I'm not too happy with what she does eat but in all honesty i offer it because i know she will eat it and i want her to have something. I've had to slowly introduce new foods to her, so the other night she tried boiled egg for the first time and took a bite and spat it out. I will try scrambled or an omelette very soon. I've offered her cheeses and shes not interested. She does like some vegies so we often have vegies for dinner, 6 nights of the week its something and vegies. She loves fruit so she has alot of that.
I'm not much a baker so haven't offered her muffins or anything. I've bought a few recipe books so will give some a go.
She probably doesn't eat other foods cos she knows you will give her what she wants. I agree with the previous posters about dropping the foods with empty calories she is better off eating nothing then them. Dd doesn't eat something one day but I'll offer it to her another and she will. Try putting a variety of healthy foods on her plate if she eats it she eats it if he doesn't she doesn't, try not to worry to much. She will eventually eat it and will eat if she is hungry.
Hun, I understand you offering her the foods you know she is going to eat, even if it's ships. My DS is now 2, and since birth to around 17-18 months he was an excellent eater. Then he went down hill fast, and he only had a handful of foods he ate/liked. Now his appetite has gone up ever so slightly, but he is still slightly underweight for his age/height (he is above average in height). He weighs 12.2 kg. So for the last 4 or so months, I have been giving his multivitamins and omega 3 to make up what he's not getting in his diet. I also suspect he's low in iron, we'll be having bloods for that soon as he hardly eats meat and green veggies. When he starts eating better, I will stop the vitamins. Try offering your DD more nutritious foods, like carrot sticks, celery sticks dipped in vegimite, crackers and cheese, cottage cheese and avocado mashed up on its own or on bread, lentils, pasta with mashed up veggies etc. My DS is currently obsessed with pizza shapes, I'm only giving him a couple a day as a treat (he'd eat half the box if he could ).
There's a motto I heard somewhere which I remind myself of almost daily...
'you can't control how much they eat, but you can control what they eat'
I think the reality is that with a healthy toddler they won't starve themselves, so it won't really hurt her to withhold those foods that are just empty calories. I've also read (and seen with DS) that it isn't uncommon for toddlers to only eat one big meal every three days and then graze in between. The other thing to keep in mind is that if she does spit something new out, it's a good idea to continue offering it to her time and time again because chances are she will grow to like it. I remember reading when I was first starting DS on solids that you should try each food up to ten times before discounting it.
I'd also consider limiting her milk intake, because it is possible to give them too much dairy at this age. Maybe do a search and see what the maximum recommended amount of milk/dairy is after 12 months - I have feeling that they shouldn't have any more than 3 serves a day.
Apparently it can take up to 10 exposures for a toddler to decide whether they like something so don't just offer it once, keep offering so it becomes more familiar. If they are hungry, they will eat so we only keep things in the house we are happy for her to eat, no junk and then she can have anything because I know it is good. They don't choose nothing for long. The more she is given bland things like hot chips, the more her taste buds and perception will be altered. Model good eating yourself and it helps if they see other children or people they respect eating similar too. Even if she doesn't want a salad sandwhich, sit in front of her eating yours. Sometimes even reverse psychology works here... 'oh you don't want that? Lucky me, guess I get double!' can suddenly see them wanting it. Let her eat from your plate or do shared meals from a communal bowl/plate. Involve her in the process from picking things at the supermarket to cooking to serving, letting her dish out her own not only motivates her but teaches good motor skills. Make things a bit interesting or fun like a bread with a face from tomato, carrot, some lettuce hair or whatever. This also provides an oppurtunity to talk about the items as you eat them! I'm not sure if she would be old enough yet but never too early to start explaining why we eat things such as letting her know that a lot of vegetables will enable her to jump higher or dance for longer.
I think the main thing is not turning it into a battle, in the end you can't force them to eat so give it a go and if she isn't keen then just try again later. I like Miss E's quote!
I know how hard it can be to have a fussy eater - DS2 is shocking! he is also v tiny so i know how stressfult hat can be too - he is 12 kg now and will be 3 in july.
that said, i think this is more the reason to be removing empty calories. you will be surpirsed what she does like - my ds has some strange tastes - salmon with pesto was one of the first things he ate. zucchini slice is another fave. things i thought he wouldnt like. if all that isa round is healthy even if they eat a limited range or quantity you know it is all good. Miss E's quote is a winner!
I am happy to help you out with some easy recipes if you like (there are also lots of posts about it) and many of the suggestions above will really help
I also agree to cut down the bottles/cups of milk.
FWIW my DS2 ate NO vegies until a few months ago despite them being present at every meal and DS1 being the vege king. he then deiced one day he likes corn on the cob and has eaten it every day. a fewe months ago said he likes peas and now eats them. a week ago he declared he would eat mushrooms. and now zucchini. he decided and then it is in... so having it around def eventually helps.
I know it is stressful, serach on my posts and you will see i have had my ups and downs but truly make sometimes foods sometimes foods and eventually she will eat something you can be proud of.
I also really agree with looking at what they eat over, say, a week - def not each meal. the fact she eats bfast is awesome - make it really count. DS2 had months bfast was pretty much the only meal - he ate 2-3 eggs each day with grated cheese.
I did also have my son on incremin for a bit which boosted his appetite and got him more into a habit of eating....
Last edited by MamaPan; March 19th, 2012 at 01:04 PM.
The one thing that stands out for me is the amount of fruit she is eating! I'd be looking at cutting back the amount of fruit because she doesn't *need* that much - don't forget that as good as fruit is, it is also high in natural sugar and for a little one like her it's probably too much fruit in a day. I reckon you'll be surprised at what she will eat if there is nothing else on offer to her so perhaps for a week you could try and slowly replace one thing from her diet with something else. As Jellyfish and Miss E said, it can take a few goes to gt them to take new foods so you have to persevere and not assume that because she spat it out on the first tasting that she is a fussy eater and doesn't like it. There is also not much protein in her diet apart from milk so maybe try to add some meat - even if it's just a chop bone or sausage? Maybe even try a spag bol? I'd not worry about the cheese - not all kids like it and she is getting plenty of dairy from milk and yoghurt. Another thing is that she may be filling up on milk, therefore she can't fit in much other food. You could try cutting back her bottles by about 50mls at first and see if that helps. At her age, she really doesn't need much milk at all and a common problem with 'fussy' toddlers is that they are just full of milk. Even if you think she isn't having much, having several full bottles of milk a day would be enough to make her feel full for ages.
hun it can be really hard with fussy kids and everyone has given you some great advice.
DD1 used to eat anything you put in front of her and now i have big problems with getting her to eat her dinner, she will graze all day (given the chance) and would sometimes demand certain foods which really weren't great for her.
At the moment the things i do to try and get her eating a bit more of the good things:
1. Buy 1 pack of biscuits for the week, if they go they go and that's it - NO MORE
2. Plenty of fruit & veg - the girls eat fruit like it's going out of fashion, they will also help themselves to carrots in the fridge and even though DD1 wont eat them i ALWAYS serve her vegetables in or with her meals. DD2 will eat veggies, DD1 wont.
3. Salad - i make a salad, pick out the things i know the girls eat and put majority of that on their plate PLUS a tiny bit of the rest of a salad, DD1 is finally starting to eat lettuce as that's what BIG GIRLS eat and she's a 'big girl' now
4. Fail Safe Meals - i've recently found i generally have 2 fail safe meals - bolognaise and Taco's / Wrap's - in the bolognaise i hide zucchini, carrots, onion, capsicum and sometimes peas & corn and the girls don't even notice and Taco's i just find they like building their wrap or taco so they eat it.
Where possible i include 1 fail safe meal a week (if not more) but i refuse to stop cooking the things we all need because they wont eat it, if they don't eat it they don't get anything else.
5. Involve them - i ask DD1 what she wants for tea, she often helps make it. We have chickens now and since getting her own eggs she will actually happily eat an egg or use it to cook things.
These things don't always work, DD1 still eats less at dinner time than most kids i know, she's a giant PITA and at times wont even sit at the table, so if she doesn't come to the table or refuses to eat she goes to her room or must leave so as not to distract DD2.
It's a work in progress but we are getting there, Taco's for dinner tonight too
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hun it can be really hard with fussy kids and everyone has given you some great advice.
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