There wasn’t much she wouldn’t eat in the beginning. I didn’t appreciate those days enough. It’s a totally different story now. Munchkin has gotten picky. It’s a weird picky though. It’s not that she won’t eat chicken. It’s that she won’t eat chicken everyday. Some days she will and other days she won’t and you never know if she will or won’t. It’s kind of annoying. I keep giving it to her hoping she’ll eat it. It’s not just chicken. She used to LOVE cheese. Now she’ll barely eat it. It’s the same story with so many other foods.
I try not to worry about what and how much she’s eating. She gets a good breakfast. She eats two hard boiled eggs and a banana. Then she’ll have either oatmeal or yogurt and sometimes both. Then she’ll munch on Nana’s Belvita breakfast biscuits. She is well fed in the am. I feel better knowing she’s getting a solid start to her day.
The rest of the day could be hit or miss. Sometimes she’ll eat and sometimes she won’t. I’ve talked with other moms (all with more that one kidd0) and they assured me that they all freaked out when their first kid wouldn’t eat. They tell me that they became more laid back with their second. After all, a kid will eat when their hungry. I know their right but it doesn’t help me now. I still worry!
It doesn’t help that Munchkin
will run into the kitchen saying “Eat! Eat!” and hang off the fridge because she wants food. I get frustrated that she’ll refuse everything I offer her. Unless it’s fruit, she’ll eat that every time. I can’t give it to her all the time cause I don’t want her poor bum to get all red and raw. Yogurt is another favorite. She also loves smoothies (I do too cause I put spinach in them!) Munchkin would love to snack on chips and cookies and cupcakes all the time. Too bad Mama doesn’t agree. So for now I continue to feed her what we’re eating and pray she’ll eat it. I hope she grows out this pickiness soon!
If you have a picky eater, how do you get them to eat?
My little is 3 and picky about when and how much to eat. Some days she'll eat so little it scares me; other days she's like a human vacuum cleaner in the fridge! Her doctor says as long as she's still thriving, her body knows what it needs. We just do our best to make sure what she does eat is good stuff (for the most part ... candy is awesome). :)
ReplyDeleteSophia is two and a half and she can't decide if she wants to be picky or not. Breakfast and lunch are her big meals and I can put just about anything on her plate at those times and she'll it eat. I'm starting to suspect by dinner time she's just too tired and not as hungry that she'll just pick at what's on her plate.
ReplyDeleteWe have a rule that she must try everything that is on her plate at least once before she declares she's not hungry or she doesn't like it. Unless the meal is something incredibly exotic, I don't offer another option. I always save a bit of plain meat, pasta, veggies, etc off to the side before I mix it with the spices or sauce so both kids can have that if the spice/sauce doesn't sit well with them. We also don't offer dessert/treats after dinner every single night and if we do there must be a clean plate before she gets it.
I also have to remind myself to be mindful of a serving size for her. I was an idiot for a while and putting a serving on her plate that was the size of mine. I think she was just overwhelmed by the amount of food she thought she had to eat. It seems so obvious but I never gave it a thought.
Aww, that's hard on a parent when the little ones won't always eat what's good for them! When I spend time taking care of other children, I'm always reminded by how unusual my siblings are--all of the kids in my family have been known for eating, everything, and a lot of it, from a very young age. We would go through so much food that I'm surprised how little other children that I babysit eat!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I'm sure I'll have a lot of this in my future! Kids are so funny how picky they can be, and how their tastes develop. Good for you though, for starting her out with a healthy breakfast every day and then not feeding her junk... gotta start those healthy habits young!
ReplyDeleteMy son only eats like 5 foods. It's very frustrating. My daughter on the other hand eats ALL THE THINGS! I never know what to do so we just stick to the basics (cherrios) and hope for the best. lol
ReplyDeleteThis is my 18 month old to a T. She ate everything, then at 13 months decided to become picky. I've learned to make healthy versions of crappy kid food, like Hamburger Helper and a Cheese and Rice Chicken Casserole. She devours these, and since it's homemade I know she's getting good food and I can add in different flavors to develop her palette. Here's the Hamburger Helper recipe, http://meandbabye.com/dairy-gluten-free-gourmet/a-healthified-homemade-hamburger-helper-for-the-kiddos/ Good luck and God Speed lol!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder where she puts it all when she's being a human vacuum cleaner:)
ReplyDeleteYES to it all! I think we'll be doing a three bite rule and I do try to save some without seasonings for Munchkin too. She does well with flavors though. I'm trying to be mindful of how much I give her too! It can be easy to give her too much. Now if I can just get her to stop feeding the dogs...
ReplyDeleteYes you do! I'm so glad she loves fruit:)
ReplyDeleteThat is frustrating! Hopefully he'll start to branch out soon. Though I did go 5 years with only eating grilled cheese growing up...but now I love a wide variety of food.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun, isn't it?!? She was eating my homemade hamburger helper but she's been refusing pasta for about two weeks:( She did eat cheese yesterday so I'm hopeful she'll like pasta again soon!
ReplyDeleteI have 3 and my middle one was a great eater until he turned 1 and almost overnight he went really picky (no wet food, so nothing with a sauce or gravy of any kind!). I tried everything and in the end I just assumed he'd grown out of it. He's now 17 and I'm still waiting! However he is over 6 foot, healthy, hard working, doing well in school, polite and thoughtful, so I figure it's ok! I insist on some fruit & veg everyday and not too much junk. The one thing that did help (but when he was a bit older) was we had a points system for good behaviour in the house (a bit like Harry Potter house points) . They all got points for all sorts of things including trying new foods, which really helped him find some healthy things he did like, especially more unusual fruits & veg. I don't know if that helps or not - sorry and good luck!
ReplyDeletePicky eating has been such a battle over here. And it's getting worse. She won't even drink smoothies any more. But at least she still eats her oatmeal at breakfast. It just goes downhill the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteI have found that toddlers will eat when they are hungry. My youngest son is a fairly good eater but there are some days when he will pick at his food(even his favorites). Then other days he begs me every few minutes for a snack. I try to keep some healthy options for him to choose from.
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