Hellobee Boards

@looch: Ahhh, I didn't realize its been a year for you! And here I had hoped it was just a phase.

And my son basically stopped eating anything but fruit and chicken after 12 months. He's almost 17 months now. I can convince him to eat raisins on certain days, as well as a green bean purée pouch every once and a while. Once a week he might consider a few spoonfuls of soup and / or a bite or two of a quesadilla that I've snuck veggies into. It's not fun.

my daughter was an excellent eater. we started with BLW so she tried a variety of foods, and would eat anything and everything we put in front of her. then something changed when she hit 18 months and she became soo soo picky. she suddenly stopped eating everything green, refuses any kind of protein, and only lives off carbs and plain stuff with no spices whatsoever!

she loves rice, oatmeal, pancakes, pasta, pizza... and thank god for scrambled eggs with ketchup so she gets at least some protein in!

i don't know why i don't stress about it more, but i think it's because i know sooo many picky toddlers that i figure it's a phase and it will get better as she grows.

at 2 1/2 years old, she's starting to come around a little bit and is very curious about what i'm eating. these days if she sees me eating something she'll usually want to try it too... but more often than not, she still ends up spitting it back out.

LO is just one week past 16 months right now and about a month ago we went through a picky phase and I was so afraid it was this starting. Thankfully, it was her canines coming in and she's gotten back on track again.

I really really really hope we skip this. Because of her low iron levels I really need her to be a good eater or she'll be on supplements forever! As it is now I sneak leafy greens into her veggies and mask meats in panko. LOL

@looch: We have to plan accordingly, as well. Next weekend I'm leaving him for 2 days with my MIL and I am so stressed about what to do about his meals. He's so picky, I never know what he'll actually eat. And I feel bad he likely won't eat what they're eating.

@looch: Really close in age! N was born January 2011. I definitely think it's a control thing. It's also about them pushing the limits and seeing how much they can get away with. I can tell because she gets this glint in her eye showing me that she knows exactly what I'm asking. I've been negotiating a lot with my daughter. I'll tell her she can't go play until she takes at least 2 more big bites of [insert food here]. Then she'll make direct eye contact with me as she takes exactly two bites.

@Mrs. High Heels: Yes, it's like green = evil!

LO is almost 17 months old and has been sooo picky as of late. Her fruit options are only limited to apples, strawberries, blueberries, and sometimes she will eat grapes and bananas. Don't even think about bringing anything mango-related near her mouth.

She loves carbs, so i have no problem there. But everything is hit or miss. Some days she will devour oatmeal, and other days she will resist eggs. It's maddening. I know people refuse to be a short-order cook, but i go out of my way to make a lot of food because i want her to eat.

I have to admit, i've even resorted to making food a little sweeter in hopes that she will like it.

Her two uppers have been coming in, and she is getting over roseola, so i'm hoping that's the explanation for her pickiness.

@looch: oh my goshhhhhhhhhh welcome to my world. Wagon Jr. is definitely exiting the picky phase now at just over 3.5 years old, but that definitely lasted at least a year. TORTURE. He dwindled down to exactly five foods-- eggs, plain pasta, cheese, yogurt, and sometimes he'd tolerate ham cubes. He doesn't even like ketchup or any kind of sauces so I couldn't hide anything in anywhere. But, like yours, his growth percentiles were still ok (stalled but still over 50th in weight) and pooping just fine every single day. And of course his energy levels were fine.

The only thing I have to say is that it SUCKS but it does get better. Nowadays he will still refuse certain foods but he'll try things if he's excited about them. Letting him help didn't work back then but it does help a bit now... at least he'll have A bite. Sometimes he just plain DOES NOT want to eat now and we do bribe him with dessert (baaaad mommy) and we have our victories, but also our bad days where he literally eats one bite of dinner.

Just the other day though sometihing happened for the first time. When he was going to bed he said "I'm hungry." This was after a dinner where he literally ate one bite and whined about it the whole time. So we said, well then you should have eaten your dinner.

The next day he ate his whole dinner! (he still whined a little about it though. but he ate it!!)

@looch: Oh-- I forgot, applesauce is the 5th food he would eat (not the ham, since that wasn't constant). Haha.

We served the food bento style and he would admire it but just ignore the non-5-golden-food foods. The most "successful" (aka not successful at all) approach was to mix everything together in what we called cheesy pasta. (obviously not the applesauce!) That sometimes got some ham or mixed veggies into him. Sometimes.

I don't like the approach of hiding foods either.

Sometimes it is just psychological warfare. One day my mom made him some very very steamed and buttered broccoli and he tried it when we weren't home. And loved it. And now he eats broccoli on a semi-regular basis. Drives me crazy that he would refuse it from me but took it from my mom.... but hey, whatever it takes.

If you're really concerned about his nutrition you can introduce a multivitamin until this phase passes...! I know nothing replaces actual nutrients but that always gave me a tiny bit of peace of mind.

I was thinking about this on my ride home from town this morning. Preparing meals for LO is just dreadful. Our options are seriously dwindling. We have a hard time giving her protein. She used to like eggs and now refuses them. She doesn't like cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and most fruit. She loves carbs bread, pasta, pancakes but I HATE only feeding her that stuff. She is only 14.5 months so i'm scared it's only going to get worse.

I came across this article the other day and thought it had some good tips: http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-infants-toddlers/feeding-picky-eater-17-tips

@looch: we get our gummy vitamins from Costco. They're basically super soft gummy bears. I pop them on lollipop sticks and he gets 2 when its time to go upstairs for bed.

I think the brand is lil critters. I take the omega 3 version! (I hate swallowing pills)

@looch: My DD who is 13 months has turned into a picky eater overnight, are there any tricks that you tried that has helped? I am even doing something I said I never would! I follow her around while she plays just to feed her, just to make sure she eats.