I tend to make meals my LO (usually) likes. Seems to get pretty repetitive though!
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Sometimes because getting her to eat "adult" food is exhausting.
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I always offer what we're having but make sure to have some separate items I know he'll eat. We do often eat meals that we know are DS approved rather than making anything extra.
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No. She gets what we're having. If she doesn't want it, she doesn't eat. She will usually eat her veggies or a simple carb if nothing else.
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I always try to get her to eat our food, but it rarely works and she will be happy to get down with little to no food sometimes. later of course she will ask for a snack so I need to start saving that food and offering it again.
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No, she mostly eats what we eat though I have tweaked our menu a bit to make sure the stuff she doesn't like, such as leafy greens, are hidden somewhere.
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For those that say no, have you always done this? Or did you start at a certain age?
My LO is 10 months old, but has definite food preferences. Tonight I offered her what we were having- fish, cucumbers, rice, avocado. She took a few bites, but wasn't interested.She's got a cold, and I'm also terrified of her getting hungry overnight and waking up more than she already does, so we ended up giving her bread with hummus and a pouch. I don't want to get into this habit, because I don't think it helps with picky eating in the long run....but isn't she too young to go without dinner? She's still breastfed, but she definitely gets a solid portion of her nutrients from regular food at this point. And she's tiny!
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I don't, but I cook things that I think they will like. And if they don't, then they always eat some part of the meal at least like the fruit or veg. They are pickier about meat.
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@Silva: sometime between a year and 18 months, I stopped making special food for LO. So my 2.5 year old either eats the family meal or not. My one year old gets parts of the family meal plus an assortment of leftovers that I know he will eat. Also, it's totally normal for them not to have much of an appetite when they have a cold.
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@Baby Boy Mom: oh, yes, tonight I wasn't concerned because of the cold, it just got me thinking! She did inhale that pouch and the humus though, man! Thanks for the advice. I get anxious about food stuff
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I just make sure she likes something that I'm making. We have the same taste so it really isn't that hard. Plus, if I'm eating it she'll want to have some too.
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@Silva: Personally, I subscribe to the "food before 1 is just for fun" philosophy, so for a 10 month old, if she didn't eat what's for dinner, no big deal. I only have a 7 month old, but if she's not into what I put on her tray I don't bother giving anything else, but might space her before bed feeds a little closer together.
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If we are all eating together, which only happens 2-3 times per week, then she gets what we get. I usually try to make sure there's something on her plate I know she'll eat because she's picky and often won't eat our food. Most nights she eats on her own, so I try to make something I know she'll eat.
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Ehhh...no? But also sort of? For the most part, he eats what we eat, whether he actually eats or not. I'm of the mind that if he's hungry enough, he'll eat, and I try to include things on his tray that I know he'll eat, just so he's not starving. I won't make a separate meal for him or anything.
But he's been boycotting meat for a month or so. Like outright throwing it on the floor. So I've been making a lot more vegetarian meals--he's fine with grains and pasta and beans and veggies. But D and I don't eat a lot of meat anyway, so it's sort of one of those things we both just shrugged at? It's no sacrifice for us, and he still eats what we eat. But tonight he ate crock pot Santa Fe chicken, so maybe the tide's turning back...
Anyway, we've been doing it since he started solids at around 6 months....I've just given him what we're eating.
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Sort of. We eat a lot of spicy/non little kid stuff and we tend to eat at different times than she does often enough. Plus I add fruit to her meals because she likes that. It's kind of a mix. But I don't make separate stuff just to please her... Usually because I want to. She eats better than we do, to be honest!
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Yes and no. If she won't eat what I cook I will give her something she likes (she loves breakfast) so steel cut oats, or a homemade waffle, or some greek yogurt. I'm just happy if she eats anything because that usually ensures she'll sleep. This toddler business is no joke, but my 5.5 year old step daughter still refuses to eat.
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Nope. I offer something I know he likes at each meal, and at dinner he gets yogurt or an applesauce/quinoa pouch so I know he's had the option to fill up. Otherwise he eats what we eat, if he doesn't eat it that's his prerogative. There doesn't seem to be any correlation between him waking up at night (rare) and what he eats. He still nurses once before bed (15 m) so that alleviates any worries for me.
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NO. Food is an easy power tool, and I'm not playing that game. LO eats what's given, or doesn't eat. When she was younger than about 18 months I would give her a bottle of milk or formula in her sleep (dream feed I guess?) to supplement if she didn't eat much, to ensure she got enough calories and STTN but now I don't - she sleeps either way and always eats a good breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack.
I am not going to cater to LO's food preferences, and I'm not going to let food and eating become a power point.
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I used to prepare my oldest's meals separately because I would not add any sodium to his food. Everything was made from scratch and healthier than what we would feed ourselves. Now he eats whatever we eat unless it's mac n cheese which I'll make separately since I don't care for it. However, with our second, he likes tastier food so I started him on our food much earlier. Good thing we don't eat that unhealthy at home or salty either so it worked out. He's a much better eater. I wonder if it also has to do with the fact that I never forced him to finish his entire meal?
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@Sapphiresun: Yeah- that was generally my policy too, until about a month ago. She started getting really hungry for foods! Even if I keep offering the breast, she won't nurse and gets upset- but if I give her solids, she's happy as a clam.
Guess she didn't get the memo about waiting until a year! -
Yes, because my son has oral motor issues.
I had thought it was a control thing with him, but it turns out he has trouble chewing.
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@Silva: My LO is the same--at 9.5 months she needs and wants her solids (sorry, she does... sometimes I wish it weren't the case but it is!) but can be pretty picky. If she refuses what's on offer, I do usually give her a little bit of something I know she'll eat. Buttt I am also not sure how long to continue this. It's possible that I'll continue it indefinitely? I'm really not sure. I need to read more about picky eating, I think, because I have a super emotional relationship to it (found a TON of foods nauseating as a child and was not forced to eat them--other food was usually provided--and grew out of it completely at puberty, and now eat literally everything). This makes it hard for me to consider things rationally but makes me really hesitant not to offer other options; we'll see.
This study--suggesting that cajoling kids to eat backfires--is food for thought (ha ha). I guess I wonder about the difference between pressure and not offering other options? Obviously very different in some ways, but...
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019566631100691X
I also get super anxious about food stuff. I'm sure that helps the situation
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Yes, LO gets a separate meal. Sometimes he tries what we're eating and sometimes he doesn't. At the moment I'm not eating until after he goes to bed though, 1st trimester sickness makes me put off dinner.
We often do separate, or part separate, meals for all three of us. We'll do one common dish, potato wedges or rice or soup, and then each one of us will have something additional. DH loves meat and I'm veggie so he usually cooks some chicken or sausages to go with the main dish, I might have a veggie protein and DS will have something else.
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@looch: Can I ask how you came to know that? My LO is 15 months old, and got her teeth quite late. She only has 6 right now (4 on top, 2 on bottom), and doesn't really chew very well. She's recently stopped wanting to eat anything that isn't a pouch, yogurt or cereal — except for the odd bit of pasta or toast. I don't know if it's teething (I think her gums are swollen, so she might be getting molars, but she doesn't let me in to check very often) or if she's just being picky, or what the deal is. We have our 15 month appointment next week, so maybe I should bring up the oral issues?
Sorry to threadjack!
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@tinyperson: I'll reply on your wall when I get to the office.
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She eats what we eat, though she does get more condiments! Hummus and ketchup make everything better. Sometimes she gobbles it all down, others she barely picks at it. We try to take it all in stride and just go with it. One day she loves eggs, the next she won't touch them.... Toddlers!
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@mjane: please read the book fearless feeding! I loved it. It's so ingrained to cajole kids to eat more and everything, it really took practice to break the habit. The premise is that you control the when and where and what of food and they control the which and how much.
@prettylizy: yes! He does get ketchup if he asks. @tinyperson: for us, if its teething it usually lasts three days or less and he usually drinks more almond milk to make up for it!
This is something I thought and think a lot about bc I grew up as an extremely picky eater solely from a place of controlling something (IMO). I also have a family member who basically only eats sugar because that's all she would eat and that's all thy would give her and I think it's played into some longer health issues. So I'm trying to be deliberate and intentional (who knows if it will work but so far so good). It's baffling when he only eats a few blueberries one day and more veggies and protein than me the next, but I read somewhere to look at their weeks worth of nutrition.
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@scg00387: hmmm...it's definitely been more than 3 days - more like 2 weeks!
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She gets what we get, though I will often add easy fruits/veggies as a side for a little extra. If she eats, great. If she doesn't, breakfast will come soon enough.
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Well I've never seen a baby so hungry and eat SO much, so I do have to give her dinner as SOON as we get home. She starts screaming for food as soon as we get in the garage
But, that just means she gets last night's dinner. I always put some aside for her every night because I know I don't have time to cook for her in the evening.
With regards to that, I am accommodating her fussiness, but not fussiness in regards to types food. I've never made her something special. If she doesn't want to eat, then fine - I know she's getting plenty throughout the day/week.
I've been blessed with an incredibly willing eater though - I have no idea what I would do with a picky eater -
@scg00387: I also grew up as a picky eater and had a very limited diet. That's why making sure L eats just about anything we give her is very important to me
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Sometimes, but I'm a firm believer in her eating what the family eats. Usually it's only if it's too spicy or a weird texture. If she's super against it (or throwing dinner on the floor) I might give her some other form of protein but that's it.
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@Silva: we have done this since she started eating meals with us. We did purees and when we moved to more solid foods, we just gave her bits of what we were eating. As she got bigger, her pieces got bigger and now she gets a small serving of everything we have on our plates.
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@scg00387: thanks! I will definitely read it--downloading to my kindle
I guess I'll know more when I read the book, but do you offer literally everything, or do you offer mostly foods you know he's likely to eat?
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no, we give her what we are eating for dinner and she usually eats it, but if not, I will offer her a yogurt or something that I know she will eat.
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@mjane: I make our meals just like normal, even if I know he probably won't like one thing or another. I rotate veggie and fruit offerings for him; some he loves and some he doesn't. I just make sure there is one thing he likes at each meal; yeterday his guarantees were a banana at breakfast (he also ate the eggs and potatoes), blueberries and cheese at lunch (he skipped the peas and ate a little of the sandwich), and yogurt at dinner (he also gobbled the pizza, carrots, and cherries). It has really highlighted to me how unpredictable he is though- three times he will refuse a pasta dish and the fourth gobble it. Not touch carrots for weeks then love them. Not sure if that answered your question!
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@scg00387: It totally does! Thank you. Mine is so little but already very opinionated about food--and like yours, pretty... uh... whimsical about her preferences. One day chicken must be inhaled in case it escapes before she can finish and the next day the same chicken is rat poison and she is calling CPS on me for serving it. Dunno.
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I have tried the whole "eat this or you get nothing" routine and it backfired. LO had a super crappy sleep! So that's why I try to make meals she likes and if she doesn't eat it, we pump her full of snacks later.
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If we're all eating together, I don't make her anything special. If she's eating before us, I make sure to make something I know she likes.
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