What to Feed My Picky Eater?

Hi Debbie,

I have a son now 2 and he did the same thing. What I found was that he was tired of the foods and just needed a break. Bananas were a must for months then all of a sudden I couldn't get him to even take a bite. So I gave it a break for a month and tried again. They were back on the favs list! He has done this with almost everything. Dont' give up it will get better!

S.

Hi D.,
My youngest daughter who is now 17 months did the same thing to me. She was eating alot of baby food and a little table food and at 12 months old decided one day she did not want baby food AT ALL, I kept trying for about a week and she would have no part of it. All babies are different but these are some of the things I gave her. For breakfast I would cut up a waffle just plain and a banana, she also liked the flavored oatmeal, scrambled eggs depending on her mood of the day. For lunch I did ham, cheese, and bread torn up in little pieces, she also liked the gerber graduates diced fruit or the raviolis by gerber. Macaroni and cheese was always a favorite, green beans cut in small pieces and for dinner whatever meat we were having I would shred or cut up small like chicken breast, pork chops, etc. My kids love hotdogs and for babies they just have to be tiny pieces and I know not very healthy but doesn't hurt them once in awhile. My son when he was a baby would not eat peas or corn either but loved greenbeans and beets. I have 5 kids and just always found it was a process of elimination but when they didn't like something I still would put it on their plate when we ate it because after time sometimes they will start to eat it. I wouldn't worry too much cuz their taste changes so much at this age so he may hate it now and love it tomorrow. Good luck, hope this helped a little.

hi D.

I think maybe you should try tempting him with the food on your plate, like at dinner just show him how big you are and maybe you could try fun shapes?My son started eating everything by 6 months and I have learned sometimes what kids may not like 3 weeks ago they could like the more you try to introduce it in different ways!I hope that helps?

I missed this request....although our kids are 6 months apart(mine is 15 months)at your sons age my daughter was the same.I have found that avacado...dips..soy nut butter..mac n chz...waffles..pancakes...squash anything you would eat at a meal....feed them...
Of course there are going to be some things they cant eat of yours, but at least give them some of th things.....

I have a 10.5 month old who never would eat baby food. We have found recently that he loves soup. Any kind of soup, I prefer homemade so that I can control the salt, but he will eat the veggies and meat and everything! Crockpot soups are wonderful and easy. Let me know if you want any recipes! I would love to share! Other than that, just cut up anything you are eating and let him at least try.

Have you tried pasta, bread, pancakes, waffles? They do get very finicky at this age. Just keep trying!

At that age my daughter loved frozen blueberries and peas. Straight from the freezer. She prefered them frozen than thawed. They both thaw really quickly, so they are not really a choking hazard.

Remember, it takes a while for a kid to develop a taste for new foods sometimes. And, sometimes kids will go through stages where they only want a few specific things. I haven't gone through this with my daughter yet, but friends with older children were most successful when they gave their child a variety of things in one sitting. I don't know how well it works personally, but their kids eventually moved on to different foods and now eat fairly healthy.

if he will eat pasta with tomato sauce you can try mixing in a small amount of jarred veggies(or puree them yourself) with the pasta sauce, he may not notice and he will get at little more vegetables. my daughter currently loves to dip most things in honey mustard or ketchup. (you could probably add a little jarred veggies to the ketchup too) also try soups

I know your son is still little but what worked for my son was to let hip dip his fruits and veggies into fat free dressing, ketchup and/or yogurt. Its messy but he ate his veggies. The rest of our family would have to turn their heads when he dipped his bananas in ketchup but I am happy to say that now he is a well rounded eater and he doesn't need to "dip" anymore.

Good Luck

Keep offering the foods you would like for him to eat with some of the foods he will eat. My middle child went through this from about 12 months to 3.5 years. We kept putting the foods on her plate, night after night she would take them off and put them on her napkin. Last year, when she started preshool and saw that other children ate these foods she became interested. She now eats all kinds of fruits, veggies and even ask for salads. I never thought I would see the day. We didn't make a big deal out of it because we didn't want it to turn into a power struggle, we just offered them.

Hi D..

My son did the very same thing at 11 months so I just went with the table food. Luckily he is no as finicky but some of his favorites are watermelon, peas, lima beans and mandarin oranges. Like others say, just keep putting it in front of him and he will eventually try it. Good luck!