rd child is a toddler now and I really watch myself so I don't fall into the same rut. Keep in mind that at your son's age, he really doesn't need a lot of food at each serving. Just a tablespoon or so of fruits/veggies several of times a day is good. For example, just a few grapes, half of a banana, a couple of brocoli flourets, etc. I resort to tricking, distracting, and bribbing if I have to! There are some foods he just will NOT put in his mouth at all, but I keep in my head the list of the few healthy foods that he WILL eat and I try to keep the house stocked with them and offer them before offering any other snacks-- and sometimes I have to serve them together-- like make him keep taking a bite of a banana in between bites of a cookie!

My son loved milk when we transitioned from formula to milk then all of a sudden at 13 months just decided he was NOT going to drink it...threw tons of trial and error I found that he really likes the Stoneyfield Farms or yo baby yogurt drinks, my ped asked that he drink at least 2 per day. Most days that is super easy for us so maybe that can help with your milk situation. Everything I read said to let them help with the prep…so I have recently started letting my son (20 months old) do little things to help with food prep and thus far he is trying the things he “makes” like I said he will try them but may not actually eat them which I will take, at least he tried. I let him wash grapes and veggies, push the buttons on anything I microwave, add any packets that may get added or pour anything that can be poured from a measuring cup, arrange foods like potatoes or veggies on baking dishes, get me Tupperware, or things from the fridge like condiments. Ya know simple little things that are safe for them to do but make them feel important. Hope this helps…

Humans don´t need cow´s milk. Your child will be healthier without drinking milk. Milk is a very alergenic product for almost every human producing many health problems. read about it.

My son was on that same diet, seems like for years! A nutritionist told me years later that all the essential aminoacids the body needs are present in rice and beans. Cheese is a source of calcium, so is yogurt, which he might like. You can fix custards and oatmeal for breakfast. Kids also like drumsticks (fun food).It is probably a phase anyway and you could try giving him a daily vitamin or a nutritional supplement mixed with his juice. Be patient and good luck.

Oh the many phases our little ones go through. =)You just have to remember it is just that- a phase. Don't stop giving him the healthy stuff just serve smaller portions (so there's no waste) along side the things he'll actually eat. Try not to get frustrated or at least don't let him see your frustration. =)Eventually, he will eat again. If he takes a while to get back to "normal" eating, talk to his pediatrician about a vitamin. My daughter once went through such a phase for what seemed like a year! When she developed really poor behavior (way too many fits), I knew she wasn't getting what she needed nutritionally. I had to start her on a vitamin and Ovaltine on days where it seemed she hadn't eaten at all. I didn't like to give her both in the same day. I was always afraid of too much iron or something else. Just look at how many nutrients are in your vitamins combined with the ovaltine. Maybe I was too overcautious? Good luck!

Hi, I have very picky 4yr old and 6 yr old eaters. I have found that they love to dip things-carrots in ranch or italian dressing. Try all different things-mine love cucumbers and green peppers in ranch. I have found they like things cut up differently for variety. I am no expert my kids would live on chicken nugget happy meals and chips if I let them!!If they can dip it-they will eat it. Also they seem to think ketchup is a requirement for all foods that are not dipped even ham-gross!! I also added pedia sure to them once a week. Good luck!! S.

I have a book that has been a total life saver. She has all kinds of great ideas for recipes of healthy fun foods that toddlers will eat. I bought mine used online at amazon for like $3. It's called Super Baby Food. I know that Dr. Sears has a great nutrition book also, plus tons of good recipes on his website. I agree with the other poster about smoothies. That has been our saving grace when it comes to getting fruits and veggies into my picky toddlers diet. I do what she does with the greens mixed in with sweet fruits, fresh and frozen, plus some good supplements like the omega oils, etc. I found a great product at whole foods called Amazing Grass for Kids, too. Sometimes I mix it with almond milk and a banana and a little bit of agave nectar she slurps it up!
http://www.amazinggrass.com/
www.superbabyfood.com/

Also, at whole foods they have organic chicken and turkey dogs, along with organic chiken nuggets and sprouted whole wheat bread. Much healthier versions of what he is eating. I know WF is crazy expensive, but my motto is "It cheaper than doctor bills down the road!"

Since he's not drinking milk, just make sure he's getting plenty of calcium from other sources such as yogurt(regular or drinkable), juice with added calcium (some orange juices have it), children's vitamins with EXTRA calcium (flinstones has one), and of course he already eats cheese. Also don't worry too much about the veggies, my daughter's pediatrician said if they won't eat veggies, then give them fruit. They will get plenty of vitamins from that. And V8 has a fruit juice with a full serving of veggies in it. Good luck!

my son did the samething around a yr ago he was really good about eating veggies.. its just takes the foods that he do like to eat and just sneak pureed veggies in his food. Like if does begin to eat mac'n cheese again, put sweet potaoes in there. My son eats carrot souffle as well, by it self.

Angelica,

I have a picky eater too and I like to cook healthy meals and have a balanced diet. He is probably going through a growth spurt, maybe feeling ill or just simply bored with the food. You obviously have gotten him to eat more than mine at 2yrs. Mine liked Honey bunches of Oats for breakfast and Oatmeal for quite some time and out of the blue he just stopped eating it. Of course I panicked, because now what do I give him for breakfast that he likes. It so happened I introduced a different type cereal, Cherios, and he loved that for the time. I later reintroduced his favourite Honey Bunches and he started eating it again. Also, you mentioned he eats well at daycare, which is a sign that the food in his mind is "varied and different". My son will eat the SAME mac and cheese from my M. and will not eat mine. He also tends to prefer "restaurant type" food, like if we have KFC, magically he likes coleslaw, but I can't get him to eat veggies at home. So it may just be that he is bored with the choices, the taste and/or the presentation of the food, since we all cook differently. As for a balanced diet, I would go with his flow for now. I think you're doing great with the choices you have before and if it's not everyday eating junk, having chips shouldn't hurt, also having chicken nuggets for breakfast. As long as he eats it, who cares when, right. One more thing, try giving another alternative to milk/dairy or adding ovaltine or cocoa to mix it up a bit. Good luck!

You may want to get the turkey hot dogs, if they are healthier. (I don't actually know cuz I'm vegetarian).
Maybe daycare junky snacks are changing his tastes?

I think everyone's tastes change several times during childhood. Perhaps you need to try new foods or new ways to eat the old ones. Does he eat fruit? Raw carrots? Yogurt? Smoothies? Lunch meat?
The other thing to keep in mind is that he cannot get food on his own so you control what he can eat. I always offered my son a choice of healthy foods from the same category. If vegies are the problem, serve him one meal a day with only vegi choices. Eventually, he will eat something.
Also, I never allowed my son to have junk foods unless he first ate real food. Sometimes he ate the real food to get the junk food but...hey, he ate it. Also, the junk was very limited in quantity (think 10 M&Ms!!) so I wasn't worried about giving it to him.
Good Luck and Be the MOM!

IMPO, keep offering the veggies. Keep offering whatever you think is healthy. He will eventually cave and have a bite. It takes a while - so long of a while that you'll want to give up. Just give a small amount of whatever veggie you guys eat with your dinner to him. Like when my hubby is eating salad, we give the kids salad or chopped up cucumber. I can now demand that they eat it since they are older than 2, but for you - you can just give him a small amount. Add tons of veggies in spaghetti (can of tomatoes, zucchini, onion, red bell pepper, ect) or tons of veggies in the rice and beans (tomatoes, onion, eggplant). Try some avacado. Make a zucchini cake into muffins. Try almond butter with apple slices.

Look at this cookbook I put together... it might give you some ideas to try.

http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=93092

Happy eating :)

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S.
Davie, FL
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